The Couch Potato Report - May 3rd, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels the first Canadian talkie, along with a diving bell, a butterfly and some classic Caballeros!
If you ask most film buffs to name you the very first film with sound, just about all of them could tell you that the answer is the 1927 film THE JAZZ SINGER with Al Jolson.
But if you ask those same buffs what the very first Canadian film with sound was, you might not find very many people who can provide you with the answer.
Except for me!
The first Canadian film with sound was the 1931 made-in-Newfoundland film THE VIKING.
Now, you might be thinking "Wait a minute!! In 1931 Newfoundland was owned by Britain...and THE VIKING features an all American cast and crew...so how is it even considered to be Canadian?!?"
Well, Newfoundland is part of Canada NOW and the film features cold, barren landscapes, lots of snow, and rugged, but jovial people.
You tell me, is that not Canadian?!?!
Anyway, as the FIRST Canadian film made featuring sound, THE VIKING is a Canadian classic...albeit one in name only. This is not a classic film.
The acting is a bit stiff, the Newfoundland accents are less than authentic, and the story - a love triangle between a woman and two men, one who is all wrong for her, the other who would be perfect - is one that we've seen dozens and dozens of times before...but when this film was made in 1931, I suspect the love triangle was a new thing...one that had only been seen less than a dozen times.
What makes THE VIKING a film that is worth seeing, especially if you love movies, is the historic element of it, and the Newfoundland locations they used.
The action in the picture comes from the seal hunt, and the movie was filmed during the hunt, so there are actual sealers, the amazing ice floes, and some ships and a sea that you may never get to see up close.
No, THE VIKING isn't a classic film, but it is a Classic Canadian as it was this nation's first film to feature sound. So if that comes up in a trivia game, now you know.
Oh, and if you are wondering what the very first Canadian film was...the answer to that is E.P. Sullivan's and William Cavanaugh's EVANGELINE.
It came out in 1913 and it no longer exists, except for a few stills taken from promotional material.
But THE VIKING...this Canadian film does still exist...and it is now available on DVD.
Up next this week is the Academy Award nominated film THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY and this is a spectacular movie!!!
This film is the true story of a well-known magazine editor from France named Jean-Dominique Bauby.
In 1995 at the age of 43, Jean-Do suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye.
He was unable to speak or to move his head and his only means of communication was to blink his eye - one blink for yes, two blinks for no - as his loved ones and doctors read an alphabet to him.
Using his eye, he dictates his memoirs and both in his original book, and this fascinating film, and he eloquently describes the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to some of the stories that he imagines from places he's only visited in his mind.
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY was nominated for four Academy Awards in February, including the categories of writing and directing, and this is an incredible film that I think you should see, and I highly reccommend that you do!
I also highly reccommend our next film this week too...but from the opposite end of the spectrum. I highly reccommend that you stay away from this would-be fantasy epic.
What a boring waste of time THE GOLDEN COMPASS turned out to be!!
THE GOLDEN COMPASS is based upon the first novel in Philip Pullman's trilogy His Dark Materials.
Starring Daniel Craig - the latest JAMES BOND and Oscar winner Nicole Kidman the film is about an orphan living in a fantasy based parallel universe in which a dogmatic theocracy threatens to dominate the world.
When Lyra's friend is kidnapped, she travels to the far North in an attempt to rescue him and rejoin her uncle.
Now, I suspect that if you liked the book - whether you know it under it's British title "Northern Lights" or as "The Golden Compass" as it was published in the U.S. - you might enjoy the film, but I have not read it, and the film - even with a cast full of actors I enjoy, admire and respect - just didn't hold my interest.
Plus, some of the special effects looked great, while others looked awful....yeah, this film just doesn't work. Even though I usually love fantasy films, I can't be bothered spending any more time talking about THE GOLDEN COMPASS.
The final release that I have for you this week is the much more entertaining, and fun CLASSIC CABALLEROS COLLECTION, featuring Walt Disney's still interesting 1942 SALUDOS AMIGOS and it's 1944 sequel THREE CABALLEROS.
This DVD allwos you to join Goofy, Donald Duck and Walt Disney himself as they travel to Latin America to find new stories to tell, and experience all the music, beauty and excitement the region has to offer.
Admittedly, the CLASSIC CABALLEROS COLLECTION is for die-hard Disney, Donald Duck, Goofy, or psychedelia fans only...but for those folks, this DVD offers some dated, trippy fun.
The CLASSIC CABALLEROS COLLECTION featuring THREE CABALLEROS and SALUDOS AMIGOS, the would-be fantasy epic THE GOLDEN COMPASS, the fascinating, highly recomended film THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY and THE VIKING - the FIRST Canadian film ever made with sound are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
The Canadian made film HOW SHE MOVE is about a high school student who is forced to leave her private school to return to her old, crime-filled neighborhood where she re-kindles an unlikely passion for the competitive world of step dancing.
Also next week is the DELUXE EDITION of the Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan film YOU'VE GOT MAIL and the failed romance drama P.S. I LOVE YOU.
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!
50 years since she said, 'Julie, don't go!'
Fifty years ago this Sunday night, Canada successfully invaded America, or more precisely, Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster made their legendary first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show.
They performed "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga," a wry historical parody of the type they excelled at. In tough detective-story style, private eye Flavius Maximus (Wayne) pursued Brutus (Shuster) for the murder of Julius Caesar.
And although they scored a hit, the biggest laughs of the evening went to another member of the cast.
It was Sylvia Lennick who brought the house down as Caesar's wife, Calpurnia, with her oft-repeated lament: "I told him, `Julie, don't go!'"
Lennick is 92 now, still living in Toronto. She's the only surviving member of the company from that historic night and she remembers it well, although the sharp-as-a-tack showbiz veteran begins her reminiscences with a vintage ham-on-wry quip.
"I don't know how it can be 50 years ago," she deadpans, "when I'm only 52."
Back in the 1950s, Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town, which appeared on CBS-TV every Sunday night at 8 p.m., was one of the most influential media showcases in America.
Each week, an assortment of talent ranging from rock idols (Elvis Presley appeared, from the waist up) to novelty acts (remember Topio Gigo, the Italian mouse?) to stars of the latest Broadway shows (Mary Martin, Ethel Merman) would fight to be on Sullivan's show. A successful appearance could turn a career around overnight. It was a very big deal.
So was Lennick nervous about appearing on such a prestigious show?
"You're always a little nervous when you're performing," she ho-hums. "Without nerves, you might as well stay home. You work on those nerves."
She did have one major area of concern. "I was doing the part in a heavy Bronx accent and I thought to myself, `Here I am going where everybody talks like that!'"
But her mind was soon put at ease.
"In those days," she recalls, "they did two rehearsals the day of the show and all the actors in New York would come to the first one in the morning.
"I said my first line and they roared with laughter. Then when I made my exit, they applauded. That's when I knew I'd be fine."
The same thing happened at the afternoon's dress rehearsal and the live evening broadcast brought Lennick her biggest response of all.
The next day, all of America was buzzing about the show and "I told him, `Julie don't go!'" became an instant catchphrase.
Lennick was initially unaware of all the fuss.
"All I knew was I had gotten three hands on the same day with the same material. It was like I had gone to heaven."
It even made up for the fact that appearing on the Sullivan show had forced her to postpone her son David's bar mitzvah.
"And it all shows you how much I know," laughs Lennick.
"When I read the script, I never thought `Julie don't go,' was my big laugh line.
"I thought I was going to kill them when I said, `It's the Ides of March, already.'"
Boston To Wrap New Album After Summer Tour
Boston leader Tom Scholz tells Billboard.com he hopes to finish recording the band's next studio album after its summer tour and have it out "just after the first of the year."
Scholz says the album -- Boston's first since 2002's "Corporate America" -- is a mix of "really straightforward rock 'n' roll songs and some things that are pretty esoteric.
"When I first started," he continues, "I was doing music that had pretty simple themes. Then as I got into 'Third Stage' and 'Walk On' I got a little more technical and a little more involved, more complicated. In this one I'm trying to do both."
The new album will also include several songs from "Corporate America" that Scholz is remixing, rearranging and, in some cases, completely re-recording -- including the title track, "You Gave Up on Love" and "Someone."
"'Corporate America' was a really poor seller," Scholz acknowledges. "Very few people have heard it. I'd like to give some of these songs another chance to be heard."
Brad Delp, whose 2007 suicide "completely derailed" Scholz, appears on a couple of tracks on the new album.
Scholz says he felt "very weird" about playing Boston music without Delp at a tribute show last August, but has grown more comfortable with the idea during rehearsals for the summer tour with former Stryper singer Michael Sweet and Tommy DeCarlo, a fan Scholz discovered via a Delp tribute DeCarlo posted to YouTube.
"Brad was the most amazing musician [and] singer I've ever known. There's nobody on the face of this Earth that could replace him and do what he did," Scholz says. "But I have to say that these two guys, Michael and Tommy, do a really impressive job of performing these songs live.
"So it seemed wrong not to take it back out, and there were an awful lot of people out there that don't want to hear Boston go away," he adds.
Boston's tour kicks off June 6 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Scholz has prepared a revised version of the group's "Greatest Hits" album to coincide with the tour.
Randy Newman Returns With First Album In Nine Years
Randy Newman is set to release his first album of new material in nine years. "Harps and Angels," produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker, arrives via Nonesuch on Aug. 5.
"A Few Words in Defense of My Country," a single released exclusively to iTunes last year, will be included in the track list.
Newman's 2003 hits collection, "The Randy Newman Songbook: Vol. 1," was the singer/songwriter's last release and first for Nonesuch. His last original set, "Bad Love," was released in 1999. His highest Billboard 200 charting album was 1978's "Little Criminals," which peaked at No. 9.
Newman, 64, has a busy gig calendar in May, plus a concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the Fourth of July weekend at the Hollywood Bowl.
He performed at this year's New Orleans Jazz Fest on May 1 and has another symphony-backed show in Denver on May 23. Additionally, he is slated to perform solo May 4 in St. Louis and May 5 and 6 in Iowa City, Iowa.
Here is the track list for "Harps and Angels":
"Harps and Angels"
"Losing You"
"Laugh and Be Happy"
"A Few Words in Defense of My Country"
"A Piece of the Pie"
"Easy Street"
"Korean Parents"
"Only a Girl"
"Potholes"
"Feels Like Home"
Pearl Jam Reteams With Brendan O'Brien For New Album
Pearl Jam has commenced recording of its ninth studio album with producer Brendan O'Brien, guitarist Mike McCready told Seattle radio station KISW yesterday (May 1). Though only "four or five" songs are complete so far, McCready said the band is hoping to release the record in 2008.
The new effort, a follow-up to its self-titled 2006 album, finds Pearl Jam reteaming with longtime producer Brendan O'Brien (Bruce Springsteen, Rage Against the Machine) for the first time since 1998's "Yield." O'Brien has produced Pearl Jam's "Vs." (1993), "Vitalogy" (1994) and "No Code."
"Brendan works really fast," bassist Jeff Ament has told Billboard.com. "He's a super pro. I've always felt, working with him, that he understood me as a bass player and that's not always easy. A lot of producers are there to please the singer. But I've always had a great rapport with him. I can tell him I want something to sound like the O'Jays or Led Zeppelin or PJ Harvey and he gets it."
"We've always been friends," said O'Brien. "They were great to me when we were making records together [before], and we still remained very good friends.... I still think they're a great band. Eddie [Vedder] has one of the best, if not the best, voices out there. When he sings, people believe them."
Pearl Jam is also about to embark on a 13-date East Coast tour that runs from June 11-30.
In an effort to support Portland, Ore., U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick, the band has set aside special tickets to its sold-out shows in New York, Camden, N.J., and Washington, D.C., that include donations to Novick's campaign. Novick donation tickets to the Washington, D.C., show include access to a meet-and-greet with guitarist Stone Gossard.
Last month, Gossard was among a group of musicians that also included R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, the Decemberists' Colin Meloy, Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker and Spoon's Britt Daniel who released a letter of support for the candidate.
Pearl Jam's eponymous 2006 album peaked at No 2 on the Billboard 200 and lead single "World Wide Suicide" reached No. 1 on the Modern Rock chart.
"Iron Man" producer Marvel mulling next movie
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - With "Iron Man" set to explode this weekend, the next question for producer Marvel Entertainment is: What now?
One big variable is who does the distribution. When its financing deal was announced in summer 2005, Marvel said the deal "guarantees distribution for 10 films" through Paramount.
But that guarantee means the Melrose Avenue studio must distribute movies Marvel brings to it. For Marvel, the pact is simply a two-picture deal, with "Iron Man" the first and Marvel obligated only to distribute its next movie through Paramount. (Universal's "The Incredible Hulk" is exempt.)
An additional provision requires that movies based on "Captain America" and "Nick Fury" go through Paramount should they be made, with either film also counting toward the two-picture deal. Sequels of Paramount-distributed movies also will remain with the studio.
As a result, Marvel properties including "The Avengers," "Thor" and "Ant Man" could conceivably end up with other distributors.
Three years ago, the company wanted to stress the Paramount deal to show it had a pipeline; now, with "Iron Man" tracking well, Marvel aims to show Wall Street that the fledgling studio has flexibility.
Marvel also needs to convince investors it can deliver a steady stream of product. Despite a deep reservoir of characters, it plans on releasing only two titles per year.
"There's a lot riding on 'Iron Man' for Marvel because they don't have a lot of movies," director Jon Favreau said.
Marvel likely won't be releasing any movies in 2009, as the studio would have to be in pre-production now to make a summer date but isn't, mainly because of fears that Hollywood's actors will go out on strike in the summer.
"We're not going to risk our characters by rushing them," Marvel president of production Kevin Feige said. When asked about the timing of an 'Iron Man" sequel, he added that "two or three years is the proper time between movies." Favreau added, "I'd do number two in a heartbeat."
The studio's next project is expected to be announced on an earnings call Monday, with "Avengers," "Ant Man" and "Thor" the favorites. ("Captain America" is a prime property but is perceived as a tough sale overseas.)
Some question whether the Marvel characters waiting in the wings have the appeal of previously licensed characters like "Spider-Man" and "The X-Men." But Marvel president David Maisel said the key ingredient to make a film successful isn't "more well-known or less well-known characters but tender-loving care."
The earnings call will prove an unusually direct referendum on Marvel. Most film studios get buried on a conglomerate balance sheet. But since the publisher-turned-studio will see much of its growth from movies, weekend grosses likely will make its stock price soar or fall, kind of like, well, a superhero.
Marvel's shares rose 86 cents, or 3%, to $29.55 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday, near its 52-week high of $30.27.
Aussie rockers Midnight Oil dusting off old albums
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - If there's a silver lining when a rock band breaks up, maybe it's that the members have more time to contemplate reissue projects.
This is the case with Midnight Oil, the politically inspired Australian rock band that enjoyed an unlikely international hit 20 years ago with a concept album about Aboriginal rights.
The band's 25-year run ended after imposing vocalist Peter Garrett announced in 2002 that he was quitting to pursue a career in politics. The surfing skinhead is now a member of Australia's new center-left federal government.
His comrades kept busy with various musical endeavors, but now guitarist Jim Moginie is leading an ambitious reissue project, beginning with the aforementioned album, 1987's "Diesel and Dust." The disc, which features the hit single "Beds Are Burning," has been remastered, and a bonus track called "Gunbarrel Highway" appended.
The band also has included a DVD documentary of its 1986 tour of the harsh Australian outback. The trek, during which the musicians viewed first-hand the abysmal poverty of Australia's Aboriginal people, as well as their cultural achievements, inspired the tunes on "Diesel and Dust."
"When you think about us singing about dispossessed indigenous people, you wouldn't think that would be a record that anyone would want to hear," Moginie, 51, told Reuters in a recent interview. "But it turned out that they did. There's hope for the world yet."
The album, the band's sixth release, went to No. 1 in many countries, and peaked at No. 21 in the United States. "Beds Are Burning," which receives U.S. radio airplay to this day, hit No. 17 on the pop chart.
MUSICALLY PALATABLE
While the lyrics were decidedly forthright, "Musically, I think we managed to make it reasonably palatable and simple in a way that anyone could enjoy it," said Moginie, who wrote or co-wrote most of the band's songs. "It had a good beat, wasn't too messy or complicated or ragged. It's pretty focused."
He said plans are in the works for a follow-up documentary that will retrace the band's steps in such desert settlements as Kintore East and Yuendemu, which were both immortalized on "Beds Are Burning."
"The same problems are still there," he said. "The petrol sniffing's still pretty rampant, same poverty."
In the meantime, he is working on a reissue for iTunes of the band's 1982 breakthrough "10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1," which featured tirades against their compatriots' political apathy, the American military and colonial arrogance.
Moginie and that album's producer, Nick Launay, also have shot a documentary about the making of the album.
"We did find a bunch of cassettes with some demos on it," Moginie said. "It's really interesting to listen to. It was quite surprising."
He hopes both projects will see the light of day within the next 12 months.
With Garrett rocking the halls of power, Moginie often gets together for writing sessions with drummer Rob Hirst and guitarist Martin Rotsey, and has "vague ideas about doing something in the future" with them.
But it would take a lot to bring one former Oils member back into the fold. Bass player Peter Gifford left after the band's extensive touring to promote "Diesel and Dust." He is now the Lamborghini-driving owner of a company that makes micro bikinis and lingerie, Wicked Weasel.
"He's quite the ex-rock star actually, much more than the rest of us," Moginie said. "We're still chipping away at the coal face, whereas Giffo's, 'Nah, nah. I'm finished with that. I'll just become a bikini millionaire."'