Thanks to the trailer for the upcoming film A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints, which actually looks pretty darn good (Diane Weist AND Rosario Dawson in the same film!), I have been introduced to the Ace Frehley song New York Groove. Go ahead and Limewire it. You will not be disappointed. According to Wikipedia, this was a staple during the 1996 KISS reunion tour. Little did I know, or else I would have paid more attention during the Forum stop-over. Here is a 1979 performance on YouTube, and even if the sound is the worst possible, you will get the idea.

Continuing the practice of never having seen the Emmy award presentation show on the tele, I only ran across these two photographs on the Reuters wire. Something about them stirred something within about the satisfaction that parents can sometimes exude, maybe knowingly, maybe not, about their children’s accomplishments.

I had the pleasure of seeing Red Buttons in the flesh at a post-screening discussion of Sayonara at the Motion Picture Academy about a year, or so, ago. I cannot begin to describe how he had the audience of maybe 800 roaring with laughter joke after joke and comment after comment. It was a wonderful reminder of the power of the older generation of great comedians, who I feel are less and less respected these days, maybe because so few younger people have first-hand knowledge of the routines and the quick-witted spontaneity of the old guard. And that is just too, too bad.

Associated Press obituary by Bob Thomas.

…that there have not been any new posts in the past three-and-a-half months. Reasons are varied, but time and laziness, in that order, have certainly been factors. To the at least one (hopefully) loyal reader, I apologize for the emptiness that this blog had been as of late. I hope to correct the situation shortly.

Why is George Lucas still kind of cool, even if most think he is not? Because he wore the same damn tie to two award/presentation ceremonies in a row, in Los Angeles! Proudly. With what looks like that same black blazer, too. Isn’t that reason enough to still love the guy, at least for old time's sake?


People's Choice Awards, January 10, 2006 / REUTERS/Robert Galbraith


Have a Dream Foundation's Dream Keeper Award, January 29, 2006 / BEImages

As tragic as yesterday’s postal shooting up near Santa Barbara is, a Seinfeld episode detailing it has already been done, just like it has for every other personal quirk and social occurrence over its run.

Season 4, episode 18, titled The Old Man
Originally aired: February 18, 1993
Writer: Bruce Kirschbaum; Story: Larry Charles

George Costanza: Let me ask you something... What do you do for a living, Newman?
Newman: I'm a United States postal worker.
George Costanza: Aren't those the guys that always go crazy and come back with a gun and shoot everybody?
Newman: Sometimes.
Jerry: Why is that?
Newman: Because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. There's never a letup. It's relentless. Every day it piles up more and more, but the more you get out, the more it keeps coming. And then the bar code reader breaks. And then it's Publisher's Clearinghouse day.
Jerry: All right, all right.

Okay, lets go over what happened while you little boys and girls slept this night:


Russian President Putin brags about Russia’s missiles capable of penetrating any missile defense system -
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060131/ap_on_re_eu/russia_putin_missiles_4


Iran says that UN Big Five's decision to refer the country's nuclear file to the Security Council would be the end of diplomacy -
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060131/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_nuclear


Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader Ayman al-Zawahri threatened a new attack against the United States — "God willing, on your own land." -
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060131/ap_on_re_mi_ea/zawahri_tape


Another Postal worker goes Postal. Seven dead this time out -
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060131/ap_on_re_us/post_office_shooting


Coretta Scott King, widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, died -
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060131/ts_nm/king_dc

The great film editor Stu Linder died (see yesterday's post).

And we have yet to find out the Oscar nominations for the 78th Awards and hear what our President has to say in the State of the Union address.


Wow, to say the least.

For an illustration of Linder’s editing subtlety and nuance, one just has to see his work on Liberty Heights, which I highly, highly recommend to anyone interested in film, be it editing, music, cinematography, writing/directing, and everything else in between.

The following is from Daily Variety's web site.

Stu Linder - Film Editor

By VARIETY STAFF

Film editor Stu Linder died of a heart attack Jan. 12, in Ridgefield, Conn., while on location working on "Man of the Year" for Barry Levinson. He was 74.

Linder began his 25-year collaboration with Levinson on "Diner" in 1981. Their films together include "Rain Man," "The Natural," "Tin Men," "Good Morning Vietnam," "Avalon," "Bugsy," "Disclosure" and "Wag The Dog."

In 1967, Linder shared the editing Oscar for John Frankenheimer's "Grand Prix" and in 1989 received the American Cinema Editors feature award, an Oscar nom and and a BAFTA nomination for "Rain Man."

His other editing credits include "The Fortune," "First Family," "My Bodyguard," "Six Weeks," "Code Name: Emerald" and "Quiz Show."

Linder began his career at Paramount Studios in 1955. Among his assistant credits are "The Misfits," "Seconds," "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," "Carnal Knowledge," "Catch 22" and "Day of the Dolphin."

Linder was born in Geneva, Ill. and grew up in Hermosa Beach, Calif. An Army veteran of the Korean War, he served as an illustrator for the Foreign Language School at Fort Ord.

He is survived by his wife, Cathy Fitzpatrick Linder, a former HBO exec; a son and a brother. Donations may be made to the California Special Olympics.

Last week I caught the last day of the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum’s Sergio Leone and the West exhibit.

The highlights were the walls and walls of various posters, both of the Leone films and other Westerns, and how the clips that played over and over on a few screens still had the visitors completely mesmerized.

There were also a few listening stations that piped Ennio Morricone’s themes and various cues through headphones, accompanied by loose placards with the titles of the pieces and a few quotes. The following was so remarkable, I went outside to the front desk, grabbed some brochure to write on, came back, whipped out my trusty black Extra Fine Pint Sharpie that travels with me everywhere, and wrote down the following, word for word. It would be far, far better if the reader has seen The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Countless times.

There are some moments in Sergio’s films that have already become historic moments in the story of cinema. In “Ecstasy of Gold” – when Tuco arrives at the cemetery to find the grave where the gold is hidden – those three minutes and twenty seconds are a cinematographic moment of enormous expressivity - but also great editing techniques, great camera moves, and a great way to think out a scene. Also, I must say the music played its part…”
Ennio Morricone

I will not describe the scene, but will mention when I first saw just that. Many years ago, screenwriter Bo Goldman was the speaker of the Film Academy’s annual Marvin Borowsky Lecture on Screenwriting. I do not remember much, alas, but he showed a few clips to highlight what he was talking about. One of the clips was the exact scene that Ennio mentioned above. It was those three minutes and twenty seconds, nothing more, nothing less. Not knowing about the film at all at that point, and watching the clip in its full visual and aural glory on the Academy’s screen was one of my greatest film-watching experiences.

I remember it every time I am able to see the film in a theatre, and was glad to run across Signore Morricone’s quote of his trivial (in jest, of course) contribution the film.



Orignal trailer can be found here (33MB Quicktime file).

While walking into the kitchen as another commercial break began during a 10.30PM Seinfeld rerun on KCPO 13 earlier tonight, I thought I heard something and ran back to the TV. (I am not the first not the last to say this, but some of those Seinfeld episodes are just fucking GENIUS).

At first I thought it was an SNL-type commercial parody, but, no, there it was – a pretty, short-cropped brunette in her mid-30, talking, proudly, about how she has not had an outbreak of vaginal herpes in over six months. I watched, semi-stunned, for about 10-15 seconds before I finished my trip to the kitchen, only to hear the usual voice-over relating all the possible side-effects to the V-something named drug.

Seinfeld is about the only non-PBS TV I watch these days, so maybe these commercials are a common sight. I do not know. Just, somehow, it seemed a tad too much, even in the age of SuperBowl broadcasts full of Viagra ads (which we have all gotten used to).

A quote from Ang Lee’s acceptance speech at the Director’s Guild Awards Saturday night:

From The Hollywood Reporter’s January 30 Edition:
He praised his competitors, saying he wished they could all go home winners: "We're winners because we're blessed. We're filmmakers. We make movies together, we celebrate together. What a life!"

And still shoot film, damn it!



Kodak Chairman/CEO Antonio Perez: "This introduction is the latest step in the company’s broad brand transformation effort, which reflects the multi-industry, digital imaging leader Kodak has become."

This is shaping up to be some week. Not only is Howard Stern having his so-called last broadcasts on so-called regular radio, but the American Multi Cinema Century City 14 closed on Tuesday night.

Both of these go back quite a while with me, but the CC14 more so. It all began in the Fall of 1987. Even before the theatre opened with new films, someone, somewhere, had the grand idea of paying homage to Century City’s origins. Once upon a time, 20th Century Fox Studios owned land stretching all the way to about Santa Monica Blvd. that was used as its back lot, but due to the financial disaster know as 1963’s Cleopatra (at that moment in time the most expensive film production on record), had to sell the back lot. Thus Century City became what it is today. The place is absolutely grand. Just walk around the buildings in the middle of the night – how eerily quiet and enchanting, the fog moving beneath the streetlights, without all the hustle and bustle of the weekday mornings and afternoons.

So before the CC14 started with the new films, for one week (or so remember), they played 20th Century Fox’s old films. But way back in the fall of 1987, I was not interested in whatever else they were showing except the Star Wars Trilogy. And what an event this was – the three films one after another, individually ticketed. I went twice – once the first day, and once the last. I seem to think that this may have been the first, if not the only, time they were shown as a group since at least Return of the Jedi in 1983. Anyway, it was a big deal, and not just to me. They were all sold out, every single screening. I, of course, got my tickets as soon as I could, but still ended up in an SRO auditorium for one of the screening of A New Hope (now, I can only attribute that they allowed about 15 people to stand through the film to the fact that they were just opening up and the commotion and confusion that ensued during that time). Auditorium Three, at the end of the left hallway and to the right. That is where the Century City 14 began for me. I stood between the last row of seats and the rear wall for the entire film (I don’t remember if this was the first or second go-round for me). It was tough, but exhilarating just the same. And now that I am typing this, I am becoming more and more certain that these screenings may have been the first time that I watched A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back on a movie screen. It was quite something.

(AMC’s Old Town Pasadena Theatres did the same Star Wars Trilogy screening series when they opened, sometime in 1990-1991).

Since then, I have seen literally hundreds of films at the Century City 14 – awful films and absolutely fantastic films. Almost always in either of the five large auditoriums, and more than I could have cared for in the nine smaller ones. The focus was above par, the sound was above par, and the screens were bright. This was a multiplex that was damn well taken care of. And it soon became hugely successful, AMC’s flagship complex. AMC and others have since built bigger, but not better.

There was, of course, a familiarity that developed with the theatre that became unmatched over the years. As a single complex, single screen or otherwise, I tend to believe I have seen the most new films here out of all the theatres in Los Angeles.

All these memories have been building up since about a year or more ago, when Westfield, the Century City Mall’s new owner, announced a $150 million remodel that would include moving the food court and building a new movie theatre complex, then converting the old food court and the CC14 into “upscale” shops.

And so the day finally came this week, on a Tuesday night. There would be an almost seamless transition from the old to the new. The 14 would run their last films on Tuesday the 13th, and the new 15-plex would open on Wednesday the 14th.

A lot of movie theaters have closed on the Westside as of late: the Mann Plaza, Mann Westwood Four, and the UA Coronet in Westwood; the old Plitt/Cineplex Odeon four-screener in the ABC Entertainment Center in Century City; the Fine Arts on Wilshire (though it seems to have been bought and has reopened, although do not know as exactly what). A lot have opened, too: Pacific’s Culver City 12, The Grove 14, Sherman Oaks Galleria 16, and the Arclight 15. But the presentations, as far as I am concerned, are, generally, awful. I have had to complain about focus, masking, and sound issues so many times that it is getting uninteresting. There is so much absolute carelessness out there in the projection booths that is it almost unimaginable. But the AMC CC14 had a standard that it always lived up to. Sure, there were times that the focus was a bit soft here and there and the masking was too tight and the sound was cracking. And all this was promptly corrected when brought to their attention. I would go to the AMC CC14 a little less apprehensive of how the film would be presented; even of the film was shit, it looked good.

Sure, the new theatre has stadium seating, but I do not care for that at all. I just want a good time watching a film, and, hopefully, will have lots of those memories to remember the old complex by. Within a day, the “AMC” sign that faced Santa Monica Blvd. was gone, but I had already taken a few pictures to remember the place by and take note of the City’s change.

Barry Levinson so perfectly and eloquently wrote this last voice-over in Liberty Heights: “But a lot of images fade, and no matter how hard I try, I can't get them back. I had a relative once who said that if I knew things would no longer be, I would have tried to remember better.”



Howard Stern came to the airwaves of Los Angeles in the summer 1991. At that time, I was in the Classic Rock listening period, which, coincidentally, KLXS was playing. So it just became natural to listen to the show in the mornings. I have heard of Stern, but knew of him very vaguely, mostly by name, from newspapers.

I distinctly remember listening to the radio show that fall, on the headphones, while riding the RTD 212 Line south on La Brea, standing due to the morning rush-hour. And how hard I tried not to burst out laughing. This was so early in his broadcasts that I have not even heard enough to know that sidekick Robin Quivers was black. That particular bus segment had something to do with her dating a Daytime Soap Opera star, so I naturally assumed that she was white and svelte.

Over the years the show has changed drastically, yet remained the same. Some regular guests disappeared from the airwaves little by little, some died. In-studio cast voices changed. Nothing stays the same for 14-plus years. But there is such a familiarity with the show and the goings-on that the core group really does feel like an extended family that you hear from almost every day, if even for no more than 30minutes. A cliché statement, yes, but true.

Friday’s show, which will begin live in less that an hour from when I am writing this, will be the last on what is becoming known as Terrestrial Radio. Lots of old voices and familiar voices have been turning up on the show the past few weeks, and especially the past few days, to say their thanks and goodbyes. Memories have been re-ignited. Times like when I sat in the already-parked car on the street, already late for work, but unable to turn off Gilbert Gottfried all those years ago. A cliché, yes, but an absolutely true story.

Yes, the gang will still be around on satellite, but a lot of familiar voices will not make the transition, familiar voices that worked at WXRK in New York and will continue to work there.

So it is the same, but different. The AMC Century City 14 has closed, the Century City 15 has opened, not even 100 yards away. Howard Stern is moving buildings a few blocks and swapping formats, but will sound the same, even if I need a new receiver to listen in on the goings-on. It is what is called progress, whether it really is or not (at least in my eyes). So I will go to the new and improved movie theatre, and will listen to the new and improved Howard (or so he claims). But those first memories of both will remain with me, I hope, for a long time to come.

See you all soon.

Here come those Santa Ana winds again

Steely Dan (Walter Becker and Donald Fagen)
Gaucho
Babylon Sisters

Breaking News -

Reuters is reporting that Renee Zellweger is seeking to have her gunshot wedding to Kenny Chesney annulled. Still no news on who the hell this Chesney character is.

She is free, yet again.

*UPDATE
The AP is reporting Friday morning that Zellweger's court documents state "fraud" as at least one reason in support of her annullment request. This is getting more and more interesting by the hour.

On the 405 Southbound transition ramp, merging onto the 10 Eastbound, about 10.30 AM.

• Incredible story from Variety (reg req'd) that got picked up by the AP about a royalty settlement between über-producer Saul Zaentz (he of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, and The English Patient fame) and New Line Cinema over the Lord of the Rings films. Most fascinating: because Zaentz bought the film rights to the books in the 1970 and sold those rights to New Line Cinema, he pocketed a cool-even-by-Hollywood-standards 168 million dollars (excluding the 20 more he got in this latest royalty flap). Helps that those pretty awful films brought the geeks out in full force.
  

• Also from Variety: American Cinematheque Programming Director Dennis Bartok is leaving after 13 years to produce "Trapped Ashes," a horror-supernatural anthology he wrote. A fixture at a lot of the screenings at the Egyptian, he will be missed, especially for his staggering amount of very cool 1970’s ¾ length leather jackets and his very slow walk up to the mic and back during the film intros.

• L.A. Times (via LA Observed) reports that the LAUSD is holding an auction of furniture and fixtures from the Ambassador at the Hotel’s Wilshire Boulevard parking lot Saturday morning, September 10. Items offered so far can be seen here.

Breaking AP story:

NEW YORK -
Fats Domino was missing Thursday, days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, said his longtime agent, Al Embry. Embry told The Associated Press that he hadn't been able to contact Domino since talking to him Sunday evening by phone.[skip] Checquoline Davis, Domino's niece, posted a message on Craigslist.com Thursday pleading for information.

Although we all wish that he is fine, it may be that in the end, Fats was not able to find that thrill atop Blueberry Hill, or any hill, for that matter, after all. Ain't That a Shame?

*UPDATE
CNN bases their report on a New Orleans Times-Picayune photographer's shot taken Monday night. Fats was plucked from rising floodwaters by a boat. His whereabouts since the rescue were not immediately known.