June 2008 Archives

Originally released on December 25, 1963, The Sword in the Stone holds the distinction of being the last animated feature released while Walt Disney was still alive. The film, based on T.H. White's The Sword in the Stone, tends to get overlooked when film historians consider Disney's animated film output in the pre-computer era; Most agree that the studios golden age spanned from 1938 (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) to 1959 (Sleeping Beauty.)

Film historians will continue to debate whether The Sword in the Stone deserves classic status in the Disney animation cannon, but one thing is certain: the film had a profound impact on many children of the eighties. I can remember sitting in a movie theater as a young girl in the early eighties and being absolutely enraptured by the story of young Arthur, (known as "Wart" to his family and friends) and his quest to be King.

Dynasty, like Dallas, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest was one of the quintessential eighties guilty pleasure shows. You didn't watch them for great acting or smart writing. It was the drama intrigue, cat fighting and endless bed-hopping that kept audiences coming back for more.

Created by Richard and Esther Shapiro, Dynasty revolved around the Carrington's, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado. When the series premiered on January 12, 1981 on ABC, Blake Carrington (John Forsythe) was preparing to marry the younger Krystle Jennings (Linda Evans). Krystle was beautiful, but lacked the cultured upbringing that many in the Carrington household thought any wife of Blake should possess. The couple met when she took a job as a secretary at his large company, Denver-Carrington. Blake's daughter Fallon (Pamela Sue Martin) resented her and the household staff was openly patronizing. The only support she received was from Blake's homosexual son Steven (Al Corley), who felt adrift in the family despite his position as heir to his father's position.

The Odd Couple is a kind of rarity in television. Based on the 1968 film that starred Jack Lemmon as Felix and Walter Matthau as Oscar, many feel that the series starring Tony Randall as Felix and Jack Klugman as Oscar equaled or surpassed the quality of the film. Both Tony Randall and Jack Klugman received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for each of the shows five seasons. Even more amazing, ABC canceled The Odd Couple at the end of each season during the series five year run because of poor ratings, only to bring the show back after it scored so well in the Neilsen's during summer reruns.

When a hit series enters its ninth season, it reasonable to start wondering if the show has begun to run its course, or as the saying goes, "jumped the shark." As the 2002-2003 season of ER, its ninth, many wondered how the departures of Anthony Edwards (Dr. Mark Green) and Eriq LaSalle (Dr. Peter Benton) would affect the show.

As season eight concluded, Dr. Carter (Noah Wylie), now the senior doctor in the E.R., faced his first challenge, as a possible case of small pox was detected in the ER Season nine begins right where the previous season ended. Having brought in the CDC, he and nurse Abby Lockhart (Maura Tierney) along with doctors Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen (Ming-Na) and Greg Pratt (Mekhi Phifer) are now under quarantine for two weeks. In the meantime, the rest of the staff is struggling to evacuate patients to other hospitals. In the chaos, crusty Chief of staff Dr. Robert Romano (Paul McCrane) has his arm sheared off by a helicopter. With that, the ninth season of ER is off and running.

After watching Rails & Ties, I couldn't help but feel the film could've and should've been better. Rails & Ties marks the directorial debut of Alison Eastwood (daughter of Clint), and she should be applauded for taking on such difficult material for her debut behind the camera. While I found the first thirty five minutes of the film moving and emotionally gripping, not long after that, the plot sunk into a series of melodramatic clichés found in bad television movies.

Tom Stark (Kevin Bacon) is a railroad engineer who doesn't just love his work; it seems to be the thing that defines him as a person. As the film opens, Tom is told he can take a day off to spend time with his wife Megan (Marcia Gay Harden), who has cancer. Tom just wants to work, and boards his beloved train for his shift.

Created by Matt Williams, Carmen Finestra (who both produced The Cosby Show) and David MacFadzean, Home Improvement was based on the standup comedy routine of Tim Allen. The show debuted on September 1, 1991 on ABC and became an instant hit ranking 5th in the Neilsen ratings during the series first season, and never leaving the top ten during the shows entire eight year run.

Tim "The Toolman" Taylor (Tim Allen) is the accident prone host of Tool Time, based in Detroit Michigan. He spends most of his time teasing his co-host Al Borland (Richard Karn), unmercifully. Tim is married to Jill (Patricia Richardson) and they are raising three boys; Brad (Zachery Ty Bryan), Randy Jonathan Taylor Thomas), who left the series at the beginning of the eighth season by going off on an environmental research study in Costa Rica. Mark (Taran Noah Smith), the youngest son, grew into an outcast who dressed in dark clothing and was prone to sulky behavior.

The lack of good roles in films for actresses over forty has been an issue almost since cinema began. Through the years, there have always been a few female stars; Katherine Hepburn immediately comes to mind as an actress who could still get a good leading role in an excellent film. For the most part though, women over forty and certainly over fifty are relegated to supporting roles as mothers, grandmothers or kooky neighbors. In contrast men in their forties and fifties are still cast as action heroes and romantic leads, often alongside women fifteen to twenty five years their junior.

Hands down, Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the most talented actors working in films today. He resists the temptation to turn out movie after movie, often taking three, four even five years between big screen performances. However, each time he graces the screen whether he's playing a man with cerebral palsy in My Left Foot (1989), a man wrongly accused of being an IRA terrorist in In the Name of the Father (1993) or a fighter looking to leave the past behind in The Boxer, Day-Lewis always seems to give a mesmerizing performance that makes a film worth watching.

I know I already reviewed this film two months ago, and declared myself less than impressed with it. However, after hearing friends repeatedly tell me I missed the point of the entire movie and it was indeed one of the best monster movies to come out in a long time, I wondered if maybe I fell asleep when I watched the standard DVD release and just didn't realize it. Anyway, just a few weeks ago, I got my first blu-ray DVD player and have been revisiting some old titles in the new format. As it happens, Cloverfield was released on blu-ray on June 3, 2008, so I decided to give the movie another shot.

As Benjamin Franklin lay on his deathbed in 1790, John Adams said, "The history of our Revolution will be one continued lie from one end to the other, the essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin's electrical rod smote the earth and out sprang General Washington." As it turns out, Adams wasn't altogether incorrect. When history looks at the founding of the United States, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are often given the bulk of the credit, while the nation's second President, John Adams is given a secondary role in the birth of a nation.

As an avid movie watcher, I find myself continually wondering why Hollywood seems so obsessed with remakes. Is it because it's easy just to reheat ideas that have already been done, or do some entertainment honchos really feel they can improve an old piece of material? Recently, A&E broadcast a four hour mini-series called The Andromeda Strain, an adaptation of the 1969 Michael Crichton novel, that was already adapted for the big screen by respected director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music, The Day the Earth Stood Still) While the original theatrical release was a reasonable 130 minutes, I was leery that expanding the story to four hours was a positive sign.

I didn't watch Army Wives at all last season. I watched it for the first time about ten days ago, when I received a review copy of Army Wives: The Complete First Season. I was initially intrigued by the show because I had been a big fan of JAG and I thought with Catherine Bell involved, the show couldn't be half bad.

About fifteen minutes into the first episode, I was sufficiently hooked. I liked the acting, the storylines and the occasional soap opera feel. I thought, great this will be a real guilty pleasure for my summertime viewing.

As I wrote in a review of The Fugitive - Season One, Volume Two, I believe the series stands out as a television masterpiece; Creator Roy Huggins, producer Quinn Martin, and all of the actors involved came together to create one of the finest dramas in television history. More than forty years after the series left the air, the fear of Dr. Richard Kimble remains palpable and each of his attempts to avoid capture remains gripping.

Since the basic premise of The Fugitive remained the same each week--Dr. Kimble has moved to a new location with a new identity and job to avoid authorities--a cursory look at the storylines might have led some television executives to believe the show was destined to fail. However, while the series finished 28th in the Neilsen ratings after the first season, the show was ranked 5th by the end of the end of the second season--television's second highest rated drama, behind only Bonanza which was the highest rated series in the United States.

In the last twenty five years, television has taken viewers on a journey through the grittier side of war with series like Tour of Duty, China Beach and The Unit. Rarely has television examined the lives of the families left at home as their husbands, wives, mothers and fathers serve their country. In an effort to change that, on June 3, 2007 Army Wives premiered on Lifetime television. Based on the non-fiction book Under the Sabers: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage by Tanya Biank, Army Wives was created by Katherine Fugate and Grey's Anatomy executive producer Mark Gordon serves in the same capacity for Army Wives.

With films like Cache and Piano Teacher, Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke has shown a desire to observe unsettling human behavior and dramatize the response to it. That said, the purpose of Funny Games is to provoke and disturb the audience as much as possible. While Funny Games is likely to scare some to the point of not being able to watch it, those that already saw Haneke's 1997 German version of the film may be a bit perplexed as to why the director chose to do a virtual shot-by-shot remake of his own film.

For me, Hawaii Five-0 still remains one of the coolest cop shows in television history. Though the series ceased production in 1980 after a very successful twelve year run on CBS, Hawaii Five-0 continues to run in syndication throughout the world and selected episodes of the show can be seen on demand via streaming media at CBS interactive.

Hawaii Five-0 was created by Leonard Freeman who was a writer for the series Route 66 in 1960 and produced The Untouchables in 1962. In 1967, Freeman produced the Clint Eastwood western Hang 'Em High. Despite those impressive credits, few would argue that Hawaii Five-0 stands as Leonard Freeman's biggest contribution to the entertainment medium. The opening title sequence has got to be one of the most memorable in television history. To put it to you straight--the pictures of the then fairly new state of Hawaii accompanied by what has to be one of the greatest television themes ever (composed by Morton Stevens) draws the audience right into the show.

Diane Keaton has made some great films in a career that has spanned almost forty years. She won a Best Actress Oscar in 1978 for her role in Annie Hall and has been nominated for the coveted award on three other occasions. While Jon Heder lacks the Oscar pedigree of Diane Keaton, with Napoleon Dynamite (2004) and Blades of Glory (2007) he has shown himself to be a talented comic actor. Unfortunately for Keaton and Heder, Mama's Boy is neither particularly good nor funny.