Month: January 2008

January Ramblin’

I was on the bus yesterday, and this young man sitting across the aisle, 13 to 15 years old, I gather, was telling his friend about his school’s basketball team. “They’re 4 and 2. I think that’s .500”. I waited a couple seconds, hoping his friend would correct him, but since that was not forthcoming, I said “.667”. He looked at me, confused. “Your team won 4 out of 6 games. 4 over 6 is the same as 2 over 3. 2/3s, .667.” Nothing – wish I had the time and the paper to show him long division. “If the team has the same number of wins and losses, THAT’S .500”. Maybe I should have gotten into percentages and moving decimal points, but he got off before then. [Sigh]
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From friend Don: “In short, it was all about money, cultural arrogance, and ignorance, in no particular order. (Or, alternatively, perhaps it’s all about GE Schenectady steam-turbine manufacturing; see the bottom.) Surprisingly intelligent reflections by former NBC Dateline correspondent John Hockenberry, culled from an unlikely source — MIT Technology Review.

Full story. There’s stuff about dreadful coverage of the early days of the Iraq war, inane non-use of a videotape and other nonsense. If you decide to wade into it, check the last page, where JH discusses his aborted story about the shadowy figures behind the Nigerian e-mail scams, how he filmed them fleecing a mark in their Montreal hotel room, “To Catch a Predator”-style. A passing reference to this story came up on The Media Project, a local radio program, last week, and one of the panelists opined that perhaps Hockenberry had an “axe to grind”, as he was let go by NBC. That person clearly hadn’t read the piece.

“You Don’t Understand Our Audience”: What I learned about network television at Dateline NBC.
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ADD rants about Spider-Man. I haven’t read the character regularly in nearly a decade and a half, but I’m inclined to accept this analysis, based on the source.
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The personal rantings against ethanol by a friend of mine.
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101 Dumbest Moments in Business from Fortune magazine.
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I don’t even live in Buffalo, but I can get behind this one, suggested by Jaquandor, which is to let people know that Joe Cecconi Chrysler sucks, apparently. My favorite part of the narrative was after a frustrated Buffalo Geek sought help from a higher power:
I decide to call Chrysler Customer Service to see if they could help influence the process in some way. After calmly and rationally detailing the situation to the agent, I was put on hold as she attempted to contact the dealership and broker a truce. I sat immediately outside the dealership in my vehicle, from which I had a direct view of Clyde and Mike yukking it up in the office. Moments later, the agent came back on the phone to inform me that the dealership receptionist said that both of them had left for the day and they would call back next week. To wit, I informed the phone agent that I was staring right at them and they were sitting in their office. I instructed her to call back and let them know the customer is sitting outside, has visual lock on them, and that she would like to speak with them. They refused again. Classy. But Joe is hardly alone.

My goodness, this should be called January Rantin’. Won’t even talk about the last Republican “debate”; let a child do it instead. But it’s not as though somebody named Rush Limbaugh Person of the Year or something. Oh wait: someone did.
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On a more pleasant note – not that I’m going myself:
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof will be revived in a STRICTLY LIMITED ENGAGEMENT from FEBRUARY 12 to MARCH 13, with…what the press release say?

This explosive new production of TENNESSEE WILLIAMS’ Pulitzer Prize-winning classic features a dynamite cast led by Academy Award® nominee TERRENCE HOWARD, Tony Award® winners PHYLICIA RASHAD and ANIKA NONI ROSE, and Academy Award nominee and two-time Tony winner JAMES EARL JONES. Directing is Emmy Award® winner and Tony nominee DEBBIE ALLEN.

Performance Schedule: Tues at 7, Wed-Sat at 8, Wed & Sat at 2, Sun at 3

FOR MORE INFO, visit Cat2008OnBroadway.com.

I have an e-mail with a code that’ll get you 30% off on the show, so e-mail me if you’re interested.

ROG

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Hillary and the New York Post

Let me be very clear about my biases here. I HATE the New York Post. My disdain for it goes back to the Summer of Sam in 1977, when the paper indicated, in screaming red letters that the killer had been caught. More egregious, though, was when some photographer slipped into the NYC morgue in December 1980 and took a picture of the deceased John Lennon, a photo that the Post, in its infinite taste, published on the front cover.

So when NewsCorp, a/k/a Rupert Murdoch, bought it a few years back, it only solidified my disdain for the rag. Though to be fair, its sports coverage is decent. Understand that I don’t actually READ the paper; those headlines are generally enough. And on those rare occasions when I HAVE read it – usually an abandoned copy on a bus – my suspicions about the newspaper’s character, or lack thereof, are confirmed.

I’m not a great fan of Hillary Clinton. Sure, she was wrong on the Iraq war, but my disdain actually predates that. I didn’t vote for her in 2000 or in 2006. I think part of it is that she’s one in a line of carpetbaggers who came into New York State merely as a matter of convenience, so that they could run for the U.S. Senate. Remarkably, the last three were actually elected: Robert Kennedy in 1964, James Buckley (brother of William F., who had denounced RFK six years earlier for the same reason), and HRC in 2000.

Still, the vitriol that she engenders is astonishing to me. They hate her because she’s too tough. They hate her for using Rodham in her name. They hate her because she didn’t leave Bill over Monicagate. They hate her for reasons I’ve heard explained and STILL don’t understand. It almost seems that she has personally insulted them, the way many right-wing magazines and books have keyed on her. I mean, she’s not my pick for President, but yeesh!


And among her nastiest, and most persistent, critics is the slimeball tabloid New York Post, which seems practically obsessed with her, based on these newspaper covers from successive days (January 3-8, 2007). Other New York State papers cover the Presidential campaigns; the Post covers it largely in relationship with the fortunes (or misfortunes, so they hope) of “Hill” (rhymes with Bill). I read a story some months ago about her in the Post. The details now escape me, but it was clearly opinion, and negative opinion at that, posing as a “news” story.
So, when she cries, or almost does, one can practically hear the Post editors smacking their lips. “Hill cracked! We got to her! She’s going down!” But a funny thing happened: Hillary won in New Hampshire. And according to this piece, and others, it was BECAUSE she cried, or almost did. She allowed herself to be “real” and the voters, especially the women voters, responded.

And, peculiarly, I was glad she won in New Hampshire. Anyone denying that there is this sexist double standard isn’t looking very hard. The man can cry and be sensitive yet manly and Presidential, but the woman who cries is probably “in a tizzy” and can’t be trusted with heading the government. This is the balancing act Hillary Clinton has been trying to maintain for a long time, but letting her emotions show seems to have helped her, at least for one day.

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2007 movies

Pitiful.

I saw 14 movies in 2007. I’m not talking 14 movies in a movie theater, though most of them were. I mean 14 movies TOTAL in 2007.

Only two were on video: Raging Bull and the original Hairspray, probably when Carol and Lydia were away.

One was on a wide-screen TV at a resort: Spider-Man 2.

Four were movies I saw in movie theaters that came out in 2006: The Queen; The Pursuit of Happyness; Volver; and Notes on a Scandal.

Finally, seven of them were movies I saw in movie theaters in 2007 that I actually saw in 2007. No Michael Clayton or Lars and the Real Girl or Away from Her or No Way Out or I’m Not There or Ratatouille or the new Hairspray or Enchanted, all of which came and went in this market. Seeing videos just doesn’t seem to work in our one-TV household.

So here’s the paucity of my 2007-released films, ranked by what I liked best.

7) The Simpsons Movie: I liked the pig, I liked the Disney touch with the sex scene. I especially loved Bart going to Flanders for advice. But, as I think back on it, there was too much time when not much happened.

6) Knocked Up: Gross. But often funny.

5) The Namesake: quite touching, though it sags in the middle.

4) Once: The movie musical for people who hate movie musicals.

3) Waitress: I always hated the term “chick flick.” Vibrant character study, and Keri Russell was luminescent.

2) Sicko: Less Moore + incontrovertibly broken health care system = better Moore pic.

1)The Savages: Great acting, specific script. Think I mentioned it recently.

Anyway, I’m planning to take off a day a month this year and see a movie, either at the cinemas or at home.
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I was reading Ken Levine’s piece about why Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story bombed at the box office, a movie that, had I seen thrice as many movies this year as I did, probably would have made the cut. Maybe it was the middling reviews, or the fact that the target audience didn’t see the reference material, the movies “Ray” and especially “Walk the Line.” But the primary reason for the b.o. failure was that no one knew what it was supposed to be about. I subscribe to the latter school of thought, though in fact, I didn’t see either reference movie myself.
Here’s a scene:

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TV Theme Songs

Greg picked his Top Ten TV Themes recently, and I thought I’d do the same. I figured it’d be an easy post, but the more I thought about it, the more I decided that comparing themes with vocals and themes without just wouldn’t cut it for me. The vocals should give you a sense of the story, while the instrumental should set the mood.

So, two lists, both in alphabetical order:

Instrumentals

The Andy Griffith Show – called “The Fishing Hole”, it features whistling. In harmony. Sets the rural tone of the show.
Captain Kangaroo – a very welcoming theme for kids.
The Dick van Dyke Show – that chime or xylophone just at the point that Rob Petrie either trips on the ottoman or doesn’t is so very clever.

The Fugitive – the sense of a man on the run is palpable.
Hawaii 5-0 – no wonder it was a hit.
Hill Street Blues – great Mike Post tune.
Law and Order – so good that Dick Wolf tries to use variations of it for his other L&O shows.

M*A*S*H – mournful start (though ends more upbeat) to the first dramedy.
The Odd Couple – feels like couple of divorced men trying not to kill each other.
Perry Mason – sets the serious tone. Actually, I prefer the end theme, which is an extended version of the opening is this wonderful orchestral piece that stands up as MUSIC, not just a TV theme.

Rockford Files – yet another great Mike Post tune.
Sanford and Son – rather sounds like a junk yard.
Seinfeld – that popping in the end reminded me that the show was supposed to be about nothing.
That’s 13, isn’t it? Well, I didn’t major in math in college.

Vocalists

Beverly Hillbillies- you certainly knew the story, even if you never watched the show.
Branded – a one-season show on NBC starring Chuck Connors and I STILL remember the theme from 40 years ago, and I bet my sisters do, too. Yeah, it’ll probably seem corny now, but at the time, it was really cool. I think it was the broken sword.

Car 54, Where Are You? – for some reason, reminds me of Fred Hembeck.
Cheers – about a perfect blend of song and show.
Gilligan’s Island – classic.
It’s About Time – also by Sherwood Schwartz, who did Gilligan and The Brady Bunch.
The Jeffersons- a dee-luxe apartment in the sky. Hallelujah!
Mad About You- a song better than the show that invokes the show’s title.
Maverick – the legend of the west -“luck is the lady that he loves the best”.
Moonlighting – whatever Greg said. Though it in fact, it violates my own rule of telling the story. I don’t care.
Mr. Ed – because I still remember verbatim the damn thing 40 years later.
Top Cat – maybe this stands in for all those great H-B cartoons, but I loved it.
WKRP in Cincinnati – what Greg said.
And 13 of these.

There are a couple variations on themes, both instruments, that bear mentioning. The JEOPARDY! theme in the beginning is OK, but the “thinking music” is iconic. ABC News’ intro is functional, but the variation they use for the In Memoriam section of This Week with George Stephanopoulis is haunting to me.

Tom the Dog commented on Greg’s post about shows that have different closing themes than the opening. Except for All in the Family (Those Were the Days and Remembering You) and Frasier, nothing’s coming to mind. Sure there are variations on the theme (Gilligan’s Island with different lyrics, the Jeffersons’ slower version with humming but no vocal), but absolutely different songs? Can you think of any others?

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ROG

Movie Review: The Savages


Carol and I went to see the new movie The Savages, starring Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman, two of my favorite actors, back on December 29 at The Spectrum Theatre in Albany. Then we got in the car to pick up Lydia from Grandma and Grandpa’s house in Oneonta. When we got home, I flipped on Ebert & Roeper. Roeper and New York Times film critic A.O. (Tony) Scott were giving their Top 10 Picks for 2007. Number 9 on Scott’s list was The Savages, which he described as a “comedy.” A comedy?

The story is about a couple adult children at opposite ends of New York State, Wendy Savage (Linney) in NYC and brother Jon (Hoffman) in Buffalo, forced to deal with their estranged father (Philip Bosco), now in decline, as well as each other. Hilarity does not ensue, but the movie does have quite a few comic moments. The story, on the surface, could be both conventional and depressing; the fact that it is neither is due to the fine screenplay by Tamara Jenkins and the main actors, who were – how do I put it? – specifically Wendy and Jon.

Of course, a viewer also brings himself or herself to the screening, and I could not help but notice that the architecture of Buffalo was noticeably upstate New York; the movie was filmed in the Buffalo area, NYC and Arizona. Also, I couldn’t help but recall disagreements one of my sisters and I had about my father’s end of life issues.

Still, I enjoyed this film immensely. I’ll say again – it’s NOT a downer, but an affirmation of life, which sounds corny, and I don’t care. However, I do think the title is weak; it suggests a much different film from that offered.

It’s rated R, largely for language, a couple tame sex scenes and an early scene which I won’t describe, except to say it’s not violent. An R rating covers a lot of ground, I’m reminded. My wife went to see The Kite Runner the day before, and she found that PG-13 movie far more disturbing than The Savages.

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