¶ After two episodes of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, we’re ready to give Liza Minelli the rebound award for “Best Save: Marriage and Career in Flames.” And she shouldn’t thank wardrobe, which hopefully is part of her character. ¶ Prison conversation between Spector and Jacko: “What are you in for?” ”Murder…You?” ”It’s just a BIG misunderstanding…” Could be rife with subtext about how Phil recognizes Michael, but Michael doesn’t seem to know who Phil is. “Is that a toupe?” etc etc. ”Hey, you’re not one to … [Read more...]

¶ My kids totally loved CAT IN THE HAT, and there are two gags that tip it into the plus column for me: the infomercial (“Anything…?”), and the petition dude who says “Okay, I have trouble with the term ‘dog’…” ¶ So here’s the Beatles story WBUR’s HERE AND NOW ran yesterday, I’m already getting mail on how I refer to the “Spector” “Get Back” incorrectly, when what I tried to say was the “radio” version of “Get Back,” the SINGLE, the version with the fake ending we’ve been hearing on the radio for 30 … [Read more...]

Yes, ER is shamelessly incident-studded and catastrophe-driven, with mid-season cliffhangers the rule and doctors getting beat up in the bathroom almost as often as explosions rock the reception area. But last night’s chopper disaster was acutely observed, through characters old and new, in tiny moments that told you that Ol' Bullet-head was a goner. Favorite touch: Romano’s final elevator ride up with med student Neela Rasgotra to the sound of muzak playing Tom Petty’s “Freefallin’” (EERILY well-suited to muzak). Sure, Romano was a … [Read more...]

"It's not the Beatles playing alone live with no overdubs. That take of 'Don't Let Me Down' is very famous for Lennon flubbing the lyric in the middle. In the film, he sings a gibberish lyric in the middle verse and they just edit that out. So it's not naked; it's patched up. "The original idea was to show them in rehearsal, get them on tape and on film rehearsing songs and then do a live set of songs. It was supposed to be, 'Look, this is how we sound when we don't have any fancy studio stuff.' And now, they're putting it out and trying to … [Read more...]

We had just run off a copy of Calvin Trillin's Charlie Rose show appearance from the end of last July when this appeared. It's everything Trillin said to Rose boiled down to a deep-fried crisp. And by the way, that news item a couple weeks back about how Bush doesn't read newspapers...he's married to a LIBRARIAN for pete's sake, what does she have to say about his information sources? … [Read more...]

I've just been reading over Jan Herman's entry in his "Straight Up" blog, and it's a very good point to make about Polanski on several levels. For starters, it's far worse than the concluding scroll of AMERICAN GRAFFITI, where NONE of the female characters are mentioned -- a VERY telling oversight on Lucas's part, and a major feminist scandal of its day. Second, leaving the family's fate out of both the film AND the credits suits the reading of the flick as a vainglorious self-tribute. Polanski sees his fate as tied up with this pianist because … [Read more...]

Art Carney’s death touches a soft spot, not just for the obvious reasons, but for his later work in treasures like HARRY AND TONTO (1974) and THE LATE SHOW (1977) opposite Lily Tomlin. I remember watching HARRY AND TONTO at the Flatirons on the Hill, and where that Boulder line got a huge laugh. He was also a big sport in his last picture, THE LAST ACTION HERO. Fun facts about Bush: On top of cutting military salaries, I really like the fact that W. has yet to attend a soldier’s funeral in this war. It’s really unforgivable, and the Dems … [Read more...]

I liked Sofia Coppola's LOST IN TRANSLATION almost as much as I hated Clint Eastwood's MYSTIC RIVER. Let's just spite industry anti-comedian prejudice and nominate Bill Murray for the Oscar, shall we? His caustic restraint is far more compelling than Sean Penn's grandiose suffering. Credulity shouldn't be a crowbar issue, but it has to count for something. I have two boys under 6, and I don't know how the novel might convince me otherwise, but there's no way I'm persuaded that a kid under 10 could FAKE muteness, never mind the shaky … [Read more...]