The Couch Potato Report - October 25th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a Canadian made documentary, a HULK, and four films to get you ready for Halloween!
The huge summer blockbuster THE INCREDIBLE HULK is new on DVD this week...but I will be telling you about that one last this morning.
Even though this new HULK movie was primarily filmed in Toronto, I have a different movie with a Canadian connection that I have made this week's HOT POTATO.
This one is called UP THE YANGTZE and it is a documentary by Chinese-Canadian director Yung Chang.
The film focuses on people affected by the building of the Three Gorges Dam across the Yangtze river in China.
Even as I speak with you, engineers are constructing the largest dam in the world across the great Yangtzee. When finished, it will produce the energy of 15 nuclear power plants.
To China's leaders, the dam is the greatest engineering feat since the construction of the Great Wall, but to critics worldwide, it is a social and environmental disaster.
During the planning stages in the 1990s it was estimated that 1.13 million residents would be forced to relocate due to the construction of The Three Gorges Dam, however the final number - as of June - was 1.24 million.
UP THE YANGTZE focuses on the transition that is required of some of the peasant farmers who live in areas that were flooded as China develops this rural area, and it also shows us how others are benefitting from the Dam.
It also takes us aboard a cruise ship to meet some of the tourists who are flocking to the area before it is no more.
UP THE YANGTZE is very interesting from start to finish, but it is a film that contains so many people's stories that it can't help but leave you wanting more.
Personally, I wanted to see how more farmers were relocating and how they are coping in new homes, especially at one point, when a displaced farmer says about the Dam: "It is beneficial for China, but I don't think it will do me any good."
I also wanted to see more of this massive Dam...but, all that said, I still highly recommend UP THE YANGTZEE to you, this is a very engaging movie.
Today is October 25th, the last Couch Potato Report before Halloween, so to help get you ready, I have four movies to suggest...starting with the claustrophobic and fantastic terror film THE STRANGERS.
Yes, you heard me right. I didn't refer to THE STRANGERS as a horror...this is a terror film!
Three strangers, their faces hidden behind masks force the young couple in this film to go beyond what either of them thought capable in order to survive, and I loved every minute of it.
THE STRANGERS is creepy, and it features some fantastic frights. If you - or someone you love - enjoys these types of films, turn off the lights, sit close on the couch and enjoy!!
If modern day terror, or horror films aren't your cup of tea, and you prefer the way they used to make 'em, then you are also in luck heading into Halloween as well because three of Alfred Hitchcock's classic films have just been re-released in spectacular Two-Disc SPECIAL EDITIONS.
Get ready to re-admire REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO and PSYCHO.
The 1960 film PSYCHO is about a young woman who steals $40,000 from her employer's client, and then meets Norman Bates, a motel proprietor who is under the domination of his mother.
In 1958's VERTIGO a San Francisco detective suffering from acrophobia investigates the strange activities of an old friend's wife, all the while becoming dangerously obsessed with her.
And in the great 1954 film REAR WINDOW a wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbours from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
All three of these SPECIAL EDITIONS allow the films to look better than they ever have before, and they also feature a wealth of extras...incluidng some facts I guarantee that you have never even thought about before!
If you like old school scares, REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO and PSYCHO are fantastic films by a master filmmaker, and as you may suspect, I do highly recommend all three!!
Oh, and happy Halloween!!
Finally this week...THE INCREDIBLE HULK!
This made-in-Toronto summer blockbuster stars Edward Norton and the great Liv Tyler and it is not a sequel to the 2003 film HULK, it is a reboot...and it is good based on characters from a comic book movie fun!
Unlike the previous film, this one gives you the plot set up - a scientist is exposed to a deadly amount of gamma rays and as such becomes a huge, green Hulk whenever he gets mad - during the opening credits, and then it is on to the mayhem as Bruce Banner is on the run from General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, and forced to fight a creature known as the Abomination.
THE INCREDIBLE HULK is just a pure adrenaline rush of a based-on-a-comic-book movie, and it is also fun! If you think you will enjoy it, give it a a chance, because I think you will!
Especially if you have been a fan of the character, either since the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 in May 1962, or because you grew up with the television show THE INCREDIBLE HULK that was based on the comic books of the same name ran from 1978 to 1982 and starred Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.
If you are a fan of the TV show, there is a new 20 disc box set that may appeal to you, it is THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE COMPLETE SERIES, and it has all five seasons of the show, and some great special features!
For true believers, it is a must have!!
THE INCREDIBLE HULK - THE COMPLETE SERIES, the very enjoyable 2008 version of THE INCREDIBLE HULK, Alfred Hitchcock's immortal thrillers REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO and PSYCHO, the exceptional terror film THE STRANGERS and the documentary UP THE YANGTZE are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
Brendan Fraser stars in the family film JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH and SIDNEY CROSBY - ON THE ICE AND BEYOND takes us behind the scenes of Sid The Kid's 2007-2008 NHL season
Plus, I will tell you about releases featuring LOU REED, B-BOYs, THE SMURFS, and THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON of ROBOT CHICKEN.
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!
Stompin' Tom speaks up for patriotism
HALTON HILLS, Ont. - Country-folk legend Stompin' Tom Connors has established himself as one of Canada's biggest cultural icons, but as he prepares to release his 50th album he says he is still yearning to be embraced by radio.
The 72-year-old musician lashed out at traditional radio in a recent interview that also touched on his ongoing beef with the Junos, his disappointment with a U.S.-dominated music industry and the lack of a strong successor to continue his patriotic musical campaign.
"I've never had a hit song on any hit parade," Connors declares while seated at a table in his kitchen, his eyes shaded by a signature black cowboy hat.
"Out of 50 albums, it's amazing. They tell me I don't fit the format or I'm too Canadian or I'm too country or I'm too this or I'm too that - I'm too something. Whatever it is, I don't fit the format. So I don't understand."
"I'm a man of the land, I go out into the country and I talk to people. ... And I would think that people in the media would kind of catch on and go, 'Hey, this guy knows a little bit about the country, maybe we should play one of his songs or two and maybe somebody might like it out there."'
It was a rare flash of bitterness from the jovial and friendly Connors, who earlier had spent much of the day entertaining record company staff and reporters with "Newfie jokes," a silly dance he had invented and stories about his upcoming album, "The Ballad of Stompin' Tom," in his wood-panelled rec room.
With his son Tom Jr. working the bar and his wife Lena shaking hands, Connors introduced some of his favourite tracks for several dozen people invited to his home in rural Halton Hills, an hour's drive west of Toronto, for a casual listening party.
Chain-smoking and with a bottle of beer in hand, Connors stomped his left boot to keep time as music blasted from a stereo, and at other moments silently mouthed the lyrics. The disc includes a live version of "Take Me Back to Old Alberta" and reworked versions of "The Hockey Song," "My Hockey Mom" and "The Olympic Song."
"Maybe they'll get a little patriotism or something on that last song and . . . play a little bit (on the radio) - who knows," he said of "The Olympic Song," which includes a new verse about the 2010 Winter Games slated for Vancouver.
Although wide commercial appeal has escaped Connors for much of his four-decade career, he has earned a devoted following for straight-ahead country-folk tunes.
Heritage-soaked songs like "Canada Day, Up Canada Way," "Bud the Spud" and "Sudbury Saturday Night" have come to be regarded as veritable national anthems thanks to their unabashed embrace of all things Canadiana. The fact he remains a towering figure in this genre appeared to be another sore point.
"I don't know why I seem to be the only one, or almost the only one, writing about this country," Connors says later in his kitchen, slipping into another rant.
"It just amazes me, I've been going so long I would think that somebody else (would have) picked up the torch a long time ago and started writing tons of songs about this country. This country is the most underwritten country in the world as far as songs are concerned. We starve - the people in this country are starving for songs about their homeland."
In the past, Connors's fervent patriotism has put him at loggerheads with the Canadian music industry.
In 1978 he famously returned six Juno Awards he had amassed in previous years, complaining that some artists were being recognized in categories outside their genre while other winners had done most of their work outside the country. He derided musicians who moved to the United States as "border jumpers."
Connors says his feelings have not changed since then.
"It's worse today, I would say, then it was then. Nothing's changed," he says.
If he were to qualify for a nomination for "The Ballad of Stompin' Tom," he dismissed outright the possibility of a reconciliation with the Juno Awards.
"No," he says decisively. "No, to hell with them. I wouldn't even go there."
From Connors's earliest days, life was a battle.
He was born in Saint John, N.B., on Feb. 9, 1936, to an unwed teenage mother. From the age of three he lived hand-to-mouth, begging on the street with his mom until he was placed in the care of child welfare officials. At age nine he was adopted by a family in Skinners Pond, P.E.I., running away four years later to hitchhike across the country. He picked up a guitar as his constant companion.
Connors sings about those tumultuous years on the new disc's title track, "The Ballad of Stompin' Tom." He says he was inspired after seeing the success of the play of the same name, mounted in Blyth, Ont., two years ago. Based on his two autobiographies, "Before the Fame" and "The Connors Tone," the play has gone on to successful runs in Charlottetown and the Ontario communities of Penetanguishene, Drayton and Gananoque.
Connors says it was difficult for him to put those painful experiences into a song. Even during the listening session, the rugged troubadour appeared choked up as he listened quietly to lyrics such as: "When the long road took us back to Saint John, momma cried / That night the strong arm of the law tore me from her side."
"It's a hard song to write," he said afterwards, his voice faltering slightly.
Connors says he was able to reconnect with his mother as an adult, but by then relations were strained irreparably. He says she died "at a ripe old age."
"When you don't know somebody, even your own mother, it's awful hard to relate," he says.
And although she was proud of his immense musical success, Connors says his mother rejected repeated offers of assistance.
"She was one of these people that if she ever got the idea that you were giving her something she'd pick up the frying pan and throw it at you," he says.
As for the incredible journey his life has taken, Connors refuses to revel in his accomplishments.
"You can't pat yourself on the back," he says. "If you're liked by the people, let them do it. Don't go about saying, 'Hey, I am somebody, I am this, I am that...' No, you'll never get that out of me.
"Whatever I do, in my writing, I do it for others. I do it for my country and I do it for my countrymen and that's the only value that I really have."
"The Ballad of Stompin' Tom" comes out Tuesday.
Quantum Of Solace Director Hated The Title Too!
You probably remember your exact reaction when you heard the title of the latest James Bond movie: Huh? Quantum of Solace isn't exactly the simplest title, or the easiest to understand-- it's no Octopussy, that's for sure. But who would have guessed the movie's director felt exactly the way you did?
"I was like, 'Quantum of Solace, what's that about?'" Marc Forster told a group of journalists in New York today. He said the movie's producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson brought the title to him, and it never came from the screenwriter Paul Haggis. Mentioning its origins in an original Ian Fleming short story, Forster explained, "It's one of the last few titles left. There are only two more after that that Fleming ever used."
Ever the diplomat, though, Forster said he eventually came around to the title. "At the beginning it took me a little while to get used to it. But it kind of grew on me."
Quantum of Solace will be released in the U.S. on Nov. 14. Check back here that week for more from Forster as well as the latest Bond girl, Olga Kurylenko.
Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother slain in Chicago
CHICAGO – The mother and brother of Jennifer Hudson were found shot dead Friday at a South Side home, and police were looking for a missing child who is the nephew of the singer and Oscar-winning actress.
"We can confirm that there is an ongoing investigation concerning the deaths of Jennifer Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson," Hudson's personal publicist, Lisa Kasteler, said in a statement. "No further comment will be made and the family has asked that their privacy be respected at this difficult time."
Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said the deaths appeared to be the result of domestic abuse.
Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson said a family member entered the home around 3 p.m. Friday, found a woman shot on the living room floor and left to notify authorities. Responding officers found a man shot in the bedroom, Patterson said. There was no sign of forced entry.
Police tape blocked access to the large, white house, where a crowd gathered outside.
Authorities issued an Amber Alert for 7-year-old Julian King and were seeking a 1994 white Chevrolet Suburban. The child was the grandson of the female victim, Patterson said.
The alert said the child was possibly abducted and could be accompanied by a man named William Balfour — considered armed and dangerous — who was a suspect in the double homicide investigation. Records from the Illinois Department of Corrections show Balfour, 27, who has not been charged with a crime, is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.
The two could also be in a teal or green Chrysler Concorde with a temporary license plate, a left front headlight hanging out and scratches on the left side of the vehicle, police said.
The tragedy comes as Hudson, who grew up in Chicago, continues to reach new heights in her career. Her song "Spotlight" is No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop charts and her recently released, self-tiled debut album has been a top seller. She was featured in this year's blockbuster "Sex and the City" movie and is also starring in the hit film "The Secret Life of Bees."
She won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls." In an interview last year with Vogue, Hudson credited her mother with encouraging her to audition for "American Idol," which launched her career.
The singer, whose father died when she was a teenager, described herself as very close to her family. In a recent AP interview she said her family, which includes older siblings Julia and Jason, helped keep her grounded.
"My faith in God and my family, they're very realistic and very normal, they're not into the whole limelight kind of thing, so when I go home to Chicago that's just another place that's home," she said. "I stand in line with everybody else, or, when I go home to my mom I'm just Jennifer, (so she says), 'You get up and you take care of your own stuff.' And I love that; I don't like when people tell you everything you want to hear, I want to hear the truth, you know what I mean."
Hudson recently announced her engagement to David Otunga, best known for his stint on VH1's reality show "I Love New York."
Hudson's representatives would not disclose her whereabouts Friday. She had been scheduled to appear Monday in Los Angeles to collect an ensemble cast honor at the Hollywood Awards for "The Secret Life of Bees" with co-stars including Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning.