The Couch Potato Report - July 14th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels two Canadian films and we learn Esma's secret.
On Friday in Chicago, a jury of nine women and three men found former Canadian media baron Conrad Black guilty of three counts of criminal fraud and the serious charge of obstruction of justice -- but cleared him of racketeering, wire fraud and tax evasion.
The convictions mean Black faces a maximum sentence of 35 years, if served consecutively, and $1 million US in fines.
Sentencing will take place at a later date and as expected, Black's attorneys announced they will appeal the guilty verdicts.
New on DVD this week is CITIZEN BLACK - a documentary that chronicles Conrad Black's downfall.
And this isn't one of those documentaries that only features interviews and comments friends, relatives, and former co-workers of Mr. Black's.
No, CITIZEN BLACK features the man himself.
Black didn't actually sit down for a one on one interview with filmmaker, and former CBC employee, Debbie Melnyk but she did correspond with him by email, and she did follow him around as he promoted his book about Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States.
CITIZEN BLACK isn't a spectacular documentary as too often it tells Debbie Melnyk's story and not Conrad Black's, but it is very, very good.
It is a movie with a great sense of humour, and it also gives us a look at Mr. Black's personal life and some of the eccentricities that he and his wife posess.
Debbie Melnyk is no Michael Moore, but through all of her films flaws, I respect her tenacity in trying to get Mr. Black to sit down for an interview as she chases him from one book signing to another.
And the film was always interesting, so ultimately I think CITIZEN BLACK is a film that is worth your time.
Up next this week is the Canadian film PARTITION.
Generally, a partition is a splitting of something into parts.
The Partition of India led to the creation of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on August 14th, 1947, and the Republic of India on August 15th, 1947, upon the granting of independence to British India from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The movie PARTITION is about these events, but it is primarily a love story played out against a backdrop of political and religious upheaval.
Determined to leave the ravages of war behind, a Sikh soldier resigns from the British Indian Army to a quiet life.
His world is soon thrown in turmoil, when he suddenly finds himself responsible for the life of a young Muslim woman, traumatized by the events that separated her from her family.
Slowly, resisting all the taboos, they fall in love.
Canadian actresses Kristin Kreuk (Kroook) from the televison series SMALLVILLE and Neve Campbell of the SCREAM films atar along with the Indo-British actor Jimi Mistry in PARTITION, and they all give great performances.
Plus, the locations in British Columbia and Northern India where the movie was made look incredible, but in the end the film just never caught my attention.
I am a huge fan of TITANIC and THE ENGLISH PATIENT, and several other films that use actual historical events as a background for a love story.
But as much as PARTITION strives to be a good as those films, it just isn't.
There are just too many side stories that ultimately have no relevance, and at one point a period of five years passes, and no one seems to change or age at all.
So, if you enjoy very romantic love stories set against turbulant times, perhaps you will enjoy PARTITION more than I did.
I didn't dislike it, but I can't fully recommend it either.
Finally this week, the action filled, very loud, check-your-brain-at-the-door summer movie season continued in theatres this week with HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX.
If you'd prefer an alternative, each week during the summer movie season I will tell you about at least one current release on DVD that you'll need your brain to enjoy.
This is the FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL on DVD!
This week's entry is ESMA'S SECRET, a movie from Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany and Croatia.
ESMA'S SECRET focuses on the Balkan War's painful aftermath on a Bosnian woman named Esma and her daughter Sara who live in a quarter of the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.
Esma works several jobs and does laundry and tailoring for her friends and neighbours to earn money and when Sara wants to go on a school trip, her mother struggles to find the money.
Esma has told her daughter that her father is a war hero, and even though a certificate proving that would allow her a discount for the trip, Esma tries to find a way to pay the full price.
The reason why, is Esma's secret.
ESMA'S SECRET doesn't show any scenes of the horrific war and genocide in the former Yugoslavia, but by the end of the movie you will know what the pain of war feels like.
It is a very interesting film that features people and locations that we don't normally get to see, either in films or in real life, and it all adds up to a movie that will get you thinking.
Like I said, you'll need your brain to enjoy the selections I have for you in this summer's FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL on DVD!
The very interesting ESMA'S SECRET, the Canadian film PARTITION and the documentary CITIZEN BLACK are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
GRAY MATTERS stars Tom Cavanagh and Heather Graham as a brother and sister who both fall in love with the same woman.
FACTORY GIRL tells a fictionalized story of mid-sixties socialite and Andy Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick; Billy Bob Thornton stars in THE ASTRONAUT FARMER as a farmer who builds his own rocket; and our FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD continues with the British documentary BLACK GOLD about the international coffee trade and its ramifications for the farmers who grow coffee.
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!
Summer box office hits & misses
As clashes between titans go, the summer box office has been less Optimus Prime versus Megatron than drunk David Hasselhoff versus a cheeseburger.
That's a letdown for studio executives who were stoked for a record-scorching, sequel-stuffed season.
Instead, they'll have to make due with just doing fine. After all, while no film has dominated, no one is losing their shirt in the melee, either.
Which is more than we can say for The Hoff.
The following is a rundown of who hit, who missed and who surprised in the summer of 2007.
Like they say, success has many fathers, failure's an orphan and blame gets passed around like Paris Hilton at a convention of Greek shipping tycoons.
THE HITS
You didn't need tarot.com to tell you the triumvirate of Spider-Man 3, Shrek The Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End would reap a bounty worthy of Johnny Depp's slurring, swishy sea dog, Capt. Jack Sparrow.
But it might have informed you all three -- having each grossed more than $300 million US --would nevertheless fall short of their predecessors.
The massive opening of Transformers ($150 million in its first week) bodes well for its chances at dethroning Spider-Man 3 as the summer's top-earner, but to do so, the refugees of Cybertron will have to flex legs of iron.
It's premature to predict how Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will fare, but judging by its predecessors it will likely conjure up around $270 million in North America.
Among non-franchises, with $130 million, the charmingly-raucous Knocked Up out-performed The 40-Year-Old Virgin, securing Judd Apatow's anointment as Hollywood's prince of comedy.
Meanwhile, the summer's finest entertainment, Disney-Pixar's Ratatouille, has dug in and, buoyed by gushing reviews and word of mouth, should cook up $230 million -- finishing ahead of 2006's inert animated Cars.
THE MISSES
The Noah's ark-themed Evan Almighty stands as the costliest dud to float to the top, as it's expected to make back only half of its $175-million budget.
Also a flop? The Robin Williams-led License to Wed.
And while Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer rode the tasty waves to a $50 million-plus opening weekend, it quickly sank like a stoner, making a third film less than a certainty.
THE SURPRISES
Granted, Live Free and Die Hard hardly represented an artistic gamble, but many wondered if its aging star and analog appeal would be squashed by the synthesized mayhem of Transformers.
Turns out, no.
Instead, the Bruce Willis sequel has shown to be nearly as Teflon-coated as John McClane himself and should wind up with an admirable $140 million.
Even more unanticipated is the popularity of 1408, which attracted audiences seeking sophistication, not splatter, in their horror. The John Cusack thriller should scare up $80 million -- several times the gross of the torture-porn travesty Hostel Part II.
THE STARS
Actors may sell bundles of magazines, but their power to lure moviegoers is decidedly more dubious. Case in point: The just-okay-thanks haul of $100 million and change for Ocean's Thirteen.
That's more or less the same as the second instalment, but far less than the original's $180 million -- meaning George Clooney is going to have to find another cash-cow to offset the films he really cares about.
Meanwhile Angelina Jolie's A Mighty Heart, although mightily praised, collapsed. Look for her to keep adopting orphans until she has a fanbase.
THE OLD GUY
Every year, a studio drops an adult-geared film smack dab into the cinematic sugar rush, hoping grown-ups will seek out sophisticated material.
This time that chimp-in-a-space-capsule was Kevin Costner's Mr. Brooks.
Too bad it imploded on the launch pad.
Neither crew nor the myth of counter-programming survived.
Toronto Theatre Legend Ed Mirvish Gets a Salute from Broadway
Broadway theatres will dim their marquee lights July 13 for one minute in the memory of Ed Mirvish, the entrepreneur, theatrical impresario and Broadway producer who was known as "Honest Ed."
American-born Mirvish died in Canada July 11 of natural causes. He was 92.
He is best known in the theatrical world for restoring the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto in 1963, the Old Vic in London, England, and for building the award-winning Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto in 1993 with his son, David Mirvish. His Broadway credits include the award-winning productions Stones in His Pockets, Spoils of War and The Mikado.
He launched the Toronto theatre empire Mirvish Productions, run by his son, David.
Mirvish was a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, a Member of the Order of Canada and the recipient of more than 250 awards.
Paul Shaffer working on his memoir
NEW YORK - David Letterman's longtime sidekick, Paul Shaffer, is stepping into the spotlight with a memoir about his show business career.
"These anecdotes have been accumulating in my mind for the past three-plus decades; it's been a nutty ride, and I felt it imperative to finally commit my reflections to the page ... at least Volume One," Shaffer, 57, said in a statement issued Wednesday by Flying Dolphin Press, an imprint of Random House, Inc.'s Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group.
The book, currently untitled, is scheduled to come out in 2009. Shaffer will work on it with David Ritz, who has collaborated on memoirs by Marvin Gaye and Ray Charles among others.
Shaffer was a musician and performer during the early years of "Saturday Night Live," perhaps best remembered as the piano playing foil for Bill Murray's Nick the Lounge Singer. He was musical director for John Belushi's and Dan Aykroyd's "Blues Brothers" act and is known to "Spinal Tap" fans as radio promoter Artie Fufkin.
Since 1982, Shaffer has worked alongside Letterman, heading up "The World's Most Dangerous Band." He has also played and recorded with countless musicians, including Bob Dylan, B.B. King and Warren Zevon, and co-wrote the 1980s dance classic, "It's Raining Men."
Media mogul Black guilty of fraud
CHICAGO - Former media mogul Conrad Black was convicted Friday of swindling the far-flung Hollinger International newspaper empire he once ran out of millions of dollars, becoming the latest in a wave of disgraced corporate executives to face prison time for financial fraud.
Black, 62, who once renounced his Canadian citizenship to become a member of the British House of Lords, was found guilty by a federal jury of three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice for spiriting documents out of his Toronto office in defiance of a court order.
Black was acquitted of nine other counts ranging from tax fraud to the most serious charge — racketeering. He was also acquitted of fleecing Hollinger shareholders through such perks as taking the corporate jet on a two-week vacation to the island of Bora Bora.
The three-month trial drew international media attention, heightened by the silver-haired British lord's posh lifestyle and sometimes haughty comments. When shareholders grumbled about the cost of the Bora Bora trip, he wrote a memo saying: "I'm not prepared to re-enact the French revolutionary renunciation of the rights of the nobility."
Three other former Hollinger executives, John Boultbee, 65, of Victoria, British Columbia, Peter Y. Atkinson, 60, of Oakville, Ontario, and Mark Kipnis, 59, of Northbrook, Ill., were also convicted of fraud charges.
Prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve to have Black jailed immediately, saying he could face approximately 15 years to nearly 20 years in federal prison for the conviction. But defense attorneys said the actual sentence was likely to be much less.
In contrast to the $84 million in fraud prosecutors blamed on Black when he was indicted two years ago, the jurors found him guilty of a fraction of that — defense attorneys put the amount at $3.5 million.
Still, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the government was "gratified" by the verdict.
"We think the verdict vindicates the serious public interest in making sure that when insiders in a corporation deal with money entrusted to them by the shareholders, that they not engage in self-dealing, that they not break the law to benefit themselves instead of the shareholders," Fitzgerald said.
St. Eve set a Nov. 30 sentencing date, confiscated Black's passport and ordered him to remain in the Chicago area while she considers the government's request that she revoke his $21 million bond, partly secured by a seaside estate in Palm Beach, Fla. A hearing on the bond issue is scheduled for Thursday.
Black defense attorney Edward M. Genson argued that Black had "wanted his day in court and now wants his day on appeal" and would not run away.
"He has had his day in court," countered prosecutor Eric H. Sussman, "and now the question is whether he will have his day of sentencing."
Black was stony faced as he handed over the passport. When St. Eve asked if he would appear for sentencing, he said: "Absolutely."
Black avoided reporters' questions as he left the courthouse Friday afternoon. Edward Greenspan, Black's Canadian defense attorney, promised an appeal on "viable legal issues."
"We came here to face 13 counts and an indictment. Conrad Black was acquitted of all the central charges. They have been dismissed," Greenspan said, reading from a statement and refusing to answer questions.
"We vehemently disagree with the government's position on sentencing," he said, but did not offer what he believes is a proper sentencing range.
Hollinger International, based in Chicago, was at one time one of the world's largest publisher of community newspapers as well as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Daily Telegraph of London and Israel's Jerusalem Post.
At the core of the charges against Black was a strategy he arrived at starting in 1998 to sell off the bulk of the small community papers, which were published in smaller cities across the United States and Canada.
Black and other Hollinger executives received millions of dollars in payments from the companies that bought the community papers in return for promises that they would not return to compete with the new owners.
Prosecutors said the executives pocketed the money, which they said belonged to shareholders, without telling Hollinger's board of directors.
In the end, jurors convicted Black in connection with two sets of noncompete payments.
One involved $2.6 million in such payments he received in exchange for a noncompete pledge made to the American Publishing Co. The company was a Hollinger subsidiary and thus Black and executives who also got such payments were effectively getting money not to compete with themselves.
The other were "supplemental payments" made in April 2001 after Hollinger executives realized there had been no non-competition money in sales of community newspapers to Horizon Publications Inc. in March 1999 and to Forum Communications Inc. in September 2000.
Realizing that no such non-competition money for them had been included in the deals, the executives ordered up "supplemental payments." Black's share of that money came to $285,000.
The American Publishing money and supplemental payments were covered in three counts of the indictment. The fourth count Black was convicted of involved the removal of documents from his Toronto offices after a court had ordered them frozen unless otherwise permitted by a court monitor.
The government's star witness at the trial was F. David Radler, Black's partner in building the Hollinger empire over three decades. He pleaded guilty to mail fraud and agreed to testify in exchange for a lenient 29-month sentence and a $250,000 fine.
Black had said that he was busy with newspaper interests in Britain and eastern Canada and left most of the sales of community newspapers and noncompete arrangements to Radler. But Radler said that Black was well aware of how and why the money was being paid.
___
Associated Press Writers Don Babwin, Carla K. Johnson, Dave Carpenter and Dan Strumpf in Chicago contributed to this report.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve to have Black jailed immediately, saying he could face approximately 15 years to nearly 20 years in federal prison for the conviction. But defense attorneys said the actual sentence was likely to be much less.
In contrast to the $84 million in fraud prosecutors blamed on Black when he was indicted two years ago, the jurors found him guilty of a fraction of that — defense attorneys put the amount at $3.5 million.
Still, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the government was "gratified" by the verdict.
"We think the verdict vindicates the serious public interest in making sure that when insiders in a corporation deal with money entrusted to them by the shareholders, that they not engage in self-dealing, that they not break the law to benefit themselves instead of the shareholders," Fitzgerald said.
St. Eve set a Nov. 30 sentencing date, confiscated Black's passport and ordered him to remain in the Chicago area while she considers the government's request that she revoke his $21 million bond, partly secured by a seaside estate in Palm Beach, Fla. A hearing on the bond issue is scheduled for Thursday.
Black defense attorney Edward M. Genson argued that Black had "wanted his day in court and now wants his day on appeal" and would not run away.
"He has had his day in court," countered prosecutor Eric H. Sussman, "and now the question is whether he will have his day of sentencing."
Black was stony faced as he handed over the passport. When St. Eve asked if he would appear for sentencing, he said: "Absolutely."
Black avoided reporters' questions as he left the courthouse Friday afternoon. Edward Greenspan, Black's Canadian defense attorney, promised an appeal on "viable legal issues."
"We came here to face 13 counts and an indictment. Conrad Black was acquitted of all the central charges. They have been dismissed," Greenspan said, reading from a statement and refusing to answer questions.
"We vehemently disagree with the government's position on sentencing," he said, but did not offer what he believes is a proper sentencing range.
Hollinger International, based in Chicago, was at one time one of the world's largest publisher of community newspapers as well as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Daily Telegraph of London and Israel's Jerusalem Post.
At the core of the charges against Black was a strategy he arrived at starting in 1998 to sell off the bulk of the small community papers, which were published in smaller cities across the United States and Canada.
Black and other Hollinger executives received millions of dollars in payments from the companies that bought the community papers in return for promises that they would not return to compete with the new owners.
Prosecutors said the executives pocketed the money, which they said belonged to shareholders, without telling Hollinger's board of directors.
In the end, jurors convicted Black in connection with two sets of noncompete payments.
One involved $2.6 million in such payments he received in exchange for a noncompete pledge made to the American Publishing Co. The company was a Hollinger subsidiary and thus Black and executives who also got such payments were effectively getting money not to compete with themselves.
The other were "supplemental payments" made in April 2001 after Hollinger executives realized there had been no non-competition money in sales of community newspapers to Horizon Publications Inc. in March 1999 and to Forum Communications Inc. in September 2000.
Realizing that no such non-competition money for them had been included in the deals, the executives ordered up "supplemental payments." Black's share of that money came to $285,000.
The American Publishing money and supplemental payments were covered in three counts of the indictment. The fourth count Black was convicted of involved the removal of documents from his Toronto offices after a court had ordered them frozen unless otherwise permitted by a court monitor.
The government's star witness at the trial was F. David Radler, Black's partner in building the Hollinger empire over three decades. He pleaded guilty to mail fraud and agreed to testify in exchange for a lenient 29-month sentence and a $250,000 fine.
Black had said that he was busy with newspaper interests in Britain and eastern Canada and left most of the sales of community newspapers and noncompete arrangements to Radler. But Radler said that Black was well aware of how and why the money was being paid.