King of the Gameshows

Gameshow host Monty Hall passed away at 96 years of age, and with him go memories of a supremely talented host who ruled his timeslot with Let's Make a Deal during the heyday of gameshows in the 1960s and beyond. With his assistant, the "Lovely Carol Merrill", he would offer a choice of potential prizes to his wildly and imaginatively dressed contestants. Often it would be to select from three sources, whether it be door #1, #2, or #3 or the box on the stage or a small box in his hand. One would be a fantastic prize, and one would be a bust. Even in the last seconds of the show, he would grab anyone in the studio audience and make a quick offer -for example he offered $100 to anyone with a hard boiled egg, and once in awhile someone would have such an item! It was a thrilling, exciting show buoyed by Hall's acumen and showmanship. Somewhere, he is wheeling and dealing with co-hosts Bill Cullen (Price Is Right), Gene Rayburn (Match Game), Allen Ludden (Password), and several other beloved personalities.

2017 Fall TV Season of Plenty

Well the fall tv season is now back in full force for better or worse. A blessing and a curse-so many shows to stay on top of.
Star Trek Discovery on CBS was a teaser for its all access pay service. It opened a bit slowly but picked up steam to a solid cliffhanger. Sonequa Martin-Green is quite good as the first officer and Michelle Yeoh brings it strong as a starship captain. It's a promising start.
Meanwhile, Big Bang Theory is an immensely popular sitcom of nerds learning to grow up, and this season opener answered Sheldon's surprise marriage proposal to Amy and delivered a surprise for Howard and Bernadette. In fact, this was a very good episode with a couple of laugh out loud moments.
Now on to Brooklyn 99, The Blacklist, and more....my poor dvr.

2017 MidAtlantic Nostalgia Convention

2017’s MidAtlantic Nostalgia Convention was a bit if déjà vu as stars of yesteryear, vendors, and fans descended on Hunt Valley, Maryland. It was a chance to mingle with other TV/movie fans of yesteryear and reconnecting with friends.

The lineup was  impressive (despite Maude Adams and Belinda Montgomery having to cancel and Martin Landau passed away) with return visits by Oscar winner Shirley Jones and Gilligan’s Island castaway Dawn Wells.  Highlights included TV icons Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox of CHIPS fame, and Cindy Williams of Laverne and Shirley. There was Bond girl Maryam d’Abo from The Living Daylights and Gary Conway from TV’s Land of the Giants. There were several other stars like veteran comic actor Larry Storch, TV star Patrick Duffy of Dallas, and Aileen Quinn of Annie in films.

I asked Cindy Williams about the sequel to the film classic American Graffiti called More American Graffiti and she described how producer George Lucas only gave a limited budget to work with for the directors so the shooting was schedule was tight.

As the convention was winding down on Saturday, it was fun to see Estrada visiting Cindy Williams for a kiss and hug. He was amorous with all his female fans. Maryam’s sister Olivia conversed with Quinn and even belted out impromptu a brief but powerful version of Annie’s “Tomorrow”!

Daughter Laura was a vendor who spent quality time with Estrada, Williams, and Wells. Dozens of other vendors of memorabilia displayed dvds, posters, comic books, and much more. It was another great year for a convention that keeps outdoing the previous year, as Martin Grams and his team helped to put on an entertaining weekend.

Character Actor Peaked at Middle Age

Veteran character actor Harry Dean Stanton passed away at 91, and for someone who became famous in his late 50s, his was an extraordinary career as primarily a bit or supporting player. Just look at a partial list of films he has appeared in:Cool Hand Luke, The Godfather Part 2, Escape from New York, Twin Peaks, Pretty in Pink, Repo Man, The Rose, The Green Mile, The Avengers, and many, many more not to mention countless TV roles. For me, he made his mark in a series of films in the 1970s and 80s in Alien as an ill fated crew member, Dillinger as a gangster, and Red Dawn as a defiant father in war. Throughout film history, movies were abetted by great supporting actors like Thomas Mitchell, Walter Brennan, and now Mr. Stanton.

Director Made Mark with Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Director Tobe Hooper passed away at 74. He was a good director of the horror genre and universally admired by top filmmakers and artists for his ground breaking The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 1974 which opened up a generation of more explicit films (even though his classic was more suggestive and tension filled). He was the director of record when Poltergeist came out with the fingerprints of Steven Spielberg all over it (much like The Thing had Howard Hawks' influence though not officially as director). He directed the grossly underrated scifi vampire film Lifeforce and made one of the scariest Stephen King adaptations on TV with Salem's Lot. He will be remembered for his contributions to an ever popular genre.

A Worthy Start to THE DEFENDERS

I had seen a sampling of episodes of the (Netflix) Marvel heroes, Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter), and The Iron Fist (Finn Jones). These represent an eclectic bunch of urban heroes with enhanced powers that are more grounded in reality with a dash of mysticism.  As each series introduced its hero and cast, there was a thematic arc that linked them together, an evil organization called The Hand.  Led by Alexandra (a deliciously good Sigourney Weaver) and her powerful allies, an insidious plot emerges that threatens New York City.  Can the Defenders defeat The Hand and save their beloved city? Part of the fun is watching the interaction and quips among the different heroes, and things do not start well even as evil strikes. The series benefits from the appearance of the respective supporting casts of each Marvel show as they are thrown into the mix, and there are surprise appearances from past characters. It takes a couple of episodes before the quartet is united, and while the final battle is not quite the cool spectacle for a generation raised on the scale of Marvel’s The Avengers, the heroes do take care of business (the fight scenes are entertaining) and there are open plot threads for each character to follow in their respective series. It’s a good beginning for hopefully even better, future reunions.
*** of **** stars

The King of Comedy

Jerry Lewis is gone at 91. All I ever knew about him was watching him on TV (and his Muscular Dystrophy telethons) and movies as a zany, silly comedian and a master of pratfalls.

He teamed with crooner Dean Martin in the 1940s for a series of popular comedy films until a legendary split only to have Frank Sinatra reunite them decades later in an emotional scene.  He grew into a director and producer of his films (not all were good or funny especially in the later years) and an interesting thing developed at the peak of his career; he found poignant moments for his characters that would tug at your heart. Yes, I shed a tear when Jerry bonded with a Japanese boy in the Geisha Boy, or when he is befriended by a talking puppet in The Errand Boy, and who could forget the moment of truth in The Nutty Professor? No wonder he was revered by French critics who saw past his slapstick, and his brand of humor influenced superstars like Jim Carrey and Jerry Seinfeld.

A young Steven Spielberg took film classes from him, and Martin Scorsese cast him brilliantly in The King of Comedy as a character not far removed from his real life persona.  One of the last stars from Hollywood’s Golden Era, he received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Oscars.

For me, he was at his best when he would execute a cartoonish sight gag like any number of scenes from The Patsy, Cinderfella, and especially Who’s Minding the Store (which includes the classic ‘Typewriter’ skit.)

He was not everyone’s cup of tea with his lunacy nor his personality, but for those who laughed out loud at his manic expressions and situations, and later moved by his pathos, he was truly the king of comedy.

BAND OF BROTHERS and an Unbreakable Bond

I finally saw the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers which debuted in 2001 on the heels of Saving Private Ryan. Producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks reunited behind the scenes to chronicle the World War II European exploits of Easy Company of the 101 Airborne Division culling the personal recollections of reports, interviews with veterans, and based on the best seller by Stephen E. Ambrose.  

Damian Lewis (pre Homeland) portrays real life hero Major Richard Winters who leads his men through major events including D-Day in Normandy, Operation Market Garden, The Battle of the Bulge, and the liberation of concentration camps. Although some characters are composites and certain events were tweaked for the screen, it is compelling in the earnest performances and its intimate stories of strangers who form a bond in the most adverse conditions. Part of the fun is recognizing supporting actors who have gone on to stardom including Tom Hardy, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and even Jimmy Fallon in a bit role!

The series’ ten episodes are a labor of love, and its details of the historic battles and combat strategy are a refreshing change from clichéd and stereotypical war films.  I got so caught up in the narrative that I almost wished it would not end, hence an early series worthy to binge.  It seems fitting with the lauded release of Dunkirk that Band of Brothers was on my radar (thanks to a friend’s generosity).  Lavishly produced, it won multiple Emmy Awards including Outstanding Miniseries and garnered widespread acclaim.  Now I understand why.   It’s a landmark in television programming and presentation.

**** of **** stars

Two Giants Pass Away

Two giants in entertainment passed away-Sam Shepard at 73 and Jeanne Moreau at 89.

Shepard, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, had the good fortune of being an effective character actor and made big impressions in films like Days of Heaven and the intense general in Black Hawk Down. But his biggest role was a supporting one as a young Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff-for me, he has never been better.

Moreau I first saw in Viva Maria and she was a beautiful French star but also a strong actress in countless films like the original La Femme Nikita as Amande and classics like Jules and Jim. She was and is considered a national treasure in France.

A Filmmaker’s Cinematic Tribute in DUNKIRK

In Dunkirk, director/writer Christopher Nolan has meticulously recreated a pivotal moment in history that dramatizes a major retreat during World War II.  It’s an ambitious, brilliantly filmed study of survival, sacrifice, and heroism that eschews standard narrative for a methodically structured film, one of the year’s best. 

In 1940, some 400,000 desperate British and allied soldiers are hopelessly trapped by German forces on the beaches of France just miles from England.  As military ships, too large for the shallow waters, are sunk by German bombers and U-boats, smaller civilian boats are commissioned for a daring rescue as meager, British Spitfires do battle with German fighters. 

This unconventional film alternates among three settings: ‘Land’ during a week, ‘Sea’ covering one day, and ‘Air’ within one hour, all of which converge in a thrilling conclusion (although its juxtaposition of timelines may be jarring to the uninitiated as Nolan has previously done in Momento and Inception).   The audience becomes firsthand participants in the film ‘experience’ as it effectively conveys the raw, visceral sights and sounds of warfare which elicit an emotional response despite seemingly superficial characters and minimal dialogue. 

A distinguished British cast is led by Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, a noble Mark Rylance, and Tom Hardy who emotes winningly behind a pilot’s mask (with Nolan stalwart, Michael Caine, in an audio cameo.)

Hans Zimmer’s metronomic score heightens the tension from beginning to end and complements the striking visuals especially the live action, aerial battles that are breathtakingly photographed. This film’s subject and scope demand the best possible presentation that only IMAX and 70mm can do justice and all under two hours.

After a distinguished career helming blockbusters like The Dark Knight Trilogy and Interstellar, this landmark war film may be Nolan’s best and certainly his most personal.  Destined for Oscar recognition, Dunkirk is a masterpiece by one of the true wunderkinds of cinema.

**** of **** stars (subtract ½* if not seen in a theater)

A Golden Voice Is Gone But Not Forgotten

June Foray passed away at 99. She was in many ways a female equivalent of Mel Blanc in voicing hundreds of TV and movie cartoons and live action shows for over 80 years! If you watched cartoons growing up, chances are you heard her many times-from Rocky and Natasha in Rocky and Bullwinkle to Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas to Granny on Tweety and Syvester to even an evil doll in The Twilight Zone episode, Living Doll! She helped to establish animation as an art form including the creation of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Her voice lives on for countless generations.

In Praise of IMAX and 70mm

Thanks to Laura for helping to get tickets early (saved $3 service charge on $15 tix) and Linda for dropping us off (saved on parking fees) for opening of Dunkirk in Imax and 70mm at Maryland Science Center which sold out quickly.  (I had never been there before, and it is a pretty cool place for kids and adults.) This was by far the best format for experiencing this tribute to the participants in a monumental event at the beginning World War II.

The images were stunningly sharp and the film aspect was way taller than anything normally projected, so you had a remarkable, full view of much more than even widescreen.  This was how director Christopher Nolan intended this film to be seen, and it is worth it.  This is the kind of film event that justifies the format. There is nothing quite like it especially for those who appreciate film or desire a unique cinematic presentation. I will review the film later this week.

The Humanity of War for the Planet of the Apes

The rebooted ape series ends on a supreme note in this sequel, War for the Planet of the Apes, as director Matt Reeves has perfected a moving, visually stunning saga that pits the humans against the apes with tragic, even Shakespearean overtones.  It is one of the best conclusions to any trilogy with its ambitious story and superior acting by Andy Serkis.

As the simian flu decimates humans and creates intelligent apes, talking ape leader, Caesar (Serkis), who desires peace and searches for a new sanctuary for his apes, must avenge a personal tragedy at the hands of a renegade human Colonel (Woody Harrelson) who is planning to conquer and eliminate them. Aided in his quest by a motley group of apes and even a human girl, Caesar must risk everything when his ape brethren are faced with genocide.

The film again is presented primarily from the apes’ perspective (complete with numerous subtitles for the different simian languages).  In addition to themes of loyalty, betrayal, self-sacrifice, and compassion, the film develops deep emotions that payoff in a big way towards the climax.  The final scene will resonate for many who have followed Caesar’s journey from the beginning.

As for the motion capture effects, they are so good, that there is not a false note as Serkis renders his Caesar with authentic facial expressions and vocal intonations. It is a great performance. Special mention goes to a strong score by Michael Giacchino.

Obviously influenced by classic biblical and war films, there are also references to the original Planet of the Apes films for purists. The film, ultimately about redemption, has a lot of heart, and for an epic tale about intelligent apes and nasty humans, that speaks volumes. 

***1/2 of **** stars (add ½* for ape fans)