Negromancer News Bits and Bites from May 8th to 14th, 2022 - Update #18

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  "The Sugar Shack," the painting by artist Ernie Barnes that was displayed in the end credits of the late CBS sitcom, "Good Times," has sold at auction for $15.3 million.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Director Rob Reiner and stars: Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest are reuniting for "Spinal Tap II," a sequel to the cult classic "mockumentary" (mock documentary film), "This is Spinal Tap."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Actor Dan Stevens is set to be the lead in the sequel to "Godzilla vs. Kong," which will reunite Stevens with the film's director, Adam Wingard.

MOVIES - From THR:   Oscar-winner Christopher Walken has joined the cast of "Dune: Part Two."

MOVIES - From THR:   Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, and Laurence Fishburne are among the cast of director Francis Ford Coppola's self-financed film, "Megalopolis."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Hayden Panettiere will return as "Kirby Reed" in "Scream 6."  Kirby was the lone survivor of "Scream 4."

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  NBC has put in a series order for the comedy, "Lopez Vs. Lopez," starring George Lopez and Maya Lopez.

DISNEY - From THR:  Rick Riordan, author of the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" books series, and his wife, Rebecca, condemn racists attacks against actress Leah Sava Jeffries.  Jeffries will star in the Disney+ series version of "Percy Jackson," which the Riordans are executive producers on the upcoming series.

POLITICS/DISNEY - From THR:  U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo) has proposed a federal legislation that would limit copyright protection to 56 years.  The law would apply retroactively to existing copyrights.  Hawley's legislation is apparently aimed at the Walt Disney Company, which would lose its copyright to certain iterations of Mickey Mouse, for instance.  The legislation is unlikely to pass.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 5/6 to 5/8/2022 weekend box office is Disney/Marvel Studios' "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" with an estimated gross of 185 million dollars.

From Deadline:  "Doctor Strange 2's" $450 million global debut is the second largest for a Hollywood film during the pandemic era.

From Here:  My review of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."

AWARDS - From Variety:  The nominations for the 2022 / 75th Tony Awards were announced Mon., May 9th. The winners will be announced June 12th.

AMAZON - From Deadline:  Amazon's "Jack Ryan" series (with John Krasinski in the lead) will end with Season 4.  Amazon Studios is considering a spinoff with actor Michael Pena.

TELEVISION - From BBC:  The 29-year-old Rwandan-born, Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa will take over the role of "The Doctor" on the BBC's "Doctor Who."  Gatwa replaces Jodie Whittaker and is the 14th Doctor.

MOVIES - From LATimes:  The paper takes a look at the French abortion drama, "Happening."

OBITS:

From Variety:  Actor Fred Ward has died at the age of 79, Sunday, May 8, 2022.  Ward was best known for numerous films, including "The Right Stuff," "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins," "Henry & June," "Tremors," "The Player," and "Short Cuts," to name a few.

From THR:  Country singer and songwriter and businessman, Mickey Gilley, has died at the age of 86, Saturday, May 7, 2022.  Gilley may be best remembered as the owner of "Gilley's Club," what would later become known as "the world's largest honky tonk."  The club inspired the nightclub, "Gilley's," that appeared in the 1980 John Travolta film, "Urban Cowboy," in which Mickey himself also appeared.  Gilley received six Academy of County Music Awards.  His "Gilley's Urban Cowboy Band" won a Grammy for "Best Country Instrumental Perfomance in 1981.  He also had 17 No. 1 songs.

From Deadline:  The film, television, and stage actor, James Olson, died at the age of 91, April 17, 2022.  He was best known for his performances in such films as "Rachel, Rachel" (1968) and "The Andromeda Strain (1971).  He appeared in numerous TV series, including "Bonanza," "Maude," "Wonder Woman," and "Murder, She Wrote," to name a few.

Negromancer News Bits and Bites for the Week of August 17th to August 23rd, 2014 - Update #20

NEWS:

From TheVerge:  Marvel's movie business is crushing DC's

From TheWrap:  MPAA earns ire of "R" rating for gay drama, Love is Strange.

--------------------
From HuffingtonPost:  Hugh Jackman can deadlift 400lbs.

-------------------
From Screenrant:  Jennifer Lawrence reportedly in talks to appear in Quentin Tarantino's next film, "The Hateful Eight."

From YahooHealth:  "Fat" Daphne controversy in Scooby-Doo! Frankencreepy.

-------------------
From TVLine:  Shad Moss, also known as the rapper, Bow Wow, is a cast member of the "CSI" spin-off, "CSI: Cyber," as a baby-faced hacker.

-------------------
From IMDbBlog:  FX renews "The Strain" for a second 13-episode season.  The current season gets better with each episode.

-----------------
From BuzzFlash:  Emmy winner Harry Shearer impersonates Richard Nixon preparing to resign.

-------------------
From Hello:  Jack Nicholson and his lookalike son, Ray.

-------------------
From HuffingtonPost:  Neil Patrick Harris, who is gay, talks about having sex women.

--------------------
From Variety:  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (estimated box office take of $28.4 million) win the August 15-17, 2014 weekend box office.  This is the film's second consecutive win, having finished at #1 when it debuted during the August 8-10, 2014 weekend.  Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy finished at #2 ($24.7 million) for a second straight week, after finishing at #1 during its debut weekend.  The Expendables 3, this weekend's big debut movie, is considered a flop after ending up in third place with an estimated box office tally of $16.2 million.

From Variety:   You may have heard that a "DVD-quality" copy of The Expendables 3 ended up on the Internet a few weeks ago.  Did that affect the film's puny box office during its debut weekend?  Variety discusses that.  Here is an interesting tidbit:

However, some research suggests that piracy can take a big chunk out of ticket sales. A 2011 study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that when a film is pirated prior to release, it loses nearly 20 percent of its potential revenue.

That study can be found here.


STAR WARS:

From YahooScreen:  More Episode VII rumors (video)


COMICS BOOKS - Movies and Comics:

From WeGotThisCovered:  8 comic book movies that actually feel like comic books.

From YahooScreen:  Seven actors who almost played Batman

--------------------
From CinemaBlend:  Director Marc Webb confirms three planned members of "The Sinister Six," the Spider-Man spinoff movie.  They seem to be "The Gentleman," "Mysterio," and "Kraven the Hunter." [I'll pretend to be interested.  Well, maybe I'm a little interested.]

---------------------
From ScreenRant:  Actor Brian Patrick Wade of MTV's "Teen Wolf" well play the villain, Absorbing Man, on the upcoming season of "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."

---------------------
From YahooMovies:  From the set of "Batman Vs. Superman," the mysterious green legs of Scott McNairy.

------------------
From YahooFinance:  Another article about Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson appearing in a DC Comics superhero movie - maybe playing hero Shazam and anti-hero Black Adam

From ScreenRant:  Marvel is listening to fan requests about movie... or maybe not

From CBB and Nexopia:  Zak Edwards is brilliant on the piece about diversity in American comic book publishing from the major companies.


OBIT:

From TheWrap:  Don Pardo, the announcer for "Saturday Night Live," reportedly died yesterday (Tuesday, August 19, 2014) at the age of 96.  Pardo was also the on-duty booth announcer for WNBC-TV on the day (November 22, 1963) that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated; thus, Pardo was the first to announce the shooting to NBC viewers.


MISC:

From VOX:  The geniuses behind your favorite pop songs

-------------------
From YahooFinance:  How Kobe Bryant started the current weight loss trend among NBA players like LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade, to name a few.

2014 Creative Arts Emmy Winners - Complete List

by Leroy Douresseaux

The Creative Arts Emmys are a class of Emmy Awards.  They recognize technical and other similar achievements in American television programming and honor behind-the-scenes personnel.  This includes art directors, costume designers, cinematographers, casting directors, and sound editors.  The Creative Arts category also includes awards for outstanding animated programs and guest acting.

Both the Primetime and Daytime awards each present their own Creative Arts Emmys at separate Creative Arts ceremonies prior to their respective main ceremonies.

The 2014 Creative Arts Emmys were handed out Saturday night, August 16, 2014 at the Nokia Theatre at L.A. LIVE.  The awards show took place just over a week before the 2014 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, which will be held, Monday, Aug. 25, 2014.  The 2014 Creative Arts Emmys are the first ceremony of the 66th Emmy Awards.

During Saturday's ceremony, casting director Marion Dougherty (“All in the Family”) was honored posthumously with the 2014 Governor's Award.  Also, Sarah Jones was the 27-year-old camera assistant who died earlier this year when she was struck by a train in Georgia while filming the Gregg Allman biopic, “Midnight Rider.”  Jones was remembered during the “In Memoriam” montage during Saturday's Creative Arts Emmys.

For a complete list of 2014 Creative Arts Emmys winners, including the individual names of winners in all categories, go here or http://www.emmys.com/sites/default/files/Downloads/2014-creative-arts-winners-v1.pdf

2014 Creative Arts Emmys winners (in bold) and nominees:

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black (WINNER)
Natasha Lyonne, Orange Is the New Black
Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black
Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live
Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live
Joan Cusack, Shameless

Outstanding Host For A Reality Or Reality-Competition Program
Jane Lynch, Hollywood Game Night (WINNER)
Betty White, Betty White’s Off Their Rockers
Tom Bergeron, Dancing With The Stars
Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway
Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance
Anthony Bourdain, The Taste

Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
Deadliest Catch (WINNER)
Alaska: The Last Frontier
Flipping Out
Million Dollar Listing New York
Wahlburgers
Wild Things With Dominic Monaghan

Outstanding Structured Reality Program
Shark Tank (WINNER)
Antiques Roadshow
MythBusters
Undercover Boss
Who Do You Think You Are?

Outstanding Variety Special
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute To Mel Brooks (WINNER)
The Beatles: The Night That Changed America
Best Of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon Primetime Special
Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays
The Kennedy Center Honors
Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles

Outstanding Writing For A Variety Series
The Colbert Report (WINNER)
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Inside Amy Schumer
Portlandia

Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series
Saturday Night Live (WINNER)
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Portlandia
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Outstanding Choreography
So You Think You Can Dance • Routines: Puttin’ on the Ritz / Gold Rush / Run the World (WINNER)
Dancing With The Stars • Routines: Human / Ameksa / Too Darn Hot
So You Think You Can Dance • Routines: Trigger / Sand / The Gravel Road
So You Think You Can Dance • Routines: Edge of Glory / Feelin’ Good / I Can’t Make You Love Me
So You Think You Can Dance • Routines: Hanging by a Thread / Wicked Game / Medicine

Outstanding Interactive Program
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Digital Experience (WINNER)
Comedy Central’s @midnight
Game of Thrones Premiere – Facebook Live and Instagram
The Voice

Outstanding Short-Format Nonfiction Program
30 For 30 Shorts (WINNER)
Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee
Cosmos: A National Geographic Deeper Dive
I Was There: Boston Marathon Bombings
Jay Leno’s Garage
Park Bench With Steve Buscemi

Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program
Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: President Barack Obama (WINNER)
Childrens Hospital
Parks And Rec In Europe
The Soup: True Detective
Super Bowl XLVIII Halftime Show Starring Bruno Mars

Outstanding Special Class Program
67th Annual Tony Awards (WINNER)
The 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards
The Oscars
Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony
The Sound Of Music Live!

Outstanding Informational Series Or Special (TIE)
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (WINNER)
Vice (WINNER)
Inside The Actors Studio
Through The Wormhole With Morgan Freeman
The Writers’ Room

Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Special
JFK (American Experience) (WINNER)
Paycheck To Paycheck: The Life And Times Of Katrina Gilbert
Running From Crazy
The Sixties: The Assassination Of President Kennedy
The Square
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley

Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Series (TIE)
American Masters (WINNER)
Years Of Living Dangerously (WINNER)
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
Pioneers Of Television
The World Wars

Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking
Life According To Sam (WINNER)
The Amish: Shunned (American Experience)
Brave Miss World
Hillsborough (30 For 30 Soccer Stories)

Outstanding Writing For Nonfiction Programming
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (WINNER)
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
JFK (American Experience)
The World Wars
Years Of Living Dangerously

Outstanding Directing For Nonfiction Programming
The Square (WINNER)
The Amazing Race
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
Regular Show
Robot Chicken
Project Runway
Shark Tank

Outstanding Cinematography For A Multi-Camera Series
How I Met Your Mother (WINNER)
The Exes
Last Man Standing
Mike & Molly
2 Broke Girls

Outstanding Cinematography For A Single-Camera Series
True Detective (WINNER)
Breaking Bad
Game Of Thrones • Two Swords
Game Of Thrones • The Lion and the Rose
Homeland
House Of Cards

Outstanding Cinematography For A Miniseries Or Movie
Sherlock: His Last Vow (WINNER)
Fargo • Buridan’s Ass
Fargo • The Crocodile’s Dilemma
Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond
Killing Kennedy
The Normal Heart

Outstanding Cinematography For Nonfiction Programming
The Square (WINNER)
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown • Tokyo
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown • Punjab
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
Vice

Outstanding Cinematography For Reality Programming
Deadliest Catch (WINNER)
Alaska: The Last Frontier
The Amazing Race
Project Runway
Survivor

Outstanding Commercial
Misunderstood • Apple (WINNER)
Childlike Imagination • General Imagination
Hero’s Welcome • Budweiser
Possibilities • Nike
Puppy Love • Budweiser

Outstanding Narrator
Jeremy Irons, Game Of Lions (WINNER)
Daniel Craig, One Life
Jane Lynch, Penguins: Waddle All The Way
Henry Strozier, Too Cute!
Whoopi Goldberg, Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley

Outstanding Children’s Program
One Last Hug: Three Days At Grief Camp (WINNER)
Degrassi
Dog With A Blog
Good Luck Charlie
Nick News With Linda Ellerbee – Family Secrets: When Violence Hits Home
Wynton Marsalis – A YoungArts Masterclass

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance
Harry Shearer, The Simpsons (WINNER)
Chris Diamantapolous, Disney Mickey Mouse
Stephen Full, Dog With A Blog
Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy
Maurice LaMarche, Futurama
Seth Green, Robot Chicken DC Comics Special II: Villains In Paradise

Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Comedy Series Or A Variety Program
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (WINNER)
Community
It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia
Sam & Cat
Shameless

Outstanding Stunt Coordination For A Drama Series, Miniseries Or Movie
The Blacklist (WINNER)
Game Of Thrones
Grimm
Hawaii Five-0
Revolution
True Blood

Outstanding Special And Visual Effects
Game Of Thrones (WINNER)
Almost Human
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
The 100
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Outstanding Special And Visual Effects In A Supporting Role
Black Sails (WINNER)
Da Vinci’s Demons
Hawaii Five-0Mob City
Vikings
The Walking Dead

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Comedy Series
Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live (WINNER)
Bob Newhart, The Big Bang Theory
Nathan Lane, Modern Family
Steve Buscemi, Portlandia
Louis C.K., Saturday Night Live
Gary Cole, Veep

Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Series
Dancing With The Stars (WINNER)
America’s Got Talent
Saturday Night Live
The Voice

Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction For A Variety Special
Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony (WINNER)
The Beatles: The Night That Changed America
The 56th Grammy Awards
The Oscars

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Series
Dancing With The Stars (WINNER)
The Big Bang Theory
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Saturday Night Live
The Voice

Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
The Sound Of Music Live! (WINNER)
The Oscars
Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony
67th Annual Tony Awards

Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics
67th Annual Tony Awards • Song Title: Bigger! (WINNER)
A Christmas Carol – The Concert • Song Title: No Trouble
Key & Peele • Substitute Teacher #3 / Song Title: Les Mis
Saturday Night Live • Song Title: Home For The Holiday (Twin Bed)
Sofia The First: The Floating Palace • Song Title: Merroway Cove
Sons Of Anarchy • Song Title: Day Is Gone

Outstanding Music Composition For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special (Original Dramatic Score)
Sherlock: His Last Vow (WINNER)
American Horror Story: Coven
Clear History
Fargo
Herblock: The Black & The White
The Sound Of Music Live!
67th Annual Tony Awards

Outstanding Main Title Design
True Detective (WINNER)
Black Sails
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
Masters Of Sex
Silicon Valley

Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score)
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (WINNER)
Downton Abbey
Game Of Thrones
House Of Cards
True Detective

Outstanding Music Direction
The Beatles: The Night That Changed America (WINNER)
Barbra Streisand: Back to Brooklyn
The Oscars
Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (WINNER)
Black Sails
Magic City
Sleepy Hollow
The Spoils Of Babylon

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (One Hour)
House Of Cards (WINNER)
Breaking Bad
Game Of Thrones
Homeland

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Miniseries Or A Movie
Treme (WINNER)
American Horror Story: Coven
Fargo
Killing Kennedy
Sherlock: His Last Vow

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Comedy Or Drama Series (Half-Hour) And Animation
Modern Family (WINNER)
Californication
Nurse Jackie
The Simpsons
Veep

Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Variety Series Or Special
The 56th Grammy Awards (WINNER)
The Beatles: The Night That Changed America
The Kennedy Center Honors
The Oscars
The Voice

Outstanding Sound Mixing For Nonfiction Programming
American Masters (WINNER)
The Amazing Race
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
Deadliest Catch

Outstanding Makeup For A Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic)
True Detective (WINNER)
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Game Of Thrones
Mad Men

Outstanding Makeup For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special (Non-Prosthetic)
Saturday Night Live (WINNER)
Dancing With The Stars
Key & Peele
So You Think You Can Dance
The Voice

Outstanding Makeup For A Miniseries Or A Movie (Non-Prosthetic)
The Normal Heart (WINNER)
American Horror Story: Coven
Anna Nicole
Bonnie & Clyde
Fargo

Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
Game Of Thrones (WINNER)
American Horror Story: Coven
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
The Normal Heart

Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series
Black Sails (WINNER)
Boardwalk Empire
Breaking Bad
Game Of Thrones
The Walking Dead

Outstanding Sound Editing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
Sherlock: His Last Vow (WINNER)
American Horror Story: Coven
Bonnie & Clyde
Fargo
Klondike
Mob City

Outstanding Sound Editing For Nonfiction Programming (Single Or Multi-Camera)
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey (WINNER)
The Amazing Race
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
Vice
The World Wars

Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series
Allison Janney, Masters of Sex (WINNER)
Margo Martindale, The Americans
Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones
Kate Mara, House of Cards
Jane Fonda, The Newsroom
Kate Burton, Scandal

Outstanding Hairstyling For A Single-Camera Series
Downton Abbey (WINNER)
Boardwalk Empire
Game Of Thrones
Mad Men

Outstanding Hairstyling For A Multi-Camera Series Or Special
Saturday Night Live (WINNER)
Dancing With The Stars
Key & Peele
The Originals
The Oscars
The Voice

Outstanding Hairstyling For A Miniseries Or A Movie
American Horror Story: Coven (WINNER)
Bonnie & Clyde
Mob City
The Normal Heart
The White Queen

Outstanding Costumes For A Series
Game Of Thrones (WINNER)
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey
Mad Men
Once Upon A Time

Outstanding Costumes For A Miniseries, Movie or Special
American Horror Story: Coven (WINNER)
The Normal Heart
House Of Versace
Sherlock: His Last Vow (Masterpiece)
The White Queen

Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program
Disney Mickey Mouse (WINNER)
Adventure Time
Disney Phineas and Ferb
Regular Show
Robot Chicken

Outstanding Animated Program
Bob’s Burgers (WINNER)
Archer
Futurama
South Park
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Manhattan Project

Outstanding Art Direction For A Period Series, Miniseries Or A Movie (Single-Camera)
Boardwalk Empire (WINNER)
American Horror Story: Coven
Downton Abbey
Mad Men
Masters Of Sex

Outstanding Art Direction For A Contemporary Program (Half-Hour Or Less)
House Of Lies (WINNER)
The Big Bang Theory
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Veep
HBO

Outstanding Art Direction For Variety, Nonfiction, Reality or Reality-Competition Program
The Oscars (WINNER)
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live
Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony
The Voice

Outstanding Art Direction For A Contemporary Or Fantasy Series (Single-Camera)
Game Of Thrones (WINNER)
House Of Cards
Justified
True Blood
True Detective

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series
Breaking Bad • Felina (WINNER)
Breaking Bad • Tohajillee
Breaking Bad • Granite State
True Detective

Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series
The Big Bang Theory (WINNER)
The Colbert Report
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
How I Met Your Mother
Jimmy Kimmel Live

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Comedy Series
Orange Is The New Black • Tit Punch (WINNER)
Modern Family
Orange Is The New Black • Can’t Fix Crazy
Orange Is The New Black • Tall Men With Feelings
Portlandia

Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing For A Miniseries Or A Movie
Sherlock: His Last Vow (WINNER)
Fargo • The Crocodile’s Dilemma
Fargo • The Rooster Prince
Fargo • Buridan’s Ass
The Normal Heart

Outstanding Guest Actor In A Drama Series
Joe Morton, Scandal (WINNER)
Paul Giamatti, Downton Abbey
Dylan Baker, The Good Wife
Reg E. Cathey, House Of Cards
Robert Morse, Mad Men
Beau Bridges, Masters of Sex

Outstanding Picture Editing For Short-Form Segments And Variety Specials
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart (WINNER)
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute To Mel Brooks
Billy Crystal: 700 Sundays
The Colbert Report • People Destroying America: Vicco Mayor Johnny Cummings (Segment)
The Colbert Report • StePhfest Colbchella ‘013

Outstanding Picture Editing For Nonfiction Programming
The Square (WINNER)
American Masters
Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey
The Sixties: The Assassination Of President Kennedy

Outstanding Picture Editing For Reality Programming
Deadliest Catch (WINNER)
The Amazing Race
Naked And Afraid
Project Runway
Survivor
The Voice

Outstanding Casting For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Special
Fargo (WINNER)
American Horror Story: Coven
The Normal Heart

Outstanding Casting For A Drama Series
True Detective (WINNER)
Breaking Bad
Game Of Thrones
The Good Wife
House Of Cards
Sherlock: His Last Vow (Masterpiece)
Treme

Outstanding Casting For A Comedy Series
Orange Is The New Black (WINNER)
Louie
Modern Family
Nurse Jackie
Showtime
Veep

-----------------------------------------

Review: "A Mighty Wind" Sounds Good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 173 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Mighty Wind (2003)
Running time:  91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for sex-related humor
DIRECTOR:  Christopher Guest
WRITERS:  Eugene Levy and Christopher Guest
PRODUCER:  Karen Murphy
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Arlene-Donnelly Nelson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Robert Leighton
Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/MUSIC

Starring:  Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Bob Balaban, Jane Lynch, John Michael Higgins, Fred Willard, Ed Begley, Jr., Don Lake, Deborah Theaker, Larry Miller, Jennifer Coolidge, Bill Cobbs, Parker Posey, Rachael Harris, and LeShay Tomlinson

The subject of this movie review is A Mighty Wind, a 2003 comedy-drama from director Christopher Guest.  This mock documentary captures the reunion of a 1960s folk trio, as they prepare for a show to memorialize a recently deceased concert promoter.

Christopher Guest’s film A Mighty Wind is the third in his popular series of mock documentary films, or mockumentaries, as fans know them, which also include Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show.  Guest and co-stars Michael McKean and Harry Shearer were also the band in the Rob Reiner’s famous mockumentary, This is Spinal Tap.  This time the comedic trio comprises another movie group, the folk trio The Folksmen.

The neurotic and fussbudget son (the sublime Bob Balaban) of a folk music record company mogul, with some help from his siblings, organizes a reunion of three of his father’s biggest acts:  the aforementioned The Folksmen, The New Main Street Singers, and the very popular duo Mitch and Mickey.  As the groups prepare for a nationally televised show (on public TV) staged at Town Hall in New York City, old tensions and conflicts that caused breakups or hard feelings start to arise.  Will everyone have his or her act together in time to show the nation that folk music is alive and well?

Some consider this to be the least among the Guest-Levy comedies, and A Mighty Wind is often too polished and too smooth.  The documentary aspect of the film is also just window dressing; the film is better when it’s more about personal relationships and less about characters being observed by a camera.  The documentary makes the characters appear to be shallow when they’re obviously more interesting than just the surface appearance.  In the end, the players are more interesting than the film’s conceit.

However, there are times when Guest and Levy deal their wit using only the sharpest instruments of satire and farce, but the brilliance in the writing of this film is that Guest and Levy, for all the fun they poke, actually make folk music quite appealing.  The screwy, peculiar, neurotic, and sometimes wacky characters are all quite loveable.  I found myself laughing good-naturedly more than in derision at the cast.  Would that more movies were so endearing even when they skewering.

The film earned an Oscar® nomination for “Best Music, Original Song” for the fabulous and poignant “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” song by Mitch and Mickey.  Guest, McKean, and Levy, however, did win a Grammy® Award in the category of “Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media” for the movie’s title track, “A Mighty Wind.”  These two songs and many others in combination with a musically talented and funny cast make A Mighty Wind a must see for viewers who want their comedy a notch above profanity and gross out.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Music, Original Song” (Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole for the song "A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow")

Updated:  Wednesday, February 19, 2014


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Small Soldiers" is Hugely Entertaining (Remembering Jerry Goldsmith)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 60 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

Small Soldiers (1998)
Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some menacing violence/action and brief drug references
DIRECTOR:  Joe Dante
WRITERS:  Gavin Scott, Adam Rifkin, and Ted Elliot & Terry Rossio
PRODUCERS:  Michael Finnell and Colin Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Jamie Anderson
EDITORS:  Marshall Harvey and Michael Thau
COMPOSER:  Jerry Goldsmith

FANTASY/SCI-FI/ACTION/ADVENTURE/COMEDY

Starring:  Gregory Smith, Kirsten Dunst, Jay Mohr, David Cross, Denis Leary, Kevin Dunn, Ann Magnuson, Phil Hartman, Jacob Smith, Wendy Schaal, and Dick Miler and the voices of Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Langella, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, Bruce Dern, George Kennedy, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Clint Walker, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Christina Ricci, and Harry Shearer

The subject of this movie review is Small Soldiers, a 1998 science fiction, fantasy, and action film from director Joe Dante.  The film depicts a small war between two groups of action figures brought to life by new technology.  Small Soldiers remains one of my all-time favorite films.

Joe Dante directed Gremlins, the tale of toy-like creatures besieging a small town.  He returned to a similar toys-come-to-life theme in the 1998 DreamWorks film, Small Soldiers.  When computer chips manufactured for military use end up in a line of action figures, the toys come to life with minds of their own.  One group, the Commando Elite, is composed of military action figures, kind of like an extreme version of G.I. Joe.  The second group is a collection of monsters and creatures called the Gorgonites.  The Commando Elite, led by Major Chip Hazard (voice of Tommy Lee Jones), are programmed to destroy the Gorgonites, led by the wise Archer (voice of Frank Langella), who are programmed to lose to the Commando Elite.

Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith) is manning the counter of his father, Stuart’s (Kevin Dunn) old-fashioned toy store, The Inner Child, when he spots a shipment of Commando Elite and Gorgonite toys on a delivery truck.  He convinces the delivery driver to give him a case of each toy set, but he doesn’t know that once he opens the box, he’s also activated the toys, which are actually intelligent because of the military chips in them.  Then, the Commando Elite begin hunting Archer.  When Alan unknowingly takes Archer (who’s hiding in Alan’s bag) home with him, Chip Hazard and the rest of the Elite mark him for annihilation along with the Gorgonites.  Soon Alan’s neighbors, including a classmate to whom he’s attracted, Christy Fimple (Kirsten Dunst), are marked for death as collaborationists with the Gorgonites.  Now, Alan, Christy, both their families, and two developers from the toy manufacturer (Jay Mohr and David Cross) must not only defend themselves from the Commando Elite, they must also stop the toys for good.

The characters in Small Soldiers aren’t that well developed, but they’re more broad archetypes than caricatures.  Gregory Smith’s Alan is the outsider boy, one with a bit of a rebellious streak, and he’s more spirited and strong-willed than his slight build would suggest.  Kirsten Dunst’s Christy Fimple is the all-American girl-next-door who is much wiser and more open minded than her contemporaries.  They make a good screen couple, and Smith and Ms. Dunst act as if they’ve done this before.  Tommy Lee Jones’ voice over performance as Major Chip Hazard is surprisingly good and really sells the film.  His Hazard voice is a mixture of tongue-in-cheek humor, sarcasm, laid-back disdain, and menace.  The rest of the cast fits in well, but really don’t do much until the final act.

Small Soldiers was a moderate box office success.  The film is a bit old for the small children who would play with toys like the Commando Elite and Gorgonites, and would certainly not interest the older teens and twenty-something males who see war action/adventure films.  Still, it’s a good satire of the violent mentality that says we must hate, fight, kill, and destroy those who are supposed to be our enemies or those we were taught or programmed to believe deserve destruction.

The film really is fun (I’ve seen it twice.), and Joe Dante has the knack for never taking his films too seriously.  He can both make his point and make entertaining films with fantastical settings or creatures.  Dante fills Small Soldiers with references to other films that augment the tale he’s telling.  Like his other films, the aforementioned Gremlins and Piranha and The Howling, he takes the ridiculous and gives it humor and bite, and Small Soldiers surely is an edgy little comedy about a small war and the small-minded reasons for fighting it.

8 of 10
A

Updated: Sunday, July 21, 2013

---------------------------------

Review: "This is Spinal Tap" Never Stops Being Funny (Happy B'day, Rob Reiner)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 106 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Running time: 83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Rob Reiner
WRITERS: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, & Rob Reiner
PRODUCER: Karen Murphy
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Smokler
EDITOR: Kent Beyda and Kim Secrist

COMEDY/MUSIC

Starring: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, June Chadwick, Tony Hendra, RJ Parnell, Fran Drescher, Patrick MacNee, Bruno Kirby, Ed Begley, Jr., Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Howard Hessman, Fred Willard, Paul Shaffer, Gloria Gifford, and Anjelica Huston

The subject of this review is This is Spinal Tap, a faux documentary that parodies rock documentary films. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film also satirizes the behavior and attitudes of members of hard rock and heavy metal bands.

This is Spinal Tap basically says that, “It’s time to get personal with one of music history’s greatest and loudest rock bands… Spinal Tap.” Documentary filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) is making a “rockumentary,” a rock documentary of the band’s 1982 tour in support of the release of its 15th album, but the band has falling on some hard times. They’re playing smaller venues in front of an ever-shrinking audience, and the band’s front men: guitarist/co-songwriter David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), lead guitarist/co-songwriter Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) are older and struggling with inner band turmoil. DiBergi’s documentary gives them a chance to talk about themselves, their history, and their music and gives the audience a behind the scenes look at rare footage and a chance to hear lots of music. Will Spinal Tap survive, or will we die laughing first?

This is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner’s faux documentary, created a film genre, the “mockumentary” or mock documentary. This is Spinal Tap is a fake documentary that follows the life and times of an aged metal band on an less-than-successful American tour, and everyone involved, especially the band comes across as twits. They don’t, in all seriousness, see themselves as pathetically funny as they actually are. Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer wrote all the songs for the fake band called Spinal Tap (which some movie audiences initial thought was a real band), and with the rest of the cast, adlibbed most of the dialogue.

Anyone with more than a passing knowledge of heavy metal music and the eccentricities of metal’s most famous practitioners will double over in laughter at this “behind the scenes” look at band infighting, groupies, cancelled concerts, impractical stage sets, musical and performance pretensions, tight pants, misogynistic music, and the long hair and makeup. Even if you don’t like music, This is Spinal Tab is still funny; in fact the magazine, Entertainment Weekly, named it the #1 cult film of all time.

The film’s strength is in the music; one is actors playing the front men are all competent musicians. Spinal Tap’s songs are so funny and so dead on rock and roll and heavy metal, that for all that they are satires of metal songs, they also work quite well as actually metal music. Great parodies have to work as the thing they are parodying; Mel Brooks has made a career on getting the setting right in such films as Young Frankenstein, which looked like the classic black and white Universal Studios Frankenstein films and Blazing Saddles, which looked and acted like a western. The film’s other strength is the cast. Everyone is so good at playing so many absurd situations and saying so many ridiculous things with the straightest faces, as if the entire Spinal Tap scenario were all real and serious. This is Spinal Tap is a must-see for lovers of comedy.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2002 National Film Registry: National Film Preservation Board, USA

------------------

Review: "Chicken Little" Has Big Action

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 169 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux


Chicken Little (2005) – computer animated
Running time: 81 minutes (1 hour, 21 minutes)
MPAA – G
DIRECTOR: Mark Dindal
WRITERS: Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman and Ron Anderson; from a story by Mark Kennedy and Mark Dindal (with additional story material by Robert L. Baird and Dan Gerson)
PRODUCER: Randy Fullmer
EDITOR: Dan Molina

ANIMATION/SCI-FI/FANTASY and COMEDY/ACTION/FAMILY

Starring: (voices) Zach Braff, Garry Marshall, Steve Zahn, Joan Cusack, Don Knotts, Patrick Stewart, Amy Sedaris, Harry Shearer, Wallace Shawn, Fred Willard, Catherine O’Hara, Adam West, Patrick Warburton, Mark Dindal, and Dan Molina

One day a piece of the sky falls to earth and hits Chicken Little (Zach Braff) on the head. The sky is falling her warns, but the townsfolk of Oakey Oaks, including his father, Buck Cluck (Garry Marshall), conclude that an acorn hit the boy chick on the head. The incident swiftly turns Chicken Little into the town joke and embarrasses his father. However, the plucky chicken joins the local baseball team with the hopes of reviving his reputation and earning his father’s respect. Chicken Little does indeed lead the team to an upset victory, and he and his pops are on good terms again.

All is well, but another “piece of the sky” hits Chicken Little on the head. Still, he’s reluctant to cause another scene and once again be labeled crazy. Instead, he enlists the help of his friends: Abby Mallard (Joan Cusack), who is also known as the Ugly Duckling because she is so… unpretty; Runt of the Litter (Steve Zahn), a tall, obese pig; and Fish Out of Water (“voice” created by film editor Dan Molina), a fish who wears a water-filled helmet, and the gang embark on an adventure to stop an alien invasion without sending the town into another panic.

Walt Disney’s Chicken Little, of course, spoofs of 17th century, rural English fable, “Chicken Little.” Disney’s new film is also their first fully computer animated film (2000’s Dinosaur combined computer generated characters with live-action background imagery), and also signals the famed movie company’s move away from hand-drawn (2D) animation to computer animated (3D) animation. Clearly aimed at children 12 and under, Chicken Little is filled with clever gags. The script is a hodge podge of sketch comedy, after school special storylines, and the kind of family psychology that would find its way on the “Dr. Phil” and “Oprah.”

The script is Chicken Little’s big problem. The animation is fine, sometimes even outstanding. There are a few moments when it has the quality of the first Shrek, but there are also times when it has the texture and quality of Disney/Pixar’s The Incredibles. However, the film is basically pretty pictures over an ugly story. The script bludgeons the audience with the notion that at this movie’s heart (which it doesn’t have) is the story of a father and son coming together. The father, in this case, Buck Cluck, must learn to accept his son’s physical shortcomings and love him for the plucky fella he is. But unlike Finding Nemo, where the parent/child dynamic seemed so natural, Chicken Little takes that relationship and drapes a cheesy action movie cartoon for children over it.

Chicken Little looks, feels, and sounds like the kind of action movies that have been so popular over the last decade, but tamed for children. Anyone who has seen Independence Day will recognize it in this flick. Chicken Little’s setting, Oakey Oaks, is the same old idealized Midwestern small town that Hollywood has been shoving at audiences for decades. That place is a fairy tale really, but it’s a good setting for War of the Worlds, which is another source reference for this flick. Chicken Little is as noisy and/or as busy as The Rock, Armageddon, Bad Boys II, etc. This is director Mark Dindal’s (The Emperor’s New Groove) Steven Spielberg/Michael Bay movie.

Chicken Little, as voiced by Zach Braff, is actually an endearing character – this movie’s saving grace, in fact. The character itself is a cutey, sort of a riff on “Egghead, Jr.” from those “Foghorn Leghorn” Looney Tunes cartoons. He’s a plucky little fella and the animators lovingly rendered and animated him.

The rest of the cast is mostly trash. The characters aren’t really characters so much as they are stereotypes that get to do stand up routines at different times in the film narrative. I immensely disliked Abby Mallard – nothing more to say about it here – and Runt of the Litter is pathetic. Steve Zahn can play quirky characters whose humor comes through even in crime dramas (Out of Sight), but his comedic gifts are lost because we don’t him here; all we get is his voice in the annoying Runt. Fish Out of Water provides nice slapstick, but the jokes come across as desperation on the writers’ parts. Garry Marshall’s Brooklyn accent is out of place in this film, and as a father, Buck Cluck is like an overbearing mother in his demands on his son, Chicken Little.

I guess the shortest and perhaps best way to describe Disney’s Chicken Little is as Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius with much better computer animation.

4 of 10
C

Saturday, November 5, 2005

The Simpsons Movie Brings the Groove Back - Sort of

TRASH IN MY EYE 64 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Simpsons Movie (2007)
Running time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for irreverent humor throughout
DIRECTOR: David Silverman
WRITERS: James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Ian Maxtone-Graham, George Meyer, David Mirkin, Mike Reiss, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, John Swartzwelder, and Jon Vitti; and consulting writers: Joel Cohen, John Frink, Tim Long, and Michael Price
PRODUCERS: James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Richard Sakai, and Mike Scully
EDITOR: John Carnochan
BAFTA Award nominee

ANIMATION/COMEDY/ACTION/ADVENTURE

Starring: (voices) Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Harry Shearer, Hank Azaria, Marcia Wallace, Tress MacNeille, Pamela Hayden, Albert Brooks, and Tom Hanks

The Simpsons Movie is the long-awaited and long-promised big screen version of “The Simpsons,” the FOX television network’s long-running animated series (which has finished its 21st broadcast season as of this writing). The movie is not bad at all, and it is fun to see creator Matt Groening’s animated clan in a feature-length film. In fact, while it’s not great, it is certainly funnier and spicier than the TV series has been in recent years. Still, one would think that after a reported 158 rewrites of the screenplay, the film would have been funnier than it is.

The film begins with Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith) leading a charge to get Springfield Lake cleaned. Her father, Homer Simpson (Dan Castellaneta), however, does something that makes the lake highly toxic, which allows a conniving government official, Russ Cargill (Albert Brooks), to have a dome lowered over the entire city. Homer Simpson is used to alienating people, but the level of animosity he inspires after polluting the lake and inadvertently causing the city to be isolated is off the charts.

The residents of Springfield become a mob, and the Simpsons are forced to flee and take refuge in Alaska. Marge Simpson (Julie Kavner), however, is determined to return to her home, and that leads to a series of events that may finally force the best out of Homer. Meanwhile, Bart (Nancy Cartwright) had found a new father figure in neighbor Ned Flanders (Harry Shearer).

The Simpsons Movie was never going to be as bad as some thought it could be. There is just too much talent behind the franchise. Still, this movie may not be as good as some would want it to be. The first 30 minutes are quite good, full of the sparkling wit, sass, and bite that made the series so popular in the 1990s. The middle of the film (the Alaska segment) is woefully soft, and at times the narrative feels as if it is stuck in muddy hole. The last act turns the film sassy and funny again, with “The Simpsons’” own mixture of the intelligent and the moronic coming back into play.

The Simpsons Movie finishes off with a bang and may actually leave the viewer with a brief feeling of wanting more; at times, some moments of the film will cause hard laugher. Its candy-colored animation (much of it augmented by CGI) it true to the distinctive visual style of creator Matt Groening. In the pantheon of the best Simpson stories, The Simpsons Movie has a well-deserved place, even if that place isn’t as special as others.

6 of 10
B

NOTES:
2008 BAFTA Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Film” (David Silverman)

2008 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Animated Film”

Wednesday, August 11, 2010