tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-167735932024-03-18T21:45:46.215-07:00Out of the InkwellMike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.comBlogger671125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-67640131212113393012015-09-06T10:38:00.000-07:002015-09-06T10:38:26.493-07:00
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I recently wrote a review for the
newspapers I edit on the new “American Experience: Walt Disney.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What follows is an expanded version of
what saw print.</div>
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<br />
Every now and then a viewer of a
documentary can be placed in a position of not just experiencing a film, but
evaluating it from a place of knowledge. This happened to me with my
viewing of the new four-hour film on the life and career of Walt Disney.<br />
I have been involved in
researching animation for years with a concentration on the Fleischer Studio –
the artists who brought Betty Boop, Popeye and the Bouncing Ball, among many
other subjects to the screen. Incidentally, I’ve learned much about
Disney and I was very curious to see how the filmmakers were going to present him
and his legacy.<br />
Disney is a very polarizing
figure. People who worked for him loved him or feared him. In the 1930s his
films received serious attention from critics who otherwise dismissed
animation, but by the time of his death in 1966 the films made by his studio
were deemed by many as being out of step with what was happening in the nation.<br />
Before I go any farther, I will
readily admit that I’ve have a great admiration for some Disney films – the
first five animated features – and will admit they advanced the art of
animation in very significant ways.</div>
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I’m not a cult member though and
have rejected the kind of non-critical attitudes some animation fans and
scholars have exhibited.</div>
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Considering the gaps in the
narrative in this film, I suspect the filmmakers were a little overwhelmed by
the subject. Four hours may not have been enough time.</div>
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For example,
there is surprisingly little discussion of his relationship with his wife,
daughters and other family members other than the fights he had with his
brother Roy who was the financial head of the studio. Although his son-in-law
Ron Miller is interviewed there is little personal insight into this
often-contradictory man.<br />
A problem that undoubtedly faced
the filmmakers was the fact that many of the people who knew Disney or worked
for Disney are dead. The interviews with those studio employees still alive
take up far less time in the documentary than a parade of college professors
and writers.<br />
An example of this is the
Pulitzer Award-winning writer Ron Suskind whose many moments in the documentary
were supposedly justified by a book he wrote about his autistic son connecting
to the Disney animated cartoons. I’m sorry, but his prominent screen time
doesn’t really explain anything about Disney but just offers his own
observations.<br />
Unfortunately the writer and
historian who undoubtedly knows more about Disney’s career than just about
anyone, Michael Barrier, appears all too briefly.<br />
I was surprised how certain
facts were presented or over-looked. In the late 1920s, Disney’s studio was
producing a series of cartoons for producer Charles Mintz. Mintz owned the
character of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, took it from Disney and hired away a
number of his staff. This event ultimately prompted the creation of
Mickey Mouse, but it also spurred Disney to maintain ownership of his creations
and films, a very important point.<br />
The filmmakers don’t emphasize
this and don’t note that from 1928 through 1955 Disney went through four
different distributors until he formed his own in 1955. He finally achieved
complete ownership and control of his productions.</div>
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Where the documentary significantly
fails is in its lack of explanation about what made Mickey Mouse work so well
with audiences when the first sound cartoon debuted. Consider the following:
Disney’s first commercial success was with the “Alice in Cartoonland” series,
the basis for which was a flip of Max Fleischer’s already established <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Out of the Inkwell” shorts. I think
it’s fair to say it wasn’t as popular as the Ko-Ko cartoons or the Felix shorts
or Paul Terry’s Fable cartoons in the 1920s.</div>
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His second series, “Oswald the
Lucky Rabbit,” was another rubber-hosed animal cartoon. The ones I’ve been able
to see are not terribly well written. Where was the legendary Disney story
touch that became so important just a few years later? Oswald lacks any real
character. I think it’s also fair to say that Oswald didn’t go to the top of
the animation world, either.</div>
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So with all of these “experts” blathering
on in this documentary, why didn’t anyone explain why “Steamboat Willie” was a
hit? Was it Mickey? Was it the soundtrack? Remember Disney had made several
other Mickey cartoons and had failed to get distribution as silent shorts. What
made this one so different? What captured the attention of critics and writers
who saw something in Mickey Mouse that they hadn’t seen in an animated
character before?</div>
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I contend the use of sound, which
was very good for its time, and the timing of the release so early in the sound
revolution. He was in the right place at the right time with a product
audiences liked.</div>
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A thorny point with Disney is how
the public was presented with the notion that Disney essentially did everything.
It would have been an important part of this story to address that idea by
looking at some key figures at the studio whose contributions made the films
successful. Instead the documentary perpetuated this cult of personality that
Disney did everything with that omission. Did Disney instinctively understand
branding or was it just ego?<br />
A crucial part of Disney’s story
is his collaboration and friendship with Ub Iwerks, the animator and designer
whose work was essential to the success of Mickey Mouse. Iwerks became
disillusioned and left Disney to form his own studio in 1930. The documentary
speaks of the importance of loyalty for Disney but it doesn’t address the
relationship between the two men, especially when Iwerks was rehired about ten
years later.<br />
The documentary never really
explains why Disney entered the live -action film field. It doesn’t tell the
viewers the animated short cartoons that built the company continued until 1956
nor does it explain what, if any, involvement Disney had with them. Was he sad
or nostalgic when the shorts stopped production?<br />
Several remarks made by
Professor Sarah Nilsen of the University of Vermont irked me. In an early part
of the film, he said that Disney, flush with money from a graphic arts job,
would frequently go to the movies. On screen accompanying her comments
were scenes from the 1919 Fleischer short “The Tantalizing Fly. Nilsen intoned
that Disney knew he could do much animation better than what he was watching.<br />
This segment infers the
Fleischer short was a poor piece of work, which it is not. It artfully mixes
live action and animation, and was the style that Disney used for a later
series of cartoons.<br />
Later in the film, Nilsen speaks
of Disney in the 1920s being a young man in a field dominated by “old men” who
used crude gags in their cartoons. Disney was born in 1901. His contemporaries
included Walter Lantz (1899), Paul Terry (1887) and Max Fleischer (1883).
Please don’t let facts stand in the way of a good assumption.<br />
At the end of the film, despite
a lengthy running time and the contributions from “experts,” Disney remains
largely an enigma. While many of the major points of Disney’s life were
presented, the documentary fails to dig a little deeper to show a more complete
picture.</div>
Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com43tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-13787990843634824872013-06-23T12:47:00.001-07:002013-06-23T12:47:30.392-07:00<b>Talking with R.O. Blechman</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MUWMjUjit_U" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
<i>It was a privilege to speak with a guy whose work I've admired for years.</i><br />
<br style="background-color: white;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">STOCKBRIDGE — You may not know his name, but if you've watched television or read The New Yorker, the New York Times or the Huffington Post, you've seen — and will recognize — his work. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">R.O. Blechman's distinctive squiggly line is featured in a new exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum called "R.O. Blechman: The Inquiring Line" through June 30.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Blechman has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonist Society, won an Emmy in 1984 as the director of the PBS animated special "The Soldier's Tale" and has been featured in a exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, among other honors.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Blechman has also done a series of children's books, and has collected many of his cartoons in the book "Talking Lines."</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">In his statements made at the opening of the exhibit, Blechman marveled the exhibition even existed.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"A museum for a Saturday Evening Post illustrator? That's important. Me in that museum? That's fantastic," he said. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The exhibit features a wide selection of original examples of Blechman's work from New Yorker covers to advertising work. Some of his animated productions play on a monitor.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Perhaps no two artists could have such different style as Blechman and Rockwell. Blechman said growing up in New York City in the 1930s and '40s, his world didn't resemble the warm images of small town America there were the herald of Rockwell's most famous work. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">He came to appreciate Rockwell more, he added, when the painter's liberal politics came through in later paintings in the 1960s. Blechman also said that he really rediscovered Rockwell when his mother and father-in-law moved to Stockbridge and he visited the predecessor to the current museum.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"It was a revelation ... that guy could really paint, really paint and he could design," Blechman said. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Blechman described himself as a self-taught artist who did some cartooning for his college newspaper. After graduating from college and serving in the military, he drew what would now be called a "graphic novel," "The Juggler of Our Lady" in 1953. Published by Henry Holt, the book was huge success, which Blechman said actually negatively affected his growth as an artist. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><b style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"></b><br />
<center style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<b>First love is animation</b></center>
<br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Ask him what his favorite medium has been and he answers it before this writer could finish the question.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"Animation," he said snapping his finger for emphasis. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The medium combines his interests of telling stories and illustration, he explained.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">He has an idea for an animated feature that he would love to produce.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Animation was the first step in his career as a professional artist. He began as a storyboard artist for acclaimed animator John Hubley who was impressed with "The Juggler of Our Lady." Blechman wanted to animate, but he said, "I could not draw in those days." </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"The Juggler of Our Lady" was later made into a cartoon as a collaboration between Blechman and directors Gene Deitch and Al Kouzel. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts nominated the production as best animated film.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">He was pleased with the results and later turned down an opportunity to remake the story in color with animation director Chuck Jones. Today, he expressed his regret not to have worked with Jones, but said with a laugh he wouldn't rate his mistakes. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Blechman is still busy working, but he admitted, "I've lost projects because I'm told [my style] is old fashioned." </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">He added that while more realistic illustration may be of favor now, he believes the pendulum will swing back to more idiosyncratic styles.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"[Johann Sebastian] Bach was lost for 150 years," he noted. "Illustration will come back."</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Although he expressed concern for the future of two-dimensional animation, he is no Luddite, though. Of digital techniques he said, "I love the stuff. It can be well used if you have eye [for design]."</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Digital techniques can enhance hand-painted art, Blechman said. For him an understanding of design is essential no matter what medium is used.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"If you have an eye, the hand will follow," he said.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">His own squiggly line is part of his design, which he admits was sometimes a challenge for his animation staff when he operated an animation studio. The Ink Tank produced numerous television commercials including a memorable one for Alka Seltzer in which a man and his stomach argue for his love of spicy foods.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"[My drawing style] was very difficult to animate, but I was fortunate enough to deal with two animators who took to it as if it was their own," Blechman said. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">On his Emmy Award-winning production "The Soldier's Tale," Blechman recalled the best animators "supplemented, not just complemented" his designs.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Blechman was effusive in his praise for the late animator Tissa David who worked at his studio starting in the 1970s, calling her a "great animator, an animated filmmaker." He said he could look at a scene in real life and "animated in her mind."</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">The most obvious question this writer reserved toward the end of the interview: how he did develop his own distinctive drawing style?</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">He admitted that is both natural and designed. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">"My stuff was so stiff and dead," he said. The non-straight line work "loosens" his compositions.</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">After decades of drawing in this style, Blechman said, "Now it's natural. I don't even think twice," he said. </span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">For more information on the Norman Rockwell Museum or this exhibition, visit </span><a href="http://www.nrm.org/" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-width: 0px; color: mediumblue; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1; list-style-type: none; margin-left: 5px; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">www.nrm.org</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">© 2013 by Gordon Michael Dobbs</span>Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-65309252992455163312013-04-29T17:31:00.001-07:002013-04-29T17:31:02.373-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>More art from Inertron</b></div>
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I meant to post these two pieces of art from my fanzine Inertron. The first is a comic page by my fellow UMass student Scott Paauw. My caricature is wearing striped pants! Others depicted in the strip include Steven Cohen, Michael Moyle and Kevin Roy, all members of the UMass Science Fiction Society. This is the original complete with glue stains and white-out.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItuCcp3PWeIbfni2TTiAybgj8DUnvXzH620pqwGI7_smEL_1Heu7w43ZPWzwGeVqHaiyuH6xjETjGlVp3rCoBMhhKiFIea9QbIxBkRsmW6MadFCloZfa3ZiNXuD55vFCYXdIpYA/s1600/Comic+fans+cartoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgItuCcp3PWeIbfni2TTiAybgj8DUnvXzH620pqwGI7_smEL_1Heu7w43ZPWzwGeVqHaiyuH6xjETjGlVp3rCoBMhhKiFIea9QbIxBkRsmW6MadFCloZfa3ZiNXuD55vFCYXdIpYA/s640/Comic+fans+cartoon.jpg" width="464" /></a></div>
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This piece is from the great artist Allen Kosnowski, who was a contributor for several issues. Allen is still working and you can see his current creations at <a href="http://www.allenk.com/">his website</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFaMD1Rlo5FTjjduirVO8Ger4THeHjAr-6P_7-fRkYKRY3Wl_EE-gge1V-hNfWI0frE6ROwA7xU1nCYZt7z5Wf524sIP5uUSJSGArt3TpEr5ksS7UUuFQY-GM-fBP7bTxtadL4g/s1600/Allen+K+artwork+HG+Wells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoFaMD1Rlo5FTjjduirVO8Ger4THeHjAr-6P_7-fRkYKRY3Wl_EE-gge1V-hNfWI0frE6ROwA7xU1nCYZt7z5Wf524sIP5uUSJSGArt3TpEr5ksS7UUuFQY-GM-fBP7bTxtadL4g/s640/Allen+K+artwork+HG+Wells.jpg" width="496" /></a></div>
<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-9947407628909234822013-04-28T11:26:00.000-07:002013-04-28T11:26:31.823-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4JFHQyyFXW0fcwHt2QSho5CN5PSqpoLe0SeFsN5VB1Vp-VHxFkmAa5KYUiNR_jUQMJVUYwa2gXnOUwLddadvZLUDrcPhKaPKzDexVYR950VDa-Ii0et6wGNiNmTZZq9G7bX5gA/s1600/inertron+%231.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic4JFHQyyFXW0fcwHt2QSho5CN5PSqpoLe0SeFsN5VB1Vp-VHxFkmAa5KYUiNR_jUQMJVUYwa2gXnOUwLddadvZLUDrcPhKaPKzDexVYR950VDa-Ii0et6wGNiNmTZZq9G7bX5gA/s640/inertron+%231.jpg" width="494" /></a><br />
<i>The cover of my first edition of Inertron</i><br />
<br />
<b>A fanzine made me what I am today – for better or worse.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
Perhaps I can trace my desire to write back to my love of reading and my visit with noted children’s writer and environmentalist Thornton W. Burgess when I was in first grade.<br />
<br />
Perhaps it was the good grades I received on reports I wrote in the sixth grade.<br />
<br />
Perhaps it was in the eighth grade, when my English teacher assigned me to be the editor of a “literary” magazine.<br />
<br />
My late father, faced with the realization I was not going to be a high school industrial arts teacher, asked me, “What made you want to be a writer?” With his tone of voice he might as well said, “dump picker” or “hobo.”<br />
<br />
Years later when I sold an interview to USA Today, for their editorial section, a story that was read by more than two million people, the old man was still unimpressed.<br />
<br />
And yet it was my mother and father who aided my writing career by helping me with my fanzine Inertron.<br />
<br />
And Inertron, a fanzine that never had a print run of more than 100 copies, in many ways, made me the writer that I am today.<br />
<br />
I came to loving horror films late in the day. My mother didn’t want me to see them, as she didn’t want me to read superhero comics – thank you Dr. Wertham. Subsequently as a kid, I freaked out whenever I was exposed to any film with a horror element.<br />
<br />
Living in Montgomery Alabama in 1962, I went to kiddie matinees with my younger brother Patrick. They were run on Saturdays on a continual showing and we walked into the conclusion of “Voyage to the Seventh Planet” with the giant brain with one eye, the alien monster of the story. Gobsmacked, I promptly turned around and marched with my little brother in tow and waited two hours for my parent’s return outside of the theater.<br />
<br />
I lost my movie-going privileges for years because of my actions.<br />
<br />
It wasn’t until junior high school when I decided that I needed to come to grips with this phobia and started watching horror movies on television. I started realizing that actors such as Boris Karloff, whom I came to love, also appeared in non-horror films, so I watched those as well as I found them. Before long I was interested in a variety of films.<br />
<br />
I was pretty much alone in my pursuits at Granby (Mass.) Junior Senior High School. My brother liked a lot of things I liked, but I quickly realized that comic books and monster movies were not the norm. I had learned that prattling about Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing at school was not something I should do. I had enough problems being the new kid in a small town.<br />
<br />
This was before the kind of fandom we know today. Before “fans” were seen as an important demographic group for marketers. Before anyone would have willingly or proudly called themselves a “nerd” or a “geek.”<br />
<br />
Fandom was truly underground. Being a movie fan was acceptable, but seeking out films that most movie fans just seemed to tolerate at best was something else.<br />
<br />
Horror, science fiction and fantasy were seen as marginal genres, bordering ¬– if not crossing the line – on juvenile entertainment.<br />
<br />
Somehow I found out about fanzines. Perhaps it was through Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine and the first one I ordered was Photon #18 in 1969.<br />
<br />
I was smitten beyond belief. Photon was well written, had illustrations by Richard Corben, and Dave Ludwig and featured as a bonus a movie still – a copy of a “Dracula” with Bela Lugosi.<br />
<br />
This all for $1. <br />
<br />
It underscored that I was certainly not alone in my interests, which was actually quite comforting. <br />
<br />
A magazine I could buy in the newsstand that had the same fannish spirit was Larry Ivie’s Monsters and Heroes. A quick search of the Internet reveals little about Ivie, who was clearly a fan, but also a pretty accomplished artist. Ivie featured a story about young people who made their own movies – MADE THEIR OWN MOVIES ?! – that also blew my mind.<br />
<br />
Could non-professionals do such things – publish their own magazines and make their own movies? Apparently the answer was “yes” and I suspected that some of these people were not much older than I was.<br />
<br />
Please understand that being a film fan dedicated to a particular type of movie that didn’t get much serious attention from the mainstream press wasn’t an easy proposition in the era before home video. If you didn’t live in an area with a group of movie theaters, or television stations that elected to buy packages of films with your type of movie included or art house theaters that would bring back older films, then being a fan of such entertainment was difficult.<br />
<br />
Fanzines, in my mind, were the first great step in the democratization of being a serious film fan. Since the establishment press didn’t cover these movies, the fans did through their own publications. <br />
<br />
For example, there is no one on the planet that has done more in advancing the movies made by Hammer Films than Richard Klemensen and his “Little Shoppe of Horrors.” Dick has done an incredible job presenting interviews with the filmmakers and analysis of the films.<br />
<br />
And Hammer movies were never the ones that would receive much attention in the mainstream.<br />
<br />
The idea that I as a callow youth could make my opinion known about movies – and other pop culture subjects – was intoxicating. <br />
<br />
So in 1970, I assembled some high school friends at my house – I believe I was 15 years old – handed out assignments for various reviews, which they obligingly finished. Looking back, I’m amazed they contributed. I’m also amazed that I didn’t wind up being seen as any greater freak that I know some kids viewed me.<br />
<br />
I hit up my teachers at school to be “patrons” – today I don’t recalled what that meant and my mom helped me with typing.<br />
<br />
My mom enjoyed movies, but she had a real aversion to horror films. She told me that as a young woman her favorite actor was Spenser Tracy and she never got over his performance in the glossy MGM version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”<br />
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The thing that stopped so many would-be fanzine publishers didn’t stop me. I wasn’t worried about the cost of printing as I had my own printing press, so to speak.<br />
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My dad had retired from the Air Force and entered teaching. He was a character with a capital “C” and rather than waiting his turn in the print shop of the school, he bought his own A.B. Dick Spirit Duplicator to run off hand-outs for his students.<br />
<br />
Forgotten about today, the spirit duplicator supplanted the mimeograph in school across the country. You typed on special carbon masters that produced the page who wanted to print. As paper passed through the machine a special alcohol would cover the page and dissolve enough of the carbon to leave the imprint on the paper.<br />
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Now I wanted to make Inertron look like a “real” magazine so I wanted to print on both sides, a daunting proposition as I had to make sure the page was dry before I could run it through the machine again otherwise it would become translucent.<br />
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For a cover, I decided to do a silkscreen of Lon Chaney as the Phantom of the Opera. Again, my father was instrumental in helping me reach my goal as it had taught me how to silkscreen.<br />
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The result was a magazine that sold for 35 cents. I managed to sell some at school and placed copies on consignment at a hippie bookstore in nearby Amherst. I sold one copy there.<br />
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I was undaunted, though and decided to keep publishing. For some reason lost to me now, I decided to go digest size. Perhaps I thought I could save on paper.<br />
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“Inertron,” was the substance in an anti-gravity backpack that allowed Buck Rogers in the original comic strip to fly. My mom had brought me a huge hardcover collection the comic strip for Christmas one year and I was struck with the word, so I stole it.<br />
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I have no copies of Inertron #2 left, but I do have the spirit masters. My cover feature was a story on Fu Manchu and I used a shot of Christopher Lee in the role that I received through the Christopher Lee Fan Club. I did use either photocopy or offset for my cover, an improvement.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADZw1N84n98Q5zFa6xc65U_ZvT-sxz7iaT4VDfKXGJ7nH7Fslxq49QPEOCv2gEV4BTZV_LzHmCw0Ec8l7nf59u3RFFdV2JCwyhr74aX7A8swslTFZidXl1ulPTISTeo9XqdsnYw/s1600/Inertron+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhADZw1N84n98Q5zFa6xc65U_ZvT-sxz7iaT4VDfKXGJ7nH7Fslxq49QPEOCv2gEV4BTZV_LzHmCw0Ec8l7nf59u3RFFdV2JCwyhr74aX7A8swslTFZidXl1ulPTISTeo9XqdsnYw/s320/Inertron+2.jpg" /></a><br />
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This time, though, my friends didn’t help and my right hand was my brother Patrick, who shared many of my interests and had those of his own.<br />
<br />
I submitted review copies to other fanzines and was elated when Gary Svehla, the editor of what was known then as Gore Creatures but what is published now as Midnight Marquee.<br />
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Gore Creatures was everything I wanted my ‘zine to be. It was well written and all offset printed. It featured great artists, such as Bill Nelson, Dave Ludwig, Mark Gelotte and Steve Karchin. <br />
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To say I was anxious to see what he said and I was over the moon when I read, “Amazing! Nostalgia works in strange ways. I love Inertron for a very strange reason. It reminds me of the early ditto issues of GC, only it’s better! The ‘zine is very informative and friendly and I think it can go far. I strongly recommend it.” Thanks, Gary!<br />
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Could that have been better? No. Orders started coming in and I decided I wanted to continue. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb59LKsfEX70QNYtjtpzh8VQz_cVHlehNFLqImCmlaO8UF0xZ7PdX6fLeSChDgCIXVAE76h2YoH4pSLBEbkFqheH99ZkSB4DdKaFRoQxPZ5LUVy6ZcGw9N6OJzwhdsppe-pjAGew/s1600/copyright+notice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb59LKsfEX70QNYtjtpzh8VQz_cVHlehNFLqImCmlaO8UF0xZ7PdX6fLeSChDgCIXVAE76h2YoH4pSLBEbkFqheH99ZkSB4DdKaFRoQxPZ5LUVy6ZcGw9N6OJzwhdsppe-pjAGew/s320/copyright+notice.jpg" /></a><br />
<i>Getting this form back seems to make everything I had done "official."</i><br />
<br />
Issue #3 came out in 1972 – my senior year in high school. My brother did the cover, a pen and ink drawing of Christopher Lee as Dracula.<br />
<br />
The third issue was significant for the addition of Kevin Shinnick as a writer. He was a great contributor and made me think of myself more as an editor. Kevin contributed an interview with fellow fanzine editor/publisher Bill George, which was the first interview we printed.<br />
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Although more of the issue was offset, I still used dad’s ditto machine. Working with the masters was not fun. If you spotted a typo you could take a sharp blade and scrape the carbon off that spot and then correct it. Luckily for me my late mother did most of the typing.<br />
<br />
My parents had little tolerance for the material that clearly enthralled me and yet they supported this enterprise, as did my moviemaking, which started in high school. My dad went to a local camera shop and brought home a wonderful Bolex Super 8 camera and turned it over to me. I wanted to make live action films, but quickly realized I had a very shallow talent pool for actors. Instead I turned to stop motion animation. I recorded sound tracks on our reel-to-reel recorder and would sync the projector and the audio up as best I could.<br />
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In issue three, I started a series of articles that I dubbed “The Anti-Rip-off Page.” A reader and contributor, Ed Learner, had had a bad experience ordering items from the Cadillac of monster film magazines Castle of Frankenstein. So had I. It became a popular feature and appeared in each subsequent issue.<br />
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I also started printing movie stills from my small collection as “fold-outs.” It was as close as I could get to Photon’s bonus still. <br />
<br />
I soon realized that having a good interview with a well-known figure from fantasy, science fiction or horror could boost the standing of your magazine and somehow I snagged a big one – Flash Gordon himself, Buster Crabbe for issue four in late 1972.<br />
<br />
I had learned that Crabbe lived in Rye, N.Y. and had managed to find an address. He graciously consented to a telephone interview. In those days you could buy a microphone that you attach to your phone with a suction cup and tape a conversation onto a cassette recorder. I still have the original tape. <br />
<br />
I sat in the kitchen nervously tapping my foot as I talked with him.<br />
<br />
At that time, Crabbe was riding a wave of nostalgia that brought attention again to performers such as Buffalo Bob Smith of “Howdy Doody” fame and Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger himself.<br />
<br />
It was the first time that the childhood heroes of the Baby Boomers saw they had a second or third career as college students rediscovered them.<br />
<br />
Clarence Linden “Buster” Crabbe came to prominence in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics as a gold-medal winning swimmer. His athletic fame was translated into a contract with Paramount Pictures. <br />
<br />
Crabbe was a utility player at Paramount. He was handsome and had a great physique, something which was played up in his first starring role as a Tarzan-like hero in “King of the Jungle” in 1933. He was never deemed by Paramount brass, though, as anyone who was “A” film material.<br />
<br />
Instead Crabbe found himself as a supporting player or as the lead in program pictures. Perhaps his most prominent role for many people was in the W.C. Fields comedy, “You’re Telling Me.”<br />
<br />
His place, though, in cinema history was assured with the success of the three “Flash Gordon” serial in which Crabbe played the comic strip hero. Serials were deemed as entertainment for children and other not so demanding audiences, but the Flash Gordon serials received a prominence that few serials reached.<br />
<br />
After his contract with Paramount ran out in 1940, he found a new home at PRC, the lowest of the low budget studios where Crabbe made westerns and jungle adventure films.<br />
<br />
In the 1950s, Crabbe made numerous appearances on television and had his own successful series, “Capt. Gallant of the Foreign Legion.”<br />
<br />
Acting took a back seat starting in the 1950s, when Crabbe became involved with several profitable businesses – a swimming camp, an affiliation with a pool company and work as a stockbroker.<br />
<br />
Crabbe had made his final film, a comedy titled “The Comeback Trail,” in which he played a retired cowboy. He was clearly enthusiastic about the film, which received scant theatrical release and has yet to appear on home video.<br />
<br />
He died in 1983.<br />
<br />
One thing I learned at the tender age I conducted this interview is just because a statement about an actor or director is made in a book by a film historian that doesn’t mean it’s true. Crabbe refuted two “facts” that were stated about him.<br />
<br />
Also in my ignorance, I sort of had an idea that if you worked in a genre of film – such a serials or low budget Westerns – you knew other people who worked in similar films. That wasn’t necessarily the case.<br />
<br />
Here is the interview:<br />
<br />
Since you were an Olympic champion I was wondering what your opinions were of this year’s Olympics [1972 in Munich, Germany].<br />
<br />
“Well, I think it was very poorly handled, much to be desired management wise. I certainly didn’t agree with taking the Gold Medal away from the youngster Demanche who won the 400 meters, he’s the one who had the asthmatic condition with the pill. I think it’s inexcusable that two boys were sleeping when they were supposed to be up for the preliminaries and that began with, I feel, the coach’s and management’s fault, not the athletes’.<br />
<br />
“The basketball was certainly an all fouled-up affair and if I had anything to do with the Montreal Olympics in 1976 I certainly would take a wary eye at what might happen before they spent a lot of money preparing for the 1976 Olympic Games.”<br />
<br />
There is a new book out entitled “Heroes, Heavies and Sagebrush” that claims your first movie was “Island of Lost Souls” with Charles Laughton. Is that true?<br />
<br />
“No, I was not in that film at all. My first was ‘King of the Jungle,’ a Tarzan-like picture Paramount made and released in 1933. I don’t know where that ‘Island of Lost Souls’ came from.”<br />
<br />
I was wondering if that had been any rivalry between you and Johnny Weissmuller?<br />
<br />
“Sure there was.”<br />
<br />
When you were both Tarzan?<br />
<br />
“Well, no. I never considered myself a Tarzan. I thought you were talking about the competitive days. You know he’s older than I am and I started off as a kid racing him. After the ’28 [Olympic] games he retired from swimming and started in the movies in 1930.”<br />
<br />
Did you make up your own Tarzan yell?<br />
<br />
“No. The Tarzan yell, which was learned by a lot of kids – the original Tarzan yell, the one Weissmuller did – was the brainwork of my wife’s father, a fellow named Tom Held, who was a cutter at MGM. They didn’t know what kid of yell they were going to do and believe it or not, it turned out to be not one voice. The original Tarzan yell was three – a baritone, a tenor and a hog caller. Then Weissmuller learned it and every kid in the neighborhood learned the Tarzan call, too. So they used it ever since, but originally it was three voices, three separate voices all melted together.”<br />
<br />
I know that you worked with W.C. Fields on a picture.<br />
<br />
“Oh yes, I worked on two.”<br />
<br />
Do you have any stories of him?<br />
<br />
“He was just as he was on the screen. As a matter of fact, this nostalgic thing has been a plus for his films. Box office-wise his films drew, but he wasn’t a big tremendous box office star. I would hazard this: that the Fields pictures are doing better now than when they were first released 30 or 40 years ago.”<br />
<br />
Do you ever get tired of being recognized as Flash Gordon?<br />
<br />
“Well, no. You know, you didn’t have the coverage in the old days in the middle ‘30s and early ‘40s, you didn’t have the coverage you do now with television. Not that many people recognized me. More people recognize me now even though I’m older, as having played Flash Gordon than in the ‘30s and ‘40s, I think. They run the things on television and let’s say it plays to two million people. A serial that played to two million people might have taken two years to do it.”<br />
<br />
You were one of the top Western stars. Who were your favorite cowboy stars?<br />
<br />
“Well, Tom Mix. I used to see him as a kid. I thought he was really tops – Col. Tim McCoy, too. I liked [Wild Bill] Elliot very much in fact. You know, nothing fancy in dress and what not.” <br />
<br />
I was just reading Jim Harmon and Don Glut’s new book, “the Great Serial Heroes,” that you were offered the role of Superman first in the serial which eventually starred Kirk Alyn. Is this true?<br />
<br />
“No, that’s not true.”<br />
<br />
I heard that you’ve finished a new movie with Chuck McCann in it.<br />
<br />
“Well it’s a thing called 'Comeback Trail,' and the deal is that it is supposed to be previewed now. It was made a year and a half ago, but they have been stalling on the cutting. However, I think that it’s going to be a very funny Western, a semblance to a Western, take it or leave it – it’s in a Western locale.<br />
<br />
[Note: 'The Comeback Trail' never received a wide theatrical release and is not readily available on home video.]<br />
<br />
“The plot is about a couple of fellows, Chuck McCann and Bob Staats, who are producers of skin flicks, horrible skin flicks and they have to do something to make some money because they owe a lot of money.<br />
<br />
“In checking over the bills they owe they come across an item of insurance and Chuck wants to know what this $12,000 worth of insurance is about. Bob explains that when you make a film, you’ve got to insure it in case anything happens, you know, if the negative film is destroyed by fire or some such thing.<br />
<br />
“The wheels begin to roll and they decide to make a Western film and instead of taking a young fellow whom they could develop into a Western star, they pick an old fellow for a reason.<br />
<br />
“They’re going to make him do all of his own stunts, all his own falls off of horses ad infinitum, hoping to bring on a heart attack and have him drop dead on the set so they can collect the insurance.<br />
<br />
“They insure the film for $2 million and go about finding the fellow and it turns out to be me.<br />
<br />
“All during the film we go along telling our story, you see it’s a film within a film – you see us actually getting ready to shoot the scenes for the film – it bounces back and they never do succeed in putting me away, so to speak.<br />
<br />
“That’s the story. It’s a funny picture, a real funny picture. These fellows are good; they work well together like a Laurel and Hardy team. I think that after the film is shown and I’ve only seen a couple of days work and some cuts – I’ve never seen even a rough cut of it – but watching the fellow work together and whatnot I really think that they have a chance of getting to be a comedy team a la Laurel and Hardy.”<br />
<br />
Other than your Flash Gordon role, which role is your favorite?<br />
<br />
“Well, I like the 'Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion' – that was 65 films we made for television in 1954 and ‘56– because my son was in it. I enjoyed making that series. He was with me all the time and that was kind of fun.”<br />
<br />
Speaking of that series, some people would condemn it today because its supposed excess of violence would be detrimental to Saturday morning viewers.<br />
<br />
“Oh that is so very wrong! Take a look at what they have on the screen now! This is tame compared to what’s going on now! Look at cowboy pictures that they make now. Look at pictures Clint Eastwood and people like that make! Blood and thunder! This, they looked down upon 25 and 30 years ago. No, we don’t even hold a candle to what’s going on, Too much violence? That’s asinine.”<br />
<br />
Well, it was bothering me because I was raised on your Foreign Legion show and the old Lone Ranger series.<br />
<br />
Sure, they were a lot of fun. If they try tried to shoot you and they weren’t successful you shot them, you know, it was one of those things. But violence wise we don’t even compare.”<br />
<br />
Which role have you enjoyed most in life: that of an athlete, movie star or a businessman?<br />
<br />
“I never really considered myself a movie star. One of the reasons for that is that I never had a top grade triple A script and a top grade triple A director and producer. I never had the chance to work with a real big director in the business. The result is that I made action pictures, which turned out to be fortunate for me. The Billy the Kid Westerns, all the Westerns I did for Paramount, the serials I made and the other action things stood me in good stead because when television came along they sort of resurrected me, so to speak.<br />
<br />
“But I always considered myself, when I was a college student and before that, as a fair to middling swimmer and I go for the physical fitness type of thing, That’s why I’m involved in the Masters Swimming program now, which is for guys and gals who aren’t so young anymore.<br />
<br />
I was reading a book by William K. Everson who said that your career, like that of W.C. Fields’ Paramount career, was mismanaged by the studio.<br />
<br />
“I think that they could have really done something with it had they put on their thinking caps and brought me along. They took me dripping wet of out of a swimming pool.’<br />
<br />
“Now don’t misunderstand me, I had a year in law school and wasn’t a dummy who came out of left field or anything like that. I think with a little bit of grooming and the right kind of coaching then I might have been able to do something, but that’s over the hill now.<br />
<br />
“I was there a long time at Paramount and I did what I was told – you know body and soul belonging to Paramount Studios. The type of comedy that Fields did, I don’t think they appreciated. I think that they could have done a better job promoting him – tours and things. Maybe he turned them down, I don’t know, maybe he said the hell with them – “I don’t want to go on the road “ – but I kind of doubt this because he came off vaudeville back east here. I think the man has a point particularly in regard to W.C. Fields.”<br />
<br />
Well, he mentioned in the book that they gave you a fairly good starting picture, “King of the Jungle.”<br />
<br />
“King of the Jungle” was fine, but it was the “Me Tarzan, you Jane” type of thing. The word got out around the studio that regardless of my background – you know, college and a year of law school – that “he looks fine if you’ve got a life guard part, you strip him down and put him in a G-string, he’s okay, don’t give him any dialogue.” This is what I had to live down the first two or three years there.”<br />
<br />
Would you like to do more films after this last one?<br />
<br />
“Oh yeah, sure, I’d like to work in a movie. Of course, I’d have to be a character [actor] now. I love to play heavies. I had more fun playing the heavy than the lead by far. Love to play the real nasty guy.”<br />
<br />
My brother did a drawing of Crabbe for the cover and I had a very timely piece of luck. Famous Monsters was offering a free classified ad to fans and in the 100th anniversary issue, they ran mine for Inertron # 4. Suddenly I was even more on the radar and received orders for Inertron and fanzines to review.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAWWX6bNnR3XjhSqvv0kFFMIeUaZiVMqkSalXl_UblmReDCJRfUrXHTlUimQQAKON-KHDOPWW0DmN_pLxzXGHgaFcmDm8rmUEDRjmwG1TJISh87FuOUJ3aObzCdH5vA_9s3QSLFA/s1600/fM100.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAWWX6bNnR3XjhSqvv0kFFMIeUaZiVMqkSalXl_UblmReDCJRfUrXHTlUimQQAKON-KHDOPWW0DmN_pLxzXGHgaFcmDm8rmUEDRjmwG1TJISh87FuOUJ3aObzCdH5vA_9s3QSLFA/s320/fM100.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0r03VrSkyVp6TZgE2fauSegjTt8uaTgr0be_MTanPtQ0nlwjvMXQmjBLY8ackdyYvx7IPqUOEGafeBMwAwzx9vEa1OnNNjnfGYWRsP1Amksn3Z9efBZfz9SHb8mztnFgFAN8E1g/s1600/Fm+100+AD.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0r03VrSkyVp6TZgE2fauSegjTt8uaTgr0be_MTanPtQ0nlwjvMXQmjBLY8ackdyYvx7IPqUOEGafeBMwAwzx9vEa1OnNNjnfGYWRsP1Amksn3Z9efBZfz9SHb8mztnFgFAN8E1g/s320/Fm+100+AD.jpg" /></a><br />
Inertron #4 was also the first all offset issue and I felt that I had made a quantum leap in quality. If course it was still crude by almost any standard, but I shared the desire of every fanzine editor I ever knew to constantly try to improve the look and content of the ‘sine.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumPYi1I5bhIW05klr24hi-f4yAo1ggcRbi8ElE5YshIqFlj9sLxEpcQ8IBIdFQFni1pfADjE7X7J6ShI5lj9doVyg5RokahsQS3olHYkxyesX70zGLW6l676tNQYWqvbxQHtgdw/s1600/inertron+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhumPYi1I5bhIW05klr24hi-f4yAo1ggcRbi8ElE5YshIqFlj9sLxEpcQ8IBIdFQFni1pfADjE7X7J6ShI5lj9doVyg5RokahsQS3olHYkxyesX70zGLW6l676tNQYWqvbxQHtgdw/s320/inertron+3.jpg" /></a><br />
It was the better part of two years later that I produced by fifth issue. I blamed the delay on college.<br />
<br />
“Well, here it is 1974 and I am way behind my schedule for this magazine. A fanzine editor’s life can be a frustrating one. One wants to work on the up-coming ish, but there’s always a test or a paper that needs your immediate attention. This semester at the University of Massachusetts, I was teaching a course in the history of the American Movie. The students got one credit and I got $150 and a lot of experience. No wonder some professors go nuts! College students can be a trying lot to an instructor,” I wrote in my column at the end of the issue.<br />
<br />
I was now attracting some fine writers such as Jim Doherty, Steve Bashaw and John Antosiewicz, as well as continuing with Kevin Shinnick.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XS5QkBuJ7S9o_NHcpKElqXrWNYKHJdgSBDvsyzRxQIFAiKON11uzQMltExxz3139hsl7tltN-wZHUyb06v1f2L3LkV38ghyphenhyphenZEd89Y_qsc0h5BlzwpPTGHx1xY8YNGYrYOp_GnA/s1600/Inertron+5.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XS5QkBuJ7S9o_NHcpKElqXrWNYKHJdgSBDvsyzRxQIFAiKON11uzQMltExxz3139hsl7tltN-wZHUyb06v1f2L3LkV38ghyphenhyphenZEd89Y_qsc0h5BlzwpPTGHx1xY8YNGYrYOp_GnA/s320/Inertron+5.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I was also being asked to contribute to other fanzines, something, which deepened my confidence.<br />
<br />
The sixth and final issue of my fanzine was published in 1975 and I wrote as an introduction, “You are holding in your hand the product of much sweat, worry, money and joy. This sixth issue has been the most rewarding and yet the most frustrating INT I’ve published.”<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7x4DiYvV6J7YBAXryIB3VcJIs_BjKCw9T-7yNgmsLRhJuL_YPRHNkw9PABgABrWlJ_GGzDFy8YWAnZPUvs4dtVFYf2cR8t45GZnslsZ70nEU_zLFjXzrzVK0S2QfjiMpjWcP2VQ/s1600/INTERTRON+6+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7x4DiYvV6J7YBAXryIB3VcJIs_BjKCw9T-7yNgmsLRhJuL_YPRHNkw9PABgABrWlJ_GGzDFy8YWAnZPUvs4dtVFYf2cR8t45GZnslsZ70nEU_zLFjXzrzVK0S2QfjiMpjWcP2VQ/s320/INTERTRON+6+cover.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sgfJkczf-vHL4rEckZ687bZxhh-LOrtsPJTA2yC6_Wam-LbFJZFRhYvk-NOj5hj_S5ObHwNyOZUihXfjlNbmxgBwLbLpxNLo_Q8irbWU74OAEYdm-He9txKefnq3BOvcZGB6-w/s1600/inertron+6+indetia.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1sgfJkczf-vHL4rEckZ687bZxhh-LOrtsPJTA2yC6_Wam-LbFJZFRhYvk-NOj5hj_S5ObHwNyOZUihXfjlNbmxgBwLbLpxNLo_Q8irbWU74OAEYdm-He9txKefnq3BOvcZGB6-w/s320/inertron+6+indetia.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
I continued, “ You remember that I had said that the nest issue of INT would be ready by Halloween of ’74. This statement was made because of an agreement that had been made with a local printer. However when it came time to begin printing, he changed the price that we agreed on and then states that he would do the work when he felt like it.<br />
<br />
“Not having the money to go out to another printer and get the ‘zine done, I waited until now – tax refund times! This waiting time has resulted in things: a better issue of INT and a decision not to lose money on the ‘zine anymore. The next issue of INT will be out in September and will cost $1.25. However I’m really going to make sure that your get your money’s worth.”<br />
<br />
More on my cunning plan to continue publishing will follow.<br />
<br />
The sixth issue featured an interview I conducted with William M. Gaines, the legendary publisher of EC Comics and MAD magazine. Gaines was great to me and even sent a note of encouragement.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZKFigmrMGerqzlbq0jDDcBz6Kfg-ii5Qs7-RfvekDkf_SvzjU4Fiqq29c5IzY6nYg5juvxwC0HJ2u8XURw5F9K0iEIxPoR1_yw_6esACFijOepmjgEf774dKX1iJ6H31SnxYIQ/s1600/gaines+drawing.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIZKFigmrMGerqzlbq0jDDcBz6Kfg-ii5Qs7-RfvekDkf_SvzjU4Fiqq29c5IzY6nYg5juvxwC0HJ2u8XURw5F9K0iEIxPoR1_yw_6esACFijOepmjgEf774dKX1iJ6H31SnxYIQ/s640/gaines+drawing.jpg" width="505" /></a><br />
<br />
<i>Michael Moyle drew this caricature of William Gaines for me.</i><br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-s74uMuucJEQKB1BfInrVktFajaaG7Y7dKemW02_PZKxjZAoirqKl4lhlnqcwxwAGhY_uxZ7KhQal_Ax3duW5OoGfkWJIF3rXM2N1Wyr6Gv9BrRyUO3iANeYJxuKpJNznf92fQ/s1600/gaines+page+1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-s74uMuucJEQKB1BfInrVktFajaaG7Y7dKemW02_PZKxjZAoirqKl4lhlnqcwxwAGhY_uxZ7KhQal_Ax3duW5OoGfkWJIF3rXM2N1Wyr6Gv9BrRyUO3iANeYJxuKpJNznf92fQ/s640/gaines+page+1.jpg" width="548" /></a><br />
<br />
The Gaines piece was the first time I took something from my fanzine and was able to make a professional sale. The local alternative weekly, The Valley Advocate, published an edited version and I was very pleased to have broken into being a professional writer.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqVMJ99yrH9F1ZYWDhGOBwZMkw81Dt46Nsunb1lfWoqrbj4ld1q_dDPjpr3sR_2BjWpKzAdhuASwr9v6uhEWhNdwNiFEbFAMs8KWML_uwjLxId-GYAY7_bFcngqgdHo9aA01EbQ/s1600/Bill+Gaines+note.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoqVMJ99yrH9F1ZYWDhGOBwZMkw81Dt46Nsunb1lfWoqrbj4ld1q_dDPjpr3sR_2BjWpKzAdhuASwr9v6uhEWhNdwNiFEbFAMs8KWML_uwjLxId-GYAY7_bFcngqgdHo9aA01EbQ/s640/Bill+Gaines+note.jpg" width="426" /></a><br />
<br />
<i>This note from Gaines made my day. I wound up interviewing him twice more over the years.</i><br />
<br />
I tried something different visually with the film reviews and asked a talented artist, Michael Moyle, at UMass help me design the page with a number of monster caricatures.<br />
<br />
So by the time I had published this sixth and last issue, I had several interviews with noted figures under my belt, I was starting to play around with the use of graphics and collaborating with an artist and had learned of the advantage of taking something that had appeared in one publications, revamping it to make a sale in another – all valuable lessons for my life ahead.<br />
<br />
I was about to learn another: when to pull the plug.<br />
<br />
I had decided to make my fanzine a break-even operation and thought what I would do is to solicit advance orders for the regular edition and send out a mini-zine free every month. I didn’t get the orders I needed and dropped the whole idea.<br />
<br />
In the latter part of 1976, after graduation, I sent our to a number of regular readers a newsletter that I thought, again, if the reaction to is was positive I would get back to what is now called self-publishing.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1tL5FnKfxyUdpxUjkwn9T_59HrARMeP3CE1hXgSHgbtz0Mfp05ozUOYoND1NL_Mm2vhXvzWa-xvscKlNH1Y_4BbcpDAss95WFI_DJuVTHTJhn20Rsf_xdpgZiJtasO2lvnw8C0g/s1600/half-pint.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1tL5FnKfxyUdpxUjkwn9T_59HrARMeP3CE1hXgSHgbtz0Mfp05ozUOYoND1NL_Mm2vhXvzWa-xvscKlNH1Y_4BbcpDAss95WFI_DJuVTHTJhn20Rsf_xdpgZiJtasO2lvnw8C0g/s640/half-pint.jpg" width="500" /></a><br />
<br />
I wrote, “So where have I been and why haven’t I kept in touch with folks and published Half Pint and Inertron? Well, I’ll tell you. The response to the last issue of Inertron was less than encouraging. People just didn’t; comment, much less contribute and except for a few hardy souls there were no advance orders for the next issue of Inertron. This confirmed my suspicions that people would not pay more than $1 for my zine and I, quite frankly, let my other interests take the limelight.”<br />
<br />
Those interests were primarily finding a job.<br />
<br />
I had, by this time, started researching the Fleischer Studios and went back to fanzines with articles about their animated cartoons, first in Mindrot (later Animania) and then in Animato, which my business partner and I bought in 1992. With professional distribution, Animato was part of the all-too-brief heyday of small press publications on film and pop culture, many of which paid its contributors. This era was undermined by the decline of independent distributors and, in my case with Animation Planet, my successor to Animato, the bubble bursting in the animation art field, my primarily advertising base.<br />
<br />
Once again I had to call it quits and walk away without too much regret.<br />
<br />
I admire the people today who publish magazines such as Phantom of the Movies VideoZone and Shock Cinema and buy them faithfully. They have the spirit of the fanzines I loved so much in a professional package.<br />
<br />
So much of what I became professionally was due to my experience with what it is now considered a quaint curio of the pre-Internet era. I still buy amateur and independent publications when I see them and I tip my hat to anyone who is willing to create a physical artifact and out it into the marketplace. <br />
<br />
©2013 by Gordon Michael DobbsMike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-19437483220809253202013-02-17T13:39:00.000-08:002013-02-17T13:39:05.635-08:00<b><br />
This is the first part of a draft of my chapter on the silent cartoons of Max Fleischer.</b><br />
<br />
In just a few short years, Max Fleischer went from being a hired hand at the Bray Studios to the head of not just his own studio, but of a releasing company, which expanded and then imploded under its own weight.<br />
<br />
It must have been a heady ride for Max and his brother Dave. Breaking off from Bray in 1921, by August, 1926 Max’s Red Seal Pictures Corp. announced how it was releasing a series of live-action comedies as well as the Out of the Inkwell cartoons, the “Ko-Ko Song Car-tunes,” newsreels, the “Animated Hair Cartoons,” and many more shorts.<br />
<br />
Red Seal had 22 exchanges throughout the country and did not rely on the states rights method of getting their films into theaters.<br />
But, as fast as the rise was to the top, the ride down was equally quick. By November 1926, Max had lost control of Red Seal and was soon an employee in his own company.<br />
<br />
How did the film industry, audiences and critics view animation in the 1920s? An interesting perspective is provided by “The Best Moving Pictures of 1922-23” edited by Robert E. Sherwood, a prominent critic of the time whose reviews appeared in “Life” and the New York Herald.<br />
Sherwood introduced his chapter on the year’s short subjects by writing, “It is unfortunate that this book must necessarily be devoted to consideration of feature pictures (of five or more reels in length), with insufficient consideration of short subjects: comedies, scenics, animated cartoons, news reels and travel pictures. I do not hold with the notion that a one or two reel film is not better than ‘filler,’ and may dismissed as such. Many of the best pictures that have been compressed into brief form.<br />
<br />
“I don’t want to ignore that short subjects and yet I am painfully aware of the fact that it is utterly impossible for an one writer to comment authoritatively on this tremendously wide field. There are so many hundreds of short subjects and their release schedules so uncertain, that I have been unable to cover them with any great degree of accuracy.<br />
<br />
“However there have been certain producers whose one- and two reel products have stood out from the rest …”<br />
Sherwood then details how Buster Keaton was the leader of the shorts performers and writes later in the essay, “Foremost among the animated cartoons have been Paul Terry’s ‘Aesop’s Fables’ and Pat Sullivan’s ‘Felix the Cat.’ The romantic adventures of Mutt and Jeff have been discontinued, but Max Fleischer’s ‘Out of the Inkwell’ goes on.”<br />
<br />
It’s vital to assess cartoons from 1920 until the mid-1950s understanding several important points. Exhibitors competed with one another. In this era in which chain theaters are alike, it’s difficult to imagine that theater owners were considered showmen who cared deeply about what they presented in their theaters and how they presented it.<br />
<br />
As they had done in vaudeville, owners of movie theaters assembled elements of features and shorts that they believed would attract and satisfy their audience. They did so by building programs. Many of these programs were assembled for both adults and children.<br />
Cartoons were among those building blocks. Just like comic strips were a selling point for newspapers during that time, the right cartoon series could contribute to a theater’s success.<br />
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That’s why the trade papers of the day actually paid attention to short subjects and to animated cartoons.<br />
Film Daily, for instance frequently noted how the larger New York theaters were programmed by announcing that a particular house had certain live acts or performances – many larger theaters had more than just an organist or pianist during the silent era, but a full band. These notices carried which specific feature was shown with which shorts. The goal was to give other theaters owners in smaller markets an idea of what was happening in the larger communities. Max’s cartoons were part of that mix in some of the best-known venues in the city.<br />
Contributing mightily to the success of an animated cartoon series was how it was being distributed. Even if a producer made the best series from an artistic viewpoint, it did him little good if he couldn’t get his product into theaters.<br />
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There were two basic ways to distribute a motion picture. Several of the major studios owned theater chains that featured their own product. Many independent producers needed a middleman to get bookings. One of the most common approaches for them was to sell their films through the state rights system. Essentially, a producer would franchise his product to a booker who had a territory. That booker would seek theaters to show the films he represented.<br />
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Max used this system and, in a Film Daily trade ad on Aug. 6, 1922, announced he was “seeking territories through state rights distribution” for his “Out of the Inkwell” cartoons, “a marvel of comedy creations.”<br />
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In 1921, Warner Brothers had distributed the Fleischer product. It wasn’t long that Max attracted the attention of Margaret Winkler, an important player in the history of American animation. In an industry dominated by men, Winkler was a pioneer – the first woman to produce and distribute animated cartoons.<br />
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Besides distributing the Out of the Inkwell shorts, Winkler also distributed Pat Sullivan’s “Felix” shorts and Walt Disney’s “Alice in Cartoonland” films. Marrying producer Charles Mintz, Winkler eventually turned more of the business over to him, according to Donald Crafton in his landmark book “Before Mickey.”<br />
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In the Nov. 3 1922 edition of Film Daily, it was reported that Winkler, had “secured the second series of Max Fleischer’s 13 single reel ‘Out of the Inkwell’ comedies for distribution in the United States and Canada.” A few days after that the paper announced that Winkler had a distributor lined up for both the Ko-Ko and the Felix cartoons for the greater New York area.<br />
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The Out of the Inkwell shorts were being seen and reviewed well. Film Daily’s reviewer noted in its March 18, 1923 edition, “This one of Max Fleischer’s ‘Inkwell’ comedies shows the little imp from the inkwell annoying the artist who is trying to sleep. To punish the imp, he draws a high cliff and puts the little clown on its pinnacle so that he cannot get down. The clown goes to sleep and dreams – wild cartoon dreams of a giant and a cave and other things and the artist goes to sleep and dreams that the imp is chasing him all over the city in his pajamas. There are numerous laughs and the reel should have no difficulty in amusing your folks.” <br />
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Max’s interests during this early success were growing, though, beyond the animated short.<br />
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It may initially be difficult today to understand just how large a media star Albert Einstein was in the 1920s, but the nature of his fame certainly explained why an independent film producer would gamble on releasing a documentary that explained Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.<br />
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Considering that Dr. Stephen Hawking has made appearances on episodes of “Star Trek The Next Generation” and “The Big Bang Theory,” a film on Einstein’s best-known work shouldn’t seem too much a stretch to a contemporary audience.<br />
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Producer Edwin Miles Fadiman bought the rights to a German documentary on the subject, which he turned over to Max and Professor Garrett P. Service for re-editing and the addition of title cards. Service was a journalist turned scientist who had written many popular books on astronomical topics. Like Max, he also had a connection to Popular Science. Service had been lauded as a writer who could translate science to appeal to “the man on the street.”<br />
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The two men completed two versions: a two reel short and a four-reel feature titled “Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.”<br />
On Dec. 8, 1922 Film Daily reported Max would complete his editing work that week for the feature. Max’s interest in the film grew as he was named an “officer and director” in Premiere Productions, which produced the film. <br />
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Some people have claimed that this was Max’s first animated feature film as it was released early in February 1923. The film is almost all live-action footage designed to illustrate the points of the theory, although Max did produce some limited animation.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nb7GzyUemO0?list=PLYkANRmww0Eqvun7opHl2e1XmmmEqyYAN" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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The film – apparently the 40-minute version – actually received a three-week run at Rivoli Theater in New York City, according to Moving Picture World. Fadiman then released the film through his Premiere Productions and boasted in a trade ad that he had signed contracts for runs at Sid Grauman’s theaters in Los Angeles, McVicker’s Theater in Chicago and “booked solid over the Marcus Loew Circuit.”<br />
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The review by C.S. Sewell in Moving Picture World noted, “because of the large amount of newspaper publicity accorded this revolutionary theory considerable interest was aroused in the average person’s mind as to what it was all about.<br />
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“The film translated into non-scientific terms and with easily understood illustrations of the different points is a commendable effort to satisfy this curiosity.”<br />
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Essentially, the movie was an exploitation film, which took advantage of the stir in the press about the theory.<br />
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Sewell wrote the four-reel version is “a little more complicated and carries the explanation a little further, which is intended for school and colleges.”<br />
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As movie trade reviewers would do, Sewell also discussed the box office potential for the films. “So out of the ordinary is this film that is furnishes no definite basis of comparison with any other from a showman’s standpoint and it would appear to be a question for each individual exhibitor to decide as to whether it will appeal to his patrons.”<br />
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“Rush,” the reviewer from Variety, certainly had another view of the film. The critic wrote, “The picture occupying just 40 minutes and doesn’t hold for that stretch of time. What inspired them to book it into the Broadway film house is a mystery. A title quotes Einstein as saying that only 12 scientists in the world are capable of understanding the theory. That ought to be enough to keep it from boring a mixed lay assemblage if Valentino and Swanson fans and the army of women who do their popular science reading in May Manton and the Butterick publications.<br />
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“The film isn’t even illuminating in a popular way. It doesn’t explain anything that wasn’t already clear. It seems a waste of footage to create elaborate and intricate diagrams to demonstrate that if you step off the earth’s surface there is no such thing as east and west; that there is no meaning to the conception of large and small unless you establish some fixed standard of comparison and that fast and slow don’t mean a thing except in relation to something else. It’s just a labored exposition of the obvious. The picture toils through a morass of these elemental matters and then gets down to the obtuse substance of Einstein’s theories.<br />
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“The conception of bent space and bent light rays is illustrated by elaborate diagram, but they give no enlightenment. They use up an immense footage to demonstrate that if a man walks toward the stern of a moving boat at the boat’s exact speed forward, he is standing still in relation to the shore, but moving backward in relation to the boat itself. A title would have covered that. But when they come to deal with that bending of light they merely declare the principle and let it go at that.<br />
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“The diagrams are extremely ingenious to elucidate obvious things but when they get Einstein into the rarefied atmosphere of pure scientific reasoning they are baffling and the spectator is befogged. The thing is meaningless and gets down to the mere juggling of words. They establish the meaning of the yardstick of ‘time space’ and then describe the mysterious ‘fourth dimension.’ If the three known dimensions are up and down, right and left, and near and far, the fourth is ‘sooner or later.’<br />
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“The whole thing is about as clear and useful as this description of it, and it will probably bore the film fan stiff.” <br />
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I have seen several prints of the film at several different times but they have always been the two-reel version of the film. It’s possible the four-reel version has not survived.<br />
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I tend to agree with “Rush,” more than Sewell in a contemporary assessment of the film. It’s not the engaging film to watch and I’ve never seen it with a musical accompaniment, which certainly adds a certain burden to it. What does fascinate me about the film is its earnest effort to explain this theory for the masses. There is a certain democratization at work, but of course, with the real motive being to make money about a subject that is in the news.<br />
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Later in 1923, another documentary on which Max worked was released, “Adventures in the Far North.” Max apparently edited the film which was initially released as a five-reeler – about 50 minutes – but later trimmed to a four-reel version.<br />
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According to a Sept. 13, 1923 review in Variety, the film was “ a consistent digest of the travels of Captain [F.E.] and Mrs. Kleinschmidt through the inner passage to Alaska, which extended over a distance of 5,000 miles from Seattle and return … The trip was made on a former submarine chase which Capt. Kleinschmidt now calls the ‘Silver Screen,’ with him supervising the work of several camera men who made the picture. The trip began in May 1922 and lasted seven months … Scenes in Glacier Bay show the breaking up of a 40-foot sea wall and the huge waves caused by the collapse, the capture of a school of whales and the disposition of their carcasses at the whaling station … A thrilling is where Capt. Kleinschmidt, his wife and a cameraman are adrift on an ice floe and [are] forced to seek refuge on the top of a giant iceberg.”<br />
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Kleinschmidt was a veteran documentary filmmaker who had risen to some prominence in 1914 when his film “Arctic Hunt” was shown to members of Congress, according to Moving Picture World, “who were then legislating or trying to legislate upon Alaskan affairs. The captain’s information in motion pictures was greatly valued by the legislators, who freely declared that nothing less than a trip to a long residence in the territory could have supplied them with the facts recorded by the captain’s pictures.”<br />
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Max’s daughter Ruth recounted to me how a sequence involving Kleinschmidt capturing a polar bear cub, but relenting and returning it to the mother was a section of the film that Max had deliberately included.<br />
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Film Daily’s review of May 14, 1923 noted that sequence. “By far the most interesting of all, though, are the pictures of a huge white polar bear swimming with her young offspring hanging on. Remarkable are the shots showing the efforts to rope in the young bear and the frantic attempts of the mother to battle off the captors and her eventual content when the little bear is allowed to go free.”<br />
The Film Daily review concluded, “The picture is worthy of exhibition anywhere and should be heartily received.”<br />
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Considering Max’s pride in his work in the Signal Corps in World War I producing instructional films, one might draw the conclusion that these films spoke to his love of science. Perhaps, as well, they added a greater legitimacy to his career than the animated adventures of Ko-Ko.<br />
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Max’s career as an editor of non-fiction footage took an interesting turn in October 1925 when Moving Picture World announced that he had signed a contract with Urban-Kineto Corp. to be “editor in chief” of two new films series for the company, “Reelviews” and “Searchlights.” <br />
“Reelviews” appears to have been a newsreel series and the story reported that “Fleischer will have a staff of cameramen, reaching around the world, ready at a moment’s notice to go out and take the needed scenes” – undoubtedly a bit of press release hyperbole.<br />
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Charles Urban’s company produced non-fiction short subjects, one of which, “Nature’s Handiwork” secured a favorable mention in a New York Times movie column in February 1921.<br />
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According to an essay written by Luke McKernan, Urban was a film pioneer who had built a large library of stock footage. He was also a proponent of color film technology and had a vision for a film-based encyclopedia that would be sold to schools.<br />
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Although he did have two theatrical series of short subjects, Urban’s plans did not succeed and in August 1925, a former investor C.M. Bortman bought the assets of the company, which included 2 million feet of footage.<br />
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In the summer of 1925, Max’s feature film “Evolution” was released theatrically. Although a trade ad described it as “an Urban-Kineto production edited by Max Fleischer,” it was released by Red Seal, the new company headed at the time by Fadiman to distribute the Fleischer product.<br />
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The film is comprised of stock footage with some animation by Willis O’Brien from his 1918 film “The Ghost of Slumber Mountain.”<br />
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The trade ad from Red Seal was breathless: “ Everybody is talking ‘Evolution;’ Everybody wants to see ‘Evolution’ … A front page story in five absorbing reels.”<br />
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Whether or not the film was a sincere reflection of Max’s considerable interest in science is not known. What is definite is that the trade review in Moving Picture World was published on July 25, 1925 is the name recognition of the subject. The review was published just four days after John Scopes, a teacher in Tennessee had lost a court case due to his presenting the theory of evolution in his class, an action against state law.<br />
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The nation was obsessed with what became to be known as “the Monkey Trial” and “Evolution,” like “Einstein’s Theory of Relativity,” was in the purest definition an exploitation film.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8D3hfqy6pTBKRl2ModoUldhaxLN3crhO4x77LrMQe33Cl3i_obvu8R2vJfrDpiMtlge01KYXzKOhPKEVi3Lg6qhsyebfSoUpqeTBJFg74b9fZPQvD9mQuCuldgM65Q0gdifepw/s1600/1920s+studio.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE8D3hfqy6pTBKRl2ModoUldhaxLN3crhO4x77LrMQe33Cl3i_obvu8R2vJfrDpiMtlge01KYXzKOhPKEVi3Lg6qhsyebfSoUpqeTBJFg74b9fZPQvD9mQuCuldgM65Q0gdifepw/s320/1920s+studio.jpg" /></a><br />
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It proved to be a well-received exploitation film. Moving Picture World reported, “The New York critics hailed the film enthusiastically. Harriette Underhill, in the Herald-Tribune, declared, ‘Don’t miss it whatever you do. We sat through it twice.’<br />
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“The Sun reviewer declares that ‘Evolution’ is ‘an absorbing picture tracing the ascent of man. Your beliefs, pro or con, do not prevent your enjoyment of an exhibition presenting in pictorial forms the beliefs and deductions of the best known scientists of the world. A wave of applause swept over the audience.’<br />
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“‘Absorbing, timely and well-done,’ says Rose Pelswick in the Journal. Quinn Martin in The World called it, “Unusually interesting and instructive as well’ is the verdict of the Post…<br />
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‘The Times put is official stamp of approval on it with ‘the audience applauded ‘Evolution,’ which proved interesting as a means of popularizing an abstract question.’ ‘Applauded for almost a minute,’ recorded the Telegraph.”<br />
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The film uses the stock footage to show the development of the earth, the links between various animals and fossil remains of dinosaurs and early man. It’s final title card walked the line that divided the nation on the issue; “Some call it evolution, others the work of God.”<br />
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During his work on these feature films, Max was producing the Out of the Inkwell cartoons and his involvement with Fadiman led to the creation of Red Seal, a company that would allow Max to distribute his own product. Film Daily reported on Oct. 26, 1923, “Red Seal Pictures Corp. has been formed with Edwin Miles Fadiman, president and general manager; Harold Rodner, vice-president and Max Fleischer, treasurer. ‘Unusual and distinctive pictures’ are promised by the organization which will release via the state right market.”<br />
Later that year, Film Daily noted, “ Fleischer Closes Foreign Deals – ‘Out of the Inkwell’ cartoons have been sold by Max Fleischer for China, South Africa, Australia, Poland and England.”<br />
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The quality of the animated shorts didn’t seem to suffer during this time of business re-organization and expansion. The trade reviews were still positive for the Inkwell shorts.<br />
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In the Dec. 2, 1923 edition of Film Daily, “Shadows” was given the following review: “Once again the imp from the inkwell becomes involved, this time with the shadows of his own figure. The result is a completely different set of difficulties, chiefly the result of Fleischer's making silhouettes of animals with his figures. These animals annoy the imp and trouble him to such an extent that finally after being chased and crushed he becomes so bewildered that he is glad to jump back into the inkwell. Very laughable, very amusing.”<br />
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The first “Song Car-tune,” also reviewed a rave from the Film Daily reviewer on Feb. 24, 1924. “Here’s a new idea in song reels, presented by Charles K. Harris, the music publisher who is responsible for the songs and Max Fleischer whose animated cartoons skip nimbly from word to word of the song and lend much charm and some laughs. There is no picturization of the action described in the song – simply the words which run along the screen in large single-line type that moves slowly from right to left in time to the music and on which the tiny cartoon figures dance. The songs included are ‘Mother, Mother, Mother, Pin a Rose on Me,’ ‘Come Take a Trip in My Airship’ and ‘Goodbye. My Lady Love.’”<br />
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What would become known as the “Follow the Bouncing Ball” cartoons grew out of the convention in theaters of the time of sing-alongs with the theater’s musicians performing a well-known song and the lyrics would be projected on the screen on glass slides.<br />
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“A Trip to Mars” (April 13, 1924, Film Daily) received this reaction: “Max Fleischer continues to inject originality and novelty into his cartoon numbers. His latest, ‘A Trip to Mars,’ on the Rivoli program last week, is a clever and amusing number that shows the. Cartoonist at his best and with his pen clown performing a series of comedy tricks that will amuse and entertain any audience. The clown is sent, via a sky-rocket, to Mars where Fleischer installs all sorts of grotesque, imaginary beings. The artist appears in his film as usual and makes a flying trip to Mars himself through means of trick photography. This is an A-l cartoon number, a good novelty and quite amusing.” <br />
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The reviewer is right. “A Trip to Mars” is a fun cartoon tackling a science fiction subject not frequently seen in the movies of the 1920s.<br />
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Contemporary critics saw the Felix cartoons as the most popular animated cartoons of the era and interestingly Felix was often compared to Charles Chaplin – in fact Chapin appears in “Felix in Hollywood” in 1923. If Felix was Chaplin, then Ko-Ko was certainly the animated equivalent of Buster Keaton. Keaton’s comedies were known for their innovative sight gags and the Ko-Ko shorts pushed the boundaries of their format.<br />
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One could say that the typical Ko-Ko short was a contest of wills between the creator and the creation. If the shorts were formulaic in that sense, they were not formulaic in how they fulfilled that format. The Fleischer staff was willing to take chances by using different styles of animation and special effects. Other animation studios took notice.<br />
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Walter Lantz’s “Dinky Doodles” series at Bray was as close as an imitation of the Ko-Ko cartoons as one could find, even with Lantz himself as the human star. <br />
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Disney’s “Alice in Cartoonland” shorts reversed the Ko-Ko format. Instead of a carton character entering a human world, a human is in a cartoon world. Although in one early short, “Alice’s Spooky Adventure (1923), there is a reason given for this interaction – the little girl dreams it – in subsequent cartoons audiences just had to accept it. The other significant different is the Ko-Ko cartoons were technically superior to the Alice shorts.<br />
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© 2013 by Gordon Michael Dobbs<br />
Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-45064794856126965172013-01-28T17:58:00.000-08:002013-01-28T17:58:26.222-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7fmgWY7dbaO87ZyRDETccdGAf7UIgLTygNv8soZH0hWEMH7hHJ0nQPjs1AcMlWFAm5jqbmX46OXqqs-tzdXaGoFkMe1Lt343P3Me2391vtk_WNHE_brqna4tn_IsKLIllihqTw/s1600/schneider.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="234" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7fmgWY7dbaO87ZyRDETccdGAf7UIgLTygNv8soZH0hWEMH7hHJ0nQPjs1AcMlWFAm5jqbmX46OXqqs-tzdXaGoFkMe1Lt343P3Me2391vtk_WNHE_brqna4tn_IsKLIllihqTw/s400/schneider.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<b>Rob Schneider was a gentleman and someone I could talk to for a long time as he really is a student of comedy.</b><br />
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Rob Schneider is more than a successful comedian. Speak to him for just a few minutes and you realize he is a true historian of comedy.<br />
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The former "Saturday Night Live" cast member, who has starred and co-starred in a string of popular movies will be performing at the Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee for two shows on Dec. 28.<br />
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Among Schneider's credits are films such as "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo," "The Hot Chick," "The Animal," "You Don't Mess With The Zohan," "The Benchwarmers," "50 First Dates" and "The Longest Yard." <br />
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Schneider explained to Reminder Publications that he has been doing more stand-up comedy in the last few years in part because the late George Carlin inspired him. Schneider started out as a stand-up comic, but said, "I never got to the place where I thought my stand-up was great. I never conquered it."<br />
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When he saw Chris Rock perform, he decided to get back on the road. <br />
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"It feels good," he said, but readily admitted that traveling was tiring.<br />
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He said the difference is now — since there has been a 20-year gap in performing live — "I feel I can take the audience further and talk about things that interest me."<br />
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Schneider also enjoys the freedom of performing live on stage, a freedom that he didn't find during his recent television series, "Rob." A mid-season replacement series, "Rob" was based on one part of Schneider's life: his marriage to Mexican television producer Patricia Azarcoya Arce. <br />
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Although the show attracted 11 million viewers a week, it was cancelled. <br />
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Like all television shows, network execs tried to tweak the comedy. <br />
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"It's frustrating to get notes from people who don't know as much about comedy as you do," Schneider said. <br />
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He is philosophical about the cancellation, though.<br />
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"It's their money, it's their stage. You're just renting it," he said. <br />
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The show did give him the opportunity to work with one of his comedic heroes, Cheech Marin. Half of the legendary comedy team of Cheech and Chong, Schneider remembered the joy he had as a child listening to their comedy albums. Marin, he added, has "a lot of charisma and is very funny."<br />
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Marin, Schneider explained, like many successful comic performers has been typecast. <br />
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"Very few people can break [a typecast]," Schneider said. "You're stuck, but it's a good stuck. At least you're being cast."<br />
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Despite his less than pleasant experience with a television series, Schneider is looking at another potential show, this one based on a hit Australian series called "Mother and Son." The premise is about a man who cares for his aging mother who may or may not be suffering with dementia.<br />
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Some of the Schneider's film work has been in starring roles, while others have been co-starring. In "Judge Dredd," Schneider's character did a spot-on impersonation of Sylvester Stallone to the action star's face and Schneider recalled Stallone telling him, "You better be funny or you're dead."<br />
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His association and friendship with Adam Sandler has been without any death threats.<br />
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"Adam just gives me the opportunity of playing different ethnic guys," Schneider said. <br />
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Currently Schneider is working on an animated feature, "Norm of the North," playing a polar bear Norm. He is enjoying the work as he said it allows him to "really create."<br />
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Since he and his wife are recent parents, he is interested in finding work such as this assignment that keeps him closer to home.<br />
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Schneider believes that there is a renaissance of comedy going on today and has a theory that when the economy has its problems, the arts flourish. He noted that after WWII, Great Britain was having problems returning to its pre-war conditions. <br />
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"There was a feeling things were not going to get better for the English," he said.<br />
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In reaction to what was happening, came the very successful comedies starring Sir Alec Guinness from the Ealing Studio, Schneider noted. Post-war Great Britain gave birth to Monty Python, which Schneider said "was the high water mark for comedy in the 20th century."<br />
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Schneider sees performers such as Louis C.K. as part of that renaissance born out of our own problems.<br />
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He said that he would like to produce a television series on the history of comedy. Considering his busy personal and professional schedule, Schneider added, "Eventually."<br />
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© 2013 by Gordon Michael Dobbs<br />
Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-69304389844579372212013-01-20T11:36:00.000-08:002013-01-20T11:36:15.680-08:00<br />
<b>Olive A. "Sue" Dobbs 1924 to 2013</b><br />
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<i>My mom and me when I was probably two years old.</i><br />
<br />
What my brother and I have gone through in the past several weeks is in the big picture nothing special. Every second of every day someone loses a parent.<br />
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It’s the hope of most people that they do not have to go through this event until they are in their middle age, but too many of us face such a loss when much younger.<br />
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My mom died in the morning of Jan. 9 at the age of 88. I’ve written about my father from time to time, but in our family there was no one more important in many ways than my mom. <br />
<br />
She and my father, Gordon L. Dobbs, had a relationship, that least to me seemed pretty typical of the time during which they were young: my father had the career and my mom stayed home. It’s fair to say, though, what my dad wanted for his life could not have been possible without my mom. <br />
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My dad died in 1996 and while his death was a blow to me, there wasn’t the more profound sense of finality until my mom passed. Now, my brother and I are the oldest in our small family. Will our kids look to us as we looked to our parents? I doubt it. It’s a different time and place and we are all different people.<br />
<br />
My mom came from pioneer stock and hers is a very American story. For instance, her great-maternal grandfather was a Dutch shipping heir who secretly left his vessel in San Francisco harbor when he learned of a plot against his life. He went into the gold fields of northern California and met a young Bavarian woman who had come to America with her sister. Her sister was married and the brother-in-law knew what a commodity he had in gold country: a single young woman. The Dutchman, as my grandmother Edith Gage would say, married this girl to keep her from living the life of a prostitute.<br />
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There is much more to this story and to others in my mom’s history. I know relatively little about my father’s family, although I now have a book on the Dobbs side that I will read.<br />
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My mom grew up in small towns and communities in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern California where the Feather River played a prominent role cutting a zigzag through the mountain canyons. Her father, Shirley Gage, came from a hardscrabble family in Texas and my mom used to say that he was born a century too late. He was an outdoorsman who spent much his life working hard jobs: lumber and mining. He loved to fish and hunt and there are many family photos showing him in the woods. <br />
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Although my mother said she never thought her family was poor as a child growing up in the Depression, she spent considerable time living with her mother’s family in Oroville, Ca., simply because her dad was having trouble earning enough money or finding a place for his small family – my mom was an only child – to live.<br />
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<i>Mom in Oroville with a favorite doll.</i> <br />
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Oroville was a big city compared to the hamlets here she lived. Her maternal grandfather, Emil Kessler, who was often described to me as “bantam rooster,” adored her. Emil was from Switzerland and had a well-known temper. He had nasty nicknames for many people, but for my mom he was a pushover. <br />
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When she was born, she was named for one of my grandmother’s brothers, Oliver. Her birth name was Olive Adell Gage. My great-grandfather, though, looked at her and declared, “She isn’t an Olive; she’s a Sue.”<br />
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From that moment on, the only people who called her “Olive” either didn’t know her well or was referring her in an official sense. She was “Sue” for the rest of her life.<br />
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Following graduation from Greenville (Ca.) High School in 1942, my mom attended a secretarial college in Chico, Ca., where she met my father who was training to be an Army Air Corp pilot. They were married in 1944. Days later, my father shipped out to Europe commanding a B-17.<br />
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<i>My mother not long after her marriage.</i><br />
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My dad stayed in the Air Force for 26 years. He flew bombers over Korea as well and, after a serious injury, could no longer fly but switched to the maintenance side. He ended his career at Bien Hoa Air Base in Vietnam.<br />
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My mom sat out three wars, the last of which with two kids. That was not an easy thing to do. I never heard her complain. I never heard a regret. <br />
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If there were issues at that time, I never knew. My parents wrote frequently to one another but those letters were destroyed. I came across several as we cleaned out her home, but I didn’t look at them. It would have been an invasion of their privacy.<br />
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My mom also supported my father in his vocation as a furniture maker. My admiration for my father’s skills is immense. He could look at an antique, make a few measurements and notes and reproduce it. These skills, along with what he accomplished in the Air Force and as a high school teacher, have long put my own ambition into perspective.<br />
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He couldn’t have done it without my mom, though and he knew it. When my brother and I was moving a piece of furniture he built late in his life, there was an inscription on the back written by my dad in marker. It detailed how my mom saved his life and made things, such as the furniture, possible. <br />
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<i>Here is my father in his crowded shop in the basement of our home at 104 Navajo Road in Springfield, Mass. in the early 1960s.</i><br />
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My parents were not perfect and neither was their relationship, but they gave my brother and me a great childhood. My dad never understood my interest in movies, but bought a wonder Super 8mm Bolex camera for me to make my own films. <br />
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My mother, although a movie fan as a kid, never appreciated my love of horror moves, but she gladly typed the printing masters for my fanzine Inertron.<br />
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Although my dad did have a plan for me – I was to be a schoolteacher – he only gave a small amount of resistance to me bring a writer. He never cared for my choice, although my mom said he was proud of me. I hope so.<br />
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My mom had much artistic talent, although she always downplayed it. She was a shy woman who made friendships for life. Although not a churchgoer, she read many books on religion and spirituality and was intrigued by true mysteries of the universe. <br />
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Mom was one of biggest animal lovers I ever know, aside from my dad who often declared he would rather be around animals than people. <br />
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<i>We had a small farm in Granby, Mass., and my mom loved her herd of goats. My brother Patrick, a very talent photographer, took this photo.</i><br />
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They were both museum people and book people who held education very dear. In high school, I would be quizzed about how I did on a test and once I revealed the mark, if it didn’t meet Mom’s standards, she would reel off the names of my friends and asked what grade they received. She could be tough.<br />
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My mind is a jumble right now as memories come flooding back. Mourning is a surreal activity. One moment everything is fine, while the next is a mess. I know that I will think of her, as I’ve thought of my father, every week for the rest of my life. <br />
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Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-30234191735384491352012-12-16T13:03:00.000-08:002012-12-16T13:03:30.636-08:00Time for some DVD reviews!<br />
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<b>The Samaritan</b><br />
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Samuel L. Jackson has a strong work ethic and has appeared in many films playing a very similar badass. Sometimes he's a good guy, sometimes he's a bad guy, but frequently he is the same type of character.<br />
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That is the curse of being a movie star. Once you've established a successful persona that's what producers — and audiences — want from you.<br />
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That's why I enjoyed "The Samaritan," a new crime thriller that gives Jackson a chance to ditch all of those "Snakes on a Plane" roles for something more substantial.<br />
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Jackson is Foley, a man who has been released from prison after serving a sentence of 25 years. He's a consummate grifter who was caught by a victim midway through a con. The victim forced Foley to kill his best friend and partner in crime and then turned him over to the police.<br />
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Foley now wants simply to be left alone. He wants to find a job and go straight. A quick check shows most of his old friends and cronies are dead and the few left alive don't want anything to do with him.<br />
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The only person eager for his company is the son of his dead partner. Evan (played with slimy intensity by Luke Kirby) wants to recruit Foley into a big con. Foley refuses, but Evan has rigged Foley's life to draw the ex-convict into his scheme.<br />
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What complicates matters is that Foley has met a young woman, Iris (Ruth Negga), and has entered into a cautious, and at times reluctant, relationship.<br />
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This film is full of twists and turns, which I can't reveal, but I will say some of the plot points will leave your mouth hanging open in shock.<br />
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While there are moments of violence, this is not an action thriller, but rather is a character-driven drama. Jackson excels as Foley, a man who is actively trying to change his future. Foley is a thinker and Jackson's performance is filled with moments of quiet that convey much about the character.<br />
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Director David Weaver does well with the look and pacing of the film and co-wrote the script.<br />
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If you're up for a different kind of crime movie, seek out "The Samaritan."<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/bFZ8EzNVkOE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<b>Super</b><br />
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As I've mentioned before, the movies to review quickly add up and this film has been in that pile waiting patiently. I thought that considering the success of two huge summer blockbusters, "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Avengers," it may be time to look at a more realistic approach to superheroes.<br />
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"Super" stars Rainn Wilson — best known for his role on "The Office" — as a short-order cook named Frank. Frank's life has been marked by two positive events. The first is when he helped a cop catch a criminal and the second is when he married his wife Sarah (Liv Tyler), a waitress at the restaurant who is battling addiction.<br />
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Life is good for Frank until his wife falls back into a bad crowd and leaves him to live with a local drug dealer played with twitchy charm by Kevin Bacon.<br />
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Filled with grief, Frank makes efforts to retrieve her, but Sarah doesn't want to be rescued. Frank doesn't know what to do until a group of tentacles saws open his skull to allow the finger of God to massage his brain. Well, at least that's what Frank believes has happened to him.<br />
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Frank may suffer from delusions, and he understands that about himself. His love, though, for Sarah is so strong that he is willing to accept what he thinks has happened.<br />
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The resulting inspiration triggers Frank's alter ego, The Crimson Bolt. In a homemade costume and with a huge wrench as his primary weapon, Frank decides to fight crime and get his wife back. What constitutes crime ranges from robbery to someone cutting into a line at the movies and both are met with concussions from Frank's wrench.<br />
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Frank's rallying cry is "Shut up crime!"<br />
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The violence is increased with the arrival of his young sidekick, a comic book store clerk played with a frightening intensity by Ellen Page.<br />
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This movie is part dark comedy, part social commentary and, at its conclusion, part legitimate hardcore action film. Director and writer James Gunn was responsible for one of the most outrageous and entertaining horror films of the past decade, "Slither" and he shows here that his quirky style certainly extends to another genre.<br />
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Gunn's basic premise is that to be a superhero one must be mentally ill or at the very least, emotionally distraught. <br />
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Wilson does well with the lead role, making Frank a sympathetic character, while Page is a hoot as the cute sociopath who complains to Frank he didn't tell her that she shouldn't kill people.<br />
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A very different kind of superhero film, "Super" was certainly more entertaining to me than "The Dark Knight Rises."<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/eL57ncw2jr8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<b>The Expendables 2</b><br />
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The first "Expendables" film was a master class in stunt casing. The idea of banding together action heroes — some of whom are fairly long in the tooth — for a film was an act of marketing genius. <br />
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Fortunately, the film as directed by Sylvester Stallone, the star of the movie, was enjoyable in a goofy way. It was difficult to take the film seriously and its largest charm was the sense the actors seemed to be having fun.<br />
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For the sequel, Stallone handed over the writing and directing chores to others and the result is a tighter, largely more credible film. The film stars Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews and, in expanded cameos, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.<br />
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Director Simon West kicks off the film with an outstanding sequence with the mercenary group storming what appeared to be some sort of outlaw Chinese stronghold to rescue a kidnap victim, played by Schwarzenegger. That leads to the main story in which the mercenaries are forced to take on what would appear to be a routine assignment of rounding up some stray plutonium. The job is complicated when a group of bad guys not only take the plutonium, but also kills one member of the group.<br />
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Jean-Claude Van Damme plays the chief heavy and he proves to have plenty of chops to protray a formidable villain. <br />
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For action fans, this film is a fun joy ride. Some of the territory will seem a little familiar, perhaps and the film's chemistry is weakened a bit by the departure of Li's character after the opening sequence. <br />
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West, who directed "Blackhawk Down," knows how to stage action and the film moves along at a faster pace than the first one.<br />
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The vintage of the some of the performers was more apparent in this outing. The addition of Chuck Norris, who at age 72, just seemed to capable of walking around a bit, didn't do very much for the film. Stallone's efforts to retain his youth have resulted in a slightly disconcerting look. Van Damme, on the other hand, seemed to have added a dimension with age.<br />
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Would I see a third installment of the series? If it has the energy and style of this one, absolutely. <br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TgEqVYcryWc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<b>Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter</b><br />
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I mention this film in light of the new biographical film, "Lincoln," in the hope that people don't take it seriously. I know that history isn't the favorite subject for some people, so let me assure you there is no evidence that the real Lincoln wielded a vampire-killing axe.<br />
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Talk about a high concept: Abe Lincoln is recruited to kill vampires as a young man a practice that he brings to the White House and winds up playing a pivotal part in the Civil War.<br />
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Now, I thought such an outrageous concept would be handled with some element of dark humor, but director Timur Bekmambetov plays the subject matter very straight. In fact, the more earnest the film became, the sillier it seemed to me.<br />
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The movie was not helped by the wooden performance by Benjamin Walker, whose Lincoln was painfully awkward and often thick as a brick. Although there were better actors in the cast, such as Rufus Sewell and Dominic Cooper, Walker's portrayal was crucial for the success of the film.<br />
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The production also has an odd cheapness to it that is a killer for any period film. <br />
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This film isn't even worth the dollar rental from the Red Box.<br />
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<b>ParaNorman</b><br />
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Not just do I love animation, I'm a sucker for stop motion animation — the technique used to create such diverse properties as the original "King Kong" and the "Gumby" shorts. <br />
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In this era of computer-generated animation, the rule of thumb was initially that stop-motion was dead, at best a nostalgic throwback. Nothing could be less true. Animation is an art form and different disciplines are available for artists to use to tell their stories.<br />
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"ParaNorman" is about a boy named Norman growing up in a New England town renown for its history involving the condemnation and execution of a witch. Norman isn't the most popular boy at school — and even at home his family hassles him — because he can see and speak to ghosts. Shunned by all, Norman's only friend, Neil, is also a social pariah. <br />
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Norman has a vision during his school play about the town's witch and her legend that leads him to his crazy uncle. Voiced with gusto by John Goodman, Uncle Prenderghast reveals a role that only Norman can play in saving his community from the supernatural events that are about to happen.<br />
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There are some great horror film comedy moments in this film as well as a surprising adult and moving plot point. "ParaNorman" may be well too intense for young children, but kids ages 8 and older, as well as their parents, should enjoy it. <br />
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The animation is wonderful as is the design of the characters. I was really impressed with this film and its success shows that stop motion animation continues to have a future.<br />
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<b>Brake</b><br />
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Not to repeat myself — but I will — the biggest problem confronting the film industry today is lack of distribution and the unwillingness of theater owners to take any sort of chance on independent films.<br />
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"Brake" is a great example of an indie film that could have found a theatrical audience. It's a superior thriller that would have captured the attention of people who enjoy action and suspense films. When a theater owner has 16 screens in a multiplex, one would think a single screen could be devoted to such product.<br />
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Stephen Dorff plays Secret Service Agent Jeremy Reins who wakes up to find himself locked in a plexiglass box in the trunk of a car. At first he has no idea why he is there but soon he learns his captors are terrorists who want him to reveal the location of a bunker the president would be using in a domestic attack.<br />
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Reins won't cave, though and the terrorists use a variety of ways to try to break his will. I can't give away any more of the plot as the film takes audiences places one couldn't anticipate.<br />
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This film is a bravura performance by Dorff, an actor who has a long resume but has never really had the breakout role he needs. This really should have been it as the film is a showcase for his talents. <br />
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Director Gabe Torres shows he has some major creative chops by keeping the suspense high, despite the limitations of having one character on screen in one set.<br />
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"Brake" is a film well worth the search.<br />
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QPofHkR5K9E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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©2012 by Gordon Michael Dobbs<br />
Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-51268150598924004532012-11-26T19:58:00.000-08:002012-11-26T19:58:57.705-08:00<br />
I’m pretty excited about something that has been recently posted on-line: a beautiful print of the Fleischer Superman cartoon “Terror on the Midway.” Warner Brothers Online has posted beautifully restored prints of the Superman shorts.<br />
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This short, part of the legendary series of adaptations produced in the early 1940s by the Fleischer Brothers, has long been available on various public domain labels. The rights to these cartoons reverted back to DC Comics and, believe it or not, the person in charge of renewing copyrights at DC at the time at the time of the cartoon’s expiration neglected to do so. <br />
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The results of this action have been both good and bad: the good aspect has been the cartoons have been readily available, but the bad is that all too often the quality has been sub-standard.<br />
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Gone were the days when it was truly difficult to see these cartoons. Although I saw them on TV as a child, the first time I saw a number of them to study was in DC Comic’s office, watching the company’s own 16mm prints.<br />
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Even when various VHS and DVD collection boasted of superior prints, there was never a good print of “Terror on the Midway.”<br />
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The Superman series was the first comic book adaptation to film. Although comic strips had been the subject of both short subjects and feature films, the Fleischer Superman shorts broke ground.<br />
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They also broke ground at the studio with a radical departure from the kind of animation for which the Fleischers were well known and tried to change the perception of what kind of stories were suitable for animation. Although very popular with audiences, imagine if other adventure strips had been transformed into animation maintaining their signature look – “Flash Gordon” or “Captain Easy” or Terry and the Pirates.”<br />
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These are cartoons that are staged as a live action film would be staged. They effectively used pans of static drawings in order to put the animation budget into the action scenes. Fleischer head Animator Myron Waldman told me that animating the Superman shorts wasn’t easy. He said that additional drawings were added to give the characters a greater sense of weight.<br />
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The Fleischers were smart enough to use the vocal cast of the popular Superman radio show – starring Bud Collyer – that provided an additional thrill to Superman fans.<br />
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Let me quickly add that Superman wasn’t a project the Fleischers wanted. It resulted from a deal made between Paramount Pictures DC Comics after an effort to secure a serial version of Superman at Republic Pictures failed. The Fleischers knew to do the shorts in the manner that they should they would be more expensive than most cartoons – making it more difficult to recoup their production expenses and deliver a profit. Paramount basically forced the studio to undertake the assignment.<br />
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Republic, by the way, then turned to Captain Marvel and produced the live action film based on a comic book superhero. <br />
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The look of “Terror on the Midway” was unique to the series. On paper, it seems sort of mundane. Lois is saddled with the boring assignment of reviewing the circus. By accident, a monkey releases a huge gorilla from its cage, which sets off some terrifying circumstances.<br />
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Here, watch it.<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lkyX3UGChU8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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I loved the use of shadow, the almost film noir feel, that is used to add drama and horror to this story. This cartoon is “lit” in a way audiences hadn’t seen before. I also admire the use of sound in this film from the ambient noise of the circus in the beginning to how the cartoon falls silent when the gorilla makes his appearance in the big top.<br />
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This is the Superman, by the way, who couldn’t fly, but took tremendous leaps. While he was bulletproof, he could be stunned by electricity. The fact that he was more vulnerable than the god-like character we know today. While there are no mad scientists or monsters, the gorilla is presented in such a way to maximize its brute strength and the problem he poses for Superman. In several scenes the viewer doesn’t see the gorilla in his entirety – just his torso, which emphasizes his unnatural size.<br />
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During the fight between Superman and Gigantic, there are two close-ups of the combatants that are presented in a way I hadn’t seen before in the series.<br />
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I appreciate whoever in the vast corporate hierarchy of Warner Brothers who decided to out these cartoons online. <br />
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© 2012 by Gordon Michael Dobbs<br />
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Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-70730439466545016992012-11-25T14:51:00.001-08:002012-11-25T14:51:07.590-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRc8dojvV-2_4uJxvT4BZQJL2iI34JbOTrv9ushAkzA27Avqadi-vdGKRZcCPOFOTgsmnzbVkU7nrSFEyDjNpRFUwhZ272BLunhJ0VycpliFR5Fp5gKH2DdOm0r0YG7IQYG8322Q/s1600/img058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRc8dojvV-2_4uJxvT4BZQJL2iI34JbOTrv9ushAkzA27Avqadi-vdGKRZcCPOFOTgsmnzbVkU7nrSFEyDjNpRFUwhZ272BLunhJ0VycpliFR5Fp5gKH2DdOm0r0YG7IQYG8322Q/s400/img058.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<b>The door to the offices or barracks of my dad's squadron.</b><br />
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<b>My dad's B-17, named after my mom.</b><br />
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<b>My dad, Gordon L. Dobbs (with hat on right) in the pilot's seat. I don;t know the name of the crew member.</b><br />
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My mother and father were keepers. Perhaps it was their experiences as children of the Great Depression, but both of them hung onto things. <br />
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Make no mistake, neither were pathological hoarders. They simply saw value in keeping objects and documents that many other people would have thrown away.<br />
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My brother and I saw a lot of that recently as I helped him close down my mom’s house, now that her health as forced her to move in with him. There were the standard objects –furniture, books, kitchenware – and then there are those items that instantly transport me to either a time earlier in my life or to a point in our parents’ lives that I only heard about.<br />
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My parents liked taking photos and there are several suitcases of family photos. My brother Patrick is a skilled photographer and so these photos interest each of us on several levels.<br />
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My father was an Air Force veteran of 26 years who piloted B-17s in WWII, B-29s in the Korean Wars and after, B-52s with nuclear payloads, until 1961 when an accident grounded him. He stayed in the Air Force on the maintenance side, serving in Vietnam as his last assignment.<br />
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Three wars in one life. I can't imagine the impact other than my dad was changed in some ways upon returning from Vietnam.<br />
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As a rule, He talked very little about any combat experience. We heard very few stories as kids. As he grew older, he would call members of his various crews and speak with them. The experience they went through linked them in a way that someone who had not been there couldn’t understand. <br />
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For years, he would read the "Air Force Times" to follow the careers of guys he knew and with whom he served.<br />
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About WWII, he did say you could never tell who was coming back and the B-17 crews were witnesses to seeing fellow squadron members shot down before their eyes. Occasionally there would be a colorful detail, such as how he chewed tobacco when he flew to help stay awake. I never asked him how he spat wearing an oxygen mask. <br />
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So the discovery of photos my brother and I never have seen helps us gain a tiny shred of additional insight about our dad. My brother found a large roll of unprinted negatives, which we believe are from the WWII period. He plans to scan those to see what they are.<br />
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My dad was pretty tolerant of my interest in films, but he had no interest in any war film. He didn’t want Patrick or me to watch them as he said they glorified war. <br />
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With combat vets you never know what trigger will cause a cascade of memories – negative or positive. My dad liked the television series “M.A.S.H.” but when McLean Stevenson’s character was killed on his flight home and out of the service, my father stormed from the room. He said something the effect, “That’s not funny. That kind of thing really happened.”<br />
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The following photos include combat photography taken in the skies over Europe by an unknown cameraman. Pat and I have made the assumption the reason my dad had these prints was because the photographer was either in his plane – Sue’s Special, named after my mom – or flying somewhere within my father’s squadron.<br />
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<b>Those puffs of smoke are flak from German guns. This photo shows a B-17 that has been hit.</b><br />
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Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-57839052654973727692012-10-15T19:54:00.001-07:002012-10-15T19:54:23.445-07:00<b>In honor of Turner Classic Movies' programming of classic animation I decided to post the following information on "Gulliver's Travels." This material, in a finished form, with be in my book that – yes, I'm indeed writing – titled "Made of Pen and Ink: The Fleischer Studio Cartoons."</b><br />
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<b>The making of “Gulliver’s Travels”</b><br />
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Although some people have erroneously written that Max Fleischer had produced the first animated feature, his movie on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity in 1924, that documentary was largely live action with some animated sequences. <br />
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Fleischer, who was seen as Walt Disney’s primary rival in the 1930s, had indeed experimented with longer form animation prior to Disney’s “Snow White” with great success. In 1936, the studio’s two-reel special Popeye cartoon for the Christmas season, “Popeye Meets Sinbad the Sailor” had gorgeous color, effective use of the Fleischer 3-D sets and a marvelous script. Exhibitors and audiences loved it, and the studio was preparing another two-reeler for Christmas of 1937. Disney, though, had an 83-minute feature, and Fleischer, his staff and the rest of the film industry wanted to see if audiences would accept a long cartoon.<br />
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“Snow White” was released nationally in February of 1938 and its overwhelming success prompted an announcement from Paramount Pictures. Paramount, Fleischer’s distributor, said that Max would be producing a feature for them. They would be fronting some of the production money for Max and also would help Max build a brand-new studio near Miami, Florida. Fleischer had settled a bitter strike in October, and had decided to move his operations from New York to Florida. The Fleischers had vacationed in Florida and the warm climates, generous local tax incentives and lack of union activity appealed to him.<br />
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So the studio’s plate was quite full. Max had to produce his studio’s first feature-length cartoon, move the operation from New York to Florida into a new studio he was helping to design and maintain the studio’s commitment of short subjects. Disney had worked on “Snow White” for five years. Paramount had given Max a release date of Christmas 1939.<br />
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During the same period, “Variety” reported that Universal and Walter Lantz would be making his feature debut with an adaptation of “Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp.” This feature apparently never made its past pre-production.<br />
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In June, Max signed a contract with Paramount to produce “Gulliver’s Travels” (GT). Like Disney, the Fleischer brothers had chosen a “pre-sold” property that had a certain amount of name recognition, especially in Europe. How Jonathan Swift’s sometimes bleakly satiric novel would be adapted into a family feature was another problem. <br />
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According to a discussion guide prepared for high school teachers by the Educational and Recreations Guides in January 1940, there were several different scripts, several of which had Popeye playing Gulliver. According to this booklet, designed for teachers to use in the classroom, Dave Fleischer had wanted a light Gilbert and Sullivan-style operetta, while Max wanted something closer to Swift – “a truly sociological pictures, retaining the full weight of Swift’s satirical theme with modern implications.”<br />
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The final script was publicized as a compromise. The cartoon would have a surplus of music and would have the war between Lilliput and Blefuscu not over which end to open of a hard-boiled egg, but rather their national anthems. If Max’s intentions were to actually convey some of Swift’s satiric rage, this script was scarcely a compromise. There is little of Swift in the Fleischer’s “Gulliver’s Travels.” <br />
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Although there would have been reports that GT had at one time been discussed as a vehicle for Popeye, one could wonder if that would have resulted in an additional payment to King Features for the use of the character in a feature.<br />
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A story in “Good Housekeeping” described, the story session for the feature, which one should take with a grain of salt.<br />
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“A cartoon begins with a script and a script begins with story conferences. The first weeks in the new studios were dedicated to mass meetings in Fleischer’s office. Bill Turner, head of the script department, and 20 or more of his assistants thrashed out every angle of the story with Max.”<br />
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I don’t believe there were 20 people on the writing staff and it’s difficult for me to believe that Max, not Dave Fleischer, was that deeply involved in developing the script.<br />
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The same article quoted Edith Vernick as the “studio’s only female animator” lobbying for Gabby, the town crier and the comedic star of the film, to be more handsome. Vernick had been employed at the studio since the mid-1920s, but had only attempted animation once during the cartoon “The Fresh Vegetable Mystery” in 1939 and studio veteran Myron Waldman told me she was too slow in producing the necessary footage. Lillian Friedman was actually the first woman to be promoted to that position at the studio.<br />
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Publicity stories from that era in Hollywood can certainly be misleading.<br />
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Ever since the 1920s, Dave handled more and more of the creative side of the studio, while the business side was Max’s responsibility. That is not to say that Max wasn’t creative. Max’s daughter, the late Ruth Kneitel, showed me a script for a proposed cartoon featuring mermaids covered in notes Max made in red pencil. The date for the cartoon was unknown and by the test art that had been made for it, it could have been beautiful.<br />
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One aspect of the Fleischer Studio that colored the publicity for the feature was that Max was named more prominently than Dave, the film’s director. What the movie-going public didn’t realize was a growing sibling rivalry between the two men that eventually resulted in a split and helped along the demise of the studio in 1942.<br />
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The end of Dave’s marriage due to an affair with Mae Schwartz, a studio employee who became his second wife, didn’t help the relationship with Max, as Edith Vernick, a long-time Fleischer staff told me in 1977. <br />
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While there was drama between the two Fleischers, there was also drama among the staff caused by the deadline from Paramount.<br />
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By March of 1939, GT had been laid out, and the studio began hiring additional animators to help with the workload. A half-million drawings were required to produce GT, besides the work necessary to produce the studio’s short subjects. Waldman remembered the Fleischers were in a mad rush to hire people, some of who were not qualified as animators. This influx of talent, primarily from the California animation studios, created tension in the studio.<br />
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“Many of the people who came from the (west) coast thought they were better than us,” Waldman explained. The studio was still divided because of the strike, and the new additions to the staff didn’t help.<br />
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There were about 250 original Fleischer employees who made the trip to Miami. That staff grew to about 600 in order to make the production of the feature and the shorts possible.<br />
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Waldman also told me that a problem was some of the people hired in this rush had padded their résumés a bit and couldn’t really do what they claimed.<br />
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John Walworth was one of those new additions. Walworth was working at MGM when he was hired away to work on GT. He worked with studio vet Joe Oriolo, who felt insulted that he had to animate some of the many crowd scenes in GT.<br />
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“Joe sub-contracted some of these scenes to me to do under the table,” Walworth said with a laugh when interviewed in 1977. “So I did them along with my other work.”<br />
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The quality of the animation varies greatly. Some of it was seemed rushed, while other scenes are very good. Waldman attributed this uneven quality to the number of new animators plus the near-impossible schedule. Some of the new animators were amazed the studio didn’t do extensive pencil tests as did Disney and there was only one Movieola to view rushes. <br />
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There was only one pencil test performed and critics of the studio have seen the lack of pencil tests as an example of the Fleischer Studio “crudeness” as opposed to the polished quality of Disney animation. Certainly Max and Dave may not have thought pencil tests were necessary, but perhaps the schedule dictated by Paramount just didn’t allow it.<br />
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The film did not use the 3-D process Max had developed and was so effective in the shorts. Max did try a new invention during the making of the film. Like Disney would use a Xerox process years later, Max had come up with a system that would transfer the pencil drawings from the animators to the cels, skipping the inking step. Waldman told me that while it did work to a certain extent, it did not pick up fine lines and therefore was abandoned.<br />
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Waldman, one of the studios top head animators – who actually had more control over the actual direction than Dave Fleischer – sat out the first feature and worked primarily on short subjects. He did work on one sequence toward the conclusion of the film during which Gulliver wades into the ocean and gathered up the warring ships, dragging them to shore.<br />
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The recruitment of animators brought two former Fleischer animators back to the studio. Both Grim Natwick and Shamus Culhane had done considerable work at the Disney Studio, and now accepted Max’s offer to work on GT. Culhane was given crowd scenes to animate upon his arrival.<br />
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“Mob shots. I came in right at the end of the picture and they had a whole mess of them waiting for the very end of the job. I got things like the whole crowd is waving at Gulliver as he leaves. Jesus Christ! After being a specialist working on ‘Snow White’ I get stuck with this junk to do. But because of my background by that time I could do it very well, but it was a pain in the ass. I hadn’t done that kind of thing since a started at Walt’s,” Culhane told me in 1977.<br />
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<i>These excerpts from early model sheets show the evolution of the characters. Although The King Little character looks close to his final design, the Gabby is more boyish and less grotesque.</i><br />
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Natwick recalled the casual atmosphere of the studio in an interview that year. He was given Dave Fleischer’s office to use while directing his 1,000 feet of GT. Natwick offered his assessment of the differences between Fleischer and Disney.<br />
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“Max did something so very different. They were two different people. Disney was a Yankee, coming from several generations of Americans. I believe Fleischer was probably the first generation...And they (the Fleischers) were American in every sense of the word. Disney had this in-bred thing that he didn’t have to think about doing something, but the Fleischers did. They accepted exactly as it was in the society in which they lived. And they grew up in the Jazz Age, and their cartoons are jazz cartoons.<br />
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“Disney had an aristocratic studio. Actually at Fleischer’s I never had a room of my own. There were one or two or three big rooms with one desk sitting behind another. But at Disney, we had private rooms, and they had a little buffet service. If you wanted a drink of pop or something or an apple to eat, you could phone the girl downstairs and it would be brought up, by errand boy,” Natwick said.<br />
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Natwick was considered a specialty animating women and Princess Glory was his assignment.<br />
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<i>Three moments from the film.</i><br />
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Max Fleischer hired the song-writing team of Ralph Rainger and Leo Robin who had won the Best Song Oscar in 1938 for “Thanks for the Memory” to write the songs for the feature. According to the study guide, Rainger and Robin suggested the musical theme for the war.<br />
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Even resident tunesmith Sammy Timburg, whose usual chores were composing and scoring the studio’s shorts, got to write a song for the film – perhaps the movie’s biggest hit “It’s a Hap Hap Happy Day.”<br />
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Acclaimed composer Victor Young was hired to write the musical score. Young was nominated for 22 Academy Awards during his career, which was cut short by his early death at age 56 in 1956.<br />
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<i>Some of the songs in GT were recorded by big bands of the day, including Glenn Miller.</i><br />
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The studio then did something that might have raised a few eyebrows in the film industry. Animation voice actors seldom got credit for their contributions to cartoons and were often fairly anonymous radio actors. The Fleischers signed up two of the nation’s most popular radio singing stars, Lanny Ross and Jessica Dragonette to perform the songs sung by the Prince and Princess in the movie. This was the first time any “name” personality had been recruited to do voice work in cartoons.<br />
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It was not unusual for the Fleischers to feature the music of popular artists in their cartoons. Performers including Cab Calloway, Ethel Merman, Arthur Tracy, Louis Armstrong, the Mills Brothers, Don Redmond and more had appeared in live action and animated sequences in Betty Boop and Screen Songs cartoons throughout the 1930s. The Fleischers extended this practice to their first feature. <br />
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In 1976, Ross recalled to me his experience working on GT. He had known Fleischer since they lived in the same building and had accepted the job like any other. <br />
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“I was told the Prince was very small, and I thought I should do something the make my voice sound small. So, I stood on my knees in the recording studio,” he said with a laugh. He really didn’t receive any direction on how to perform and his contact with the production was minimal. The publicity value, though, of having established performed involved with movie was considerable.<br />
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Pinto Colvig, who had done considerable work at the Disney Studio, including creating the voice of Goofy, was recruited to do the voice of Gabby the town crier who discovers Gulliver on the beach. Jack Mercer performed the voice of King Little of Lilliput while Miami radio personality Sam Parker of WIOD, a Miami, Fl. radio station, did the voice of Gulliver and performed the rotoscoped actions as well.<br />
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Although Ross and Dragonette received screen credit, none of the other vocal performers did.<br />
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<i>This British postcard was one of the many merchandising tie-ins for the film, as was this Big Little Book.</i><br />
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While the movie was being animated, Max was working with Paramount’s Harry Royster on the merchandising of GT. Waldman explained that he had gone to Max once earlier in the decade and asked why the studio didn’t merchandise Betty Boop more.<br />
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“He said to me, ‘This is an animated cartoon studio, not a toy factory.’ He didn’t want to get into it then,” Waldman recalled.<br />
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Perhaps Fleischer had seen the enormous success of the Disney merchandising and had decided he too wanted to jump on that bandwagon. The Betty Boop material had been minimal and Fleischer had no merchandising rights to Popeye. With the move to Miami impending, Mae Questel – Betty Boop’s primary voice artist – decided to stay in New York, which helped to kill the Boop series. With Betty Boop gone, Fleischer pinned his merchandising hopes to GT. Paramount’s new licensing department arranged for 65 different GT products including dolls, coloring books, a Big Little book and pajamas among others.<br />
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With the splash the newly established television industry was making in cities such as New York, Fleischer and Paramount took the unusual step of offering for sale the television and radio rights to the picture. Clearly they were confident GT would be as much as a success as “Snow White.” In a full-page ad in the June 14, 1939 edition of “Variety,” Paramount trumpeted “The Biggest News of the Screen Year! A Full-Length Feature Cartoon Completely Filmed in Color!” With most movies in black and white and with only one other color feature-length cartoon existing, GT was indeed special at that time.<br />
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By August, both the new studio in Florida and the feature were reaching completion. The film’s budget had gone over the expected $900,000 mark and was to reach approximately $1.5 million. The Miami press welcomed the new studio as Florida had often attempted to become the “Hollywood of the East,” and the studio was the subject of a number of stories on Oct. 9, 1939.<br />
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In the Dec. 6, 1939 edition of “Variety,” Max announced this studio would produce another feature, as he was quite confident of the success of GT. A Spanish-language version was prepared for Latin and South American markets and 41 prints would be available for Christmas Day release with another 50 ready for New Year’s Day. <br />
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Paramount planned a massive advertising campaign designed to have a penetration of 60 million people. Full color ads were scheduled for “The Saturday Evening Post,” “Life” and “Good Housekeeping,” a first for productions from the Fleischer Studios.<br />
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The film had truly put a strain on the Fleischer staff. Not only did the staff have to move from its home in New York City to a new facility in Miami, but the contracted schedule of short subjects also had to be maintained.<br />
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Cartoons and features in the studio’s “Flipper” employee magazine in its December 1939 edition referenced the workload. Seymour Reit, the creator of Casper the Friendly Ghost, wrote the following poem for the “Flipper:”<br />
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“A Song of Impatience<br />
“The feature’s finished, <br />
The feature’s done<br />
Work is over and worry’s begun<br />
Come bite your nails,<br />
Come tear your hair,<br />
Come harry the gods in hysterical prayer.<br />
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“We mumble morosely,<br />
All joy we despise<br />
As we watch the growth of rings ‘neath our eyes<br />
And we wait for the day that <br />
The critic unravels<br />
The wondrous merits of ‘Gulliver’s Travels.<br />
<br />
“Hark! Winchell and Fidler<br />
and Nugent and all!<br />
When ‘Gulliver’ opens,<br />
Heed promptly the call.<br />
We know it’s a ‘wow<br />
And we’re sure it will click, <br />
But hurry, we beg you, and tell us that quick!”<br />
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The Miami premiere of GT was Dec. 18, 1939. Paramount officials, Florida politicians, members of the Miami social elite and entertainment figures met at the Sheridan and Colony theaters for the screening. A special police unit held back a crowd straining behind rope barricades hoping for a glimpse of the rich and famous, according to a contemporary newspaper account. Overhead, a balloon floated carrying a banner for the film. <br />
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One publicity feature was an appearance by Gulliver himself. No, not Sam Parker, but a nearly seven-foot tall unidentified man decked out in a Gulliver costume.<br />
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The next day, The Miami Herald reported on a congratulatory luncheon attended by Ross, Dragonette, Paramount executives and local officials. Max said, “Eighteen months ago when the decision was made to produce ‘Gulliver’s Travels’ as a feature, we faced some very real problem. For example, more than two years is required to produce an animated cartoon feature in color and sound, provided one has a large enough staff sufficiently experienced and coordinated to do the work.<br />
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“When we started this picture we lacked space, manpower and the machinery for feature work. We only had one and half years instead of two years in which to build, move, organize, equip and complete the picture by Christmas 1939.”<br />
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Although Max added some humorous remarks, his message was clear: GT had been an almost impossible task.<br />
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While the public made GT one of the top moneymaking films of the year, the critics were less than impressed. Frank Nugent of The New York Times dismissed the film as a “fairy tale for children,” calling “Snow White “a fairy tale for adults. Although entertaining, GT was not up to the Disney standard, he added.<br />
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“Variety” was more positive. “An excellent job of animation, audience interest and all-around showmanship,” it reported.<br />
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The film could have surpassed the box office it did if there hadn’t been a war in Europe.<br />
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According to a note in Variety, MGM brass mused that perhaps the live action “Wizard of Oz” should have been a cartoon.<br />
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The film was sold in the 1950s to a television distributor, which did re-release the movie to theaters, but along the way the film’s copyright was not renewed and it fell into the public domain.<br />
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With the advent of home video, dozens of different versions of “Gulliver’s Travels” have been in the marketplace, most often muddy and splicy second generation prints.<br />
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A simplified and sanitized version of Jonathan Swift’s classic, the film centers on Gulliver settling the differences between two kings who can not agree which national song should be played at the wedding of their children. The musical score is bright and bouncy in the tradition of 1930s musicals and there are some great moments of animation.<br />
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The difficulties with the film are the characterizations. The prince and princess who are to be married are simply vehicles for the performances of the national songs. The princess is remarkably bland, the prince has only one line of dialogue, which is marred by an inappropriate almost haphazard voice. <br />
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Gulliver, himself, is a very passive reactive character, only taking action in response to what is going on. He seems in a contact state of bemusement and used the phrase “My, my” way too much.<br />
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The nominal star of the show is the obnoxious town crier Gabby who fares much better here than in the series of shorts that followed the feature with him as lead. The three spies who are charged with killing the “giant” supply much of the humor. <br />
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Perhaps the scene which stops the film dead in its tracks is the one in which Gabby and Gulliver are walking together. Gabby is recounting a tall tale in rhyme with Gulliver responding with a refrain of “My, my.” The sequence does not to advance the plot or the characters.<br />
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The Fleischer staff established the design style of having the little people done as cartoons, while Gulliver is rotoscoped. It was an interesting decision as it separates Gulliver’s world– “the real world” – from that of Lilliput. <br />
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The look of the film is highly stylized and attempts to have the look and color range of Arthur Rackham's illustrations – an odd choice for bright and bold Technicolor.<br />
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While it’s not the studio’s best work – the 20-minute Popeye specials are more entertaining and their second feature “Mr. Bug Goes to Town” is better realized – it’s certainly is charming and has entertainment appeal today. There are scenes of wonderful animation and invention and I’ve always enjoyed the sequences in which Gulliver is captured as well as the one in which he is cleaned up by the townspeople. These scenes continue the Fleischer theme of mechanics that pops up in some many of the studio’s cartoons.<br />
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Another great sequence is the outdoor banquet illuminated by firelight with Gulliver’s hand “dancing” with the Lilliputians.<br />
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The Fleischers would get one more chance at a feature and would do far better.<br />
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<i>This cartoon alludes to the impact of the feature on the Fleischer staff.</i><br />
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© Copyright 2012 by Gordon Michael Dobbs <br />
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Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-45643053515683854212012-09-25T14:58:00.000-07:002012-09-25T14:58:55.291-07:00<b>Guilty, guilty pleasures<br />
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Yes, I can appreciate the great movies – most of them, at least – but I find that I'm drawn to films that live on the fringes of polite movie society.<br />
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"The Mad Doctor of Blood Island" is a thoroughly unhinged mad scientist movie shot in the Philippines with an American cast, but a decidedly different point of view. I will watch damn near any film shot in that nation in the 1960s and '70s. They look and feel different, even if an American director is on board.<br />
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"The Fiend of Dope Island" is the kind of film that makes me wonder, "Just why did they make this thing?" Bruce Bennett was an Olympic athlete who was slated to play Tarzan at MGm before an injury prevented him from doing so. He made a number of low budget films under his real name of Herman Brix in the 1930s, but changed his name and appeared in a string of big budget A films for major studios. By the late 1950s, he appeared in this pt boiler. He also co-produced. It has an evil hypnotic char,<br />
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Few films deserve more of revival than "Shakes the Clown." Starring, written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, "Shakes" gives all of us who grew up mistrustful of clowns plenty of ammunition. Very funny and in highly questionable taste, "Shakes" is one of my favorites.<br />
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There are few films from the 1970s that I love more than this movie created on a dare by Joe Dante and Allan Arkush when they were cutting trailers for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. Made in 10 days and utilizing a lot of existing footage from other Corman movies, it has a true charm and stars an actress who is largely forgotten today, Candice Rialson. She was a young woman who should have been a major star, but spent most of her career in low budget films. She could have done much, much more.<br />
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By the way the trailer is not safe for work. <br />
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Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-27636539486672631332012-09-19T17:46:00.000-07:002012-09-19T17:46:16.671-07:00I've been watching a lot of DVDs for work and here's a few of them.<br />
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The Three Stooges<br />
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Like many Stooge fans I was very uncertain whether or not I should spend the cost of a movie ticket to go see this homage/rebooting of the venerable slapstick trio. After all, I couldn't see someone "being" Buster Keaton's or Charlie Chaplin's on-screen character in a new movie, so why the Stooges?<br />
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Fanboys hadn't been so divided about a movie since Tim Burton cast Michael Keaton as Batman.<br />
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Now that the film is on DVD, I'm willing to risk the time and reduced cost of admission to see it and I have to say that I enjoyed myself thoroughly with this love letter to Moe, Larry and Curly.<br />
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Rated PG, the film has just three gags that are more attuned to modern comedy conventions, with all the rest falling squarely in the Stooge's tried-and-true brand of ultra-violent slapstick.<br />
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Directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly are clearly devoted fans and they cast this film carefully with three actors who did the Stooges proud Chris Diamantopoulos as Moe, Sean Hayes as Larry and Will Sasso as Curly. Sasso had perhaps the most difficult assignment, considering how many people love Curly, and he carried it off well.<br />
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Hayes actually brings something extra to Larry and does a great reaction bit when Moe throws a live and irritated lobster down Larry's pants.<br />
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Acknowledging the beautiful Christine McIntyre, the long-time Stooge co-star who could either be a heroine or a villain the directors cast Sofia Vergara as the bad guy, something the actress seemed to enjoy.<br />
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The directors even used some of the original sound effects from the shorts and ended the film in a very appropriate Stooge manner.<br />
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Now if you don't like the original Stooges, you won't like this film, but if you're a Stooge fan, watch it.<br />
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By the way, at the end of the film is a short piece designed to keep youngster from doing things such as hitting each other over the head with a sledgehammer. I wondered if 20th Century Fox attorneys demanded this sequence to lower the studio's liability?<br />
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Pirates! Band of Misfits<br />
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Some people get all excited by a new animated release from Pixar, but I get twitchy when I learn that Aardman Studios have a new project. The people who brought audiences the adventures of Wallace and Gromit and "Chicken Run" are not only amazingly talented animators specializing in stop motion, but also are vastly clever.<br />
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"The Pirates!" may not be the studio's most laugh-out-loud film, but it provides a very enjoyable 90 minutes or so.<br />
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The story centers around The Pirate Captain, a man determined to be voted Pirate of the Year, but is so ineffective he doesn't have a chance. His men admire him, though, and stick with him when the ship's beloved pet Polly, the last dodo, is suddenly sought after by Charles Darwin who is in love with Queen Victoria!<br />
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This mixing and matching of real people and fictional characters — along with pirates of the 18th century with the technology of the latter 19th century is part of the film's unique charm.<br />
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To appreciate the animation one must watch the documentary that is included on the Blu-Ray (but not on the DVD). The process is astounding.<br />
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The voice cast is headed up by Hugh Grant, who does well, and also includes Martin Freeman and David Tennant.<br />
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For a great family night, get your hands on this film.<br />
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Girls Gone Dead<br />
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The late great David Friedman, producer of dozens of exploitation films, explained in many interviews that when you make such a movie you better be prepared to at some point give audiences what they expect.<br />
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This limp dishrag of a film purports to be a clever, sexy spoof of horror films, but instead is so dreadfully inept, your finger will be on the fast forward button throughout most of the film.<br />
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What can I say about a film whose cover graphics features an actress who doesn't appear in the film? Case closed.<br />
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I don't care how desperate you are standing at the Red Box on a Saturday night eager for something new to watch. Rent this and you will be sorry.<br />
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The Carol Burnett Show: Carol's Favorites<br />
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In this era and anything-goes comedy, one might think that episodes of a television variety show from the 1970s wouldn't have much to offer today's viewers.<br />
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If the show was "The Carol Burnett Show," that assumption would be wrong as this new five-disc collection shows.<br />
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Burnett was on television from 1967 to 1978 with a highly rated variety show. For readers younger than the age of 40, variety shows once roamed airwaves in the same numbers — almost as reality shows. They were a mainstay of television programming and Burnett's was consistently at the top of the heap.<br />
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Besides being an incredibly talented performer — fearless in doing almost anything for a laugh — Burnett surrounded herself with talent with her supporting cast and in the writers' room.<br />
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This collection features a selection of shows picked by Burnett and boy are there some great comedic moments here, including the hilarious send-up of "Gone With the Wind" and the skit about a nervous new dentist with Tim Conway and Harvey Korman.<br />
<br />
As a kid, I hated "McHale's Navy" — I still think it's stupid — and at first I didn't care much for Tim Conway. His work on the Burnett show was a revelation to me, though. He was an amazing — and to his fellow performers, challenging — ad libber who would go off script as a comic inspiration hit him.<br />
<br />
The collection also features several of the "Mr. Tudball and Mrs. Wiggans" sketches, which featured Conway as a frustrated boss and Burnett as the world's most dense secretary. <br />
<br />
Vicki Lawrence, who was hired to play Burnett's sister in skits, also came into her own when the writers developed a recurring sketch called "The Family," in which Lawrence played the matriarch of a Southern family. The skit was so successful it was spun off as a separate series called "Mama's Family."<br />
<br />
The set also has many extras, including some of Burnett's work on "The Garry Moore Show," plus many behind the scenes interviews.<br />
<br />
This collection shows just how comedy has changed on television and not necessarily for the better.<br />
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<br />
The Dictator<br />
<br />
<br />
If you're like me, you probably cringed so much through "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," that you skipped Sacha Baron Cohen's follow-up film, "Brüno."<br />
<br />
I admired "Borat" for its sheer comic audacity and for Cohen's satiric nerve, although I have to admit that watching two men wrestle in the nude wasn't my cup of tea. <br />
<br />
Cohen returned to the screen in this far more conventional comedy that I certainly found funny with its political incorrectness.<br />
<br />
Cohen plays Aladeen, the life-long dictator of a small northern African nation. He believes his people actually like being oppressed and uses his position to do outrageous actions to bolster his own ego, such as competing in a race and using the starter's pistol to wound his fellow runners.<br />
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During a trip to United Nations, Aladeen is a victim of a coup by his trusted second-in-command, but he manages to escape with his life — but not with his trademark beard.<br />
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Alone in New York, he accidentally meets the super liberal manager of an organic food store (played by Anna Faris with her usual cuteness) who believes he is a victim of the dictator's oppression. Aladeen isn't used to kindness and changes for a moment, until he hatches a plot to grab back his power.<br />
<br />
Although "Borat" was studded with satiric digs, "The Dictator" is fairly standard in its storyline — funny but nothing new. It isn't until its conclusion that Cohen gives a biting monologue that certainly hits home this election year. <br />
<br />
Although undoubtedly not for everyone, "The Dictator" provides some good laughs.<br />
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<br />
Absolutely Fabulous 20th Anniversary<br />
<br />
<br />
Have you ever run into anyone who is determined to not act or dress their age and follow youthful trends despite the fact that such an effort makes them look pathetic and desperate? That's the premise on which Jennifer Saunders has based her hit television show "Absolutely Fabulous."<br />
<br />
Saunders plays Edina Monsoon, an over-the-hill party girl obsessed with high fashion and fame, who supposedly has a public relations and management business, but really relies on alimony from her two husbands. Her best friend, Patsy Stone, played by Joanna Lumley, is also a fashionista, working for a style magazine. Stone is so burnt out from alcohol and drugs that she's not even sure how old she is.<br />
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Together, they attempt to stay up on the trends and appear to be important members of British society. Needless to say, they fail miserably.<br />
<br />
Monsoon's problems are exacerbated by her mother and daughter, neither of whom is impressed with her shallow life. <br />
<br />
Saunders' scripts are laced with biting social and pop culture satire as well as moments of old fashioned slapstick and politically incorrect humor. What has always been remarkable is the number of people from British fashion and entertainment who have been guest stars on the show, some even gladly suffering jokes at their own expense.<br />
<br />
The show was a hit on Comedy Central and on BBC America and although the initial run ended years ago, Saunders and Lumley have reprised their characters in a series of specials.<br />
<br />
This DVD contains the three latest shows, aired in Great Britain in 2011 and this summer. They are a scream with Saunders' scripts deftly referring to the ages of the characters.<br />
<br />
I particularly enjoyed the show about the summer Olympics, which was broadcast in the UK in July. <br />
<br />
If you already an "Ab Fab" fan, this DVD is a must-have. If you're not a fan, you might find the shows a little difficult to understand. As a writer, Saunders likes to build her comedy on the backstory she has developed, which will cause a person new to the series a little difficulty.<br />
<br />
The extras on the disk include a short episode design to raise funds and awareness for a British charity and the making-of that show. <br />
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Watch a little "Ab Fab"online and then try this very funny DVD.<br />
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<br />
Cleanskin<br />
<br />
<br />
A "cleanskin" is a person involved in some sort of undercover operation who has no record, a point that is pivotal in this very good and intense thriller about a series of terrorist attacks in London.<br />
<br />
Sean Bean plays Ewan, a former British commando now employed as an operative by a branch of the British Secret Service. His current job is to follow the illegal sale of a box of plastic explosives to get at a terrorist cell.<br />
<br />
There is a security breach and armed, masked men hijack the explosives. It is now Ewan's job to find the explosives before suicide bombers can use them.<br />
<br />
What complicates his assignment is that his bosses need to have this operation completed before an up-coming election, so they can keep their jobs. <br />
<br />
This is a gritty, no-wisecracking kind of action thriller and Bean does a great job as an emotionally broken man driven by the need to stop the terrorists before they can act.<br />
<br />
What makes this film even more interesting is that director and writer Hadi Hajaig includes the backstory of the lead terrorist to try to show how this man made the decision to attack the country of his birth. This adds greater dramatic depth to the film.<br />
<br />
Add a major twist ending and you have a really effective thriller. Be warned, though, the film doesn't mince on the violence, which may offend some people.<br />
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© 2012 by Gordon Michael DobbsMike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-9987551850244794782012-08-06T19:12:00.001-07:002012-08-06T19:12:22.546-07:00The 2012 Great New England Air Show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2wsdF1_n0vWuvDcIcpNdX0yBzaZzpKNhc1HPyn7RhZANcQCO3DZTolnKoEocKNkPs6X8-Nr_QzTdEep-7vaoIUmbJYs7y2sw-d5Y6l1k4Axo99v5kaQTKRpu-lZkd-XL2XP-KA/s1600/DSCN0920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn2wsdF1_n0vWuvDcIcpNdX0yBzaZzpKNhc1HPyn7RhZANcQCO3DZTolnKoEocKNkPs6X8-Nr_QzTdEep-7vaoIUmbJYs7y2sw-d5Y6l1k4Axo99v5kaQTKRpu-lZkd-XL2XP-KA/s400/DSCN0920.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>This C-47 transport plane was used in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. </b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4of2GNVSyoqf5dXg88-3_1vOhW9zYJ5WGqM1NrSvTyehhBTw42rwGmzyfGCpOp56IxQmcSdxbe3u3_Fpv1wTZxF0iwAvAFRGMel12PmPGSqavu8WQYl9UnHnsn3M3OHeJ0uAdQ/s1600/DSCN0923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4of2GNVSyoqf5dXg88-3_1vOhW9zYJ5WGqM1NrSvTyehhBTw42rwGmzyfGCpOp56IxQmcSdxbe3u3_Fpv1wTZxF0iwAvAFRGMel12PmPGSqavu8WQYl9UnHnsn3M3OHeJ0uAdQ/s400/DSCN0923.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>In the collection of the American Airpower Museum, it was given the nickname "Second Chance.</b>"<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIOpiiza35h6k_XCijMjsECph1NPcMIsBQ2JSFWfcD18oQn7SUyUpDp2e4hjinDLOAakIN8lQG1Ah1CuYkZDsw4gVBfdEEIjf5XoMJ2jwcFRNztTzZWrE-wHe-Zb0uuxualVd0g/s1600/DSCN0929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIOpiiza35h6k_XCijMjsECph1NPcMIsBQ2JSFWfcD18oQn7SUyUpDp2e4hjinDLOAakIN8lQG1Ah1CuYkZDsw4gVBfdEEIjf5XoMJ2jwcFRNztTzZWrE-wHe-Zb0uuxualVd0g/s400/DSCN0929.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>The spartan interior meant room for more troops and more supplies.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD48HXgRh_dzMgcSB6aQ9dgWJMFEV80OBfjTju6q5OluUL-Nlvf8uKjjsp8oLu8wkB60nvsjDLSfxbgjAmckOpxE-1QOFtBQYWDYvJz8UdpxdtIFxKgjZPPw7nR_GwATjCc9cCQA/s1600/DSCN0948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD48HXgRh_dzMgcSB6aQ9dgWJMFEV80OBfjTju6q5OluUL-Nlvf8uKjjsp8oLu8wkB60nvsjDLSfxbgjAmckOpxE-1QOFtBQYWDYvJz8UdpxdtIFxKgjZPPw7nR_GwATjCc9cCQA/s400/DSCN0948.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>There's little room in the cockpit.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAwhtvRAeSvn8sBNjiV6IoZYTic3tojouWpX983wUEVyxrHt6xhVRic1XzlWv4d4jMVrdcvS9vwTNVd4m-a2OuXaU6VtmBrakv9frNSfxQfpoZQX5UUxb8NzHjD2T54Ya62wdWYQ/s1600/DSCN0979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAwhtvRAeSvn8sBNjiV6IoZYTic3tojouWpX983wUEVyxrHt6xhVRic1XzlWv4d4jMVrdcvS9vwTNVd4m-a2OuXaU6VtmBrakv9frNSfxQfpoZQX5UUxb8NzHjD2T54Ya62wdWYQ/s400/DSCN0979.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>My dad's last plane, a B-52 bomber.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvGBtVoS5BZU-5MRR2KkJRyWfrOzfEzNdahrHNujJwyPVX6eJPMgu8eqtRiSoSMtqRxF8t8hdpkw_ngUlWL2WdWGNUCGMCIJMMKu6FmVIU9CpnEKNuhF2xgbEnCdSV93lx_kMGw/s1600/DSCN0968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivvGBtVoS5BZU-5MRR2KkJRyWfrOzfEzNdahrHNujJwyPVX6eJPMgu8eqtRiSoSMtqRxF8t8hdpkw_ngUlWL2WdWGNUCGMCIJMMKu6FmVIU9CpnEKNuhF2xgbEnCdSV93lx_kMGw/s400/DSCN0968.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>The vertical take-off Osprey drew crowds.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDOKlzM9lPW9v_1DsQBAFyRXlocQefawrmu9dzo7nTR35MnDjj0055SCYPhX9649QR_Aw-JkGYt8cbAW0mQPto-hTP5pnNTaZfGWLGfvVCUzyzswfSLeXussFDHQY3Ig4mQrQaA/s1600/DSCN0975.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDOKlzM9lPW9v_1DsQBAFyRXlocQefawrmu9dzo7nTR35MnDjj0055SCYPhX9649QR_Aw-JkGYt8cbAW0mQPto-hTP5pnNTaZfGWLGfvVCUzyzswfSLeXussFDHQY3Ig4mQrQaA/s400/DSCN0975.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>This modified Hercules cargo plane is iced for trips to the North and South Poles. Note the skis for landing.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32oTiqtTKGKdoET0PfrW-Utr9Qogxn4R4B7r0cRngxWhXCMGhDtjuHZGmr4w5BXcPmlj7Txz8HssyVSfxEJSxJJ7EUTBmgXDDiSq9bWOt_29niVhqzuUJlnUyDP4jkuHWBQ_eQA/s1600/DSCN0981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh32oTiqtTKGKdoET0PfrW-Utr9Qogxn4R4B7r0cRngxWhXCMGhDtjuHZGmr4w5BXcPmlj7Txz8HssyVSfxEJSxJJ7EUTBmgXDDiSq9bWOt_29niVhqzuUJlnUyDP4jkuHWBQ_eQA/s400/DSCN0981.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>Once my dad received special permission to show us a B-52 up close. For years, it was almost classified. I remember standing looking up at the bomb bay and thinking it was huge. It's become a bit smaller with age.</b> <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wCNxWuVIQ_TpuJyaKYWn-n5UOdSL6nziqrgk86uk1TlagxZN_QXzad8ZwMbphdBsifELkXU8ojqwkGXTZzbdfxZCMgeAN4y9lMN_PROAJL014dO8YQdAxjbhht-7vsyXJw3Enw/s1600/DSCN0992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wCNxWuVIQ_TpuJyaKYWn-n5UOdSL6nziqrgk86uk1TlagxZN_QXzad8ZwMbphdBsifELkXU8ojqwkGXTZzbdfxZCMgeAN4y9lMN_PROAJL014dO8YQdAxjbhht-7vsyXJw3Enw/s400/DSCN0992.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>I love nose art, this one on a WWII vintage Avenger fighter.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLXm4vb0xBzgOnepFExHVam7nJtc6IHTZP4irbQb9VBsHELZy9EdJO6If_J3abnjbXWqrPx3-Rt7YzJ4DZ_SuWeCDTqcWuo1myd5uWdrBDa_wam9mk9aza37KIqVWLocO8qMwfRA/s1600/DSCN0993.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLXm4vb0xBzgOnepFExHVam7nJtc6IHTZP4irbQb9VBsHELZy9EdJO6If_J3abnjbXWqrPx3-Rt7YzJ4DZ_SuWeCDTqcWuo1myd5uWdrBDa_wam9mk9aza37KIqVWLocO8qMwfRA/s400/DSCN0993.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>This is General Hap Arnold's personal B-25.</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmNcNy4aIbzveXLZEEhbja5Oup6aMdflkZjr-TGOjBfmicDAUHUrMBgqEvGTXSeWzD1DI_6_wk4mT4CmrdUL4OqA8cEtoS-qFK6henSzMOXaEmpXD3Lhl095HhOd0G0U4rlRwyw/s1600/DSCN0997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmNcNy4aIbzveXLZEEhbja5Oup6aMdflkZjr-TGOjBfmicDAUHUrMBgqEvGTXSeWzD1DI_6_wk4mT4CmrdUL4OqA8cEtoS-qFK6henSzMOXaEmpXD3Lhl095HhOd0G0U4rlRwyw/s400/DSCN0997.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>Is there anything cooler than the standard nose art of the Warhawk?</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju32nRol3T8RPdsUU7rn6dCIyB6FmH3MH_6LlGsrDAAX1iQ7fScG8wEQe7vN2X5uus1gLo3kTV731ogmbSnRSyOUkOIcqDcstwYXu5E_eTffN2IjgOfv3GZ_diXwxtVffQxxojOA/s1600/DSCN0996.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju32nRol3T8RPdsUU7rn6dCIyB6FmH3MH_6LlGsrDAAX1iQ7fScG8wEQe7vN2X5uus1gLo3kTV731ogmbSnRSyOUkOIcqDcstwYXu5E_eTffN2IjgOfv3GZ_diXwxtVffQxxojOA/s400/DSCN0996.JPG" /></a></div><br />
<b>Well, maybe a half-naked woman on a B-25 is cooler!</b><br />
<br />
<b>There are some assignments I truly enjoy and covering the Great New England Airshow at Westover Air Reserve Base is one of them. My dad, Gordon L. Dobbs, was a career Air Force officer, who entered the Army Air Corps as an enlisted man, applied to flight school on a bet and commanded a B-17 in Europe. He flew B-29s in Korea and was a B-52 nuclear pilot when he had an accident that left one side of his body paralyzed in 1961.<br />
<br />
He recovered and continued in his career on the maintenance side. His last assignment was commanding a unit Bien Hoa outside of Saigon keeping helicopters in the air. <br />
<br />
Three wars in one life. He retired after Vietnam.<br />
<br />
For me growing up on and near air bases was all a great adventure. One of my earliest memories is visiting my father through a chain link fence when he was on nuclear duty. The bomber crews that were on alert had to stay in an underground barracks called "The Mole Hole" at Westover. My mom would come a pre-arranged time and Dad would come out to see us.<br />
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One of the biggest treats in the world to me was when he would bring home a spare flight meal. I thought this was the most exotic food possible.<br />
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I have very few regrets in my life, but one is not going into the Air Force myself. After his Vietnam experience, my dad had every mixed feelings about how the military treated its men and women.<br />
<br />
I have been privileged to have flown in two different B-17s – my father's favorite plane – and both times I was practically moved to tears. Both flights took place after my dad's death in 1996 and they seemed to offer a link to him that I hadn't had before.<br />
<br />
To this day, if I hear a plane overhead I will stop and look at it. The roar of a jet engine is actually a reassuring sound to me.<br />
<br />
The following is what I wrote for the newspapers I edit.</b><br />
<br />
WESTOVER ARB – As we cruised over Western Massachusetts and toward the Quabbin Reservoir, it occurred to me that the sound of the engines of the C-47 was what the paratroopers heard as it carried them to the D-Day invasion – that is until the plane crossed the English Channel and into the Nazi fortified coast of France.<br />
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I was one of the lucky members of the media to be invited to fly in literally a piece of history on Aug. 2. <br />
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It was all part of the publicity for the Great New England Air Show at Westover Air Reserve Base. The first air show in four years, the event drew hundreds of thousand of people last weekend.<br />
<br />
This year’s edition was different as it emphasized two themes: a salute to the veterans of World War II and the display of planes that had been stationed at the base, including the B-52 bomber.<br />
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The C-47 was among those aircraft that flew from base from the late 1940s and into the 1950s.<br />
<br />
The crowds walked a good part of the long length of the tarmac seeing a wide variety of aircraft, from a FedEx cargo jet to a LC 130 “Snow Bird,” a modified cargo plane with skis used by the New York Air National Guard for operations in the Arctic and Antarctica.<br />
<br />
Many of the planes were open for visitors to go through them and to view the cockpits.<br />
<br />
The C-47 was officially known as “The Skytrain” for its versatility in hauling people and cargo where it was needed, however it had another name, said affectionately during World War II, “The Gooney Bird.”<br />
<br />
This particular C-47 brought British paratroopers to D-Day. It also played a role in the Israeli War of 1956 as part of the Israeli Air Force. It’s civilian counterpart, known as the DC-3, can still be seen in use, according to Ron Barris, a volunteer crew member from the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale, N.Y., where this plane is part of the collection.<br />
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The C-47 also was known for its role in the ”Berlin Airlift,” which dropped food and supplies in 1948 and 1949 to the Allied occupied part of Berlin, Germany, to counter a blockade by the Soviet Union.<br />
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Barris said the first flight for this particular plane was in 1943.<br />
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John Purdy, the plane’s co-pilot, called the aircraft, “a grand old airplane.”<br />
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It’s “sweet” to fly, he added.<br />
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The plane had just come out of its annual inspection and is in a Federal Aviation Administration approved maintenance program.<br />
<br />
As we were taxiing for takeoff, Barris explained, how the paratroopers connected their ripcords to a static line so their parachutes would automatically deploy as they jumped out over their target.<br />
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He added the Germans dug eight-foot-deep trenches filled with water, so if a paratrooper landed in it, the weight of his 85-pound backpack would drown him.<br />
<br />
The plane has been restored with the kind of seats used by the paratroopers. Barris added the soldiers would sit with their packs on to add some protection from flack and shells fired at the plane.<br />
<br />
The plane carried no armaments and relied on protection from other aircraft.<br />
<br />
Once aloft, we were allowed to move around. The only convention to modern air travel is there were signs instructing passengers not to smoke and to fasten their seatbelts.<br />
<br />
A blistering hot day, Barris noted with a smile that there would be some cool air once the plane reached its cruising attitude and the pilot opened up his window.<br />
The cockpit was just big enough for pilot John Vocell and Purdy. The only other crewmember sat in a tight area with the radio gear.<br />
<br />
For Capt. Matthew Bates, who is stationed at Westover, the C-47 had a special significance. Looking at the plane, he said his grandfather, Andrew Bates, was the pilot of a glider filled with supplies and troops that was being pulled by a C-47. His grandfather, who is still alive, unavoidably crashed the glider into a hedgerow during the D-Day invasion and was seriously injured.<br />
<br />
The take-off was delayed a bit as Vocell was bringing in another plane from the museum, General Henry “Hap” Arnold’s personal B-25. The B-25 bomber was best known for Gen. James Doolittle raid on Tokyo.<br />
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The museum also flew in other World War II vintage aircraft, including a P-51 Mustang, a P-47 Thunderbolt, A FG-1D Corsair, a TMB Avenger and a P-40 Warhawk.<br />
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Four of the fighter planes and the B-25 put on a show for the people lining the edge of the runway that included a simulated bombing run with coordinated explosions on the ground.<br />
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As thrilling as that seemed, it was the maneuver to open the flying show that silenced the crowd. To honor those World War II veterans who have passed on, three of the fighters flew low over the runway and then one broke way from the formation heading nearly straight up into the clouds.<br />
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© 2012 by Gordon Michael Dobbs<br />
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<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-45721571613999181142012-07-17T17:38:00.000-07:002012-07-17T17:38:12.578-07:00<b>Indian Day 2012</b><br />
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I don't ride a bike, but I would like to and I love going to Indian Day each year at the Springfield Museums. If I ever hit the lottery, one of the first things I'd buy would be a classic restored Indian. I guess I would have to learn to ride.<br />
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The Indian was the first successful American "motocycle," and was made here in Springfield, Mass. from 1901 to 1953. It was a product of the incredible pool of engineering and manufacturing talent here in Pioneer Valley.<br />
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On Indian Day, Indian owners ride their vintage bikes to town and it's quite a sight to see – rolling history.<br />
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The classic bikes summon up a time and place in this country – before the Interstate when U.S. highways such as Routes 20, 5 and 66 were the principal roads linking this nation. <br />
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It was a time of mechanical innovation, when someone working in their garage could change the course of a product or invent a new one.<br />
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The following are some of the photos I took.<br />
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Have a hankering to bring an Indian back to life? The guy who had this 1946 model was asking only $12,000 and assured me the engine was in great shape as all of the parts were in boxes!<br />
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© 2012 by Gordon Michael Dobbs<br />
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<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-45910578524519269092012-07-08T06:02:00.002-07:002012-07-08T06:02:58.691-07:00<b>I've been watching a lot of DVDs lately and here's a few thoughts!<br />
</b><br />
<b>The Decoy Bride</b><br />
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Normally I would avoid most any film that has the word "bride" in it only because of the prospects of yet another romantic comedy that is neither romantic nor funny.<br />
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But when "The Decoy Bride" was delivered to me, I knew I had to watch it. First, the film was shot in Scotland — my wife is Scottish — and second, it stars David Tennant.<br />
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Who? That's right, but actually you might know him with a title: Dr. Who.<br />
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Tennant is no longer traversing time and space in the long-running British science fiction series and he returned to his native Scotland to make this film.<br />
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The problem is the publicist sent the review copy in the Blu-Ray format instead of a DVD. I had to upgrade my technology in order to watch it, so I hoped it was actually worth of all of the expectations and the $100 in a new gizmo.<br />
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I'm happy to say this film is actually funny and the romance is actually acceptable even to this old curmudgeon.<br />
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Tennant plays James, an author who is engaged to Lara, a world famous movie star (played with sympathy by Alice Eve), and a woman who can't get a private moment away from the paparazzi. In an effort to thwart the press, the couple decides to get married on a small island that is part of the Hebrides.<br />
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At the same time, a resident of the island is coming home after her failed engagement. Kelly Macdonald is Katie, who seems to be willing to resign herself to a kind of exile.<br />
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When a persistent photographer shows up on the island, Lara's management comes up with a plan to fool him: stage a phony wedding with a decoy bride. Katie is recruited when they offer her 5,000 pounds.<br />
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Although Tennant's name may attract American fans to the film, the movie is really Macdonald's and she shines. She is a familiar face from a number of films including "No Country for Old Men," the last "Harry Potter" film and "Nanny McPhee," among others.<br />
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Now for those who might think a film full of Scottish accents would be a challenge, don't worry. Everyone makes allowances for non-Scottish audiences.<br />
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This little film is a lot of fun.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Add5m5IdP5E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<b>The Artist</b><br />
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Perhaps the most celebrated film from last year, "The Artist" is now out on DVD and Blu-Ray. I wrote about this movie when it was in theaters last year and was eager to see how it would be presented on home video.<br />
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The extras are pretty standard — interviews with the cast and crew and a gag reel — and I was surprised that they did not include something about the inspiration for the film and whether or not there were models for the characters and the events.<br />
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If you've not seen "The Artist" I urge you to do so.<br />
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Since "The Artist" was the first silent film many people had seen — and not one from the silent era of cinema — I thought it would be appropriate to present some information that might shed some additional light on the film and the time it recreates.<br />
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Did an actor like George Valentin really exist?<br />
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In interviews, star Jean Dujardin said his inspiration was Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Gene Kelly. That's very apparent, as Valentin is cocky like Fairbanks, who was also extremely likable. The director even used a clip from Fairbank's first Zorro film as a wink to the audience. I think, though, the part of the film that chronicles Valentin's fall is modeled after John Gilbert.<br />
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Gilbert was a major star in the silent era. He is the actor who has been surrounded by a myth that his voice was so bad that sound ruined his career and he drank himself to death.<br />
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In reality, Gilbert's voice was just fine, but his clashes with MGM head Louis B. Mayer had more to do with crashing his career than sound. Gilbert was put into some poor films that spurred the legend about his voice.<br />
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Gilbert, sadly, suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 39 that was undoubtedly brought on in part by his drinking.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/K67tXWlCiDo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<i>Here's a clip of Gilbert speaking. His voice was fine, but the talkies in which he was placed by MGM were not.</i><br />
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Were there actors who decided to direct themselves who had disastrous results like Valentin?<br />
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One of the silent film's celebrated comics, Harry Langdon, had a near meteoric rise to fame after years of near obscurity. Frank Capra directed Langdon's most successful features, but Langdon dumped him. The comic directed three features in the late 1920s that showed he really didn't understand his own on-screen character very well.<br />
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Did silent films disappear as quickly as the film shows?<br />
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The success of "The Jazz Singer" in 1927 convinced many studios and theater owners that sound — which had been tried before — was worthy of investment. <br />
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By 1929, most films boasted of having recorded dialogue and sound effects. By 1930, only a relative handful of films were silent.<br />
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Only Charlie Chaplin resisted recorded dialogue and, like Valentin, thought sound was artistically inferior to silent films. Chaplin didn't perform any dialogue in his movies until he made "The Great Dictator" in 1940. <br />
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What's a short list of silent films to view?<br />
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Watching comedy is frequently the best way to break into silent film and I'm a huge fan of Buster Keaton. Try "Sherlock Junior." Harold Lloyd's films also hold up well and "Speedy" is a treat. Fairbanks' "Robin Hood" is a lot of swashbuckling fun. For something serious — and a bit twisted — Erich von Stroheim's dramas can't be beat.<br />
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One of my favorite silent films is Fritz Lang's science fiction fable "Metropolis," now finally in a version that restored Lang's vision from 1925. <br />
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<b>John Carter</b><br />
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Many critics trashed this film adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs' venerable pulp science fiction series and honestly I don't why. Perhaps they didn't know what to expect from source material aimed at boys and men and first published in 1917?<br />
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Please.<br />
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This is what I call a "Boy's Life" movie — no slam intended to the Boy Scout magazine I certainly loved when I was kid. The hero acts like a hero, the princess is beautiful and capable, there is rousing action, interesting visuals and at the end you've had a good time.<br />
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There is no message, no outrageous sex, nudity or violence in this PG-13 movie. It's an old fashioned good guy versus bad guy adventure film.<br />
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John Carter is a Civil War vet who finds, quite by accident, a way to transport himself to Mars, or as the Martians call it Barsoom. There he finds several species of people fighting among themselves, including the tall green, multi-armed Tharks.<br />
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Because of the lower gravity, Carter can jump great distances — shades of the earliest form of Superman — and becomes a valuable warrior to the Tharks.<br />
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There's plenty of intrigue as well supplied by the Thern, an intergalactic race who go from planet to planet manipulating civilizations for their own purposes.<br />
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Andrew Stanton, the director of the animated hits "Wall-E" and "Finding Nemo," is a Burroughs fan and he does right with the material, even working Burroughs himself into the narrative.<br />
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I think the marketing of the film helped sink it at the American box office, where the film lost money. Interestingly, it was a huge hit overseas and, with DVD sales as well as pay-per-view, the film just might break even, eventually. The trailer of the film didn't seem to convey what this film was about and the title — "John Carter of Mars" or the original book title "A Princess of Mars" would have been better.<br />
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If you're looking for a perfect summer movie that all but the youngest members of the family can enjoy, gamble a rental fee and get "John Carter." <br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6xBaGv5bx0Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<b>Billy the Exterminator, season four <br />
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Storage Wars, season two<br />
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Gene Simmons Family Jewels, season six, volumes one and two<br />
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Top Shot, season four<br />
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Pawn Stars, volume four</b><br />
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Thanks to DVDs, we can have summer television reruns whenever we want them as this new group of releases proves.<br />
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I will sheepishly admit that I do watch reality television, but I can't see collecting reality television to watch over and over. I will also admit that is a position that makes no logical sense as I do collect movies and will watch them multiple times. <br />
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I can't explain it. It's an enigma, wrapped in a conundrum with a creamy puzzle center. However, to each their own.<br />
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"Billy the Exterminator" perhaps is the most formulaic of the bunch. Billy gets a call to remove some sort of varmint. Billy goes out to the work site and removes the offending animal. He does so wearing heavy metal country rock clothes and giving us play-by-play commentary showing his familiarity with the critter.<br />
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How many times do I need to see him do this?<br />
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At least "Top Shot" is a marksmanship contest, which like any athletic event has the elements of uncertainty.<br />
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"Storage Wars" merely pushes the concept of finding something valuable in a heap of crap and then finding out who has made the most money by doing so. Frankly, "Pawn Stars" and "American Pickers" are more interesting and informative. <br />
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A group of "characters" with various backstories compete with each other bidding on abandoned storage lockers and the stuff therein. They hope their cursory examinations of the contents give them some idea if the material is worth something.<br />
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Yawn.<br />
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Rock entrepreneur Gene Simmons is probably the smartest guy in pop music as he turned KISS into a juggernaut of merchandising. At a time when other musicians of his age are either oldies acts or signing autographs for $20 bucks at conventions, Simmons is rising much higher with this reality show depicting his family life.<br />
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Simmons, who also co-produces the show, understands both the fundamentals of soap opera and the sit-com. Like many classic TV comedies, Simmons knows the role of the father is to be an idiot and he gladly plays it. He also knows the dramatic value of those episodes in which he debates whether or not he should marry Shannon Tweed, his long-time girlfriend and mother of his two children. <br />
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Simmons' show can be entertaining at least, something many other similar shows are not.<br />
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The reality show that is my most frequent guilty pleasure is "Pawn Stars," only because I actually learn things from the show but also, like "Antique Roadshow," I'm intrigued by items that people have either stumbled across at flea markets or acquired through their families.<br />
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The interaction among the Harrison family who run the pawnshop in Las Vegas is far less interesting to me than what people bring in to sell.<br />
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Of this group, a positive nod to "Pawn Stars," and furtive approval to "Family Jewels."<br />
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<b>Sherlock</b><br />
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If you have not yet discovered "Sherlock," now is the time to do so. <br />
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BBC Home Video has recently released the second season of this updating of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's venerable detective and if you're a mystery fan or a Holmes fan, you need to see it.<br />
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I have to admit that I viewed the new show with some trepidation. Sherlock Holmes has been one of the sturdy literary characters when it comes to adaptations into other media, but not all of the actors or adaptations have worked.<br />
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I will readily admit that I'm definitely a Basil Rathbone/ Peter Cushing/ Jeremy Brett enthusiast, but I'm open to other interpretations of Holmes. I've always preferred depictions of Dr. Watson that were not comic relief.<br />
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So I came to this new show wondering if the approach was going to be straight or campy, retro or ironic. I'm happy to say that Conan Doyle himself would probably see how well his character could fit into the 21st century.<br />
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Dr. John Watson's original backstory is that he is an Army doctor who has been injured in a war in Afghanistan and the new show has maintained it, as it is frighteningly appropriate today. Martin Freeman, best known to American audiences from the original production of "The Office," plays Watson as a bright, competent man who is trying to deal with his post-war life. His involvement with Holmes is accidental and has more to do with finding a place to live than anything else. <br />
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The only reason Watson seems a bit thick at times is because Holmes is such a genius. Conan Doyle always characterized his hero has someone seeking a puzzle to solve, afraid of being bored and, despite his general lack of concern for the human race, needed someone to act as a companion and humanizing agent.<br />
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These are all qualities the new show has brought to its stories. This Holmes is described as a "highly functioning sociopath," and yet with Benedict Cumberbatch's performance he is still a likable hero. Physically, Cumberbatch is also perfect, although his Holmes is a bit more physically agile than earlier versions.<br />
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The strength of the Conan Doyle stories and characters is evident in the new show. Mycroft Holmes, Sherlock's older brother, was a high level government official involved with secrets. That fits in perfectly today. So does crime genius Professor Moriarty.<br />
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I was curious how a story such as "The Hound of the Baskervilles" would work today. One of the most horrific of the Conan Doyle stories and one with a genuine monster, the new adaptation brought these elements along and they fit perfectly as Homes and Watson investigate sightings of a horrendous beast near a government research facility.<br />
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The pacing of these shows is brisk and I like how there is a visual device to show how Holmes thinks. <br />
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My wife and I found these shows to be pretty addictive and wanted to watch one after another. In a summer filled with re-runs and derivative reality shows, "Sherlock" on DVD is a must-see.<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-46201166741541490982012-06-26T17:37:00.000-07:002012-06-26T17:37:19.811-07:00<b>Recently I received the "The Three Stooges: The Ultimate Collection" for review. The following is what I wrote for the newspapers I edit with some additional information.</b><br />
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Many times when I receive a boxed set of a series of movies or television shows to review, the reaction around the office is "Why would spend $100 on that?"<br />
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When "The Three Stooges: The Ultimate Collection" came into the office, though, I had to fight to keep it.<br />
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It's difficult to believe that "The Three Stooges," now seen as American comedy icons, were once an act that were popular with audiences but received little critical attention or respect. Today, I predict, this boxed set, which runs around $100, will sell well due to the several generations that discovered the Stooges' short subjects on television. <br />
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I'm not sure who said the world could be divided into two groups of people those who like "The Three Stooges" and those who don't but that person is correct. Not everyone appreciates the barrage of one-liners, silly situations and often shudder-inducing physical violence that are the hallmarks of the best Stooge shorts.<br />
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The Stooges were part of a rich comedy tradition that was killed by television in the 1950s: the short subject. Theater owners used to create a program of feature films and shorts to entice audiences to come to their theater. Today's audiences might find it difficult to believe but in the 1920s through the early 1950s, the bills at theaters would change weekly and theater owners knew they were in a competitive business. They wanted to give people reasons to return, and running short subjects that were popular were part of that strategy.<br />
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The Stooges made the shorts at Columbia, which had a huge comedy unit turning out 20-minute comedies two reelers as they were called with a wide variety of stars, from Buster Keaton to Andy Clyde to El Brendel. The Stooges not only had the longest-running series from 1934 to 1959 but certainly the most popular.<br />
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Typically, the short subjects were a proving ground for comics, who would then try to graduate to feature films, such as Laurel and Hardy. The Stooges, although they appeared in features, never were stars in longer films until after 1958.<br />
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This 20-disc set gives a viewer the opportunity to see the growth and decline of the two reelers and how the studio's cost-cutting measures affected the Stooges' films. It also shows how the act differed with the arrival of new members.<br />
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If nothing else, this boxed set will show that Shemp Howard was a great comic and that many of the shorts featuring Shemp were just as funny as the shorts with Curly, the most popular stooge.<br />
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Shemp was the original third stooge and had left the act before the contract with Columbia. He had established himself as a busy character actor and comic, appearing in feature films and in shorts.<br />
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The most impressive thing about the collection besides having all 190 "Stooge" shorts in a single collection is the bonus disc with 11 more hours of material.<br />
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Columbia has a rich history, but the current owners, Sony, have been pretty stingy about releasing material for which hardcore film fans have long clamored: two-reel comedies and cartoons. In this collection, the producers give us two of the Stooges' feature appearances: "Rocking the Rockies" and "Have Rocket will Travel." <br />
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"Rocking the Rockies" is a 1945 B-movie that stars the Stooges in what is billed as a Western comedy, but is really a loosely written musical revue featuring Western swing acts and the Hoosier Hotshots, a novelty band. The film is interesting, but not necessarily good.<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2nnK56212GU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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There was way too much music and not enough comedy in the film. Columbia clearly didn't know how to make a long-form Stooge film and the film has Moe's character separate from larry and Curly. It's interesting that the Stooges themselves when no longer under contract to Columbia came up with the series of successful kid films.<br />
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The second feature features "Curly Joe" DeRita, the last third stooge. The Stooges made a series of very well received comedies for kids and this was the first one, released in 1959.<br />
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The other bonus items includes three beautiful Columbia Technicolor cartoons that include caricatures of the Stooges and a treasure trove of Columbia two-reelers featuring Shemp as a co-star, Shemp as a star, as well as starring shorts featuring Joe Besser and DeRita.<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gq_v_vXG37E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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I can't understand what potential Columbia saw in DeRita as he was far from an appealing comic. His series of shorts lasted only four installments and one can understand why.<br />
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There are also quite a lot of Shemp solo efforts in the collection including this short.<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xmx5wvM0Az0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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Although maligned by Stooge fans, Besser was an accomplished comic, whose shorts were funny and would have been better if produced at a time when the budgets were more generous and more care was taken.<br />
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There are weeks worth of great viewing in this set, which would have only been better if there had been a booklet to put the bonus material into a historical context.<br />
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For anyone seriously interested in American screen comedy, this is essential. <br />
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© 2012 by Gordon Michael DobbsMike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-89867180124771089352012-06-12T18:02:00.000-07:002012-06-12T18:02:09.601-07:00Last summer, my buddy Steve Bissette waxed eloquently about the virtues of one nasty little horror film "Creature."<br />
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Steve's reason for such a display of manly movie love was that "Creature" was an unadorned, unapologetic 1970s style drive in movie. It is low down, no holds barred film that would have been at home at any "ozoner" – a term Variety used to denote a drive-in – back in the day.<br />
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The fact that "Creature" was an abject failure at the box-office clouded some people's perception about the film. The mere fact it had a national theatrical run at all was a story in itself. Distribution is so tied up in this country it's next to impossible to get a low budget film into a theater.<br />
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Here's the trailer so you can get some of its retro flavor.<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0wFLRbkzWxo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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Sex, violence, a man in a monster suit and Sid Haig – get the picture?<br />
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Now, I've not yet seen "Creature," but I recently bought a film that is my candidate for a perfect little exploitation film: "Bitch Slap." Why is this a gem?<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JddoqqicPCA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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First, it has a wonderful exploitation title. I saw this film on the racks about two years ago and instantly wondered just what the heck it was. Getting someone to question what a film is about is a great marketing tool and exploitation is all about marketing.<br />
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The film makers knew exactly where they were going with the film. There is no pretension to aspire to art. Instead, as revealed in the great making of feature, the director and producer wanted to make an over-the-top film featuring three very hot women beating the crap out of some men, but primarily themselves as they search for some sort of treasure.<br />
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They chose performers who did the roles proudly. The three female leads were not known to me, but these women certainly gave it their all. There is only one brief moment of naked breasts in the film and none of the principals are involved with that scene. Instead there is a whole lot of old fashioned sizzle. I'm sure the push-up bras made up a significant part of the costuming budget!<br />
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With exploitation you have to deliver what the audience expects and with a film like this, the fight scenes need to be epic. Thanks to stunt coordinator Zoe Bell, they are exactly as what would hope.<br />
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The producer also made sure there were surprises. Eric Gruendeman and Rick Jacobson worked on both the "Xena" and "Hercules" televisions series. Michael Hurst, the co-star on "Hercules" plays a major role here, and Lucy Lawless and Kevin Sorbo makes cameos.<br />
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The budget was used well and with the use of a green screen, there are multiple virtual locations, but actually only one real one – a smart move. The script was obviously written to the budget, another smart move.<br />
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I had a ball with this politically incorrect movie. Perhaps it and "Creature" would make for a solid double bill. Now, if you have a countdown clock to run in the intermission your show would be complete!<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ljE0-S9gtEw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-80870202509620335742012-06-11T15:39:00.001-07:002012-06-11T15:39:32.631-07:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2peKTdt8tKBy4a563QWXQO31G8uSVM_FMk6fwUaN6ekiSYjVdgxJXMpWP1xdLlHaZjEE_bG3KCXX3-KFOhTXobuahFdDSKyoUr5yOftjT37ApF6BRRZVuY8mCxBwH7RO7WJUdzg/s1600/Zi6_0608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2peKTdt8tKBy4a563QWXQO31G8uSVM_FMk6fwUaN6ekiSYjVdgxJXMpWP1xdLlHaZjEE_bG3KCXX3-KFOhTXobuahFdDSKyoUr5yOftjT37ApF6BRRZVuY8mCxBwH7RO7WJUdzg/s400/Zi6_0608.JPG" /></a><br />
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Mary and I just got back to a trip to Virginia to see my mom, my brother Patrick and one of his sons, Matthew and his wife Annette. Matthew and Patrick have partnered in a new business, <a href="http://www.streetrocketsva.com/">Street Rockets of Virginia</a> and I happy to report they are doing quite well.<br />
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They also have a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Street-Rockets-of-Virginia/359818174034145">Facebook page</a> here.<br />
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Originally, Matt wanted to sell used cycles and accessories, but state regulations proved to be not worth the effort to surmount them. So, he is building a business based on the needs of bike owners not to just maintain their rides, but to upgrade them. <br />
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Also at the heart of the business is supplying riders with what they want to wear. The proper t-shirt, sunglasses and jacket are very important.<br />
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My nephew is a born salesman and is a diehard rider, so I think he will be successful in this venture. His father is backing him 100 percent. I need a get a cycle now!<br />
<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-52394505778034928012012-05-20T05:14:00.000-07:002012-05-20T05:14:23.543-07:00Cape Cod trip<br />
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Mary and I went to our timeshare on the Cape for a week earlier this month for a very necessary time of unplugging and re-charging.I find about the only way I can truly relax is to not watch the news, not check news websites and do nothing that smacks of my work.<br />
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Up in Wellfleet on U.S. Route 6 we found a barbecue place that was definitely worth going to again. Wellfleet is also home to Books by the Ocean, an insanely claustrophobic used bookstore with tons of odd items. I picked up a wonderful still of Joan Blondell from "Havana Widows." The only problem with the place is that many items – magazines and comics – are in plastic bags which you're not allowed to open. I do it anyway.<br />
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The Greenbriar Nature Center in Sandwich is a regular stop for us. Celebrating the life and career of children's author Thornton W. Burgess, the facility also features a large jam and jelly kitchen.<br />
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The center has a collection of original Harrison Cady art. I'd never seen this image before.<br />
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We had always wanted to walk through the Old Town Cemetery at Sandwich, which was the first settlement on the cape. <br />
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I'm fascinated by the imagery used on the stones and how over years the angelic images changed to a weeping willow.<br />
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I wondered if this was a portrait of the deceased.<br />
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If I was to be buried, this skull image would be on my grave marker.<br />
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This inscription was amazing in detail. People actually wanted their loved ones remembered and frequently suppled much information about them.<br />
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We drove around the Cape quite a bit and stopped at the Chatham light house.<br />
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There were many walks on the beach.<br />
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This gull was looking for a hand-out.<br />
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This is Mary's favorite activity: watching the ocean.<br />
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Despite cool temperatures and persistent winds, I managed smoking a cigar.<br />
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<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-59591397923511701812012-04-22T08:14:00.002-07:002012-04-22T08:14:23.844-07:00<b>So, in 2007, my buddy Marty Langford calls me to see if a friend of his could shoot some footage for a movie he was making in our office since a newspaper was one of the key settings in the film.<br />
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I asked my boss who said , "Yes," especially after he learn the star of the film was Corbin Bernsen, the busy and popular star of television shows and a number of films. <br />
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I was very happy that, even though I wasn't on film as an extra, my office was cast as belonging to Corbin's character, a reporter in the Kolchak mold. I was even happier that the daughter of the late Darren McGavin was working on the film and sat down to speak with me about her father. She liked the fact I had a copy of the famous "leg lamp" on my desk. <br />
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Film-making isn't terribly glamourous. I've been on two sets and indeed there is a tremendous amount of time devoted to setting up a shot that lasts on screen for seconds. Still, as a film guy, both visits have been fun and very informative.<br />
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So now, years letter, I had the chance of seeing a completed cut of the film at the Bing Arts Center here in town. Now called "Hellbeast: The Ascension," the film is actually of combination of footage shot by producer and director Bob Stock did known as "Angel's Blade" with the footage he shot with Bernsen.<br />
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It was the first American screening of the film, as Stock has made only foreign sales of it.<br />
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Let me first present the material I wrote at the time of the shoot and then I'll offer a little review. </b><br />
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<i>Corbin Bernsen sits in my editor's chair as William Gove, the director of photography and Bob Stock (back to camera) lines up a shot in my office.</i> <br />
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EAST LONGMEADOW It's mid-way through Wednesday afternoon and actor Corbin Bernsen is walking up and down an aisle through the cubicles at Reminder Publications' office saying the same line over and over.<br />
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Bernsen strides down the aisle, looks into the camera in the cubicle and delivers the simple line, "Thank you very much, Sarah" about nine different times. Each one is a different reading of the line. <br />
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It's slightly surreal to have a well known actor a long stint on "L.A. Law," films such as "Major League" and currently a co-star on the USA Network show "Psych" filming in your office, much less hanging out and munching on donuts. <br />
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Bernsen is the star of the new film "Angel's Blade 2: The Ascension," written, directed and produced by Robert Stock of Granby. A day of shooting needed to be at a newspaper office since Bernsen's character is an investigative reporter caught up in a story of the paranormal.<br />
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Stock's crew took over the East Longmeadow offices for a day, much to the delight of the staff of Reminder Publications. Autographed photos of Bernsen decorate many cubicles.<br />
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Stock is a computer animator and games designer who produced, wrote and directed "Angel's Blade," a horror film set in both the present day and the 19th century over a year ago. He did a test screening of the film in a Long Island theater and is revising and augmenting some of the film's special effects. <br />
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Stock is co-producing the second film with Angel Light Pictures and, unlike the first film, has a name actor in a pivotal role. Bernsen's role is a loving homage to "Carl Kolchak," the character created by the late Darren McGavin in the highly popular "Nightstalker" movies and television series from the 1970s.<br />
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An interesting coincidence is that McGavin's daughter, Graemm, is the film's line producer. She also has a small role in the film.<br />
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This writer was heartened that his messy, artifact-strewn office was deemed "funky" by the crew and became the home for Bernsen's character.<br />
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Tony Timpone, the editor of "Fangoria Magazine" the bible for horror film fans was also here for the role of Bernsen's boss at the newspaper. It was a smart casting move, as that will insure Stock receives coverage for his film in the national magazine. <br />
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The film has a four-week shooting schedule and only had Bernsen for three days, so all of his scenes had to be shot as efficiently as possible.<br />
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Those who think filmmaking must be glamorous might be surprised at the Spartan world of the independent production. A crew of less than ten people set up the cameras and sound. Digital films gives greater flexibility with lighting and no lights were set up for the scenes.<br />
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Fueled by donuts and coffee in the morning, the crew's lunch break was to eat sandwiches from Romito's Deli while standing up. The production rented a RV for a dressing room. <br />
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The simplest of scenes requires multiple takes to make sure the sound, image and the performance are all optimal.<br />
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For a performer who has been in a variety of productions, Bernsen seemed right at home shooting a low-budget horror film in Western Massachusetts.<br />
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"I'm very much into the indie world," he said during a break.<br />
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Despite his status, Bernsen never pulls rank or complains. Crew members talk among themselves about how he is bringing so much value to the production. <br />
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If he likes a script and he can do the role, he'll consider it, he explained. Bernsen said he was pleased he could do this film as he was on the east coast dropping his son off at the University of Connecticut.<br />
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Bernsen likened his job to that of a carpenter. "Sometimes you work on castles and sometimes on outhouses," he said. <br />
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And, he added, sometimes it's a crumby castle and a great outhouse.<br />
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"If you're an actor, you act," he said.<br />
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What he likes about independent films is they have "more soul."<br />
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"They're all heart, all passion," he added.<br />
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Because he came to prominence on a hit television show, "L.A. Law," Bernsen admitted to having a problem years ago with his career not reaching a higher level. He said that as his career grew, he loved it.<br />
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He has formed his own company and is producing his own independent films. One is completed and is available on DVD, "Carpool Guy," while two others, "Donna on Demand" and "Dead Air," are in various stages of production.<br />
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Bernsen directed "Carpool Guy," which is a comedy starring ten soap opera actors in roles very different than those they play on television.<br />
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He said he loves directing and producing, but "it's a lot of work."<br />
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Although he said that beginning a directing career in his fifties requires a lot of energy, his experience in the industry has given him knowledge that younger persons might not have.<br />
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He said with a smile that directing has given him the same kind of thrill he received when he first discovered sex just the kind of remark his Arnie Becker character might make.<br />
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<b>About a year later, Marty told me that Stock was bringing Bernsen back out for one day's worth of pick-up shots. I hung out for a while at Stock's home and studio in Granby and watched Stock direct a series of close-up and reactions shots to special effects that would be added later. Bernsen proved once more to a good-natured professional. </b><br />
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<i>Drivers along West Street in Granby on Oct. 13 had no idea that behind a stockade fence film director and producer Bob Stock was shooting some additional footage for his movie "Angel's Blade 2" with its star Corbin Bernsen. Stock had completed principal photography last summer, but needed some more scenes with Bernsen for the final narrative.</i><br />
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<b>For a low-budget – under $200,000 – film, "Hellbeast: The Ascension" actually has a number of features that makes it a cut above the indie horror pack. <br />
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Not the least of those features is an attractive and competent cast headed by Bernsen, who did as much with the role as he could.<br />
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The CGI special effects ranged from being acceptable to a little clunky and technical features such as editing, set dressing and locations were quite good.<br />
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And like any low-budget horror film, the movie features some gore and one scene of nudity.<br />
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The problem with the film was the script, which Stock said had been re-written several times during the stages of production. Multiple scenes had been shot and cut, along with characters, he said at the screening.<br />
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The result is a narrative that goes from one plot point to another with varying degrees of smoothness and logic. There are gaps in the film's story that one is asked to accept and the end of the film made very little sense. A filmmaker can only do so much in editing and adding narrative devices, though, if the the story on paper really hasn't been established.<br />
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The film opens with Bernsen having a drink a bar, when approached by a woman clearly trying to pick him up. He recounts the events of the previous week in which he had discovered that an 19th century explorer had opened up a Mayan entry point into another world through which two evil demigods had made the trip to our world. They had to take the lives of four people through suicide and then take another four before they could establish themselves as the rulers of this world. <br />
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Apparently though a young bearded man wearing a "Jesus Saves" t-shirt had also come through the portal to fight these beings.<br />
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Bernsen's reporter character finds himself in the middle of these events when he investigates the four suicides.<br />
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I think what Stock certainly proved is there is plenty of local production talent here in Western Massachusetts as well as a wealth of interesting locations – two of my favorite Springfield institutions, Smith's Billiards and Theodore's, are prominently featured. With the right script, a low-budget film can get some additional luster when shot in an off,off Hollywood location such as here.<br />
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© 2012 by Gordon Michael Dobbs <br />
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<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-2513823712087604262012-04-01T15:44:00.001-07:002012-04-01T15:44:37.268-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZqAZclGvzXEPd4Sgh4JRv8ud_Z8hTt92lQK7zelnA3W9ETsZ_gPOw2iGOWgAu5mdGo5mzkwfAgsKZGaFVNcfFUGGG804h7xQeqTmPsTYXmZAogjryq5KyWvqcdWTchwZWMUpMg/s1600/sgt+mike+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZqAZclGvzXEPd4Sgh4JRv8ud_Z8hTt92lQK7zelnA3W9ETsZ_gPOw2iGOWgAu5mdGo5mzkwfAgsKZGaFVNcfFUGGG804h7xQeqTmPsTYXmZAogjryq5KyWvqcdWTchwZWMUpMg/s400/sgt+mike+1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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With Sgt. Mike<br />
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Perhaps the reason I saved a bunch of "With Sgt. Mike" cartoons, is the my father served in Vietnam. A career Air Force officer, it was his final tour of duty as the commander of a unit at Bien Hoa maintaining helicopters. <br />
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Today I'm glad that in 1968 and 1969 I clipped the cartoons from, I believe, the Holyoke Transcript. <br />
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I believe, although I certainly could be wrong, that "With Sgt. Mike" was the last nationally syndicated comic strip that was created to comment on a specific war and on the condition of American troops in that war.<br />
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Service comedy is a signifiant genre in American popular culture. Think of movies such as "Buck Privates," comic strips such as "Beetle Bailey" and television shows such as Phil Silvers' Sgt. Bilko," "I Dream of Jeannie" and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." The bureaucracy of the military, the questioning of authority and the peace-time missions that spawned behaviors out of boredom have all been basis for comedy.<br />
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Shows or movies that adds the real issues of war into the comic stew are tricker propositions. A show such as "M.A.S.H." certainly proved that it could be done.<br />
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"With Sgt. Mike" had far less polish than a "Beetle Bailey," but far more soul. The cartoonist, Michael T. Hodgson, was a Marine who served in Vietnam. This is all I know about him. His work was definitely in the tradition of "Willie and Joe" and "Sad Sack."<br />
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The tone of his work is pretty black, but he pulls it off because he is writing from experience. He successfully conveyed the ambiguity of the troop's feeling: they wanted to complete the mission, even if they question it. <br />
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What fascinates me today is how much of his humor is applicable to what American troops are experiencing now in the longest conflict in the nation's history.<br />
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Who was or, hopefully is, Mike Hodgson? I've not been able to dig up much information. The cartoons were collected in one volume published in 1970 and copies can be found on eBay.<br />
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Any information would be appreciated.<br />
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as fascinatedMike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-1426972843430776572012-03-29T19:31:00.001-07:002012-03-29T19:31:43.018-07:00<b>Draft of sample chapter for "15 Minutes With"</b><br />
<br />
<b>Okay... here's a preview of one of the chapters from my book "15 Minutes With..." This is a draft of the chapter on comedians. I'm still deciding if I should organize the interviews by alphabetical order or by year.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I hope some of you will take the time to read it and comment.<br />
<br />
I'm trying to find the other half of the Cosby interview, the three Firesign Theater interview pieces I've done over the years and have to include my 2003 interview with Dave Attell as well as an earlier piece with Jim Bruer.<br />
<br />
Also I need to rustle up photos to go along the the pieces.<br />
<br />
I just wanted to get some of the material out there to get some reactions.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<i>My first efforts in interviewing comedians came about when I was a local talk show host from 1982 to 1987 at WREB in Holyoke, Mass. A 500-watt daytime AM station, WREB was among the first station in that part of the state to adopt the talk format. Talk was still relatively exotic at a time when AM radio was king and music was the dominant format.<br />
<br />
I had received the job based on two merits: I had been a frequent guest on my friend George Murphy’s talk show speaking about the films of the 1930s and 40s and I was a newspaper reporter. I had no training in radio and received next to no advice or guidance about how to produce a show.<br />
<br />
I soon realized that I wasn’t cut out to assume some sort of persona to either inspire love or hatred from the audience – a talk radio device that is still used today. I decided that I should simply be myself and wanted to have a show that was hopefully entertaining and interesting to the audience.<br />
<br />
To achieve this, I prepared material for conversation everyday and booked a lot of interviews: local officials, people involved in presenting some sort of local activity or event and celebrities either passing through the area or looking for some press to publicize something.<br />
<br />
Several of those interviews are in this book, but many are not as the tapes for those shows are missing.<br />
<br />
Among the comics I spoke with were Emo Philips and Yakov Smirnoff and they quickly illustrated the difference between interviewing a comic for radio and for print. Radio is a performance venue well suited for most stand-up comics whose voice and words are their medium. Gags often don’t translate as well in print – the timing and inflection are missing or difficult to convey.<br />
<br />
So while I’ve had some good conversations with comics for print, the ones I interviewed for radio were largely stand-up sets with me as the audience.<br />
<br />
Philips has a highly eccentric persona and his interview was equally different. He actually had a friend at a piano for the interview who provided a music accompaniment to his jokes. Smirnoff basically did part of his stage routine – the Russian who escaped the Soviet Union for the brave new world of the United States – and was very funny.<br />
<br />
Lois Bromfield took a different approach to being on my talks show – she didn’t make one joke. She spoke about her life as a comic and later thanked me for not requiring her to be “on.”<br />
<br />
While many of the comics I’ve interviewed for print have been funny during our conversations, nearly all of them have of them have provided some insights into their process for writing and their life, which I find even more interesting.<br />
<br />
I’ve been surprised by some of the interviews – not in the least was with a guy whose signature person as a neurotic frequently irritated me: Richard Lewis. Lewis turned out to be a great interview. <br />
</i><br />
<b>2000 Richard Miller</b><br />
Richard Lewis says he feels good.<br />
<br />
Well at least as good as the famously neurotic comedian can feel.<br />
<br />
Lewis, the man who has made audiences laugh by baring his soul on stage predicted people would see “one happy dysfunctional guy.”<br />
<br />
The veteran comic found that writing a memoir, which will be published later this year, has helped his stand-up career,<br />
“I pity the editor because it’s 558 pages,” he said with a laugh.<br />
<br />
Writing about both his professional and personal life, including his successful battle against alcoholism has been “cathartic” for Lewis.<br />
“I've been rigorously honest when writing and I’ve tried to upgrade my honesty on stage,” he explained. “I've been more fearless than ever.”<br />
Honesty is a cornerstone of Lewis’s comedy. Unlike other comics with carefully honed routines, Lewis “works without a net.” His life is his material and he said he never is sure what he is going to do until he walks onto the stage.<br />
<br />
Lewis recounted a conversation in which fellow comic Jay Leno asked him why he was so nervous before every show. Lewis told Leno his anxiety came from now knowing exactly what he was going to talk about.<br />
<br />
His audiences are not surprised when Lewis hilariously details his fear and obsessions. No dark secret of Lewis’s life seems to spared from being fodder for his comedy.<br />
<br />
“My onstage persona is me,” he said.<br />
<br />
His approach has worked well for over 20 years and his success as a stand-up comic has enabled him to branch out into other entertainment ventures.<br />
<br />
Lewis starred for four years with Jamie Lee Curtis in the sitcom “Anything but Love;” has had a string of HBO specials and had both comic and dramatic roles in a number of movies.<br />
<br />
Lewis has a re-occurring role in Larry David’s new HOB series, Davis, co-creator of “Seinfeld,” has been friends with Lewis since the comic was 12 years-old and Lewis is “thrilled” to be working with his childhood friend.<br />
<br />
Lewis said that a comedy album would probably come out of his current cross-country tour.<br />
<br />
No matter what other project Lewis undertakes, performing in front of live audiences is still his number one priority.<br />
<br />
“I love looking an audience in the eye and making them laugh,” he said.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2008 Larry Miller</b><br />
Comedian, actor and writer Larry Miller had a job the day he spoke with me: he was to provide the voice for a French-Canadian goose in the upcoming animated film “Alpha & Omega.”<br />
<br />
The assignment was an example of Miller’s far-reaching career in show business. He has been a top stand-up comedian for years, but he has been a busy character actor as well. His on-camera roles have been in such movies as “Pretty Woman” as the salesman who “sucks up” to Richard Gere and Julia Roberts; the two “Nutty Professor” movies in which he played the exasperated college dean; and the two “Princess Diaries” films.<br />
He has worked in animated productions such as “Bee Movie,” and in one of this writer’s favorite animated series, “Dilbert,” in which he was the evil pointy-haired boss. <br />
<br />
Ask Miller what he likes to do best, though, and he says “all of it.”<br />
<br />
He considers himself like baseball great Lou Gehrig, “the luckiest man in the world,” although after a beat Miller added, “Well, that didn’t work out, come to think of it.”<br />
<br />
Miller attended Amherst College and after graduation in 1975, he said he decided he wanted to do “something as an entertainer.” His subsequent career has been “frankly astonishing” to him. He started performing stand-up comedy in the mid-1970s in New York City where his friends included Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno.<br />
<br />
“I should be horsewhipped if I wanted to change something,” he said. “What a joy it is.” <br />
<br />
<br />
Despite over 20 years in show business, Miller is still thrilled by it. <br />
<br />
“I had an acting job last week. I was thrilled to be on the set. I waved at the tour buses in Universal [when they passed the set]. I wanted to say to them ‘I know why you’re on that bus. I’d be on it, too.’ It’s cool.”<br />
<br />
Miller became well known for his routine called “The Five Levels of Drunkenness,” and he said that he might include it as part of his current act, which mostly will be new material. He admitted that while excessive drinking and its effects are “horrifying,” he does find humor in it. <br />
He said he tries to “write all the time.” Miller has written a book titled “Spoiled Rotten America,” as well as opinion pieces for the “Huffington Post” on the Internet and the “Weekly Standard.”<br />
<br />
Writing for a stand-up routine is different than longer forms, he said, likening comedy writing to a still: “One drop comes out every 10 seconds.” He said a friend of his said a good comic should put in an hour a day. And if you put in two hours, “you’re really going to be a good comic, a monster.”<br />
<br />
He views himself as a professional who can follow a director’s requests on a set or in a recording booth but also bring his own skills as a writer to a production.<br />
<br />
The difference between theater, the movies and television is that theater is the actor’s medium, while film is the medium for directors and television is controlled by the writer/producer, Miller said <br />
<br />
“Each captain is different and I follow what the captain wants,” he explained.<br />
<br />
He did say that being in a recording studio for five hours portraying a goose could be a little taxing. <br />
<br />
“It’s not tarring roofs, but I can get a little dizzy,” he said.<br />
<br />
<b>2012 Larry Miller</b><br />
Larry Miller is a guy with a lot going on. He's not complaining, though. He loves it. <br />
<br />
The stand-up comedian, actor and writer recently finished a role in a film, writes and records a weekly podcast and is a doting father. He has developed the creative vehicle that intrigues him perhaps more than any other of his show business endeavors: a one-man show.<br />
<br />
“Cocktails with Larry Miller: Little League, Adultery and Other Bad Ideas” is coming to CityStage from March 21 through 24. <br />
<br />
Miller said his one-man show “is something I will do the rest of my life.”<br />
<br />
He explained that while being alone on stage is nothing new for a veteran stand-up comic, "a one man show is different than stand-up. There are pieces [in it] that wouldn't function as stand-up."<br />
<br />
The show combines several of Miller's interests: comedy, acting and music. He was a music major at Amherst College and the show features several original songs he has written as well as several parody songs.<br />
<br />
His acting roles started with a smarmy salesman in "Pretty Woman," and have included additional movies such as "The Princess Diaries," "The Nutty Professor," "Best in Show" and "The Mighty Wind." On television, he's had dramatic assignments such as an unrepentant wife killer on "Law & Order."<br />
Miller explained that having acted on stage, he knows that "once a play gets locked, even if it's a great play, it's locked in. You don't feel the need to grow."<br />
<br />
"Cocktails," though, allows him the ability to alter the material as he sees fit. <br />
<br />
"I expect to live another 300 to 400 years and will continue to work on it," he quipped.<br />
<br />
He added, "Walking out on stage and doing a lighting check [for 'Cocktails'], now that's a good place to be."<br />
<br />
Miller said that he recently completed a role in a new film by director Michael Polish – best known for the film "The Astronaut Farmer" – and the day after he wrapped his footage he was performing "Cocktails" in Stowe, Vt. He then brought the show to a theater in Queens, N.Y.<br />
He likes having a varied career like that, but he corrects this reporter when the word "fallback" is used to describe "Cocktails."<br />
"It's not a fallback," Miller said. "It's a fall-forward." <br />
<br />
When asked about his writing regime, Miller said with his trademark timing "I'm desperately scratching for more time."<br />
<br />
He said when he hears about an author going "to a cabin in the woods for a year and half to write," his reply is "Who does that?"<br />
<br />
Miller explained he got up at 6 a.m. on the day of this interview so he could get an hour to write before he woke up his wife and children. Once breakfast, making lunches for his children and getting them to school was completed, Miller said he had the "great luxury" of writing from 9 a.m. to noon, although he said this time was punctuated by answering emails and taking phone calls.<br />
<br />
"I'm not complaining. I love every minute of it," he added.<br />
<br />
He also loves recording his weekly podcast, "This Week with Larry Miller," which is available on iTunes. "There are no guests. It's just me telling stories," Miller explained.<br />
<br />
He said he usually writes down 10 subjects and manages to talks about two of them in the half-hour recording.<br />
Speaking of his career he said, "I was made to do this. I'm a story teller."<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2005 Jim Breuer</b><br />
Jim Breuer is on satellite radio with a daily show and he loves it.<br />
<br />
“It’s a guilty pleasure,” he said. <br />
<br />
“Jim Breuer Unleashed” is heard every day on Sirius Satellite Channel 147 from 4 to 6 p.m. <br />
<br />
Breuer said the radio job has been a “one year goof.” He started the show last November.<br />
<br />
“By far it’s my favorite thing I’ve ever done,” he exclaimed.<br />
<br />
Breuer, who started as a stand-up comic, has been a regular on Saturday Night Live and appeared in films (“Half-Baked”). But he loves his radio show because it allows him to be more of a storyteller. <br />
<br />
It’s also “paid therapy,” he said, as he is able to sit down with two high school friends and a fellow comic and discuss whatever they like in the manner that they like.<br />
<br />
Be forewarned: they don’t mince words. There’s no censorship on satellite radio. <br />
<br />
Breuer said the four friends “leave their egos at the door” and talk about things so they “can get on with their lives.” He said that one friend is a musician, while another works at an airport. <br />
<br />
“I love it. We heal a lot of people,” Breuer explained. He said that once a listener hears how messed up their lives are, listeners’ lives seems better. He added the show features “tofu and sandals wisdom” along with blistering comedy.<br />
<br />
Listening to excerpts of the show on Breuer’s web site www.breuerunleashed.com the show sounds like a Breuer version of TV’s “The View,” only with a lot of gags, guests such as comic Dave Atell and musician Vince Neil, and calls from listeners.<br />
<br />
Rather than the daily show impeding his stand-up career, Breuer said that he has been creating new material through the daily shows. <br />
“I’m the best at my game,” he said. The show has “opened so many doors creatively.”<br />
<br />
Breuer, who still tours with a band, doesn’t miss television and is now planning direct-to-DVD releases of his work, such as Hardcore, his first DVD. His contract for the radio show ends in November and he would love to extend it if he could. He’s considering assembling an audio CD that would collect the best moments of the first year.<br />
<br />
For now, though, Breuer said, “I really do like making people feel better.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2009 Jim Breur</b><br />
Log onto Jim Breuer’s Web site and you’ll see a commercial for his new comedy DVD starring his young son. When I ask him about it, the comedian – known for his rock ‘n’ rock comedy, his years on “Saturday Night Live” and movies like “Half-Baked” let loose with his distinctive cackle. <br />
<br />
The commercial, like his act and the latest phase of career, is all about family. The comedian, noted for how his naturally half-closed eyes made him look constantly stoned, now presents a non-cursing family-friendly show.<br />
<br />
What’s the reaction from his fans? His lengthy comedy tour has been sold out 90 percent of the time, Breuer said. <br />
<br />
“It’s been a phenomenal year a great tour,” he said.<br />
<br />
Breuer said that his comedy reflects where he is in his life and family is foremost.<br />
<br />
He did a daily show over satellite radio for several years he now does it weekly -- so he could be with his three children and so he could develop an off-stage persona.<br />
<br />
“I’m rebuilding a whole career,” he explained.<br />
<br />
Technology has allowed him to stay in touch with his 11, eight and five year olds while on the road. “Thanks to Skype ... they have a lot more understanding. They get what Daddy does,” he said.<br />
<br />
The radio show also allowed him to stay near his parents. Part of the result of this experience is not just his stand-up act, but also a situation comedy for television he is currently developing. Breuer’s concept is built around a “sandwich guy,” someone in his forties who not only has children but has his parents living with him as well. <br />
<br />
Breuer said that he has been described as a “Bill Cosby with a Metallica shirt.”<br />
<br />
“That sums up the show,” he added.<br />
<br />
He said his comedic goal isn’t for audiences to say, “That was nice” at the end of the show. “I want you to leave saying ‘That’s the hardest I laughed in 20 years,’” he said.<br />
<br />
Breuer said he now has several generations coming to shows, with people his age bringing parents and children. <br />
<br />
Part of his current act is a reaction to the “everything sucks generation.” He said he is tired of comics who present a litany of dislikes.<br />
“There’s way too much [of it] dominating comedy,” he asserted. “We don’t need comedy about what’s awful with marriage, kids and family.”<br />
Instead, what Breuer said what audiences need is some “good laughter.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2009 Bob Marley</b> <br />
Bob Marley leads two lives. After touring comedy clubs for years, recording CDs and DVDs and making dozens of appearances on televisions shows, he has built a huge fan base for his comedy.<br />
<br />
Marley, though, has other fans - people who know him from his supporting role in the cult classic movie “Boondock Saints” as the hapless Boston detective who is plagued by an FBI agent played by Willem Dafoe.<br />
<br />
Now Marley fans will get a double scoop of the versatile performer this month. He will be touring comedy clubs and will be seen in “Boondock Saints: All Saints Day,” the sequel to the film, when it opens at the end of the month. <br />
<br />
The Maine native spoke from his tour and said he was “really excited” about the release of the new film.<br />
<br />
Marley started performing while in college in Maine. He then spent two years in Boston and then 11 years in Los Angeles. He moved back to his native Maine four years ago. He and his wife wanted their three children raised in their home state.<br />
<br />
While his Maine accent emerges as he speaks faster during his act - confounding many non-New England audiences a bit – his humor is not based on region as much as it is a “fish out of water.”<br />
<br />
He observed to audiences in Los Angeles “there are more lanes on the highways here than in the bowling alley back home.”<br />
<br />
Although he never imagined himself as a comic who wrote material about his family, he said he now writes about his wife, his kids, his parents and himself.<br />
<br />
He said that what he likes about New England is that despite differences in dialect, region or economic standing, the people all do about the same things: root for the Red Sox and Patriots, vacation at the beach and go to their mother’s for supper.<br />
<br />
He said that one audience member met him after a show in Denver and asked him, “Where are you from?” He called his Maine accent “a slow, dumbed-down version of a Boston accent, but not as angry.” <br />
<br />
Marley got the role of Det. Greenly in “Boondock Saints” through a friend of his who was friends in turn with Troy Duffy, the writer and director of the film. Marley read the script, was impressed and learned the lines for Greenly. He didn’t hear anything more for three months and then was asked to audition at the director’s home. <br />
<br />
He impressed Duffy by performing the monologue he has at the beginning of the film from memory. He recalled Duffy say, “Yup, you’re the guy.”<br />
Marley had acted in some independent films, but never one with as big a budget as “Boondock Saints” or with a cast that included such veteran performers as Dafoe, Sean Patrick Flannery and the legendary Scottish comedian and actor Billy Connolly.<br />
<br />
He said that while filming the first film in 1999 the cast “didn’t have a full grasp on how big it was going to be.”<br />
<br />
Marley also praised Dafoe, the star of the first film, who he said could do a take nine times and in nine different ways.<br />
<br />
Although the theatrical release of the film was marred by studio politics, the film attracted an appreciative audience through home video and Marley said the number of fans he’s met over the years wearing “Saints” T-shirts and tattoos has amazed him.<br />
<br />
With the second film, his character has more screen time and more back-story and while he enjoyed making the sequel – “We had a blast” – there was some pressure.<br />
<br />
“All you thought about were the fans. You didn’t want to let them down,” he said.<br />
<br />
<br />
As a comedian, Marley was impressed that Connolly was watching him work and becoming his friend.<br />
Marley recounted, “I thought, ‘there is no way Billy Connolly is standing in front of me and praising me.’”<br />
<br />
He called Connolly “the salt of the earth” and “just humble” and recalled how the two couldn’t make eye contact during a climatic barroom shoot out scene. The set had been wired with hundreds of explosive squibs to simulate gunshots and both men were worried they would start laughing during the take causing the crew to re-wire the squibs.<br />
<br />
“We would have been in big trouble,” he said.<br />
<br />
He was allowed to adlib some in the film and he said that acting in a dramatic part has less pressure because “you’re not getting a laugh out of it.” <br />
<br />
Marley doesn’t think of himself as an actor, though. <br />
<br />
He described himself as “a guy who is in some movies.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2005 Dave Attell</b> <br />
Dave Attell may not be shooting his hit show “Insomniac” any longer, but he’s keeping very busy.<br />
<br />
Attell’s most recent Comedy Central special allowed him to feature three up-and-coming comedians performing live, and pretty much uncensored, in Las Vegas. The feature-length comedy concert film was the first for the cable network and it featured Attell and fellow comics Sean Rouse, Greg Giraldo and Dane Cook.<br />
<br />
Attell has also produced a DVD of a live stand-up performance that he is selling on his web site (www.daveattell.com) and Comedy Central will be releasing Dave Attell’s Insomniac Tour Presents Sean Rouse, Greg Giraldo And Dane Cook on DVD in time for the holidays.<br />
<br />
“I’m always on the road,” Attell said. “I’m excited to come back. It’s always fun working in Massachusetts.”<br />
<br />
Attell said that he does miss some aspects of “Insomniac.” The show featured Attell in a different city cruising the streets and meeting people after he performed at a local club. Part reality show, part twisted travelogue, Insomniac revealed what happens in America after dark.<br />
Attell admitted that filming the show meant an increase in his alcohol consumption. Pushing the age of 40 and being in a bar with frat boys, he said, was “weird.”<br />
<br />
What he really liked about the show was the freedom he had with Comedy Central.<br />
<br />
“They give you the leeway to do your own thing,” he said.<br />
<br />
The new comedy special combines “Insomniac’s” format of the comics interacting unrehearsed with themselves and others with a concert film. <br />
Attell explained he was looking for a project that would allow him to be the host and present fellow comics.<br />
“It was cool to bring out other guys,” he added.<br />
<br />
While the number of people performing comedy remains strong, Attell said there is a new dynamic happening family friendly shows.<br />
<br />
Due to a new wave of political correctness, Attell said some clubs wouldn’t give a chance to certain comedians.<br />
<br />
He said that many clubs are looking for comics who are “squeaky clean.” While the change has not affected him much his reputation for filling clubs with people who enjoy his no-holds-barred comedy is secure new comics have a rougher time establishing themselves.<br />
<br />
He explained that many club owners don’t want to book some one who hasn’t been on television and want an act that won’t offend audiences.<br />
“It’s bad,” Attell said. “Comics in clubs are supposed to be edgier and raw. I’ve seen it everywhere.” <br />
<br />
It’s not just comedy clubs in the South or Midwest, he explained, but also in New York as well.<br />
<br />
“That’s just not right. I really don’t understand it,” he said.<br />
<br />
What’s up next for Attell? He said he loves working in Las Vegas and would like to host a variety show from Sin City.<br />
<br />
Naturally for Attell, it would be an edgy variety show.<br />
<br />
<b>2009 Dave Attel</b>l<br />
Comedy can be hard work. Just ask Dave Attell.<br />
<br />
The veteran comedian said that the taping of his new comedy special, “Dave Attell: Captain Miserable,” was a bit of a challenge.<br />
<br />
“They weren’t my crowd at all,” Attell said.<br />
<br />
The special was seen on Comedy Central on July 5 and it is now available on DVD.<br />
<br />
Originally taped a year ago for HBO, Attell said Comedy Central had obtained the rights to the show and then delayed broadcasting it. <br />
The show had some classic edgy Attell observations ranging from potential commercials for Jagermeister to performing for American troops in the Middle East.<br />
<br />
Attell said the special was taped in a theater instead of his favored environment, a club, and had a “very politically correct” audience.<br />
“When you do a show for a network, you’re a hired hand,” Attell explained. At this taping, “people weren’t rolling with me. It was like going uphill.” <br />
<br />
Attell’s fans know to expect the unexpected from the comic but when he launched in a joke about pedophiles, he had to change gears. <br />
Because of the delay in broadcast, Attell said some of the material was older than he would have liked.<br />
“[Some] made me cringe,” he said.<br />
<br />
Although he said he doesn’t censor himself for Comedy Central – “you know what to say and what you can’t” – Attell added, “I try not to edit myself unless I absolutely have to.”<br />
<br />
There was one political joke in the special, which Attell pointed out as his lone topical gag. He has resisted putting political material into his shows, as those jokes aren’t as “evergreen” as others.<br />
<br />
He noted, though, “everyone is talking about politics now, [it’s] like sports.” <br />
<br />
He tours a lot, something he called both a “blessing and a curse,” and people still recognize him from his show “Insomniac,” despite it being off the air since 2004. He would like to reach a point in a couple of years where he can get off the road as much.<br />
<br />
When he is home in New York City, he’s “constantly thinking of new stuff.”<br />
“It comes together in the clubs,” he explained.<br />
<br />
Attell is working on a new CD. His first recording, “Skanks for the Memories,” was a hit and he’s planning to do another.<br />
“That’s the thing that’s constantly there,” he said. <br />
<br />
“Skanks for the Memories” came out before the dominance of iTunes and other Web-based distribution of recordings, a technology Attell called “interesting.”<br />
<br />
“People say they love your CD and they stole it [off the Internet]. It’s a compliment, but a crime,” he said. “I tell them ‘You owe me a $1.’”<br />
Despite the economy, Attell said there are still a lot of comedy venues and a night at a comedy club is a “pretty good bet” as a show can provide “four hours of conversation” afterwards.<br />
<br />
<b>2009 Bill Cosby</b><br />
Since 1963 Bill Cosby has been making people laugh and the iconic comedian said that he has no intention of stopping anytime soon.<br />
The most famous resident of Western Massachusetts will be appearing for two shows at Springfield’s Symphony Hall on Oct. 16. Although known more in recent years as a social commentator and author, Cosby is dedicated to comedy.<br />
<br />
His appearances here are part of a lengthy touring schedule that brings him from California to Massachusetts to Florida and Canada.<br />
<br />
“I’ve been doing this [comedy] since 1963. That when I made the commitment,” he said in an early morning telephone interview from his home in Shelburne. “It’s important that this mind think things and I write them down and I can’t help it.<br />
<br />
“My wife says I’m being beamed,” he added with a chuckle.<br />
<br />
The man whose show business career has included Grammy-winning comedy albums, many successful television series and movies as well as being a highly influential stand-up comedian, said his path toward being a comic came out of education.<br />
<br />
He explained that he was “born again” when attending college not renewing his Christian faith, but rather “in terms of accepting education, of wanting it.”<br />
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While at Temple University, he said he became serious about writing and read extensively. He also began listening to comedy albums and studied comedians such as Jonathan Winters, Elaine May and Mike Nichols, Shelly Berman and Don Adams.<br />
<br />
It was while listening to the Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner album “The 2,000 Year Old Man” that Cosby said he realized, “you don’t have to have a joke.”<br />
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The story and the delivery were more important. He began to write and enjoyed it.<br />
<br />
He said that while in his freshman remedial English class, the professor assigned the student to write about a first time experience. The class was full of members of the football team and Cosby said, “The football players wrote about their first touchdown, but I got beamed.”<br />
<br />
He wrote about the first time he pulled out a tooth as a child.<br />
<br />
“There were no computers just a number two pencil and a legal pad,” he said. “I had so much fun and I just wrote and wrote and wrote.”<br />
<br />
He found that he didn’t mind revising his work.<br />
<br />
“When you’re born again, you don’t mind going over it,” he explained.<br />
<br />
In his junior year of college, he said he “began to see things differently,” and thought he could sell what he was writing.<br />
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In the early 1960s there were no clubs dedicated to comedy as there are today, and Cosby said he went around the nightclubs of Philadelphia. He explained the clubs would feature a singer and a comedian and he would try to sell his work to the comics, but no one bought any of his stories. <br />
“One fellow read it and said, ‘This is not funny.’ I started to perform for him and he said, ‘It’s still not funny,’” Cosby recalled. <br />
<br />
The manager of the Gilded Cage nightclub finally gave Cosby the chance to perform for 15 minutes.<br />
<br />
“There were seven people in the room and they were spread out three, two and two,” Cosby said.<br />
<br />
The manager didn’t care for his act, although the audience laughed and Cosby lost hope momentarily. “That night I took those pages and I threw them down the sewer, but when I woke up I was right back at them,” he said.<br />
<br />
Cosby said his career started taking off, though, with appearances in clubs in New York City. In 1963 he made his first comedy album, “Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow, Right!” and was booked onto “The Tonight Show.” <br />
<br />
He said his career was like a slide one could do on a kitchen floor wet with soap and water.<br />
<br />
“There was no long suffering,” he said.<br />
<br />
After all these years of performing, Cosby said, “I still have those thoughts. I’m still being beamed. I still have things to say.”<br />
Cosby said that his material today provides a “night of comfort.”<br />
<br />
“I put a chair on the stage, I sit and talk and tell a story,” he said, resulting in the audience and himself “feeling comfortable.”<br />
<br />
<b>2007 Tracy Morgan</b> <br />
Tracy Morgan has done it all movies, television and stand-up but he doesn’t have a favorite.<br />
<br />
“I love it, “ he said. “It’s all show business.”<br />
<br />
Morgan is a busy performer. He currently co-stars in the NBC sitcom “30 Rock” and was recently seen in the films “Little Man” and “Totally Awesome.” He also has provided voices for the up-coming film “Farce of the Penguins” and for the MTV series “Where My Dogs At.”<br />
<br />
He appeared on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) from 1996 to 2003 when he left to star in his own sit-com. <br />
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During his long stint on SNL, Morgan became well known for character that included “Brian Fellow, the host of “Safari Planet,” and space adventurer “Astronaut Jones” as well as impersonating people such as Mike Tyson, Busta Rhymes, Maya Angelou and Samuel L. Jackson. <br />
<br />
Acting on “30 Rock” is a change for Morgan after years of appearing before a live audience. He explained the show is filmed with a single camera, like a movie, and that a person has to have confidence in what they are doing since there is no audience to affirm whether or not they are being funny.<br />
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The new assignment has meant a shift in his schedule: no more late nights.<br />
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Unlike many stand-up comedians who have a love-hate relationship with television, Morgan said he loves it.<br />
<br />
“It’s a personal medium,” he explained. “You can reach out and touch people.”<br />
<br />
He was an active writer on SNL, and still has a hand in what happens to his character on “30 Rock.”<br />
<br />
“I helped develop the character,” he said. “I let the writers know what he’s thinking and who he is.”<br />
<br />
“30 Rock” is about the back-stage happenings at a SNL-like television show. His character, also named “Tracy,” is a star on the fictional show.<br />
“The guy’s unstable,” Morgan said. “He’s an international superstar and a sweetheart, but when he’s off his meds he’s ‘coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.’” <br />
Morgan said he has known some people like his character, but didn’t base him on anyone specific.<br />
<br />
Morgan said that comedy was part of his childhood. <br />
<br />
“My uncle, father and all of my mother’s family were funny,” he said.<br />
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Growing up his comic heroes included Jackie Gleason, Redd Foxx, Lucile Ball and Carol Burnett. Martin Lawrence was also an influence on him as well as Chris Rock and Adam Sadler.<br />
<br />
What’s it like working with the people one admires? <br />
<br />
“One word explains it: heaven,” Morgan replied.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2007: Charlie Murphy</b> <br />
There’s plenty of acting siblings in show business today, including the Wayans, the Baldwins, the Cusacks, and the Gyllenhaals, and now the Murphys.<br />
<br />
Only the prominence Charlie Murphy has seen in show business thanks to his appearances on “Chappelle’s Show” hasn’t been due to his famous brother Eddie, but to his own hard work.<br />
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And it hasn’t come overnight, but after years of working in the industry.<br />
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Murphy has had small parts in big movies such the recent hit “Night at the Museum,” larger roles in low budget films, written scripts, performed voice-overs for animation and taken a stand-up act around the country. <br />
<br />
He said that his career has been the result of “happy accidents.” <br />
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“I’ve worked for it for 17 years,” he said.<br />
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Charlie is the older brother of the two and started working in the industry. His resemblance to his brother has actually been a hindrance as some casting directors used it as an excuse not to hire him. They didn’t want people to think they hired an Eddie Murphy ringer, he explained. <br />
<br />
“I had to force my way in,” he added. <br />
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He was asked to try stand-up and despite his brother’s reputation Charlie called Eddie “one of the last true kings of the game” he “summoned the cajones to show up.”<br />
<br />
He remembered the first time on stage was not as scary as every time since.<br />
<br />
“The first time I had nothing to lose,” he said. “Now every time you got out, you’ve got to deliver.” <br />
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He loves the medium, though. Stand-up, he said, is “the most free” a performer can be.<br />
<br />
“It’s your thoughts, your creation,” he said. “It means more because it’s all you.”<br />
<br />
Although a large part of his act is improvisation, Murphy is constantly thinking of gags and routines.<br />
<br />
“Twenty four hours a day even when I sleep that light is on,” he said.<br />
<br />
Murphy said that being a stand-up comedian is like being a boxer and one has to train all year-round, not just before a big fight.<br />
<br />
He has been busy with a number of film projects but he is especially excited about “The Perfect Holiday.” Gabrielle Union and Queen Latifah star in the holiday release about a young woman finding true love.<br />
<br />
Murphy has a role, which “allowed me to breathe in the movie.”<br />
<br />
“A whole lot of range was shown,” he said. “I’m not bragging.”<br />
<br />
<b>2005 Eddie Griffin</b><br />
Ask Eddie Griffin why he’s been out of the country for much of the last two years and he has a quick answer: “That’s where the movies are being shot.”<br />
<br />
The stand-up comic has two new films that will be released in the next few months. Griffin starred in the “Malcolm & Eddie” sitcom from 1996 through 2000 and has been in movies such as “Undercover Brother” and the “Deuce Bigelow” series (Griffin played the manager of the unlikely gigolo).<br />
<br />
But don’t expect a new “Deuce Bigelow” film among the new productions. <br />
<br />
“We’re done with that. We squeezed all of the blood out of that,” he said with a laugh. “The vampires would have to go someplace else to feed.”<br />
Besides shooting the second “Deuce Bigelow” film in Amsterdam, Griffin also appeared in “Irish Jam,” a comedy set in Ireland that was shot in Cornwall, England.<br />
<br />
“That was interesting,” Griffin said with understatement.<br />
<br />
In “Irish Jam,” Griffin plays an American who wins an Irish fishing village through a poetry contest. Besides the problem that he stole the lyrics from a rap album to win, he suffers a big case of culture shock. The film is scheduled for release next month.<br />
<br />
Griffin plays a take-off of the Robert DeNiro role from “Meet The Fokkers” in the film “Date Movie,” now in post-production, and provided the voice for Babe the Blue Ox in the animated production “Bunyan and Babe.” It was his first time doing voice work and Griffin declared, “It was fun.”<br />
He also made his directing debut with “N.T.V.,” which will be going straight to DVD. When asked what the “N” stands for he offered, “Nepotism? Narcissistic? Use your imagination.”<br />
<br />
He “had a ball” directing the film.<br />
<br />
Griffin said he likes the freedom of performing in films over his experience with television. He explained that “suits who never told a joke on stage” were experts in comedy.<br />
<br />
Griffin added that the attitude among television executives is “if the wheel is working, we must destroy it.”<br />
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Still, Griffin said he doesn’t really have a preference over the different parts of his career.<br />
<br />
“I like all of it. It takes a whole lot of different slices to make a pie,” he said.<br />
<br />
Showtime subscribers will see Griffin as Sammy Davis, Junior, in an up-coming biography he made. In describing the film, Griffin launched into a perfect Sammy Davis impersonation.<br />
<br />
He is currently working on a similar type of film on the life and career of Richard Pryor and talked about the project in Pryor’s voice.<br />
When he was told this writer has an autographed photo of comic and filmmaker Rudy Ray Moore on his office wall, Griffin instantly started reciting part of Moore’s seminal routine, “The Signifying Monkey.”<br />
<br />
“Everyone has professors,” said Griffin. “Those are my mine: Professor Davis, Professor Pryor and Professor Moore.”<br />
<br />
<b>2006 Judy Tenuta</b><br />
I’ve interviewed a fair number of comedians who’ve appeared in our area, but I’ve never been serenaded by one before.<br />
<br />
But then, I’ve never talked to Judy Tenuta before.<br />
<br />
Speaking from her California home at 8 a.m., Tenuta first told me that it wasn’t too early for her to do an interview, because she has a lot of energy in the morning.<br />
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That proved to be an understatement. <br />
<br />
After telling me that she was wearing her gold lam leopard bikini, she told me to hang on while she fetched her accordion. Popping on her speakerphone, she launched into a song extolling the virtues of the Hu Ke Lau, the club at which she was going to appear locally.<br />
I discovered that I wasn’t going to get many in-depth answers about the nature of comedy. Whether it’s on stage or over a telephone, Tenuta is a total entertainer.<br />
<br />
Tenuta is a veteran on the national comedy scene whose act is part political commentary, part audience participation and part religious and social satire.<br />
<br />
The comic can also be very politically incorrect. Talking with her proved to be a wild ride.<br />
<br />
Sometimes she describes herself as a “petite flower.” Other times, she calls herself a goddess and preaches the faith she invented herself: “Judyism.”<br />
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She said she loves appearing in Massachusetts she will also be at the Comedy Connection at Faneuil Hall in Boston and that it’s been a while since she performed at the Hu Ke Lau.<br />
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“I love it. It’s been five years since the last time and they were sweet enough to have two of the [Polynesian] dancers carry me on stage,” she said. “I want them to do a fire dance around me.”<br />
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She also likes the venue because the audience is “lit,” by the time she arrives on stage, she said.<br />
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“We are all best friends by then,” she added. <br />
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Tenuta is one of nine children of a Polish-Italian family from Chicago. She said her brothers were required to play musical instruments, but unlike them, she enjoyed the accordion.<br />
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When asked how much of her act is ad-libbed, Tenuta replied that she “makes it up right there.”<br />
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“I do have certain things [planned] on a kind of mental outline, but you never know,” she said.<br />
<br />
Tenuta revealed she will be husband hunting while in Chicopee and Boston and she does have her eye on one New England celebrity.<br />
<br />
“Quarterback Tom Brady needs to meet the goddess now. I expect him to be at Faneuil Hall for the goddess!” she said.<br />
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She will be asking or dragging various men on stage to audition as potential husbands. Among her requirements are the candidates “have to complete a sentence and should have a wallet.” <br />
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He should also be “pretty cute,” as she said, “The goddess is pretty cute.” Candidates also should bring presents and flowers to increase their attractiveness.<br />
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One last word: Tenuta warned that candidates have to have a job.<br />
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“The goddess will not be supporting a pig,” she added.<br />
<br />
<b>2005 Mike Epps</b><br />
Mike Epps said that he “can’t get away from [comedy.]” <br />
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While his career has been busy with film appearances, he said that performing on stage is like “therapy for me.”<br />
<br />
“I can talk about my problems and they are not problems any more,” he said.<br />
<br />
After coming from a background of stand-up comedy, Epps became known to film audiences as “Day-Day” in “Next Friday” and “Friday After Next” with Ice Cube. He also appeared with Ice Cube in “All About the Benjamins.”<br />
<br />
Epps was seen earlier this year in the Ed Norton role of the remake of “The Honeymooners,” a film that he said “wasn’t a movie I wanted to do. It was a movie to do.” <br />
<br />
He did admit that he had watched a little of the original television series and said that “The Honeymooners” remake was a “feel good” movie.<br />
Upon reflection he added, “It’s cool.”<br />
<br />
His new film “Roll Bounce” is due out soon, he said. It’s a roller skating movie set in the 1980s and stars Bow Wow. He said his role in the film is to supply the “comedy relief.”<br />
<br />
He said the older he becomes, the more he appreciates film making, and that he didn’t care for the start and stop of movie production when he was younger. <br />
<br />
“I can dissect it and appreciate it,” he said.<br />
<br />
He is currently working on a new half-hour show for HBO. When he made the statement, someone in the background asked “You’ve got a show for HBO?”<br />
<br />
“I’ve got it popping baby,” Epps said in reply.<br />
<br />
Epps said it is more difficult for young people to break into comedy today than when he did over a decade ago. <br />
<br />
“Comedy is like the NBA or the NFL. You’re up against 144 people,” he said. <br />
<br />
“Comedy should have a draft,” he added with a laugh.<br />
<br />
For Epps, though, he was “born into this shit.” <br />
<br />
“I have no choice to be good at it,” he said. “I do it for survival.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2005 Caroline Rhea</b><br />
Caroline Rhea was enthusiastic about returning to perform at the Comedy Connection at the Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee.<br />
<br />
“I love saying ‘Hu Ke Lau Chicopee’,” she said with a laugh during a telephone interview last week, “It sounds like someone sneezed.”<br />
<br />
Rhea is currently host of the second season of the NBC reality show, “The Biggest Loser” and HBO recently began airing her new stand-up comedy special. She is now touring comedy clubs.<br />
<br />
Her recent television gigs complement her previous credits a long run as “Aunt Hilda” on the hit sit-com “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” a returning role on “Hollywood Squares,” a stint as one of Drew Carey’s girlfriends on his show and her own talk show. <br />
<br />
“I’ve been lucky,” she said of her career, but admitted that of her credits, she loves performing stand-up the most.<br />
<br />
“It’s the place where I feel most comfortable,” she said. Rhea has been on stage making people laugh for 16 years. <br />
<br />
The freedom of being in front of a live audience means that Rhea doesn’t have to worry about being edited or censoring herself. Although not known for a raunchy or political style of humor, she noted that when doing radio interviews that she has to be careful, as many stations are now very sensitive to offending listeners.<br />
<br />
Her act is basically her life, she explained and she tries to keep it as current as possible. Twenty to 30 percent of it, though, is improvisation. <br />
“I have hours of material. I’m a windbag,” she added.<br />
<br />
“The Biggest Loser” is a project that Rhea enjoys. She is the host of the show, supervising the weigh-ins and giving out assignments.<br />
<br />
“It’s like being inside a soap opera,” she said. <br />
<br />
What intrigues her about the show is the amount of empathy it generates for the participants who are trying to make a significant transition in their lives. She believes that the show has heightened awareness of the issues of being overweight and she called the cast members “lovable characters” that are inspiring.<br />
<br />
She also called her role in the show as a “great part-time job,” as her involvement during the 14-week period to shoot the show allowed to do other projects.<br />
<br />
One kind of project Rhea said she would not do is take over for someone in an established show. She did that with Rosie O’Donnell’s popular talk show.<br />
<br />
“I would never replace anyone in anything [again],” she said.<br />
<br />
Although she might have misgivings about the talk show that lasted one season, she said that she has fond memories of “sitting close to Pierce Brosna” and having the chance to interview the late John Ritter and Christopher Reeve.<br />
<br />
If she ever did another talk show, she would try to for a late night program, so her self-described “irreverent” brand of humor might find a more receptive audience.<br />
<br />
<b>2007 Dom Irrera</b><br />
Veteran comedian and actor Dom Irrera is looking forward to performing in Western Massachusetts again.<br />
<br />
“I have friends in Springfield,” Irrera said.<br />
<br />
The Philadelphia native began his career in 1980 performing stand-up comedy, acting and improvisational comedy. His big breaks came in 1986 when he appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” and in 1987 when he was part of the line-up for an HBO Rodney Dangerfield comedy special.<br />
Since then, Irrera has been nominated six times for an American Comedy Award and won two Cable ACE awards. Besides a string of comedy specials, Irrera’s comedy series on sports, “Offsides,” was seen for four seasons on Comedy Central and he has appeared in numerous guest spots on television sitcoms.<br />
<br />
Irrera is well known for his Italian ethnic humor, which comes naturally as he grew up in a three-generational Italian household.<br />
“I always felt I was going to be a comedian,” he said.<br />
<br />
His favorite comic has been Woody Allen. Irrera has long admired Allen’s writing style, although it hasn’t influenced his own comedy that much.<br />
<br />
He noted that no one has ever come up to him after a performance and said, “Man did you rip off Woody Allen with that goomba act of yours.”<br />
<br />
Ethnic humor has both its advantages and disadvantages, he said. If you stick to ethnic humor, you tend to maintain a core fan base, he explained.<br />
A comic can broaden his or her base by performing less ethnically oriented material, Irrera said. He recalled meeting the son of the late comic and actor Red Buttons after a performance who told him his father wanted to talk with him. Irrera called him and Buttons said, “Don’t paint yourself into a corner with that goomba act. Don’t be an Italian comedian, be a comedian who happens to be Italian.”<br />
<br />
Irrera took the advice to heart, but he still does some Italian humor.<br />
<br />
“It does leave a lot of the audience out, especially the Persians,” he added.<br />
<br />
Irrera has built up a side career as a voice artist for animation. He is currently recording the voice of Duke the Dog for the up-coming series based on the animated feature “Barnyard.” <br />
<br />
He has also performed voices on “Hey Arnold,” “Hercules,” and “Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist.”<br />
<br />
He and his fellow cast members are given a script to perform, but are allowed to improvise, which is a lot of fun for Irrera.<br />
<br />
Irrera has also appeared in a number of movies, the best known might be his funny bit as a chauffer in “The Big Lebowski.” Irrera said he is a big fan of the Coen brothers who wrote and directed the shaggy dog tale starring Jeff Bridges and had no idea they had attended one of his performances.<br />
A script came in the mail with a notation the Coens wanted him to play the role and Irrera was amazed to see they had used lines from his stand-up performance for the character.<br />
<br />
He had no idea the film would achieve cult status and admitted the first time he saw it he didn’t care for it. By the second viewing, though, he was a fan.<br />
<br />
Irrera has had plenty of television experience on sitcoms, but he’s in no rush to try to get his own.<br />
<br />
“Beware of what you wish for,” he said. “It’s [sitcom work] a drag compared to stand-up.”<br />
<br />
Irrera isn’t a snob. He readily admitted that he would accept a starring sitcom role if offered. “I’m not willing to go around pitching and pitching [a show].”<br />
<br />
After more than 25 years in the business, Irrera stills enjoys the “immediate gratification” one gets from performing stand-up comedy.<br />
<br />
<b>2008 Lavell Crawford</b> <br />
Lavell Crawford said that as a child he wanted to be a superhero specifically, Spiderman.<br />
<br />
“There were plenty of spiders in my basement, but none of them were radioactive,” he recalled with a laugh. <br />
<br />
His career goals changed, though, when he listened to a Richard Pryor album for the first time. <br />
<br />
“I thought it was incredible,” he said.<br />
<br />
Television audiences will recognize him from appearances on “The Tom Joyner Show,” “Steve Harvey’s Big Time,” “BET’s Comic View” and from the most recent season of “Last Comic Standing,” where he came in second in the comedy competition.<br />
<br />
Crawford has been very busy with his first Comedy Central special debuting on Feb. 22 as well as the release of his CD “Takin’ a Fat Break.” He also recently appeared on the cable television special, “Martin Lawrence Presents the First Amendment.”<br />
<br />
When he spoke with me he was waiting for the limousine to arrive to bring him to a taping of Chelsea Handler’s talk show, “Chelsea Lately.” <br />
While in college his interest in comedy was strengthened when he saw Sinbad perform live. At first, Crawford thought his road as a performer was as a rapper, but he noticed that his rhymes were comedic and making people laugh.<br />
<br />
Crawford said he was lucky to break into the industry in the early 1990s when comedy was booming. It took him five months of calling a local comedy club before they would give him a slot on an open mic night, but he was persistent.<br />
<br />
“It was calling me,” he said. <br />
Crawford said that appearing on “Last Comic Standing” was a mixed blessing. He wanted to be in the final five comics because of the exposure it would give him, but the actual competition itself “ was really bogus.” The comics never learned of the percentages of audience approval.<br />
<br />
“Television is a strange animal,” he said. He noted that he and the other comics had to re-write their material to make sure it met the network’s rules, but that dramatic shows are held to a different standard.<br />
<br />
Crawford said the show was a “learning experience” for him and proved worth it as he is booked through December. He added that if the producers had wanted a more authentic reality show, they should have put the comics on the road and sent a camera crew to document them. <br />
<br />
“They try to control it on television, but you can’t control it on the road,” he said. “Make it on the road, that’s where all the drama starts.”<br />
The comic never censors himself, but his comedy is not laden with curses, the n-word or sexual references. <br />
<br />
“I don’t go overboard,” he said.<br />
<br />
Crawford would like to do everything in show business. He has written scripts; he is currently promoting and would like to get more acting roles. <br />
Although Crawford formally writes his act, he said, “The stage is my notebook.”<br />
<br />
“I’ve written more jokes on stage than off,” he said. He explained that he edits material as he works, subtracting and adding to a gag or routine depending upon the audience.<br />
<br />
And Crawford explained how a comic has to be ready to exploit whatever happens before an audience. He explained that the Comedy Connection in Boston doesn’t have a step onto the stage. The club was packed and Crawford said he was so excited he missed the stage and “fell on my face.”<br />
<br />
He didn’t let that stop him as once he was on stage, he did 40 minutes on his accident.<br />
<br />
<b>2006 Ralphie May</b><br />
For Ralphie May, it didn’t matter that he didn’t win the first season of “Last Comic Standing.” He said that his loss only made his fans “more vehement.”<br />
<br />
“They’ve stuck with me for 17 years,” he said.<br />
<br />
May has become well known through his appearances on “Last Comic Standing,” “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, “Jimmy Kimmell Live” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”<br />
<br />
May has recently released his second CD “Girth of the Nation,” which is also the subject of a special for Comedy Central. <br />
May started his career in comedy at age 17 and recalled how he had to have his mother bring him to some of his appearances because he was too young to be in a bar by himself.<br />
<br />
“It was an adventure,” he said.<br />
<br />
He said that it has taken him 14 years to make a living as a comic and the relatives who told him he should have gone to college aren’t telling him that anymore.<br />
<br />
At 17, he won a talent show that gave him a chance to open for the late Sam Kinison.<br />
<br />
“He was a heck of a guy,” May recalled. “He was very nice to me and showed me there are no boundaries [in comedy].”<br />
May isn’t concerned about boundaries and freedom of speech.<br />
<br />
“I slam everybody,” he said. “I have a major problem with political correctness.”<br />
<br />
May is concerned about the fallout from the highly publicized incident concerning the language used by actor Michael Richards in a stand-up performance.<br />
<br />
“He’s our Janet Jackson, “ he said, referring to the controversy over Jackson’s Superbowl half-time performance that resulted in a Federal Communication Commissions crackdown on broadcasting standards.<br />
<br />
Richards, he emphasized, is not a stand-up comedian, but rather “a crazy homeless man with money.”<br />
<br />
He also was critical of the Rev. Jesse Jackson becoming involved in the Richards issue. He said Jackson has been silent on the slow re-building of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the erosion of voting rights of African-Americans.<br />
<br />
He said that some people might believe that comedy “can’t offend anyone, but comedy has always been about offending someone.”<br />
<br />
May said that like other stand-ups comics he wouldn’t mind doing a situation comedy, but that it would have to be “really good, like ‘Everybody Loves Raymond,’ or ‘Seinfeld,’ or ‘The Honeymooners.’”<br />
<br />
He said he and his wife, fellow comic Lahna Turner, had considered starring in a reality show about their lives on the road. Besides “Last Comic Standing,” May has appeared on another reality show, “Celebrity Fit Club.”<br />
<br />
He said ultimately he and his wife rejected the ideas because every couple that has had such a show has broken up and that he doesn’t want to lose his wife “because she married me when I was fatter, broke and not famous at all.”<br />
<br />
“I’m extremely lucky,” he added.<br />
<br />
<b>2007 Paula Poundstone</b><br />
During a telephone interview there are the sounds of vacuuming and children in the background, but that’s typical for working mother and comedian Paula Poundstone.<br />
<br />
Poundstone, named one of the 100 greatest stars of comedy by Comedy Central, balances a performing career and being a mother of three children.<br />
<br />
Poundstone is also a regular on “Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me,” the weekly news quiz show heard on National Public Radio. When asked if she prepares for the show that will test her knowledge of the week’s events she said, “Sadly, I do cram. But it does no good.”<br />
<br />
She didn’t audition for the program, but was asked by the producers and has appeared for the past six years. Originally, she would go to a local NPR in Los Angeles and be connected electronically to her fellow contestants and host Peter Sagal. <br />
<br />
But now the show is taped live either on the road or in a theater in Chicago and Poundstone said, “It’s definitely better.”<br />
<br />
“Before I was a ball player in a batting cage,” she said. She added she likes actually seeing her fellow cast members.<br />
<br />
The live tapings mean travel, though, and Poundstone said it can be difficult being both a parent and a touring comedian. Generally, she tries to be away from her home and family only an average of eight days a month.<br />
<br />
And when she is home she focuses on her family duties.<br />
<br />
“When I’m home, I’m really home,” she explained.<br />
<br />
Poundstone started her comedy career at age 19 in 1979 performing in Boston. She said she had no responsibilities at that age and “rode the wave of that time” a time that she called a “renaissance of stand-up comedy.”<br />
<br />
She said she had “no particular skill or talent” but was in “the right time and the right place.<br />
<br />
“I went around the country learning and having fun, when it was fun,” she said.<br />
<br />
She credits Robin Williams for attracting attention to the new generation of comics and for allowing random thoughts and non-sequitors to be part of the new comedy landscape.<br />
<br />
Although her act is not known for profanity or adult material, Poundstone said “the stupidest thing” for a comic to worry about today is language. <br />
“My goal is to entertain people. I don’t want to say things that are mean,” she said. <br />
<br />
She added she doesn’t deliberately want to insult people and that words are not as important as intent. <br />
<br />
She admitted she is not as in tune with changes in stand-up comedy as some of her colleagues because many of her performances are at theaters rather than nightclubs. The advantage, she said, is that people really want to be at her shows and they’re not drinking.<br />
<br />
Today, there are fewer venues for aspiring comedians. She said that a recent club appearance she noticed several young comics who drove an hour and a half just to be able to appear a few minutes at an open mic night. She explained that in the 1980s and ‘90s, in a city such as San Francisco, she could do three open mics during one evening<br />
. <br />
When asked if she had pursued the sitcom career route as so many other comics had done, Poundstone said with a laugh that she hadn’t rejected sitcoms, they rejected her.<br />
<br />
She said that her efforts to develop a sitcom hadn’t made it as far as being a pilot. She said that when she first started exploring a career in television she didn’t understand the language used by television executives.<br />
<br />
This was apparent on the ABC variety show she did in 1993 that lasted three episodes. She recalled networks officials using phrase such as “We’ll leave you alone.” “We’ll give you time to develop.” and “We want something different.” <br />
<br />
She thought the show was an interesting experience that presented some “really great ideas.” <br />
<br />
She realized that there are “only a handful of people lucky enough [that] when an executive said those words they mean something.”<br />
<br />
After her cancellation she had lunch with another ABC executive who was interested in having Poundstone host a daytime program. She recalled she was uncertain over whether or not that would be a good move for her until the exec said, “We’ll leave you alone.” <br />
<br />
“I’ve had a lot of good lunches out of show business,” she said with a laugh, although she added she no longer discusses businesses over a meal.<br />
Network execs aside, Poundstone said, “I love my job. I’m the luckiest comic in the world.”<br />
<br />
<b>2007 Damon Wayans</b><br />
So why is the star of the successful ABC sit-com “My Wife and Kids” as well as an alumnus of “In Living Color” and “Saturday Night Live” and the star or co-star in a dozen movies touring the country performing stand-up in small clubs?<br />
<br />
Damon Wayans laughed and said, “I’m still in shock why I’m doing this.”<br />
<br />
He quickly explained, though, that of all of the things he has done in show business from acting to writing to directing nothing “gives me the same joy” as performing live and alone on stage.<br />
<br />
He said there is no better way to test your skills and timing as a comedian than performing live.<br />
<br />
His fame doesn’t allow him to coast.<br />
<br />
“You have a grace period of about five minutes. If you’re not funny, they’re start yelling at you,” he said. “You constantly have to prove yourself.”<br />
<br />
He said the stand-up tour was a “tune-up” for a television special he will be shooting. When asked what network it will be on, Wayans laughed, and said, “Whoever spends the most money.”<br />
<br />
Wayans is well known for pushing the comedy envelope. He recently was banned from The Laugh Factory in Los Angeles for three months for repeating the “n-word” on stage.<br />
<br />
Wayans said that he apologizes to his audiences up-front.<br />
<br />
“I will offend you tonight,” he said.<br />
<br />
For him, comedians are “the voice of the people.” <br />
<br />
“If you stop comedians from telling a joke, you stop the masses from expressing their point of view,” he said. <br />
<br />
Weighing in on the firing of Don Imus for saying “nappy headed hos” on his radio show, Wayans said that Imus shouldn’t have been dismissed. He said he thought Imus was “speaking matter of factly. I didn’t feel any malice. He was trying to be cool.”<br />
<br />
Commenting on the love-hate relationship many comics have when they land a television sit-com, Wayans pulled no punches. “I love the money and I hate everything else.”<br />
<br />
Wayans is currently working on launching his own web site, www.wayouttv.com, which will feature new comedy shows designed for Internet audiences. He said he doesn’t understand why the television networks aren’t designing new programs for a web-based audience instead of developing new shows.<br />
His site should be up June 1 and will feature a sketch comedy troupe. If a character does well, Wayans hopes to launch more shows.<br />
<br />
Movies hold little interest for Wayans right now. He said unless you have written the film and “want to protect the baby,” being an actor for hire isn’t appealing.<br />
<br />
“I don’t want to play the third lead in a Charlie Sheen movie, if you know what I mean,” Wayans said laughing. “That’s nothing against Charlie Sheen.”<br />
<br />
He said he makes sure to connect with an audience on their terms. He doesn’t get on stage and talk about his life as a star. <br />
<br />
“I talk about stuff they can relate to,” he said. <br />
<br />
He knows that some fans have misconceptions about the life of a person in show business.<br />
<br />
Believe or not he said, he does not spend every day waking up with four women in bed, followed by his butler delivering breakfast, then spending all day hanging with other celebrities and ending it with five women.<br />
<br />
“Well, not every day,” he added.<br />
<br />
Instead he’ll wake up at 3 a.m. with ideas that he is compelled to write down.<br />
<br />
“I work hard. My brain is calloused,” he said. <br />
<br />
He said the people he knows who excel in their field are the ones who work the hardest.<br />
<br />
He said his friend, basketball great Michael Jordan, was the first one in the gym and the last one to leave.<br />
<br />
<b>2006 Wendy Leibman</b><br />
Wendy Leibman thinks her appearance in the film The Aristocrats and a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno “solidifies everything together” in her comedy career.<br />
<br />
The woman who has the stealth delivery her punch lines come in under the radar said that she has know Penn Gillette, half of Penn and Teller, for years, and was among the first comics filmed for “The Aristocrats” four years ago.<br />
<br />
The movie became an art house hit last year. The premise is having a lengthy list of comics recite their version of what has been dubbed in comedy circles as the world’s dirtiest joke. The participants also discuss the nature of dirty jokes and free speech issues. <br />
<br />
“I was honored to be part of comedy history,” Leibman said. “I made myself laugh when I saw it.”<br />
<br />
Leibman said she is looking forward to a return to Massachusetts – “I have a fan in Chicopee” – and this is her 11th year appearing in Massachusetts near Valentine’s Day.<br />
<br />
“I better start loving myself,” she quipped. “That’s one of my goals for 2006 loving myself and going shopping.”<br />
Leibman also hopes to record a comedy album shortly.<br />
<br />
Although she had appeared on The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, Leibman said that the appearance in January “made me feel bona fide. Jay could not have been nicer. It was really great.”<br />
<br />
She admitted to being a little nervous as she was on the same show as the American Idol judges, but she said they were all “sweet,” and the infamous Simon Cowell was the nicest. <br />
<br />
Although she said “that ship has sailed” when asked about starring in her own television series, Leibman and her husband, Jeffrey Sherman, have written and directed a short film which they hope to sell as a series. Sherman wrote the television movies “Au Pair” and “Au Pair II” and was a writer on the sitcom “Boy Meets World.” <br />
<br />
The film stars Larisa Oleynik, a busy young actress perhaps best known for her Nickelodeon series “The Secret World of Alex Mack.”<br />
If the film sells, Leibman will be wearing a new show business hat producer. In the meantime, though, she’s looking forward to returning to the stage.<br />
<br />
<b>2006 Carlos Alazraqui</b> <br />
<br />
The deputies of “Reno 911!” are back – on television and on DVD. <br />
<br />
The fourth season of the popular comic police show has started on Comedy Central and the third season has just been released to DVD in a two-disc set.<br />
<br />
If you’ve not seen the show, it’s a clever and raucous parody of FOX’s “Cops.” Set in Reno, documentary cameras follow around a group of sheriff deputies during both their professional and personal lives. <br />
<br />
Led by the hot pants-wearing Lt. Jim Dangle (Thomas Lennon), the Reno squad includes the in- your -face Deputy Raineesha Williams (Niecy Nash), the flack-vest wearing Deputy Travis Junior (Robert Ben Garant), the deeply disturbed Deputy Trudy Weigel (Kerri Kenny), the amorous Deputy Clementine Johnson and ladies’ man Deputy S. Jones (Cedric Yarbrough), the seasoned vet and bigot Deputy James Garcia (Carlos Alazraqui) and the rookie Deputy Cheresa Kimball (Mary Birdsong).<br />
<br />
Very politically incorrect, “Reno” is a show that constantly surprises and sometimes shocks. Viewers are never quite sure how far a gag will be taken. One episode in the third season DVD, Dangle and Junior go undercover at a spa to follow a suspect there for a massage. The suspect takes off in his car and Dangle and Junior rush out of the door of the spa in hot pursuit with only their socks and shoes on. The spa locks its doors behind them and they have to make their way back eight miles to the station house.<br />
<br />
The third season opens with episodes that show how the group got kicked off the force, served time in jail and then resumed their lives, but as civilians. There is some funny stuff here, especially with Dangle trying out for “American Idol” and Jones and Garcia relishing their new lives as mall cops.<br />
<br />
The third season set also features two groups of extended outtakes, which show how the cast crafts the scene through trial and error. The cast provides commentaries on several episodes, which give insights into the creative process. <br />
<br />
***<br />
What makes Reno unique in American television is that it’s a sit-com that is almost all improvised and after four seasons cast member Carlos Alazraqui said in an interview that the cast is now a lot better at the acting challenge than during the show’s first season.<br />
<br />
He attributed the early success of the show to “dumb luck.”<br />
<br />
He explained how the show is shot. The cast is given a general description of a scene and then rehearses a short length of time developing some of the dialogue. If the director likes the lines, they start filming. Alazraqui estimated that the actors improvise 70 percent of the show.<br />
The show is not shot in Reno, Alazraqui explained. It’s filmed in the greater Los Angeles area. The sheriff’s station is a real police station in Carson, Calif., and Alazraqui said the officers generally support the show.<br />
<br />
“Ninety-five percent really love it,” Alazraqui said. <br />
<br />
He added that one officer in particular makes an effort to help them out by telling them about real life incidents that could be used for the comedy. He has told the cast that some of their antics are reflections of what has happened to cops in real life.<br />
<br />
Alazraqui’s character is frequently paired off with Yarbrough’s Jones and that was because the two actors hit it off in the pilot. Alazraqui said the producers liked the physical contrast between the men as well as the fact that Garcia was an unapologetic bigot.<br />
Alazraqui added, “The whole staff is racially prejudiced.”<br />
<br />
Alazraqui comes to the show from a stand-up comedy background and from a very active career as a voice artist in animation. If you’ve watched Nickelodeon in the past few years, you’ve heard him on shows such as “The Fairly Odd Parents” (as the evil Mr. Crocker), “Camp Lazlo” (Lazlo and Clem) and “Rocko’s Modern Life” (as Rocko).<br />
<br />
Rocko was his first animated role and he is again working with Rocko creator Joe Murray on his new show “Camp Lazlo.”<br />
“I’ve come full circle with ‘Camp Lazlo,’” he said. <br />
<br />
You also heard him as the voice of the Taco Bell Chihuahua, a commercial campaign that is still remembered six years after it ended.<br />
“That was a bizarre thing to land,” Alazraqui said. <br />
<br />
He’s a cast member of the new animated film “Happy Feet” due for release in November and plays a Latino penguin named Nestor. The voice cast also includes Robin Williams.<br />
<br />
That feature film release will be following in January 2007 with the premiere of “Reno 911!: Miami.” Alazraqui explained that in the movie the Reno deputies travel to Miami to attend a law enforcement convention in Miami. They lack the proper credentials and are not allowed in. <br />
But when a biohazard forces the quarantine of the officers in the convention hall, the Reno deputies take to the streets of Miami to keep the peace. <br />
The film was shot in the same improv style, although Alazraqui said the cast had to pay much closer attention to creating dialogue and situation that matched the movie’s plot.<br />
<br />
Alazraqui still performs stand-up and he said he favors no one aspect of his career.<br />
<br />
“It’s so relative to the situation,” he explained. “There is nothing like the live response [to stand-up] when they love you. I get paid to do goofy voices. That’s another high.”<br />
<br />
<br />
“The benefits of a multi-pronged career is that I get to do different jobs,” he said.<br />
<br />
<b>2006 Sommore</b><br />
Sommore never thought she could do stand-up comedy despite her love for it. Twelve years after she read a book on the subject and tried out on stage, she has appeared as one of the “Queens of Comedy,” been called “a force to be reckoned with in the new millennium” by Oprah Winfrey and won the Richard Pryor Comic of the Year Award.<br />
<br />
Sommore said that after some initial efforts during open mic nights, she received her real training as comic as the emcee for a male strip revue. She recalled with a laugh that she had to appear before “300 women who weren’t interested in anything I said.” <br />
Week after week though, she would try out material and include it in her 20-minute set until people started coming early just to see her. <br />
She said her comedy is based on observation.<br />
<br />
“I listen, I watch everything,” she said. <br />
<br />
And Joan Rivers and her aggressive say-anything style of comedy inspired her.<br />
<br />
Unlike Rivers, whose stand-up included some severe self-deprecation, Sommore said that women comics who are attractive “have a fine line to walk.”<br />
The wrong choice of outfit could inspire remarks from male members of an audience that could make the female members a little upset, she said. <br />
“I point out my flaws first,” she said.<br />
<br />
Women comics today still fight a battle about whether or not they are as funny as male comedians. Sommore recalled how she and other women would be introduced at open mic nights with an admonition that the audiences should go easy on them.<br />
<br />
That’s one reason she, Adele Givens, Laura Hayes and Mo’Nique toured as “the Queens of Comedy” in 2001 she wanted to show that women comics are the equals of men. <br />
<br />
Sommore said she appreciates both working live on stage performing stand-up and acting in a sit-com or movie. She’s appeared on “The Hughleys” and “The Parkers” and in the movies “Soul Plane” and “Friday After Next.”<br />
<br />
She’d like to have a television comedy of her own and shot a pilot that wasn’t successful. She added that she draws inspiration from the fact that Dave Chappelle had 13 pilots before having success with his Comedy Central show. <br />
<br />
She said the challenge is to find a format to present “my voice, my true voice.”<br />
<br />
“It’s not easy to do,” she added.<br />
<br />
She said it’s frustrating as a comedian who writes her own material to perform a script that is supposedly funny, but isn’t. <br />
She also noted that with success on television could come with a big paycheck that can be accompanied with a loss of creative freedom.<br />
“Me, I’ll take the money,” she said with a hearty laugh.<br />
<br />
Sommore is known for a hold-no-prisoners humor and said she “makes a distinct choice about the style I’m going to do.<br />
“I curse to make a point, to enhance a joke,” she said and added that she hosted an entire season of BET’s “Comic View” show without using any questionable language.<br />
<br />
What she likes to present is “the real raw truth.” <br />
<br />
“Sometimes we need a little severity,” she said. “Life isn’t all peaches and cream.”<br />
<br />
<b>John Melendez</b><br />
John Melendez is the second member of the Howard Stern cast I’ve interviewed (voice actor Billy West is the other). I’m not a big fan of Stern’s radio show, although his television series he did in 1990 or so from WOR was a very guilty pleasure.<br />
<br />
I think Stern has an element of genius about him in recognizing that presenting material that would appeal to 13 year-old boys who just learned to masturbate would ensure him a permanent audience of adult men. <br />
<br />
In any event, here’s what I wrote about the Artist Formerly Known as Stuttering John.<br />
<br />
John Melendez has a list of his greatest hits, but none of them involve music.<br />
<br />
The Howard Stern alumni, who spent much of his 15 years with the “King of All Media” ambushing celebrities with outrageous questions, recalled how Raquel Welch punched him in the nose and how Sharon Stone’s bodyguard “laid him out.”<br />
<br />
Joan Rivers insulted his looks, but Melendez thought she was funny.<br />
<br />
These days, though, Melendez doesn’t have to worry about dodging punches. As the announcer on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” Melendez gets to act in comedy sketches and go on the street as a correspondent.<br />
<br />
Now he is touring as a stand-up comic.<br />
<br />
He has been performing comedy for the last four years, something he has wanted to do since he was a child watching “The Carol Burnett Show” and “Saturday Night Live.” <br />
<br />
Yet what held him back was being “terrified of getting on stage and bombing.”<br />
<br />
That fear abated when Melendez realized his gig with Howard Stern required considerable courage and that he “had the nerves to ask a celebrity about bowel movements.”<br />
<br />
He has been writing jokes for years and has “always wanted to do [stand up comedy.]”<br />
<br />
Through therapy, Melendez has overcome his stutter and had to prove to NBC executives that he could do the announcing chores on “The Tonight Show” without a hitch. He was first offered a job as a correspondent on the show after he had completed his appearance in the reality show “I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here.” He recalled lying on his cot and fantasizing about being on “The Tonight Show.”<br />
Much to his amazement, when he returned from the show, there was an offer for him. He had to turn it down as he was “getting crap from Stern about being gone too long.”<br />
<br />
A second offer was also turned down, but Melendez accepted the third and last offer. <br />
<br />
“It was time for me to go,” he said. “There were no hard feelings. It was the right move to make.”<br />
<br />
He said that being on “The Tonight Show” is the “complete opposite of the show I was on before.”<br />
<br />
Melendez had started with Stern as an intern and spent 15 years on the show. He said he enjoyed doing the hit and run interviews of celebrities, although there came a point when many of his interview subjects played along with the gag, rather than be insulted.<br />
<br />
“It was less interesting,” he said.<br />
<br />
He recalled disguising himself in order to catch people off guard, but he was still recognized. <br />
<br />
<br />
Melendez said he had both “good times and bad times” on the Stern show and he was invited to be on the last broadcast before Stern made his move to satellite radio. He didn’t attend because of a scheduling problem.<br />
<br />
<b>2010 John Kawie</b><br />
Sometimes clichés aren’t trite and John Kawie has indeed made lemonade out of the lemons life has handed to him.<br />
<br />
In 1997, the Springfield, Massachusetts native had successfully made a difficult career transition. After almost a decade of hard work, he had left his role as a business owner and become an in-demand stand-up comedian.<br />
<br />
A week after his wedding, Kawie faced the aftermath of something he never anticipated: a devastating stroke at age 47. <br />
<br />
Kawie’s journey through his recovery is presented in his one-man show, “Brain Freeze,” which has just been released on DVD.<br />
<br />
Although a long time resident of New York City, Kawie, who grew up in the Hungry Hill section of Springfield, has family and friends here. <br />
He recalled fondly going to Springfield Indians matches at the Coliseum and Giants games at Pynchon Park while growing up. <br />
<br />
Even though he successfully headed the business founded by his father, Kawie said, “My first love was to make people laugh.” When someone approached him to buy the business, Kawie saw this as his opportunity to follow his dream.<br />
<br />
He took a course on writing humor, which culminated with a performance at a Connecticut comedy club.<br />
<br />
“I had a great set and I loved it,” he recalled.<br />
<br />
He was hooked.<br />
<br />
“If you follow what your heart tells you to, doors will open,” he asserted.<br />
<br />
He decided to move to New York City and pursue a career as a comic.<br />
<br />
“I was broke, but I was working,” he said. <br />
<br />
Kawie explained that in the late 1980s during the boom of stand-up comedy, there were a lot of clubs in New York City, but not all of them paid. Many club owners considered giving stage time to a new comic to be enough compensation. <br />
<br />
Kawie noted with appreciation the owner of the Improvisation as someone who would regularly give the comics at least a token payment that could pay for carfare.<br />
<br />
To help make ends meet, Kawie landed a job at a Gap store as a clerk, while seeking time on stages at clubs. He said there is a difference between staying in New York City to work as opposed to touring. Comics watch each other in New York City and tend to write better. On the road, he explained, comics learn they can be sloppier with their performances.<br />
<br />
Kawie was seen as an up and comer, opening for comics such as Dennis Miller and Howie Mandel. He had his own special on Comedy Central and he developed a unique niche as the country’s first Arab-American comedian.<br />
<br />
He became a writer and performer on “The David Brenner Radio Show” and wrote for Bill Maher’s monologue on Comedy Central’s “Politically Incorrect.” He also was a substitute host for Dick Cavett on his radio talk show and he wrote for Dennis Miller’s show on HBO.<br />
He recalled with a smile fellow comics, such as Dave Attell and Sam Kinison, who encouraged him.<br />
“Life was good,” he said. <br />
<br />
One week after his own wedding, he and his wife Marilyn attended the wedding of a friend. The next day, Kawie didn’t feel just right, but he chalked it up to a mild hangover. When he realized that his condition far exceeded his initial reaction, he was taken to a hospital.<br />
<br />
He had had a stroke and he thought at the time he would be released the next day.<br />
<br />
Instead, he spent months in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics regaining his abilities. He admitted, “My memory was shot.”<br />
<br />
His left arm was paralyzed and he had difficulty walking.<br />
<br />
His outpatient therapy years were “the dark period of my life,” he said. <br />
<br />
Participating in group therapy, Kawie began to tell a joke each session as a way to work his way back. He started writing again and thought about a project.<br />
<br />
Kawie’s comic idol was Richard Pryor. He explained there are several schools of comedy. Comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld offer observations, while someone such as Pryor deal in telling truths about themselves and society. <br />
<br />
Before his stroke, Kawie had become interested in the monologues of Spalding Grey and Eric Bogosian and Kawie began to think about turning his experience into a one-man play. <br />
<br />
His acting coach helped him for six months, writing and honing what would become “Brain Freeze.” He had trouble memorizing his work and would listen to a recording of it over and over to learn it. Memorization didn’t help the comic timing he needed and he had to learn where to pause.<br />
He said that those around him always encouraged his effort.<br />
<br />
“I always got green lights. “I didn’t get red light,” he said.<br />
<br />
Kawie started performing his show at hospitals and rehab centers to others facing the same challenges he faced. The reaction was so positive, he started performing in “off off Broadway” theaters.<br />
<br />
He expanded his writing activities by writing a column, “Life at the Curb,” for the American Heart Association’s magazine, “Stroke Connection.”<br />
A performance in 2003 at the New York Fringe Festival led to an award, “Best Solo Show,” and to glowing reviews in the New York Times and the New York Daily News. <br />
<br />
He acquired an agent and took the show all over the nation.<br />
<br />
In the show, Kawie speaks about dealing with the aftermath of his stroke from using a plethora of Post-it Notes to trying to button his overcoat with one hand.<br />
<br />
While at his 40th high school reunion at Williston Academy, Kawie met a fellow alumnus who heads PARMA Recordings.<br />
“That’s how the DVD was born,” he said. <br />
<br />
Kawie said the release of the DVD will “get it out there to rehab centers I couldn’t go to.” <br />
<br />
He intends to continue touring with the show, but will do far less traveling. He is now thinking about a book on his experiences. <br />
He admitted that he “sometimes” misses performing stand-up, but sometimes not.”<br />
<br />
“It’s a grueling lifestyle,” he said.<br />
<br />
He wouldn’t want to be a young comic starting these days. He noted that some club owners are concerned about political correctness in comedy.<br />
“It’s better when you let the comic go, let him fly,” he said. <br />
<br />
To learn more about “Brain Freeze,” visit its Facebook page or go to www.amazon.com/John-Kawie-Brain-Freeze/dp/B0040Y7EP6<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2011 Ben Bailey</b><br />
Think driving a cab in New York City is challenge? Imagine conducting a television game show while negotiating Manhattan traffic. <br />
<br />
That’s the job of Ben Bailey, the stand-up comic and actor who is the host and star of “Cash Cab,” the Emmy-awarding winning game show. <br />
<br />
Bailey readily admitted that driving a cab and hosting a television show was “tough at the beginning.” He started the “Cash Cab” job in 2005.<br />
“It’s still tough,” he said. He added that as he doesn’t concentrate on any one of his tasks listening to the producers of the show feed him questions to ask through an earpiece, driving the cab and interacting with his guests – he does alright.<br />
<br />
“It’s sort of a Zen thing,” he said.<br />
<br />
Bailey has never had an accident, despite his multi-tasking.<br />
<br />
In “Cash Cab,” unsuspecting people seeking a cab get into Bailey’s taxi, only to find out they are on a quiz show and their ride, if their answers are right, could pay off in hundreds of dollars.<br />
<br />
If their answers are wrong all it takes are three bad ones – they are back out on the street.<br />
<br />
Bailey said the show seemed “pretty ridiculous on paper” when he auditioned for it. Originally, the producers had thought a New York cabbie would be the host, but soon realized they needed someone who could improvise and had a comic background.<br />
<br />
He had an edge over some of the other comics, as he had already spent years as a limousine and delivery driver. To get the job, though, he had to pass the test for his taxi license, which Bailey took quite seriously.<br />
<br />
“I was studying for a couple of weeks,” he said. “I had a lot in the balance.”<br />
<br />
He was offered a pre-test, which if he passed would allow him to skip the class for the test and he had to answer the question of which bridge he would use to drive someone from 161st Street to Yankee Stadium.<br />
<br />
The question stumped him and he was shocked to see a list of bridges in the city with names he didn’t recognize.<br />
<br />
Bailey fell into stand-up in an accidental way. He described himself as a “wise ass” in school, who enjoyed making his fellow students laugh. He aspired to be an actor and moved to California to pursue a career.<br />
<br />
He worked in hotels while trying to get a break and was talking to a fellow New Jersey transplant in the parking lot of the Comedy Store one night in Los Angeles where he was offered a job answering the club’s phones.<br />
<br />
He watched some of the comics from the wings, thinking he could be funnier and after telling stories to other comics while they waited to perform, landed a spot on a show.<br />
<br />
He also acted in television series such as “Law and Order Special Victim’s Unit,” “One Life to Live” and “Hope and Faith.”<br />
When asked which performing venue he prefers, he replied, “None of them are easy. All of them are difficult.”<br />
He added, “All are very hard, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of all of them. Stand-up is great because you get immediate feedback. The show is great because you can meet people.”<br />
<br />
Bailey has thought about starring in a sit-com and has developed several ideas. “I’ve been too busy to pitch them,” he said. <br />
<br />
<br />
He added the television networks really seek out reality show concepts because they are less expensive to produce and he isn’t interested in doing that kind of show.<br />
<br />
He has a busy tour schedule as a stand-up and he said with a laugh of his writing process, “For me, the jokes just fall out of the sky.”<br />
When an idea hits him, he hurriedly writes it down.<br />
<br />
“I grab a napkin, toilet paper, a paper towel,” he said. <br />
<br />
Naturally the ideas don’t’ spring forth finished and Bailey said that writing and perfecting new additions to his act “is as much fun as performance.” <br />
<br />
His comedic style is to tell stories with multiple punch lines along the way to the conclusion.<br />
<br />
“I milk it,” he said. <br />
<br />
He clears the schedule for “Cash Cab,” though. When the producers call, Bailey sets aside eight weeks once or twice a year to shoot footage for what will become 40 new shows.<br />
<br />
Despite the show’s popularity at first people would ask, “What on earth is this?” Bailey recalled not everybody wants to play. He said that on one day’s shooting, it took six stops before he could find someone to play the game.<br />
<br />
<b>2012 The Amazing Johnathan</b><br />
The Amazing Johnathan is known for his combination of comedy, interaction with audience members and magic, but according to the popular performer he is not a magician.<br />
<br />
“I’m definitely a comedian,” he said.<br />
<br />
“I quit doing magic the night of my high school talent show,” he recalled. “All six tricks went bad.”<br />
He accidentally killed a bird on stage and when his female assistant, who was in a box for another illusion, developed a leg cramp, she stood up knocking the box apart.<br />
<br />
“It was so bad that the next day nobody teased me,” Johnathan said. <br />
<br />
But out of that terrible experience eventually came the seed for an act that he has performed for more than 20 years. <br />
<br />
Johnathan moved to San Francisco, Calif., as a young man and saw street performers such as Harry Anderson, later the star of “Night Court” and “Dave’s World,” and A. Whitney Brown, who was a writer on “Saturday Night Live.”<br />
<br />
Johnathan wanted to be a street performer as well and they “taught me the ropes.” He developed the persona of a slightly aggressive and definitely unpredictable magician whose tricks don’t always amaze.<br />
<br />
His performance at comedy clubs outside of Las Vegas is a relative rarity as Johnathan had essentially stopped touring for years. He said that he accepted a two-week fill-in job at the Sahara Hotel and casino while comic David Brenner was away. In 2008, he took his show to The Harmon Theater, next to Planet Hollywood. Twelve years later he is still in Las Vegas.<br />
<br />
The job does have its advantages, he noted. It came along as he was getting tired of touring and he could drive to his job.<br />
<br />
“I like driving to work, I leave my house at 8:45 p.m. [for a 9 p.m.] show and I get back home at 11:30 p.m.,” he said. <br />
<br />
But the experiences that can be found at smaller nightclubs across the country have been calling to Johnathan. He said that thanks to the recession the audiences at his show and others have declined significantly.<br />
<br />
“So, I’m back on the road to get some energy from audiences,” he said.<br />
<br />
In smaller clubs, Johnathan takes the opportunity of developing new material. About half of his show is planned and the other half is ad lib – “to make it fun for myself.” <br />
<br />
Johnathan has been frequently seen on Comedy Central and that exposure is “really, really important,” he said. The cable channel has repeated his comedy special.<br />
<br />
“When I come up with new material Comedy Central gives me a special,” he explained.<br />
Normally, an hour of solid new material takes him between six and seven years to develop, but right now he is operating under a three-month deadline. <br />
<br />
“It’s really hard,” he said. “You’re tempted to coast on your re-runs. It really helps to have new material.”<br />
<br />
The comic has entered into a new venture: a practical joke set that will be sold by Spencer’s Gifts and Toys R Us. The set has props for a number of gags to pull on friends as well as a DVD with even more suggestions.<br />
<br />
“It’s pretty cool,” he said. One gag is a device that buzzes like a mosquito when the lights are off. When the unsuspecting victim turns on the lights to swat the bug the sound turns off.<br />
<br />
He is known for his own elaborate practical jokes, one of which involved sending a friend notification of a fake job and having the person board a plane.<br />
<br />
“My friends are very, very leery,” he said. <br />
<br />
Although other stand-up comics have used their acts as the basis of a television sit-com, Johnathan said, “I never wanted to be an actor.”<br />
Although he has done some acting, he further admitted, “It was never really appealing to me.”<br />
<br />
A game show he hosted for the late Merv Griffin was fun, but “that wasn’t really acting.”<br />
<br />
“With a name like ‘The Amazing Johnathan,’ what am I going to do?” he asked.<br />
<br />
<b>2011 Kevin MacDonald and Scott Thompson</b><br />
It’s not the easiest thing to laugh and take notes and that was the primary challenge in speaking with Kevin McDonald and Scott Thompson, two of the members of the legendary comedy troupe, The Kids in the Hall.<br />
<br />
This reporter recently conducted two separate telephone interviews with the comedians and actors and that was a blessing. If they had been on the line at the same time, I would have been unable to take clear notes.<br />
<br />
At the same time both men were refreshingly candid about a career in show business. <br />
<br />
McDonald and Thompson have been appearing together in a stand-up act across the country.<br />
<br />
On the show, McDonald played a number of either crazy or naïve women as well as his unforgettable role as “King of Empty Promises,” while Thompson broke new comedy ground with his monologues as Buddy Cole.<br />
<br />
“The Kids in the Hall” television series ran from 1988 to 1995 and has been re-run since as well as collected recently on DVD. Since then, both men have been busy with a variety of projects and appearances as well as taking part in several reunion projects with fellow “Kids” Mark McKinney, Bruce McCullough and Dave Foley, the most recent being “Death Comes to Town” in 2008. <br />
<br />
McDonald, for instance, has made a mark as a voice actor in animated productions that include “Invader Zim,” “Lilo and Stitch” and “Catscratch.” He likes it, even though he has no creative power.<br />
<br />
“It’s tiring,” he explained. “I scream all day because my characters always fall a lot.”<br />
<br />
He noted with a little apprehension that he met a voice actor who “did me better than me.”<br />
<br />
McDonald recently made the move from Los Angeles to Winnipeg, Canada, because of a new relationship. He explained he initially made the move from Canada because “I have to go out and keep reminding people about me; reminding them about the Kids in the Hall and ask them for money.”<br />
Performing in the reunion tours with the rest of the group “seemed like old times,” he said.<br />
<br />
The Kids in the Hall were often noted for their performance in female roles and the steps they took to look like women. Playing in drag today, means “certainly a lot more makeup,” McDonald said.<br />
<br />
One of the aspects of “The Kids in the Hall” television show that continues to impress is the edgy innovative quality of the writing. McDonald said the members used to write the television shows by bringing ideas together to McCullough’s apartment and acting them out over and over. Since then with the advent of the personal computer, the team has broken up into smaller writing groups.<br />
<br />
He said that the “hardest thing” the group ever wrote was their feature film “Brain Candy.”<br />
<br />
“We couldn’t turn a page [in the script] until everyone agreed,” McDonald remembered.<br />
<br />
He said each of the tours featured new material and that while in the writing process it seemed like “no time had passed.”<br />
<br />
McCullough was in charge of the most recent “Kids” production, the mini-series “Death Comes to Town” and McDonald said the problem the “Kids” has always had is writing longer pieces than skits.<br />
<br />
McDonald is new to stand-up but enjoys it and is happy to be on the road with his friend.<br />
<br />
“Kevin and I are such good friends,” Thompson said. Neither man wanted to tour alone and the two decided to make a two-year commitment to a stand-up gig.<br />
<br />
McDonald said that although part of his stand-up show is scripted, there is also room for improvisation. Thompson explained the two men do a separate set and then come together for a set.<br />
<br />
If you’re hoping to see a reprise of well-known characters or skits, you won’t find them at this show, Thompson said. <br />
<br />
He said at the beginning of the tour, they tried to do some of their well-known characters, but “we dumped them.”<br />
<br />
“It’s easier [to do the tour] without a bag of wigs,” he said.<br />
<br />
Thompson was one of the first openly gay performers on television and his signature character was Buddy Cole, the acerbic barfly always holding a martini and ready with a piercing remark.<br />
<br />
Cole was Thompson’s stand-up voice for years and Thompson envisioned bringing Cole back as the star of a new show in which Buddy is undertaking a tour of Africa and the Middle East. <br />
<br />
Thompson, along with “Kids” writer Paul Bellini, even wrote a Buddy Cole book titled “Buddy Babylon: The Autobiography of Buddy Cole.”<br />
One can tell there is more than a little of Cole in Thompson. When I opened the interview with the admission I’m a big fan of the “Kids,” he said that would make things easier.<br />
<br />
“The last [interviewer] was a petulant asshole and he stayed one through the interview,” he said.<br />
<br />
Thompson has also been busy since the “Kids” left the airwaves. He’s had prominent roles in television series such as “The Larry Sanders Show” and “Providence,” as well as other shows.<br />
<br />
He said he is “thrilled” to be on stage and performing stand-up, nothing that much of the material is about his life. <br />
<br />
“Stand-up is so pure,” he said. “It’s just you and a mic. You’re like a gunslinger.”<br />
<br />
Although he improvises on stage, he sticks to the material he developed and said with a hearty laugh, “The show is filthy – really, really dirty.”<br />
Thompson is also honest about the tour and about the nature of show business and in a moment of candor, he said he needs the money from the stand-up tour.<br />
<br />
“I’ve not had the most illustrious post-“Kids” career,” he said. He views himself as a comic actor and writer who would be “very, very happy with different character roles.”<br />
<br />
He noted, that unlike shows such as ”Saturday Night Live,” there was no “break-out” member of the troupe, with the possible exception of Foley, who landed the starring role on “News Radio.” <br />
<br />
He said that McKinney and McCullough gravitated to “behind the camera.”<br />
<br />
Thompson had been vocal in the past about the depiction of gays on television and in film and the straight actors who get the parts. He said things have “come a million miles” since he raged against how Tom Hanks played a gay man dying of AIDS in the film “Philadelphia.” <br />
He said he watched the sitcom “Glee” and was amazed by the gay character on it.<br />
<br />
“I’m more philosophical about that now,” he said. “I kind of forgive.”<br />
<br />
He said one observer wrote of “The Kids” that watching them performing one could tell that they loved one another.<br />
<br />
“That’s the secret,” he said. “The Kids in the Hall, that’s our secret – a ‘bromance.’”<br />
<br />
<b>2010 Tom Green</b><br />
If you think of outrageous when you think of comedian Tom Green, you would be right. Green came to prominence with a program on MTV that emphasized a willingness to do almost anything to himself or his sidekicks for laughs – or shock.<br />
<br />
Talking to Green reveals another side to the guy willing to put live mice in his mouth for an audience’s amusement. He’s a performer who is very serious about developing his stand-up act.<br />
<br />
MTV picked Green up for his first show in 1999, after the performer had starred and produced his own show for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, which was based on his long-running homemade show seen on cable access.<br />
<br />
The success of the first MTV show led to subsequent shows and specials on the network as well as a string of movies, including the infamous “Freddy Got Fingered,” which was Green directed and co-wrote.<br />
<br />
Having started performing stand-up at age 15, Green has returned to the comedy format and has been touring for the past two years.<br />
<br />
“I always wanted to do it again,” he said of stand-up. Green stopped performing when he started his cable access television show. <br />
He added he enjoys the writing process of developing jokes and stories. <br />
<br />
“The real fun I have is crafting a joke with a lot of structure, but make them look unstructured,” he explained. <br />
<br />
Green does improvise on stage as well and uses stand-up for the expression of opinions on social issues.<br />
<br />
After working on mainstream television and movies, Green appreciates the one-man quality of stand-up.<br />
<br />
“What I love about stand-up is the complete freedom. There are no rules there,” he said.<br />
<br />
“With the television shows, we were challenging ourselves to smash the rules each week into smithereens,” Green said.<br />
<br />
Green was raised in the culture of skateboard and said that was the inspiration for the crazy physical stunts seen on his show. When asked if his show inspired MTV’s “Jackass,” he said, “People ask me that [all the] time. I tell them to drawn their own conclusion.”<br />
<br />
While Green doesn’t think MTV copied him, he said he has been told by “Jackass” cast members such as Steve O that they were inspired by him.<br />
Green’s success also led to movie roles in a number of films as well as his star turn in “Freddy Got Fingered,” a film that is now considered a cult film.<br />
<br />
He said that acting in someone else’s film “takes a lot on pressure off” him and he “doesn’t necessarily have to always do everything.”<br />
<br />
He currently has several film ideas in development, including one he calls “Insane Prank Movie.”<br />
<br />
<br />
Green has the reputation of pushing boundaries and he did that with his Internet-based talk and variety show that ran from 2006 to this year. Green was a pioneer in using the Internet as a way to broadcast a television show, which he jokingly called “Web-o-Vision.”<br />
<br />
He said he enjoyed the show and would do it again, despite the fact that he made just enough money on the show to cover the costs.<br />
“It was a fairly elaborate show,” he noted, which was broadcast weeknights over Livestream and then archived. <br />
<br />
“I’ve always been aware of technology and curious how to apply it to make funny comedy,” Green said.<br />
<br />
He stopped the production of the show to go on tour and devote himself to stand-up. Green recently did a 12-day appearance as part of the acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which was well received.<br />
<br />
One unidentified reviewer wrote on www.edinburghspotlight.com, “His insanely genius ‘shock humour’ is what helped Tom shoot to fame and it’s something he fortunately hasn’t let go of. Loosely based on the story of his life, Tom doesn’t hold back. He’s incredibly open and honest about elements of his past making the show much more than just hilarious antics.”<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>2010 Gabriel Iglesias</b><br />
Comic Gabriel Iglesias has a slightly different writing regimen than other comedians. Rather than sit down at a computer and write jokes, Iglesias said his material comes to him from just living life.<br />
<br />
"I live it and then exaggerate it," he said. <br />
<br />
Iglesias is one of the rising stars of comedy, with successful tours and several comedy concert DVDs to his credit. He will be performing two shows at the Hu Ke Lau in Chicopee on Aug. 8. <br />
<br />
He is also one of the hardest working comics around, is on the road 45 weeks of the year.<br />
<br />
Known for his Hawaiian shirts and expressive voices, Iglesias' routine on the six stages of being fat -- "Big, Healthy, Husky, Fluffy, Damn! and Oh Hell No!" -- has not only given him a comic niche onto himself but created a cottage industry.<br />
<br />
Calling himself "fluffy," Iglesias has capitalized on his success with a host of "fluffy" products on his Web sites, www.fluffyguy.com and www.fluffyshop.com. He sells tee shirts and outerwear for men, women and babies with messages such as "Real Men Have Stretch Marks."<br />
<br />
Iglesias said his clothing line came out of a frustration over not finding clothes he liked -- sizes on his site go up to five extra large -- and became one of the companies he set up. He also produced his first two comedy specials and has produced and set up distribution for his comedy DVDs. <br />
<br />
"At the end of the day, I own everything [about his comedy]," he said. <br />
<br />
He said his trademark stories, such as being pulled over by a police officer and having his friend complicate the situation, are true. The actions of his friend, comic Felipe Esparza, make up a lot of his act, he explained. <br />
<br />
Esparza is currently one of the contestants on "Last Comic Standing," and Iglesias said, "You can't miss this guy. He looks like a terrorist."<br />
<br />
One might think that Iglesias is on the route to television sitcom and movie stardom, but those are not things he's pursuing.<br />
<br />
"I got into comedy to do comedy," he explained. To do a sitcom, it would have to be the "perfect circumstances," he added.<br />
<br />
"I wouldn't want it to fail," he said. <br />
<br />
He has been asked to audition for movie roles as well, but passed those by due to his touring schedule. <br />
<br />
He admitted that one of the roadblocks to making the break to other comic media is the difficulty driving around Los Angeles, where he lives.<br />
<br />
"I hate traffic," he said. "I don't cuss, but get me in traffic and wow!"<br />
<br />
He missed doing a guest shot on a sitcom because he didn't want to deal with the traffic.<br />
<br />
He has done some voice acting for animation, which he does like.<br />
<br />
"You walk in and they hand you two pages [to perform]. You're done in a day and then checks show up at your doorstep. It's beautiful!" he said.<br />
<br />
He enjoys the freedom stand-up brings him.<br />
<br />
While he wouldn't call his show "family friendly," Iglesias said his comedy is cleaner than most.<br />
<br />
"At the beginning I was really, really dirty and I was told if I worked clean I'd have more opportunity. People said I have a real likable stage presence," he said. <br />
<br />
He cautioned that some profanity might be heard, but not much.<br />
<br />
"When I'm doing stand-up I'm the director, the producer and the writer," he explained.<br />
<br />
©2012 by Gordon Michael Dobbs<br />
<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-20331564814500475392012-03-13T21:00:00.000-07:002012-03-13T21:00:16.747-07:00<b>Peter Bergman RIP</b><br />
<br />
For some reason, the death of Peter Bergman hit me harder than I thought. Perhaps it was because ideas of mortality were rattling around in my head as we had attended the memorial service of a person we knew who died unexpectedly and was just a few years older than I am.<br />
<br />
Or perhaps it was just another reminder that someone who played a prominent role in my youth was gone.<br />
<br />
What Bergman's death means is there will never again be a Firesign Theater production that features the entire cast. Perhaps there never would have been another recording or video or tour, but now the possibility of any of that has been determined.<br />
<br />
Explaining the impact of The Firesign Theater on me is like talking about the impact of the Marx Brothers or Monty Python. For me, each of these comedy groups had an anti-establishment tone and attitude – very appealing to me – and a certainly density of material. I can watch the films all three of these groups produced over and over. They never fail to entertain.<br />
<br />
Of the three, The Firesigners had the least amount of mainstream media attention. They were truly an underground act with just enough success to keep them in the marketplace for 40 years. They were also the ones who produced the work that truly demanded your engagement.<br />
<br />
I've been trying to remember when I first heard them and recalled being at a high school party where their first album was played. I didn't get it, but then again I'm sure my attention was focused on whatever girls were there. In college and beyond is when my interest in them really flowered.<br />
<br />
One of the true privileges of being a journalist is being able to find reasons to interview people whose work you love. The Firesigners were no exception. I pursued them whenever I could.<br />
<br />
I had the pleasure of interviewing Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor 1986 when "Eat or be Eaten" first came out. I'm looking for both the recording of the interview and the printed version to post here. The amazing thing about that discussion was how the Firesigners were working on a very early CD video game based on the TV special and subsequent album.<br />
<br />
I attended a performance of their 25th anniversary tour and it was a great evening. I met the guys in person afterwards and David Ossman said he recognized my name from a publication to which we were both contributors. That made my night.<br />
<br />
In 2001, I interviewed David Ossman with the DVD release of "Weirdly Cool." Great guy and a fun discussion with me flying my not-so-inner fanboy proudly.<br />
<br />
In Nov. 2002, I interviewed Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor again on the release of "J Men Forever," their delirious re-dubbing and editing of Republic serials into a rock and rock reefer comedy. When the film was first released in 1979, I went the theater twice where it was playing as I was so amazed by it. The DVD is one of the my standard "go to" discs when I need a laugh.<br />
<br />
I wonder who will replace them – a group who is funny and smart, willing to do challenging material, but not above a cheap laugh as well. The Kids in the Hall come closest, but they don;t have the multi-media edge that made The Firesign Theater what is was. <br />
<br />
Here is a great and little seen Firesign bit that was broadcast as part of the syndicated show "A Night at the Improv." Enjoy and thank you Peter Bergman.<br />
<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/f5qFN0ImjoU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6THxbpwUcvU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9DdJw115LXk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16773593.post-27320898410686080752012-03-08T18:14:00.000-08:002012-03-08T18:14:19.911-08:00<br />
<i>I've been watching a bunch of DVDs of late. Here are some!</i><br />
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<b>J. Edgar</b><br />
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Director Clint Eastwood's low-key biopic of J. Edgar Hoover, the founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), probably surprised some people. Some audiences may have thought Eastwood — known for his more conservative politics — might have presented a whitewashed vision of the man who held onto power by having private files on Washington players.<br />
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Instead, Eastwood presents story of a very conflicted person and does so in a non-exploitative way. Perhaps this approach wasn't also satisfying to people who see Hoover as a villain.<br />
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What I liked about the film is that Eastwood and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black succeed in showing a portrait of an undeniable patriot and an uncontrollable paranoid; a man who was concerned about his image, more than his accomplishments; and a man who fought to create a federal policing agency, but also abused it.<br />
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Ultimately, "J. Edgar" is about a man who fights against many personal odds to achieve a goal, but the very nature of how he achieved those goals destroyed the legacy he so desperately wanted to have.<br />
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From capturing bank robbers in the 1930s to fighting Nazi spies in the 1940s, Hoover found himself unable to change with the law enforcement challenges of the last 20 years of his career. He fought acknowledging the existence of organized crime and looked for communist ties in anyone whom he believed was questioning the status quo. <br />
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Leonardo DiCaprio is amazing in the role. Although he looks nothing like Hoover, DiCaprio, with the help of minimal makeup, transforms himself into the stubby bulldog.<br />
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DiCaprio's performance is matched by Dame Judi Dench, who plays Hoover's controlling mother and Armie Hammer as Clyde Tolson, Hoover's second in command at the FBI and his lover.<br />
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Eastwood doesn't shy away from the issue of Hoover's homosexuality, but nor does he allow it to become the central theme of the movie. He effectively conveys the irony that Hoover sought to find out secrets about potential political opponents in order to protect his own secret.<br />
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The film has a washed-out look, which adds a certain documentary feel to it. Eastwood effectively hops back and forth to different times in Hoover's life, but manages to keep the narrative from becoming confusing. <br />
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It's a shame the Academy ignored the film. DiCaprio certainly deserved a nomination, as did Eastman. It's a fascinating drama, especially for those of us who remember J. Edgar.<br />
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<b>Bounty Hunters</b><br />
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If I was teaching a class in film as I did for years at Western New England University, I would be tempted to screen this new release as an example of how to make a low budget action exploitation film.<br />
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"Bounty Hunters" is a modest Canadian production starring former wrestling star Trish Stratus. Rule number one: have at least one person in the cast with some sort of name value who would appeal to the intended demographic.<br />
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The story is straight forward: a team of bounty hunters must decide if they are going to accept a bribe of $1 million to return a gangster to the local crime boss who wants to kill him so he can't testify against him. Rule number two: keep the story simple.<br />
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Rule three: give the audience what they want to see. Stratus can convincingly say a line and is quite beautiful, but she also can deliver the goods in the numerous fight scenes. That's what the audience of this film wants to see.<br />
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So is there violence, is there some gratuitous nudity? The filmmakers respect the expectations of the audience, as there is a brief scene in a strip club. Stratus, though, keeps her clothes on.<br />
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Rule five: keep it brief. This film keeps rolling straight ahead and doesn't try to add more exposition than need be. Again, they know their audience.<br />
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Rule six: will it rent at the Red Box? Oh, yes. Stratus will sell.<br />
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Is the film watchable? I didn't hit the fast forward button once. Would I ever watch it again? No. Is it groundbreaking in some way? Oh, no, but that is not the intent.<br />
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This film is all about watching a former WWE star kick some backside and shoot some guns. If that's your standard in entertainment, then rent this one today.<br />
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<b>London Boulevard</b><br />
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Generally, I like the recent spate of British crime films — such as the Guy Ritchie movies and "Layer Cake," to name several — and I had high hopes for "London Boulevard."<br />
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The film marks the directorial debut of William Monahan, the writer of "The Departed," and is based on a well-received crime novel.<br />
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Colin Farrell plays Mitchel, a man who has just been released from prison after a three-year term. We're not sure what he did to get into prison except it was violent, but we do know that he doesn't ever want to go back. Despite a reunion party for being a stand-up guy, Mitchel simply wants to live his own life outside of organized crime.<br />
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That isn't going to be easy as Gant (played with intensity by Ray Winstone), a local crime boss, sees potential in Mitchel and wants him to lead a loan shark operation.<br />
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As Mitchel tries to keep Gant at bay, he struggles to deal with his sister, a multi-level addict, and a new job he has fallen into: helping Charlotte, a reclusive movie star (played by Keira Knightley) with odd jobs and keeping the paparazzi away.<br />
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The conflict with Gant and a growing love affair with the actress come to their respective heads and Mitchel puts forth a violent plan to rid himself of the crime boss permanently to start his new life.<br />
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As a director, Monahan gets a lot of things right, but there are details that color the story that are obscured, such as Gant's sexual identity and if Mitchel was raped in prison. Part of the reason American audiences may not fully understand such plot points is due to the English accents and colloquialisms. I had a hard time following the dialogue in some scenes.<br />
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The irony about Knightley's character is that Charlotte complains she has been receiving movie roles in which she is there simply to tell more of the hero's story and that is exactly what happens in this film. There is not much of an opportunity for Knightley to develop her character and instead Charlotte comes off as self-indulgent and wacky, instead of sympathetic.<br />
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Farrell carries the film, though. At his core, his character is an essentially decent man who wants to take care of his sister and protect Charlotte and Farrell reveals his character's intentions in an effective, low-keyed manner.<br />
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So despite the flaws, I was enjoying the film until the end, which was very unsatisfying. There is a difference between a movie with film noir aspirations and a clunky bummer, but Monahan apparently doesn't understand the difference. <br />
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"London Boulevard" is an interesting film, but not a successfully told story.<br />
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<b>Devil's Rock</b><br />
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OK, the trailer looked pretty damn intriguing and I was in the mood for a solid horror film. Alas, the budget limitations kept this New Zealand horror film from being a satisfying guilty pleasure.<br />
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The premise, in true exploitation film tradition, is a riff off a successful film property — in this case, "Hellboy." In the "Hellboy" films, Ron Perlman plays a demon who had been summoned by the Nazis during World War II but was rescued by the Allies and fights evil. <br />
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In this film though, two New Zealand commandos accidentally discover that Nazis have conjured up a demon they intend to use as weapon against the Allied invasion. The only problem is that our two heroes find it's not going so well for the Nazis.<br />
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The demon, who appears as the woman a person loves, has killed and eaten the unit with the exception of its commander.<br />
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The film takes place primarily on two sets and quickly becomes a three-character enterprise: a commando, the Nazi and the demon. Although there are some good performances, the movie's thin budget shows through by a lack of action and special effects. <br />
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It is also another film that ends in a way that is scarcely satisfying.<br />
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With a larger budget, the film might have gone places far more interesting. Director Paul Campion, who also co-wrote the script, shows some ingenuity in his staging of the film, but the cheap claustrophobic nature of the production ultimately defeated him.<br />
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<b>The Ides of March</b><br />
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With Americans finding themselves knee-deep in this year's presidential race, George Clooney's latest effort as a director certainly hits home with a powerful look at how campaigns are run and the morality of those who run them.<br />
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Clooney plays a sitting governor, Mike Morris, who's running for the Democratic nomination. He is facing a tough race in the pivotal state of Ohio. If he can win that state, he will be the frontrunner and an almost cinch for the nomination.<br />
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What we start to learn is that it doesn't matter what ideas Morris presents to voters, but how his campaign manager Paul Zara (played with a realistic combination of competitiveness and fatigue by Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his second in command, Stephen Meyers, (Ryan Gosling) do behind the scenes.<br />
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Where Zara is the seasoned hand, Meyers is still the idealist, who declares he wouldn't work for Morris if he weren't ethical and moral. Morris shows early on a willingness to buck conventional wisdom to stick to his philosophical guns.<br />
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Something happens, though, and I'm reluctant to provide too many details — so I won't — that causes Meyers to question his own beliefs and descend to a level to which he never thought he would go.<br />
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Clooney is not the central character in the film. It is Gosling's picture and he does well portraying a guy whose life and livelihood is very much hanging in the balance. Like Clooney, much has been made about Gosling's looks, but also like Clooney, he can carry a film well.<br />
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"Ides of March" features a tight script, co-written by Clooney, as well as effective direction. There is a ring of truth throughout the film including the central theme: should you support a flawed man who would do the right thing as president?<br />
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Although I though the ending of the film was premature — there was the potential for more of the story — I did think this was one of the finer political films I've seen in a long time.<br />
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<b>Dr. Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe<br />
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Dr. Who: The William Hartnell Years<br />
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Dr. Who: The Peter Davison Years</b><br />
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BBC Home Video has recently released not only the most current Christmas special for the venerable British science fiction series but also two other DVD collections of two of the other 11 actors who have played the time lord.<br />
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If you're not familiar with Dr. Who, summing up more than 40 years of programs, movies and specials will be a somewhat difficult task, but I'll do my best. The Doctor is the last of his kind, an alien from a destroyed world who can travel through time and space in a vessel known as the Tardis, but looks like a British policeman's box.<br />
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Always eccentric in his dress and demeanor, he is accompanied by at least one human companion and is often at odds with a number of reoccurring villains, perhaps the most notable are the Daleks, creatures who live inside robotic bodies and bent on universal domination.<br />
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"Dr. Who" has the most original and handy plot device to explain the change of the actor in the lead role. The Doctor changes into a new person — with residual memories — every time he dies. <br />
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Although originally designed for children, since the series revival in 2005, the emphasis has been on more adult stories resulting in a new audience, some of whom were fans as children and some who have discovered the show recently.<br />
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"Dr. Who: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe" is the latest Who production, broadcast this past Christmas. Matt Smith plays The Doctor with a lot of humor, but at the same time, the ability to express anger as well. In this show, set in the midst of World War II, he attempts to make the Christmas of a widow and her two children as happy as he can by constructing a time and space portal to a world where the snow-covered trees look like an image from a Christmas card.<br />
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The curious little boy opens the package early and The Doctor finds out more is happening on this planet than meets the eye.<br />
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Like any great pop culture property — Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, and the Lone Ranger — there is no effort to explain who is The Doctor, which might put off some new viewers, but this production is well worth the time of neophytes. <br />
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Although I'm not a great "Dr. Who" fan, I do enjoy many of the episodes I've seen and this one was first-rate with an interesting premise and some heart-felt emotion.<br />
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The other two collections feature the first Doctor, played by William Hartnell, and the fifth Doctor, Peter Davison are for dedicated fans. The slow-moving black and white Hartnell shows are short on action and on budget, while the show selected for the Davison collection shows a marked improvement in budget and technology, but is a little confusing. <br />
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Nostalgia probably helps the viewing of these collections.<br />
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<b>Wake Wood</b><br />
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Years and years ago, it was possible to make a very good guess what studio made a particular film just by watching it and looking at the credits — no peeking allowed at the studio logo. <br />
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Hints were in the form of the cast and crew, the look of the film and its subject matter. Fans of 1930s movies can tell you what the difference was between a film from Paramount and Warner Brothers, for instance. In the 1960s, it was easy to spot many films released by American International Pictures.<br />
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Hammer Films from Great Britain certainly had identifying markers. The studio excelled in period horror films from the late 1950s to its demise in the late 1970s. It launched the career of Sir Christopher Lee in roles such as Dracula and furthered the stardom of Sir Peter Cushing, who came to the studio as a significant television star.<br />
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Not every Hammer film was a gem, but it produced enduring classics such as “The Horror of Dracula,” “Kiss of the Vampires” and “The Devil’s Bride,” just to name three.<br />
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The art direction always made full use of its budget and the studio had talented, if under-appreciated, directors such as Terence Fisher. Hammer films were noted as well for their lush musical scores and a repertory company of character actors.<br />
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Hammer was one of the last studios to establish and maintain a style and one wonders if the new Hammer is going to do the same. Film fans around the world recognized the old Hammer brand. <br />
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I was one of those fans who knew that a film made by Hammer had a good chance of at least being an enjoyable throwaway film, if not something I’d want to see again.<br />
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A newly reconstituted Hammer — not unlike one of the creations Cushing labored over in his “Frankenstein” series — has reemerged and in the last two years has released several films with its newest production, “The Woman in Black,” starring Daniel Radcliffe about to hit American movie screens.<br />
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I certainly intend to see “The Woman in Black” next month and I recently received the DVD release of one of the studio’s new films, “Wake Wood.” <br />
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“Wake Wood,” would have broken the old Hammer mold if the previous studio bosses had considered making it. It’s a contemporary film set in Ireland with an appropriate use of bloody scenes but no sexual tease. It doesn’t star anyone associated with the horror genre, although the superb character actor Timothy Spall, who had a reoccurring role in the “Harry Potter” series, is prominent in the cast.<br />
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Nor is the film directed by someone with experience in the horror genre.<br />
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“Wake Wood” is the story of a married couple, Patrick (Aiden Gillen) and Louise (Eva Birthistle), a veterinarian and a pharmacist, whose daughter is killed in a dog attack.<br />
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The couple is overwhelmed by grief and leave their urban home for the small bucolic village of Wake Wood to start over. <br />
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By accident they discover a secret: Wake Wood is the home of a group of pagans who perform a ritual that allows a dead family member to return to the living for three days. It is used to allow the grieving to say a final goodbye and find some peace.<br />
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Louise is desperate to see her daughter again and the couple agrees to take part in the ritual, but when their daughter Alice returns, there is something dreadfully wrong.<br />
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The script is, at least initially, pretty formulaic. Director David Keating tells the story in a competent straightforward manner with a sure hand on the shock sequences, but the story itself is predictable. It only starts to change gears a bit in the last third.<br />
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The conclusion is a surprise, although it violates the logic of the story.<br />
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A fairly effective film, especially if you’ve never read or heard of the story “The Monkey’s Paw,” “Wake Wood” falls into the category of enjoyable timewaster, rather than classic.<br />
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It will be interesting to see how this new Hammer builds its brand and if such a thing is possible in the motion picture industry of today. <br />
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<b>Brighton Rock</b><br />
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The British gangster film has been defined by director Guy Ritchie in the last few years with movies such as “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” and “Snatch,” but this adaptation of Graham Greene’s 1938 novel is more old school.<br />
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You won’t find flashy editing or grimly humorous characters in “Brighton Rock.” This film owes more to the British social dramas of the 1960s and American film noir.<br />
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At its heart, the film is about whether or not the central character of Pinkie, an ambitious thug willing to ignite a gang war in the English resort community of Brighton, is beyond redemption.<br />
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Many classic gangster films are about the rise — and fall — of a powerful criminal, such as “Little Cesar,” “Public Enemy” or either version of “Scarface.” This film follows that format to a certain degree, but Pinkie never makes it to the heights of the title characters in those films.<br />
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Pinkie is the junior member of a threadbare gang who kills, instead of scares, a rival gang member. His situation is complicated by the fact there is a material witness to the crime, Rose, a very innocent waitress working in a restaurant on the Brighton pier. He knows that he has to keep her quiet somehow and decides to woo her.<br />
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Ida, Rose’s boss, knew the murdered man and she starts to realize who Pinkie is and that Rose plays a role in the affair. <br />
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As events and the rival gang boss start to close in on him, the question is whether or not Pinkie sees Rose’s love as his redemption or if he plans to just kill her.<br />
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This is the first feature film for director and writer Rowan Joffe and it’s an auspicious start. Although it is a period film, it’s not set in 1938, but moved to 1964 when the clash between British youth groups were at their height.<br />
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Sam Riley gives an award-worthy performance as Pinkie, a kid who is trying to prove himself, while Helen Mirren shines as Ida. Andrea Riseborough strikes the right notes as Rose.<br />
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If film noir and crime films are of interest to you, check out “Brighton Rock.”<br />
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<b>Don’t be Afraid of the Dark</b><br />
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I think the best horror films are those that strip any adult logic from you and return you to a child-like state in which simple noises and shadows can cause gooseflesh, much less ideas and images.<br />
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This film does pretty well in making its audiences remember what it was to be a kid and scared of things that logic and common sense should discount.<br />
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It does so without a big serving of gore but with a fairly sympathetic central character and a really good monster — or monsters.<br />
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Alex (Guy Pearce) is an architect who has moved into his new project — renovating the home long closed that once belonged to a distinguished artist. All is going well until his daughter, Sally, shows up. It seems her mom has other priorities and has dumped her on her ex.<br />
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The only person who welcomes Sally’s arrival is Kim (Katie Holmes), Alex’s girlfriend and designer. Sally (Bailee Madison) rejects her attention and retreats to her room where she hears voices telling her things she wants to hear.<br />
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Although there is a sizable logic problem that happens during a key section of the film, first time feature film director Troy Nixey did an admirable job with a script by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins, which is based on the original film of the same name made for television in 1973.<br />
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For horror fans who like their films moist with blood, this film might be weak tea, but for those of us who like a little more subtlety, “Don’t be Afraid of the Dark” is quite good.<br />
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© 2012 by Gordon Michael Dobbs<br />
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<br />Mike Dobbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694483252375913277noreply@blogger.com0