The Couch Potato Report - September 12th, 2009
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a little bit of everything…movies, TV shows and foreign films…a little bit of everything.
There is no one huge title that stands above all others this week...no Hot Potato...so instead, I'll just tell you about the 10 new titles that are the most noteworthy.
SEASON FIVE of the American remake of the BBC classic series THE OFFICE is where I'll begin, primarily because this show still makes me laugh out loud, even when I watch the episodes a second or third time!!
THE OFFICE is the show about a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and the people who work there and love there.
In addition to the laughs, SEASON FIVE of the show also featured several shows that were very touching, and one that primarily took place just East of us.
Big laughs, lots of fun, emotionally touching episodes, that was SEASON FIVE of THE OFFICE.
And that was a formula that a new show last year tried to copy. Not emulate, copy.
PARKS & RECREATION was created by some of the same people who produce THE OFFICE, and is shot in mockumentary style like it's predecessor.
The first season of this show wasn't a total failure, but without it's top notch cast, it easily could have been.
PARKS & RECREATION stars Saturday Night's Live's Amy Poehler as an ambitious and hopeful small town government worker, who is trying to have a park built on an abandoned construction site.
The character is pushy and doesn't always listen, and she could have come across as unlikable, but Amy is just such a great comedian, that instead of not liking her, you actually root for her.
Rashida Jones, Aziz Ansari, Paul Schneider, Aubrey Plaza and Nick Offerman round out the cast of PARKS & RECREATION and while SEASON ONE wasn't a complete success, I am looking forward to the second one, because that cast is just so strong that I look forward to seeing if they can succeed.
The cast of this next film, originally a Canadian/German co-production, is the only reason I watched it...actually, the fact that Canadian actress Natasha Henstridge was in it was the reason I watched it...but she is a part of the cast!!
This film is called IMPACT.
IMPACT is in the same vein as ARMAGEDDON, INDEPENDENCE DAY and DEEP IMPACT, but it just doesn't have as big a budget, and as strong a script.
It was filmed in Victoria, B.C. and Berlin and it is about a global crisis caused by an asteroid that has smashed into the moon.
Then, the moon's new orbit has put it on a collision course with Earth and a global team of scientists now only have 39 days to stop it or Earth, and all of mankind, will perish.
Canadian actor David James Elliott of the television series JAG also stars in IMPACT and while it is a bit slow at times, and doesn't really offer anything unique or brand new, I still liked it.
But then again, I will watch just about anything with Natasha Henstridge in it, and IMPACT was no different.
She's a favourite of mine, and action star Jason Statham is a favourite of many others.
They will watch anything that he is in, including the three TRANSPORTER films, THE BANK JOB, and the 2006 film CRANK.
Well, now there is a sequel to that one...it's CRANK 2 - HIGH VOLTAGE.
The original CRANK had Staham playing a professional assassin named Chev Chelios who has been injected with a poison that will kill him if his heart rate drops.
In CRANK 2, a Chinese mobster has stolen his heart and replaced it with a battery-powered one that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep working.
That all said, does it matter?!? Jason Statham is in another action film, and if you like him, you'll like this!!
It is violent, profane, and has a preposterous premise, but CRANK 2 - HIGH VOLTAGE is exactly what you'd expect, and even though I think it could have been better, I enjoyed it for what it was.
Bring on CRANK 3!! And how much do you want to bet it will be CRANK 3-D?!?
I still have six noteworthy releases for you this week, and this next one is narrated by the late, great Paul Newman!!
THE MEERKATS is an 83 minute documentary about a clan of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert, not unlike the ones we met in the great television series MEERKAT MANOR.
The film uses real footage from a series of cameras, many of them underground, to show us the lives of these fascinating creatures.
It is well written and edited and it features some great footage. THE MEERKATS isn't as completely entertaining as MEERKAT MANOR, but the creatures themselves will always be fun to watch, so this movie is one you should see, if you get as much of a kick out of them, or you just enjoy nature documentaries.
From the Kalahari Desert and some meerkats, lets go now to Sweden and a very entertaining movie - based on the true story of Maria Larsson - a working class woman in the early 1900s, who wins a camera in a lottery and - even with seven kids and an abusive husband - managed to carve out a career for herself as a photographer.
It's funny, I have taken over 30,000 pictures in the last couple of years, and yet prior to seeing this film, I never once thought of them as "everlasting moments", and so I think I liked the more more than I should have because it gave me that realization.
In truth, EVERLASTING MOMENTS is not a great movie...but it is a nice one. I liked it.
I also liked LEMON TREE...actually, I really liked this one!!
This is a film that tells us the story of a Palestinian widow whose only means of income is the lemon tree grove that she has beside her house.
But, when the new Israeli Defense Minister moves into the house that is next to her, his security team thinks the field is a potential threat and says that it must be torn down.
However, instead of taking the compensation they are offering, she decides to fight for her lemon trees.
Hiam Abbass won Best Actress at the Israeli Film Academy Awards earlier this year, and she is superb in LEMON TREE I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending of it, but it is still a film that I highly recommend.
If you saw BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS when it forst came out in 1971, then I can also highly recommend this next release to you...it's the ENCHANTED MUSICAL EDITION of BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS!!
The film stars Angela Lansbury as an apprentice witch who is traveling on an enchanted bed along with three kids and a cynical con man. They are searching for the missing part of a magic spell that would be useful in defending Britain.
Yes, if you saw and loved BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS when it first came out, or fell in love with it in 2001 when it was completely restored, then this new version is a must have. I doubt that it will overwhelm today's youngsters, but I always enjoy it when I get to see it again.
Finally this week, two films that are noteworthy as they have just been released on Blu-ray.
The first BLU-RAY BEACON shines on a film that stars Alberta born actress Elisha Cuthbert. This is THE GIRL NEXT DOOR.
Cuthbert stars as an adult film actress who just happens to move next door to a high school guy, and wouldn't you know it, they fall in love.
Every generation has their raunchy comedies...mine had PRIVATE SCHOOL, TOMBOY and FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH and this current one has THE GIRL NEXT DOOR.
I liked this film when it came out in 2004, and I still like it. There is no real benefit in seeing it on blu-ray, I mean how much more beautiful can Elisha Cuthbert get?!?
But that said, it's a good movie.
And you know what...so is the film M*A*S*H.
This is the Academy Award winning 1970 movie about the doctors and staff of a Korean War field hospital.
Now I love the television series, and have seen every episode over a dozen times, and I even own the 26 disc M*A*S*H - Martinis and Medicine Complete Collection...but until this week, I had never seen the film.
I thought I'd seen it, but I hadn't.
And as I said, and you might even know this, it is a good movie!!
I am really glad that I have finally seen the film, and in High Definition on Blu-ray, no less. It looks and sounds great, and comes with a wide array of special features...including one where director Robert Altman is asked about that TV series I - and many others - love so much!
The great films M*A*S*H and THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, the exactly what it should be Jason Statham movie CRANK 2 - HIGH VOLTAGE, the nature documentary THE MEERKATS, narrated by the late, great Paul Newman and SEASON FIVE of the still-very-funny television show THE OFFICE are available on Blu-ray and DVD.
The Disney classic BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS, the great Israeli film LEMON TREE, The Swedish movie EVERLASTING MOMENTS, IMPACT - starring Natasha Henstridge, and SEASON ONE of PARKS & RECREATION are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
The failed summer blockbuster WOLVERINE debuts on DVD and Blu-ray.
Plus, I'll tell you about THE WES CRAVEN COLLECTION, CAMILLE starring Sienna Miller and James Franco, THE INFORMERS with Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke and Winona Ryder, plus the BLU-RAY BEACON will shine on SILVERADO and Sam Raimi's THE QUICK AND THE DEAD.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and several 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!
Elvis Costello Launching 'The Costello Show Series'
There's just no slowing down Elvis Costello.
After launching his "Spectacle" TV series last December and releasing his latest studio effort, "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane," this past June, the punk icon is set to debut "The Costello Show Series," a selection of rare live recordings from throughout his career. First up is "Live at the El Mocambo," a heavily bootlegged concert from March 6, 1978 in Toronto. The 14 song set is due September 29 on Hip-O/Universal and originally appeared as a part of the "2 1/2 Years" box set issued by Rykodisc in 1993, but has never stood on its own as an official release.
The concert was originally broadcast on CHUM-FM and was pressed in a limited vinyl run as a promotional item. Costello was touring in support of his landmark debut, "My Aim Is True." The show features several early versions of what are now considered Costello classics, including "Pump It Up," "Watching the Detectives," and a fiery version of "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea." "Live at the El Mocambo" captures Costello at a very young age, with a raw sound in both the quality of the recording as well as the material.
While little information is available on how many shows will be included in future releases, the series is set to roll out concerts over the next year, with a performance from June 4, 1978 at Hollywood High slated next.
Costello has been a rather prolific renaissance man over the last twenty years, releasing a number of recordings with a bevy of different collaborators, including Allen Toussaint, Bill Frisell and Burt Bacharach. "Se ret, Profane & Sugarcane" continued his recent forays outside of the "punk" lexicon, pairing him with Americana legends T Bone Burnett, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Douglas and Stuart Duncan. Since June, it has sold 89,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Costello is currently on break from summer touring activities, resuming on October 5 in Singapore before heading to Australia.
Here is the track list for "Live at the El Mocambo":
"Mystery Dance"
"Waiting For The End Of The World"
"Welcome To The Working Week"
"Less Than Zero"
"The Beat"
"Lip Service"
"(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea"
"Little Triggers"
"Radio, Radio"
"Lipstick Vogue"
"Watching The Detectives"
"Miracle Man"
"You Belong To Me"
"Pump It Up"
The Dude in True Grit Talks
In what is shaping up as a potential “Big Lebowski” reunion, Jeff Bridges is in discussions with Paramount to star for Joel and Ethan Coen in “True Grit,” playing the role that won John Wayne an Oscar in the 1969 film.
Bridges, who last worked with the Coens when he turned in a heralded performance as Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski, is in talks to play the lead role in the iconic Western that the Coens are mounting as their next project.
The picture, which also reunited the Coens with their “No Country for Old Men” producing partner Scott Rudin, has been redrafted by the Coens to be more faithful to the Charles Portis novel that the original film was based on.
In it, a 14 year old girl tags along with an aging U.S. marshal and another lawman to track the outlaw who killed her father. The trail leads them into hostile Indian territory. The original told the story from Cogburn’s vantage point, but the new version will work from the viewpoint of the young girl. Kim Darby played the young girl in the original, and Glen Campbell played the other lawman.
The Coens premiere “A Serious Man” at the Toronto Film Festival. Bridges most recently starred in “The Men Who Stare At Goats” and reprised in “Tron Legacy.”
Depp back for new 'Pirates' film coming in 2011
ANAHEIM, California – Avast! Disney says a new "Pirates of the Caribbean" film is on the horizon.
Johnny Depp sailed onstage Friday on a pirate ship at the Anaheim Convention Center to help announce the forthcoming installment of Disney's blockbuster film franchise. He was welcomed with a rousing standing ovation.
Depp will reprise his role as Capt. Jack Sparrow in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," slated for summer of 2011. It's the fourth in a series.
Dressed as Sparrow, Depp staggered around the stage and embraced Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, who announced the news to about 5,000 fans on hand for the D23 Expo, Disney's answer to Comic-Con.
"Has anyone else witnessed a talking frog?" Depp's Sparrow asked the crowd, who had been treated to a performance by the Muppets moments earlier. "Where has the frog gone?"
Cook noted that it was likely time for some rum.
"Sounds good!" Sparrow predictably replied.
In his presentation of upcoming Disney films, Cook also announced that Depp would play Tonto in an upcoming big-screen adaptation of "The Lone Ranger."
The first all-things-Disney convention runs through Sunday.
'M-A-S-H' writer Larry Gelbart dies at 81
LOS ANGELES – Larry Gelbart, the award-winning writer whose sly, sardonic wit helped create such hits as Broadway's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," the films "Tootsie" and "Oh, God!" and television's "M-A-S-H," is dead.
Gelbart died at his Beverly Hills home Friday morning after a long battle with cancer, said Creative Artists Agency, which represented him. He was 81.
Gelbart, who won a Tony for "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," an Emmy for "M-A-S-H" and was nominated for two Oscars, is most likely best remembered for the long-running TV show about Army doctors during the Korean War.
Carl Reiner, his longtime friend and colleague, called Gelbart "the Jonathan Swift of our day."
"It's a great, great, great, great, great, great loss. You can't put enough `greats' in front of it," said Reiner, who directed "Oh, God!" from Gelbart's Oscar-nominated script. "The mores of our time were never more dissected and discussed. He had the ability to make an elaborate joke given nothing but one line."
"M-A-S-H" debuted on CBS in 1972, when the nation was still embroiled in the Vietnam War, and some viewers were initially puzzled or offended by its depiction of the cynical, wisecracking physicians who worked frantically to save the lives of soldiers.
By its second season it had caught on, however, and it remained one of television's top-10 rated shows for a decade, until its final episode in 1983. Along the way, it won numerous awards including the Emmy for best comedy series.
"What attracted me to `M-A-S-H' was the theme song, `Suicide is Painless,'" Gelbart once remarked. "It was written in a very minor key and appealed to me emotionally."
The show, based on a book and the 1970 Robert Altman film of the same name, starred Alan Alda. Gelbart was brought into the project by producer-director Gene Reynolds who worked with him shaping the show.
After writing 97 half-hour episodes and winning an Emmy, Gelbart quit during the show's fourth season, saying he was "totally worn out."
His entry into the entertainment business 30 years before had been worthy of a TV script itself.
Gelbart's father was a Los Angeles barber with a clientele of Hollywood notables, including Danny Thomas. While cutting Thomas' hair one day, he bragged of his 16-year-old son's writing ability and the comedian asked to see some of his work. Soon Thomas had hired Gelbart to write for his radio show.
"A comedy prodigy does not exist. A kid can make other kids laugh, but to make adults laugh with sophisticated humor at that age, it's not heard of," Reiner said Friday. "He had an unerring ear and eye for humor. He had a funny mother, which helps, and a father who loved jokes."
He went on to write gags for Bob Hope, Jack Paar, Red Buttons, Jack Carson, Eddie Cantor and Joan Davis. In 1953 he accepted Sid Caesar's offer of $1,000 a week to work for "Caesar's Hour," joining a legendary writing team that included Reiner, Mel Brooks and Neil Simon.
"He's the fastest of the fast, the wittiest man in the business," Brooks once said of him.
Deciding to expand his horizons, Gelbart also co-authored a revue, "My L.A.," which was a local hit in 1948.
His first foray to Broadway was far less successful. His 1961 play, "The Conquering Hero" closed after seven performances.
His next Broadway show, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," written with Burt Shevelove, enjoyed a far better fate the following year. Based loosely on the Roman plays of Plautus with songs by Stephen Sondheim, the show was a runaway hit, resulting in road companies and a 1966 movie with Zero Mostel and Phil Silvers.
After the play's success, Gelbart decided to move with his wife and five children to England, quipping that he wanted "to escape religious freedom in America."
They remained there for nine years, and his only notable work during that time was a script, written with Shevelove, for the 1966 black comedy, "The Wrong Box."
By the time he returned to Hollywood, however, he had a broader view of the world that he said helped him tackle "M-A-S-H."
"I make jokes all the time," Gelbart once said of his penchant for comedy. "It's a tic — a way of making myself comfortable. I can't imagine not having humor to lean on."
Gelbart also returned to the theater with "Sly Fox," which transformed Ben Jonson's Elizabethan "Volpone" to Gold Rush San Francisco. Starring George C. Scott as the devious miser, it was a solid success.
"Mastergate," a scathing treatment of the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals, flopped in 1989, but Gelbart scored the same year with "City of Angels," a musical spoof of Hollywood movies and crime novels.
His films "Oh, God!" with George Burns as a philosophical deity, and "Tootsie," with Dustin Hoffman as a cross-dressing actor, both brought him Academy Award nominations, and the HBO movie "Barbarians at the Gate," about Wall Street chicanery, brought another Emmy.
Larry Simon Gelbart was born in Chicago, moving to Los Angeles while in high school.
He married singer and actress Pat Marshall in 1956 and they raised their two children, Becky and Adam, and her three by a previous marriage, Cathy, Gary and Paul. Cathy died of cancer at age 50.
Nirvana members dismayed by 'Guitar Hero 5'
LOS ANGELES – Kurt Cobain's appearance in the latest "Guitar Hero" video game is not hitting the right notes with the surviving members of Nirvana.
Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl said in a joint statement Thursday that they were "dismayed and very disappointed" that an avatar of the late Nirvana frontman could be used to play songs by other artists.
"While we were aware of Kurt's image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn't know players have the ability to unlock the character," they said. "This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants.
We urge Activision to do the right thing in 're-locking' Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future."
Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, had been lashing out on Twitter this week about her late husband's inclusion in the game, calling it vile and claiming she would sue Activision, the game's publisher. Love claimed she never approved Cobain's digital likeness, and that she thought the grunge rocker would despise the rhythm game "let alone this avatar."
Activision said in a statement Thursday that they secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Love to use the singer's likeness as a fully playable character in "Guitar Hero 5," which includes "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Lithium" among its 85 tracks that can be played with instrument-shaped controllers.
Other real-life rockers featured in the latest edition of the popular rhythm game franchise for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and Wii include Carlos Santana and Johnny Cash. Previous "Guitar Hero" editions have featured the likenesses of Jimi Hendrix, Billy Corgan, Ted Nugent, Sting, Ozzy Osbourne, Travis Barker and members of Aerosmith.