Pre Podcast Notes - 5/27 - Terminator, Night at the Museum, Dirty Dozen

Prepodcast notes:

Terminator:
Terminator and T2 did something that is hard to do which elevates them into 'The Greats': they showed you something you hadn't seen before. T3 failed bc it didn't proving that Arnie plus comfortable Terminator-y universe elements does not a good Terminator film make.

Consider Matrix - same concept. Sequels wear the new and influential down to flash and bang.

Terminator Salvation is more successful than T3 bc you do see elements of the Terminator universe that you've never seen, but is ultimately a failure bc you've seen them elsewhere: Transformers, War of the Worlds, and Road Warrior and Aliens leap to mind.

Bombastic stupid action.

The Good:
Decent Action with some highlights:
The unstoppable Terminator torso, the underwater 'eels',

The Bad:
-The new terminator with a human heart and the twist seen from a mile away where he's inadvertently brought John Connor to Skynet
-The misuse/unnecessary casting of Bryce Dallas Howard who has gone from vet to heart surgeon since T3
-The horrible, hacky ending - heart transplant thing
-The mute kid
-The horrible 'why don't they just' questions
Everything's mishandled: even 'I'll be Back'

The mixed:
Arnold's cameo

Night at the Museum - Battle of the Smithsonian:
Ben Stiller has left the museum to succeed in a new career as an inventor/pitchman for infomercials. He visits the museum and learns that most of his buddies from the first film are being put into permanent storage at the Smithsonian--without the tablet that brings them to life. Stuff happens and he has to go to the Smithsonian where the tablet HAS shown up bringing a whole new cast of characters to life including Kahmunrah played by Hank Azaria who hopes to take over the world with....

I can sum up everything wrong with the film in one example: There are marble cherubs from a fountain in one of the Smithsonian buildings that come to life and kind of flit around Ben Stiller singing love songs. The cherubs look like and are voiced by The Jonas Brothers.

In that one decision the entire problem with the film comes to light: we will do ANYTHING, we will pander as hard as we need to for your affections. Even if that means showcasing The Jonas Brothers--who are clearly not historical figures that some famous fountain would have their likeness.

--The first film is a delight.

--It's stupid and you can't think too much, but it's a great good-for-the-whole-family-film.

--But they do set up a universe which is ignored here
--My 8 year old son was asking me great questions that shows there's hope for the lad in his filmgoing tastes: why did they know they were manniquins? They didn't know they were manikins in the first film.

I laughed twice. I know that bc I could and did count them. And either ricky gervais or steve coogan were involved.

That's a sad state of affairs for a comedy--the jokes came at you obvious and weren't funny...didn't delver.

Back to Terminator - if we give you robots and guns and arnie you'll be satisfied.

If we give you the characters you liked and the monkey slaps Ben Stiller...you'll like it.

Sorry, it wasn't enough.

Nitpick:
And why are you wearing a cape, are we going to the opera? How are these manikins come to life so aware of the world around them in a way not seen in the first film?
Why General Custer? What did he do?

The good:
Amy Adams - I think I'm falling in love.

Dirty Dozen
There are films for the ages that when you watch them they stand up and you don't have to take into consideration when they were made. For example, The Graduate. There are fingerprints of 1967 all over The Graduate, but I've never had to say it's a good film for a a 1967 film. You don't have to forgive it for its age or year of production. A war film, apocalypse now.....or The Godfather...

Marvin, who was at the height of his career in 1967 (having just come off a Best Actor Oscar win a year earlier for Cat Ballou), accepted the part eagerly. And, after his name was attached to the project, the other participants fell in line.

I'd seen TDD once before and when I rewatched it i found it incredibly engaging.

Not watching the film in context of its release, you have to rely on research to fill in some blanks.
Although it is not often thought of as such, The Dirty Dozen became the first major mainstream film to acknowledge that brutality and atrocities occurred on both sides in World War II. In essence, the film is about a group of thugs attacking and killing dozens of Germans (some of whom were innocent civilians) in cold blood. Despite the heroic musical score and unrelenting machismo evident throughout the film, the climactic event is more of a massacre than a battle. Arriving on screens in the midst of the increasingly unpopular war in Vietnam, it's easy to see how this aspect of the story would appeal to some viewers. In depicting Allied soldiers as something less than model citizens, The Dirty Dozen broke a barrier, blurring the lines between the "good guys" and the "bad guys".

In the wake of The Dirty Dozen, it became a popular cinematic conceit to portray war in a more realistic and less glamorous fashion. Few of these films, however, used this approach with World War II; instead, Vietnam became the common target, with efforts like The Deer Hunter and Platoon. In many ways, however, 1998's Saving Private Ryan can be seen as an extension of what director Robert Aldrich started with The Dirty Dozen - showing that even in wars where the objectives are noble, the means by which they are achieved may be less than heroic.


with a few notable flaws:
The dozen being a perfectly melded potpourri.
Why criminals to complete this mission?
The dozen doesn't earn the affection we're to have for the men with the exception of Posey and Bronson.

Clunky pace but when they get into battle, in the practice field and on the actual mission, Everything is forgiven.

Wide shots of tactical warfare was so refreshing considering the style of the day of cut, cut, cut.

I want to see more films and read more books about WWII strategy.

A great marketing piece short film in the DVD special features that Mike Myers had to have heard to write all the dialogue of Austin Powers.

LRFF:

I decided to avoid all horribly obvious choices:
Saving Private Ryan
Schindler's List
Casablanca
Patton
From Here to Eternity



The Great Escape, 1963


A Bridge Too Far, 1977
Innumerable stars from Britain, the US and beyond gather for this Second World War epic. Directed by Richard Attenborough and scripted by William Goldman, A Bridge Too Far is a remarkable, star-studded telling of General Montgomery's ill-fated Operation Market Garden, in which thousands of troops were parachuted into Arnhem, behind enemy lines, to hold key strategic positions (notably bridges) until the main force arrived to push into German territory.

The Bridge On The River Kwai, 1957
The true story of the superhuman efforts of Allied POWs, who amid inhuman conditions were forced build a bridge to aid the Japanese war effort. When a plan is hatched to destroy the bridge, the POWs are faced with a dilemma - save the bridge that cost so many lives to build, or defend Allied interests buy demolishing it. It's the ironic complexity of the story, together with David Lean's trademark epic visual style that places this among the best British war films.

The Longest Day, 1962
This star-studded Second World War action-film is a big, long, loud spectacular from the days when 'epic' filmmaking really meant something. With 42 international stars (including John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and Sean Connery), The Longest Day depicts the D-Day landings at Normandy from both the Allied and German perspectives, and its scope in story and production is nothing less than mammoth.

Where Eagles Dare, 1968
A classic Second World War thriller starring Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood as crack paratroopers sent deep behind enemy lines to rescue a captured Allied general imprisoned in a forbidding castle commandeered by the SS. Alastair MacLean's script has more old-fashioned thrills, spills and hair-breadth escapes than 20 chapters of 'King Of The Rocket Men'.

Blog Page RE-updated

...let's see how long this lasts.

www.joehilliard.com is now fully current. I believe that page will be comprised mostly of my OCD lists with headlines for blog entries that will link back here. So what do I intend these blog entries to be?

What with the podcast and the radio show and all my other 'stuff', invariably, not all is conveyed, and frankly both shows don't allow for some information to be conveyed. Let's break it down shall we?

The podcast
TMH has a strict format with a loose presentation: one new-in-theater release for x minutes, DVD (maybe two) for y minutes, the magic segment and then LRFF. Now that's a solid show--first class entertainment--but at the end of the day I'm seeing more movies in a week than we can discuss on the show AND I'm seeing films, bc I try to see anything with potential cultural value, that we may not want to discuss on the show.

Two examples:
There is no pop culture phenom in the literary world larger, currently, than Twilight. So I rented Twilight in spite of the horrible critical reception it received. And that negative, unanimous critical reception will keep it off the show. I'll write a review of Twilight here, then. Harry Potter is a different story and had TMH existed when HP I was released of course we would have discussed it due to it's at least average, if not above average, critical reception. The second example, a Netflix currently at my house, is Marley and Me. I doubt we'd ever discuss M&M on the show, but, again, very successful book, actor with a recent suicide attempt, controversy over its rating: yeah, I want to check that out. So, again, I'll review that here.

The Radio Show
KWM is admittedly in a state of flux right now. I have no idea what it should be or what it is right now. Suggestions? However, this will be the avenue to blog about things we discuss on the show

CCFS Stuff
CC7D 2009 is on its way. I'm considering this location to be the 'sneak peek' point of information transfer.

So, I have plenty to say.

...Optimistically, this will last forever.

Review - Slumdog Millionaire

Originally published elsewhere and writen as a quick, short paragraph nutshell on 1/16/09.

I saw this one in New Orleans when I'd learned it hadn't opened in CC the same weekend as scheduled. I need to see it again. It's visually stirring and I understand why people enjoy it, but I am not a part of the unabashed love train this film is getting. It will win the Oscar and I will be saying, after the fact, that I disagree with that decision...unless I see it again and am moved in that direction.

Review - The Wrestler

Originally published elsewhere and writen as a quick, short paragraphs nutshell on 1/26/09.

Saw The Wrestler on my first double date in...don't know how long. Dinner at Thai Cottage which was excellent and then on to the movies. This was the biggest weekend in local theaters all year with the release on the same day of The Wrestler, Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, and Revolutionary Road. Longest line at the theater? Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Welcome to CC.

If you consider what makes a great film, you break it down into a few pieces: acting, story, filmaking technique, etc. The Wrestler is a very good film. Easily one of the most entertaining of the year. What makes it a very good film is the performance of Mickey Roarke. IT IS as good as you're hearing. Sadly what keeps it from being a great film is the flimsy, cliched story. You know what will happen at every step of the way and hardly see anything new (except for the in-ring wrestling scenes). You know what will happen at every step of the way. For many this will not be a factor bc there is a true emotional heart that will pull the heart strings. I would have liked to get there in a less conventional manner.

Show Note Addendum - January 17, 2009

Casey Rocks House of Rock Appreciation - TONIGHT

HOUSE OF ROCK: 511 Starr St., 882-7625. Today: 10 p.m., Whitey Morgan, Paul Sutherland, The Doolins. Cover: $5; $7/minors. Saturday: 7p.m., House of Rock, 511 Starr St., presents the Casey Rocks! House of Rock Appreciation show presented by Neo Sound Resources, featuring Fist of Pleasure, Cloud Chaser, Dalton's Eyes, Killamora, Sandy Craven, Avenue Rockers, Chad Petty, Hobo, Ty Dietz and Tim Russell. Cost: $5. $8/ages 21 and younger. Sunday: 10 p.m., Shockwave with DJ Johnny Hotcakes. Cover: $5. Monday: 7 p.m., Broken Schematics. Cover: $5 for minors.
www.texashouseofrock.com

Vote CC Facebook Page
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1198756225&ref=ts

Coastalthon - Feb. 6
www.coastalthon.com

David Loeb - City Council At Large Candidate
http://www.caller.com/news/2009/jan/15/city-council-at-large-businessman-loeb-announces/

Show Notes - Jan 3, 2009

--CC Film Society's newest event, Coastalthon 2009, is coming up Feb. 6.
www.coastalthon.com

--Reel Simple's Casting Call
go to www.corpuschristifilmsociety.com for more info

Reel Simple Productions is casting local talent for a national commercial
spot. ALL ages, ALL ethnicities, ALL types welcome. Bring your friends,
family and neighbors. The more the merrier.

You must be available to come to a location TBD in the CC area for no more than one hour at a time, any time during the four shooting days, January 12-15. You will be asked to sign an image release in order to appear in the ad.

Minors must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

All interested parties must attend the casting call at the offices of Reel
Simple Productions.

Date: Sunday January 4th
Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Reel Simple Productions
3833 S. Staples Ste N215
Corpus Christi, TX

Need directions? Visit us online at http://www.reelsimple.com/aboutus/#contact

Daniel Garza
Reel Simple Productions
980-1375
549-8594

--J Mullins, KEYS Producer, is leaving CC! Why?

--Dist. 2 and Incumbent John Marez announces candidacy and appears on show

Sexy 2009!

ANOTHER PARIS VIDEO SCANDAL!
LINDSEY BACK IN REHAB!
BRITNEY GOES NUTS…AGAIN!

Can we have an honest moment? Headlines like these are like a horrible car accident. Even though we know that it’s useless junk, we simply can’t look away. Every week at the grocery store and every day on afternoon television we just can’t deny that tiny surge of adrenaline that comes from knowing who’s in rehab or who has cellulite. We watch American Idol and hate ourselves for it…but keep right on watching. It’s a countrywide epidemic: we just seem to live for the latest juicy nugget from Us Magazine, perezhilton.com and Entertainment Tonight. ‘Serious’ and ‘valid’ media outlets aren’t above taking the sleazy, tabloid ride either. Tom Cruise gets wacky on Oprah’s couch and it’s playing hourly on CNN Headline News.

Smoking Bans and Decrepit Coliseums? Who cares? We want to know where Brangelina is this week, and, if in some blissful utopia, we could see a photo of Brangelina together with TomKat, our lives would finally be worth living. These are the headlines that Americans care about.

The tipping point for me—when I decided to investigate this nationwide phenomenon at a local level— was last year’s People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive issue (Matt Damon ‘won’ last year by the way...his precedessor for 2009? Hugh Jackman). As a student of what Corpus Christi is all about, I immediately asked myself, “Where do Corpus Christians turn for a local celebrity fix? Who are the people that always turn heads when they walk into a room (even if there are not paparazzi hiding in the plants to get a candid shot of them)?” In short, “WHO ARE CORPUS CHRISTI’S SEXIEST PEOPLE?”

Using the show and internet-based voting, I set out on a two month journey to find the answers to these questions realizing I was on the right track when I immediately received over 100 nominees. I quickly learned that even here in the Sparkling City by the Sea, we’re not immune to the instant celebrity provided by reality shows and tabloid exposes: everyone wants to be a celebrity. People nominated themselves. People asked friends to nominate them without taking the nomination request off the bottom of the email. People sent in Glamour Shots from 1997. I knew then it was going to be a very crazy ride.

In addition to sexy, though, I was curious about celebrity so I used a simple criterion for all nominees: Would most people know them by name or face if they were in this contest? If so, they were indeed a ‘celebrity’ and could advance into the contest.

According to the online voters and nominators, there are tons of local Britney Spears and George Clooneys and they all began to fit into general, broad categories. Leading the pack were our local news reporters and anchors, which makes sense since they are true television figures that we choose to bring into our homes day after day. Joe Gazin vs. Lee Sausley vs. Eric Von Wade. Bianca Castro vs. Crystal George vs. Katia Uriarte. Sure you trust them to bring you the latest local news, but had you ever asked yourself: which is sexiest? If you could cozy up to Katia Uriarte or Barbi Leo in the KIII newsroom, which would you pick?

Our locally-based elected officials also scored big. I didn’t realize people went to city council meetings to gaze into the eyes of Mike Hummell, John Marez and Mike McCutcheon (all nominated). Both of our State Representatives were nominated. Can Juan Garcia and Solomon Ortiz, Jr., effectively introduce legislation to their fellow representatives when their audience is swooning from their picture-perfect hairstyles?

Prominent local business leaders also took center stage including Freddie Records VP Freddie Martinez, Jr., House of Rock co-owner Casey Lain, and Carol Scott, Co-owner (owner?) of Kailo Communications.

It took five rounds of American Idol-style weekly eliminations to parse the field from 70 to the top 3 finalists. There were ties. There were upsets. There were twists and surprises. There were newsroom catfights across the city, but 7000+ votes later with 30,000 website visits we have a very thorough and democratically-produced answer. I don’t know if the paparazzi will begin huddling in Barbi Leo’s landscaping hoping to snap a photo of her taking out the trash or if we’ll see an FYI headline someday that says ERIC VON WADE PLASTIC SURGERY SHOCKER, but it’s comforting to know that we don’t have to rely on Hollywood for local Hollywood-caliber celebrity and great looks.

For the full story go to keysweekendmagazine.com

2008's Winners:
SEXIEST MAN - RUBEN BONILLA
SEXIEST WOMAN - BARBI LEO
SEXIEST ANCHORMAN - ERIC VON WADE, KZTV
SEXIEST WEATHERMAN - DAVE MAZZA, KZTV
SEXIEST WEATHERWOMAN - NADIA TORRES, KORO
SEXIEST MOUSTACHE - ANGEL COVARRUBIAS, KORO
SEXIEST CITY COUNCILMAN - MIKE HUMMELL
SEXIEST SPORTSCASTER - SEAN HOREJS, KRIS
SEXIEST RAY - NICK LINDBERG
SEXIEST HOOK - TWIST! NOT A PLAYER! MANAGEMENT! JJ GOTTSCH
SEXIEST REPORTER - LAUREN WILLIAMSON, KRIS
SEXIEST DISC JOCKEY - GINO FLORES, Z95
SEXIEST LOCAL MUSICIAN - MATT HOLE, MATT HOLE AND THE HOT ROD GANG