The Couch Potato Report - March 10th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on an utterly fascinating documentary and three comedies.
A few week ago there were two movie awards ceremonies.
There was the Oscars, presented by The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences.
And the Genies, awarded by The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
Most people, including me, gave a wealth of coverage to The Oscars
And very little coverage to The Genies.
The reason "I" did that is because even though there were several films this year - like THE ROCKET, EVE AND THE FIRE HORSE and BON COP BAD COP - that you may have heard of, and can find on DVD, there are more titles that we may never be able to find on DVD.
THE LITTLE BOOK OF REVENGE, THE SECRET LIFE OF HAPPY PEOPLE, CHEECH, EIGHTEEN, THE BEAUTIFUL BEAST, were just some of the films nominated for Genies. How many of those have you heard of?
How about MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES?
Well, that film won Genie Award for Best Documentary and I urge you to search it out because it is now available on DVD.
And it is utterly fascinating.
MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is a feature length documentary on the world and work of renowned Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky.
He takes pictures of quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines, dams and other things around the world that he refers to as 'manufactured landscapes'.
One of the many incredible places he visits is China to visit one place where they build items, and other where they take them apart.
We also get to visit the Three Gorges Dam, which will soon become the largest hydroelectric river dam in the world, and meet some of the more than a million people who were relocated to make way for it.
And MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES also takes us to a factory floor.
The opening eight minutes of the film is a single tracking shot that shows us a factory floor that is over a kilometre long.
Some movies entertain you, others overwhelm you, MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the latter.
It is utterly fascinating, it is now it is available on DVD, and it is a must see!
Search it out!
The other three releases I have for you this week are comedies.
The always brilliant Rowan Atkinson stars in the black comedy KEEPING MUM.
Atkinson plays a pastor who is preoccupied with writing the perfect sermon.
So, he fails to realize that his wife is having an affair with her golf instructor, that his children are up to no good, and that his sweet, elderly, very helpfull new housekeeper might be killing people.
KEEPING MUM isn't as funny as some of Atkinson's other work, like any of his MISTER BEAN episodes or his brief appearance in FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, but it is a quaint little British film that I enjoyed.
There is nothing little, quanit, or British about our next comedy.
The self-proclaimed "Greatest Band on Earth" debut on DVD with their film TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY;
Jack Black is an actor. He has been in the films KING KONG, THE HOLIDAY, HIGH FIDELITY and NACHO LIBRE. But he is also a very talented musician.
In real life, he is in a band called TENACIOUS D with his friend, and fellow actor, the lesser known Kyle Gass.
As a duo they write and perform heavy metal music, with a comedic twist to it.
THE PICK OF DESTINY is a fictional look at how K.G. and J.B. got together and it is the type of comedy made for people who are fans of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, DAZED AND CONFUSED or HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE.
Namely, me.
Finally this week is the film BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN.
Comedian Sascha Baron Cohen created the character of Borat for his TV series "Da Ali G Show" and yes...everything you've heard about this wonderfully bizarre satire is true.
It's disgusting and offensive, and you'll laugh so hard, in spite of yourself
Simply put, it is one of the funniest movies ever made.
The comedies BORAT, TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY and KEEPING MUM and the utterly fascinating Genie Award winning Best Documentary feature MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES are all available now on DVD.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
The unique CBC series TWITCH CITY from the late nineties is now on DVD.
And so is the incredible still airing on CBC show DOCTOR WHO - THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES.
Plus, next week I will talk about the useless film SHORTBUS starring CBC radio's own Sook-Yin Lee and the film that finally allowed a man named Daniel to become JAMES BOND - CASINO ROYALE.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!
Boston singer Brad Delp found dead
ATKINSON, N.H. (AP) - Brad Delp, the lead singer for Boston, a huge rock sensation in the 1970s, was found dead Friday in his home, police said.
He was 55. Atkinson police responded to a call for help at 1:20 p.m. EST and found Delp dead. Police Lt. William Baldwin said in a statement the death was "untimely" and there was no indication of foul play. Delp apparently was alone at the time of his death, Baldwin said.
The cause of his death remained under investigation by the Atkinson police and the New Hampshire Medical Examiner's office. Police said an incident report would not be available until Monday.
Delp sang vocals on Boston's 1976 hits "More than a Feeling" and "Longtime." He also sang on Boston's most recent album, "Corporate America," released in 2002.
He joined the band in the early 1970s after meeting Tom Scholz, an MIT student interested in experimental methods of recording music, the group's official website said. The band enjoyed its greatest success and influence during its first decade.
The band's last appearance was in November 2006 at Boston's Symphony Hall.
On Friday night, the website was taken down and replaced with the statement: "We just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll."
A call to the Swampscott, Mass., home of Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau was not immediately returned Friday night.
R.E.M. Hitting The Studio With Jacknife Lee
R.E.M. will record its 14th studio album this spring with Irish producer Jacknife Lee, best known for his work on U2's "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" and Snow Patrol's "Final Straw." The project is expected before the end of the year via Warner Bros.
The new album will be the follow-up to 2004's "Around the Sun," which was afford a chilly critical reception and has sold just 232,00 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
"I don't think in terms of directions, but I think this next record might have a little more rock to it," bassist Mike Mills told Billboard.com last fall. "I like 'Around the Sun,' but I think, honestly, it turned out a little slower than we intended for it to, just in terms of the overall speed of songs."
On Monday (March 12), R.E.M. will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder. The group will perform at the New York ceremony with drummer Bill Berry, who retired from R.E.M. in 1997.
Eddie Van Halen Enters Rehab Facility, Skipping Rock Hall
Van Halen guitarist Eddie Van Halen has entered a rehabilitation facility for undisclosed reasons, casting further doubt over the band's intended summer reunion tour with David Lee Roth, which derailed last month. "I have always and will always feel a responsibility to give you my best. At the moment I do not feel that I can give you my best," the guitarist wrote on Van Halen's Web site.
"Some of the issues surrounding the 2007 Van Halen tour are within my ability to change and some are not," he continued. "As far as my rehab is concerned, it is within my ability to change and change for the better. I want you to know that is exactly what I'm doing, so that I may continue to give you the very best I am capable of."
Van Halen made no further mention if there was still any chance a summer tour could happen, saying only, "I look forward to seeing you in the future better than ever and I thank you with all my heart."
Neither Van Halen nor Roth are expected to attend the band's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday in New York. Ironically, only ex-members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony will represent the rock combo. As previously reported, members of Velvet Revolver will induct the band then play a short set of Van Halen covers.
Film franchises set to do battle
LOS ANGELES — Hollywood executives didn't invent hyperbole. They just perfected it.
Still, they may finally have a valid reason to wield their arsenal of tired superlatives such as "must-see," "can't-miss" and "the event picture of summer."
That's because the three films expected to rule 2007 —Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End— storm theaters not only in the same month, but within weeks of each other.
How May became so log-jammed with behemoth films is the result of hubris, superstition and the confidence of studio chiefs that their film has the goods the competition lacks.
It has created perhaps the highest-stakes game of chicken in industry history. And it could pose a dilemma for theater owners gathering in Las Vegas next week for the ShoWest convention over which movie will get the best and biggest screens.
"Do I wish there were a few more weeks between our movies?" asks Laura Ziskin, producer of the Spider-Man franchise. "Absolutely. I wish summer were six months long."
But with just 21 days separating the third installments of the franchises, studios are waging fierce ad campaigns, scheduling celebrity promo appearances and conducting market research over who has the biggest core demographic.
"It's crazy," says Cameron Diaz, a star of Shrek. "I can't wait to see Pirates. I love Johnny Depp. But I'm sure there's a hidden clause in my contract that says I have to see Shrek at least twice as much as the other movies."
If there are likely winners in this battle royale, it's moviegoers and popcorn peddlers. The three franchises have earned sizable followings with strong reviews, and ticket sales sailed past $2.2 billion domestically.
"These are movies that not only have made a ton of money, but have been good to boot," says Paul Dergarabedian of the industry analysis firm Media By Numbers. "This could easily be the biggest May of all time."
Those stakes are not lost on studio chiefs. As May goes, so typically goes the summer box office — and the year. Executives are hoping that a blistering month will help continue the industry's rebound; last year, theaters reported a 3% increase in attendance, ending a three-year slump.
"May is huge because the kids are getting out of school and it's the start of the summer season," which accounts for about 40% of Hollywood's ticket sales, says Gitesh Pandya of industry tracker BoxOfficeGuru.com. "If these movies somehow don't do well and we go staggering into June, business could be in trouble."
And forget it if your name isn't Spidey, Shrek or Jack Sparrow. "I wouldn't want to be a smaller movie trying to find an audience in May," Pandya says. "This is about being big."
Just like the risks. The month, analysts say, amounts to a high-dollar poker tournament with Sony, Disney and Paramount/DreamWorks at the table. Combined, the movies cost well over $750 million.
And that doesn't include the effect a weak opening could have on a studio's stock value. When Cars premiered last year to $63 million, below most projections, Disney's stock fell.
Studio officials are quick to dismiss a competition between the movies — and each other.
"You guys in the press like to make it a horse race," says Jeff Blake, vice chairman of Sony Pictures, which is releasing Spider-Man. "But we all want each other's movies to do well, and there's plenty of room for all of them."
But Geoffrey Rush isn't buying the peacenik talk.
"The people in the button-down suits act calm and collected," says Rush, who plays the villanous Hector Barbossa in Pirates. "But you can be sure there are a lot of nails getting bitten down to the quick."
With that, here's a look at our May contenders, their secret weapons and their hidden weaknesses:
Spider-Man 3
Release date: May 4
Franchise box office (domestic): $777.3 million
Secret weapon: Comic-book devotees
Hidden weakness: Comic-book devotees' expectations
Shortly after the impressive debuts of the previous two Spider-Man films, filmmakers and executives gathered to talk about, of all things, what went wrong.
"It's the only way to get better," says producer Avi Arad. "Every time you raise the bar, it means you have to raise the next one even higher."
Which may explain why Spider-Man 2 became a critical favorite, although its ticket sales dropped slightly from $403.7 million for the first movie to $373.6 for the sequel.
Even star Tobey Maguire concedes it will be tough to match the quality of the second film.
"I know we have better sequences in this one," he says. "There are darker scenes, funnier scenes. Whether they'll all come together to make them better than the second, I'm still not sure."
After Spider-Man 2 opened, the consensus among Arad, Ziskin and director Sam Raimi was that the next film needed more complex character turns and better special effects.
"The one thing we've always wanted to get right were the vertical fights Spider-Man would have between skyscrapers," Ziskin says. "We pretty much had to give that up in the first one because it was too hard. But we've got it now."
The film also has new characters, including Thomas Haden Church as Sandman, Topher Grace as Venom and Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy.
And it has the advantage of being the first big film of May, the one that kicks off the summer season.
The question is whether Spidey's box-office numbers will hold up. "This one may have the most specific fan base of the three" movies, Pandya says. "But it's hardly just comic-book fans. It's spread to the general public. It will be interesting to see how much of the public is dying to see how the story goes."
Shrek the Third
Release date: May 18
Franchise box office (domestic): $708.9 million
Secret weapon: Adults
Hidden weakness: Risky release date
Even DreamWorks executives were stunned when Shrek 2 became the third-highest-grossing film of all time, raking in $441 million.
"Kids just kept coming back," says Jim Tharp, chief of distribution for DreamWorks, which was later purchased by Paramount. "And they were bringing new friends."
But it worked well beyond the child factor. The film's cutting-edge computer effects and its skewering of pop culture and fairy tales gave adults reason to come, sometimes alone.
"It wasn't parents twiddling their thumbs while their children watched it for the millionth time," Diaz says. "It's very contemporary, more than a lot of other animated movies."
This time around, though, first-time feature director Chris Miller plans to drop some of the topical spoofs in favor of more classic themes, including meaty, comical roles for Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty.
"We said, 'Let's bag all of those pop-culture references,' " Miller says. "I think it can date a movie. And Shrek has a lot of classic themes to explore."
Like Arthurian legend. Among the twists of the new film will be a skewering of the King Arthur tales, with Justin Timberlake as Artie, a reluctant heir to the throne.
"He's a gifted actor who's funny," Miller says. "That's what makes our movie stand out. It's the only bona fide comedy."
It's also the only movie with a risky release date. Shrek's opening means that it has only one week before Pirates sails in, gunning for young audiences.
But studio execs say the weekend before Memorial Day is plenty big for two blockbusters.
"I'd say, even after Pirates opens, there's still $150 million in business up for grabs," says Rob Moore, Paramount's head of worldwide marketing. "We opened Shrek and Shrek 2 on those weekends, and it worked out great."
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Release date: May 25
Franchise box office (domestic): $728.7 million
Secret weapon: Johnny Depp
Hidden weakness: Pirate fatigue
Among the Big Three, expectations are highest for Pirates, which snatched the crown from 2002's Spider-Man for biggest debut when last year's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opened to $135.6 million.
"We tapped into something that the public was really hungry for," says producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
But what about a successful trilogy finale? Third installments have a spotty track record: just ask Godfather 3 or Matrix: Revolutions.
Rush says that one of Pirates' advantages over the competition "is this is the last one, and it ended on a cliffhanger. If you watched the first two — which a lot of people did — you're going to want to see how this one turns out."
And apparently, people are fond of Depp. "He's the one thing we've got that no one else has," says Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's Motion Picture Group. "He's a lot more than a Hollywood star. He works everywhere in the world."
Pirates may also have an advantage of being the last big film out of the gate. No film is seen as giving Pirates a run for a similar audience until Fantastic Four 2 arrives June 15.
But even Disney executives concede it's risky to assume that Shrek's audience will jump ship after just one week. "We think we'll be No. 1 the weekend we open, but there's no guarantee with a movie like Shrek," Zoradi says. "I wouldn't be surprised if this May we have three $300 million movies."
So who is the favorite? A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted March 2-4 found that 29% of Americans plan to see Pirates in theaters, 24% plan to see Spider-Man and 23% plan to see Shrek. With the poll's margin of error at 3 percentage points, it's anyone's race.
"There's no way I'd get into selling movies or betting who's going to win something like that," Maguire says. "That's why I act."
Here's how the big three stacked up at the box office in the past:
-Spider-Man (2002): $403.7 million
-Spider-Man 2 (2004): $373.6M
-Shrek (2001): $267.7M
-Shrek 2 (2004): $441.2M
-Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Blakc Pearl (2002): $305.4M
-Dead Man's Chest (2006): $423.3M
Number of tickets sold: 2003=1.57 billion; 2006= 1.45B
Source: Media By Numbers LLC; Box Office Mojo; Motion Picture Association of America
Winslet awarded damages over diet story
LONDON - Kate Winslet was awarded substantial libel damages Friday after a British magazine wrongly stated that she had visited a diet doctor.
The 31-year-old actress, known for her criticism of excessive dieting, wasn't at London's High Court for the hearing on an article published last month by women's magazine Grazia.
Winslet's lawyer, Rachel Atkins, said the story wrongly stated that Winslet had sought the help of California-based Chinese herbalist Yi Pan for her weight, despite vowing not to bow to Hollywood pressure on actresses to be skinny.
Atkins said Winslet had visited Pan for a neck injury.
Grazia printed an apology in its March 5 issue, saying it was "very happy to set the record straight."
Winslet, a five-time Oscar nominee, said in a statement that she was delighted by the outcome, adding that the magazine had apologized to her in full.
"I am not a hypocrite," she said. "I have always been, and shall continue to be, honest when it comes to body/weight issues. I feel very strongly that `curves' are natural, womanly and real."
Lawyers for Winslet said she would be donating the unspecified but "substantial" damages payment to charity.
Winslet has received Oscar nominations for her roles in "Little Children," "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Iris," "Titanic" and "Sense and Sensibility."
Salma Hayek engaged, expecting a baby
NEW YORK - Next up for Salma Hayek is a wedding — and a baby carriage.
The 40-year-old actress is engaged to businessman Francois-Henri Pinault and is pregnant with their first child, her spokeswoman, Cari Ross, said Friday in a statement. No further details were provided.
The Mexico-born Hayek has starred in films such as "Frida," "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" and "After the Sunset." She is one of the executive producers of ABC's "Ugly Betty," in which she recently guest starred as a two-faced magazine editor.
Pinault is chairman and chief executive officer of the luxury goods company PPR SA, which owns high-end labels such as Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Stella McCartney.
Hayek received an Oscar nomination for her role in 2002's "Frida."