SAG Awards on YouTube

 

Pretty unusual to watch the Screen Actors Guild Awards on You Tube, and some big surprises throw the Oscar predictions into flux with lead and supporting actresses. It was an entertaining show and Everything Everywhere All at Once is gaining momentum. There was also a touching tribute to lifetime honoree Sally Field.

Comedian Appeared Record Times on TV

 

Actor/comedian Richard Belzer has passed at 78. With his sardonic, cynical wit, he started as a popular stand-up comedian in clubs and later TV especially as a warmup for studio audiences during the early years of SNL. He appeared as support on TV and films like Fame and Night Shift. It is his role as television Detective John Munch that was legendary. Beginning with seven years on Homicide:Life on the Street through Law and Order: Special Victims Unit 15 consecutive years, his character appeared on at least ten shows (including The X Files, The Wire, and 30 Rock) also as a guest and referenced on many more. His 23 seasons AND number of shows for the same, iconic character is an all time record. 

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA Begins a New Phase

Marvel begins its Phase Five with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, an entertaining, at times overly ambitious mashup of major plotlines that works up to a point. 

Ant-Man aka Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is reconciling with his headstrong daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), when an experiment accidentally pulls them and the Pym clan of Hank (Michael Douglas), Hope (Evangeline Lily), and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), into the Quantum Realm, an otherworldly microverse of bizarre creatures and weird landscapes that encompasses multiverses and different timelines.  As the family fights to survive, they learn of Janet’s previous experience in the realm involving dark secrets including the mysterious Kang (Jonathan Majors), a powerful being with machinations that have enormous implications for the Pyms and the multiverse. 

There are multiple themes, among them the relationship between Scott and Cassie, Janet’s history in the Quantum Realm, and the calculating plans of Kang, which leaves subplots hanging or underdeveloped.  It’s a frantically paced adventure with Ant-Man powers on full display.  The film, sprinkled with surprises and cameos, at times feels like a Star Wars film with echoes of Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Quantum Realm is like a variation of Fantastic Voyage with a strong helping of Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, heavily embellished with visual effects. 

With a rousing, emotional climax, it’s an above average Marvel film (with Majors well cast in a looming, pivotal role), and there is a strong sense of world building and an ominous warning shot for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It’s best to go in with moderate expectations; plus, you’ve got to love those ants. (Two end credit scenes point to future arcs.)

*** of **** stars (add ½* for Majors)

Sexy Star of the Sixties and Seventies

Actress Stella Stevens has passed at 84. She was a popular leading film star in the sixties and seventies with leading men like Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Glenn Ford, and Jason Robards. Her most memorable film was an early classic with Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor. She was in the original film, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, the Sam Peckinpah western, The Ballad of Cable Hogue, (probably her finest performance), and The Poseidon Adventure. Whether movies or later TV, She was recognized as one of the sexiest stars from that era.

 

An Iconic Sex Symbol

Actress Raquel Welch has passed at 82. This iconic sex symbol had a career spanning half a century, and with the scifi classic Fantastic Voyage, launched a popularity unrivalled in the 1960s as she appeared in a series of films including the original Bedazzled and a remake of One Million Years BC which was the poster in the finale of The Shawshank Redemption. She was in 100 Rifles paired controversially at the time with Jim Brown and appeared with Mae West in the infamous bomb Myra Breckinridge.  However, she gained respected reviews in The Last of Sheila and a Golden Globe for the all star remake, The Three Musketeers. A true Hollywood beauty who dominated the sixties and seventies.

DEADPOOL 3 Is Shaping Up To Be Amazing

It almost feels surreal that Deadpool 3 is actually happening, and with its stars Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds really beefing up and Patrick Stewart letting slip that he was told by Marvel to 'stand by', and the fact that Deadpool 2 experimented with a time machine AND the fact we have a multiverse, the possibilities are exciting and endless. I don't put anything past Reynolds. (This could also be a delicious warmup to Secret Wars down the road.)

THE LAST OF US

It's been while since I binged a series but The Last of Us on HBO is very engaging. I know nothing of the source video game, but this has elements of The Walking Dead and I Am Legend. It has action, suspense, scifi, horror, drama and even brief humor. It never ever loses sight of the human element. It has been consistent, and that climactic scene in episode five was impressive.
 

Prolific Songwriter of Pop Hits for Stage and Screen

Songwriter and composer Burt Bacharach has passed at 94. This giant of music made a huge splash on stage, screen, and airwaves with a phenomenal series of popular songs, many written with lyricist Hal David.

His songs in the sixties were often sung by top artists like The Fifth Dimension, The Shirelles, Dusty Springfield, and later The Carpenters, Patti LaBelle and Michael McDonald, and the titles ranged from Close To You,  One Less Bell to Answer, Any Day Now, Baby It's You, to On My Own to What the World Needs Now. However, his collaboration with singer Dionne Warwick yielded a treasure of hits including Walk on By, I Say a Little Prayer, Do You Know the Way to San Jose, and I'll Never Fall in Love Again. Their hit song This Girl's in Love with You was redone as a #1 hit, This Guy's in Love with You, flipping the gender for Herb Alpert.

He conquered films with his Oscar winning song Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head and score from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. He also wrote songs for What's New Pussycat, Alfie, and the spy spoof Casino Royale's The Look of Love.
He adapted the film The Apartment into Promises Promises for Broadway to acclaim. His song for his daughter Nikki became the theme for The ABC Movie of the Week for years. 

Despite a setback with the film musical bomb, Lost Horizon, he came back co-writing the Oscar winning song from Arthur, and cowrote a worldwide smash of That's What Friends Are For.
The Austin Powers films paid homage and cameos for him. He had an Emmy, three Oscars, and eight Grammy Awards. A true musical legend. I was a huge fan.
 

Memorable Actress on Stage and Screen

Actress Melinda Dillon has passed at 83.  She achieved success in theater especially in a Tony nominated role in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? She transitioned to major films including Bound for Glory, Slapshot, and The Prince of Tides. She was Oscar nominated for Absence of Malice and the blockbuster classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She will forever be lovingly remembered as the mother in the annual holiday classic, A Christmas Story. She will always be connected to us.

 

KNOCK AT THE CABIN and the End of the World

 

Knock at the Cabin is an ambitious, tense tale of belief and fate done with typical twists by co-writer/director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense).

A family of three, Eric (Jonathan Groff), Andrew (Ben Aldridge), and their daughter Wen, take a trip to a remote cabin.  There, they are confronted by a group of four seemingly disparate strangers led by Leonard (Dave Bautista), who have a shocking request that the family make an unthinkable sacrifice to avoid the apocalypse.  Eric and Andrew refuse to believe such an outrageous claim, and as time ticks away and the TV news chronicles worldwide, catastrophic events, the situation grows dire.  Is it all an elaborate trick or an imminent, biblical calamity?   Will Eric and Andrew make the right choice?

The film, with its themes of love, sacrifice, and belief in a greater good, successfully creates an aura of menace and foreboding. In typical Shyamalan fashion, there is a fascinating premise that propels the narrative forward, but this one-trick pony can only carry a film so far.  Despite its intriguing setup, some questions and mysteries are never fully explained.  While occasional flashbacks give deeper background and a stronger connection for the audience, it would have been nice to further explore the bond between Eric and Andrew for a better, emotional payoff at the end.    

What sells this story is the commitment of a strong cast led by Bautista who is quite convincing.  The production is lean with minimal use of sets, though there are some realistic visual effects.  Shyamalan (with Jordan Peele) has exploited The Twilight Zone genre in his films and frequently imbued his fantastic concepts with an emotional core.  This tale presents a fairly entertaining, affecting ‘what if’ especially for fans.

*** of **** stars

A Supreme Judge of Talent

 

NFL executive Bobby Beatherd has passed at 86. As Director of Player Personnel, he helped The Miami Dolphins win two consecutive Super Bowls in the early 1970s. Then as General Manager of the then Washington Redskins, he was instrumental in picking Joe Gibbs as coach, and thus began a dominance in the 1980s with two Super Bowl wins.  After he departed, the team won a third Super Bowl primarily with his players. He was GM for The San Diego Chargers and helped them to a Super Bowl appearance. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018. He was a supreme judge of talent.