When I was a kid way back in them there ’70s and ’80s, I already thought Gene Shalit was a strange old dude. He must’ve only been in his friggin’ teens as the guy’s still around. It’s Abe Vigoda Syndrome, baby. Anyway, GLAAD is pissed off at Shalit’s recent review of Brokeback Mountain. I guess Gene had decided that it was time to prove he still existed, since only us old schoolers remember him. I mean, Roger Ebert gets older and thinner, and Shalit remains the same scary hairball with each passing year. Thank God we never had to see Gene in a “Battle of the Network Stars” way back when. Can you imagine having to inadvertently discover where the rest of that hair decided to go on his body while watching him in a tug o’ war match? Creepy.
Year: 2006 (Page 224 of 228)
Well, it sure as hell can’t hurt.
From RickyGervais.com:
Simpsons creator praises Gervais
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening said Ricky Gervais did such a good job writing an episode of the hit US comedy show that he wants him to do more.
The Office star wrote and appears in the episode, which is due to be screened in the US in the spring.
Groening said Gervais was good enough to be a regular character, according to reports in the UK press.
“He caught our tone exactly, and then added his own Ricky Gervais/David Brent patheticness,” Groening said.
“Everything you could ever possibly want from Ricky Gervais you get.
“It’s possible we’ll collaborate again… he should be a regular character. In fact, he should have his own cartoon series.”
Gervais’ character in The Simpsons is based on David Brent from The Office sitcom.
He moves into The Simpson household with Marge as the family take part in an episode of Wife Swap, while Homer moves in with his wife.
Gervais was invited to pen the episode by Groening, who is a fan of The Office.
He described writing the episode as a “dream come true”.
Attention late night couch potatoes: “SNL” is funny again. It took them long enough, considering Will Ferrell was the only remaining talent on the cast until about three years ago. After leaving the show to pursue a movie career, though, the famous sketch program was left in the hands of… gasp… Jimmy Fallon. We all know how that turned out, since Fallon has one character he uses in every one of his skits. Now, relative newcomers Chris Parnel and Andy Samberg have delivered what’s sure to become the hottest internet download of the year with the “‘SNL’ Digital Short” entitled “Lazy Sunday.” In it, two grown men rap about their journey on the way to seeing Disney’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” in theaters. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and then you’ll hit “replay.”
Check it out: http://youtube.com/watch.php?v=zLElfJ9YCh0
With the beginning of a new year comes January, the official dumping grounds for the worst of the worst in this year’s film litter, and this week offers up two prime examples with the good possibility of a third. Along with the Uwe Boll video game adaptation of “Bloodrayne,” and the not-dumb-it’s-funny-but-dumb-because-it’s-really-dumb “Grandma’s Boy,” horror auteur Eli Roth’s releases his latest feature, “Hostel.” The film, which has pretty much been described as a movie that would make even the “Saw” guys hurl, has received mostly positive reviews, but with the warning that it might not be as psychotic as the trailers make it seem. Also in wide release this week is the Steven Spielberg political thriller “Munich” and the Heath Ledger romantic comedy “Casanova.”
I’m a huge Woody Allen fan and have been ever since I was a kid. Yeah, I’m one of those types that could relate to the poor shlub even as a pre teen. And even though the man’s movies haven’t done much for me since perhaps Bullets Over Broadway, that still leaves a whole lot left that I still love to watch. Here then are my own five personal favorites from the vast Woody Allen catalog.
1. Stardust Memories – In which Allen creates a loving tribute to Fellini a-la 8 1/2 and manages to piss off some of his fans and critics at the same time. This is the one in which he plays Sandy, a comedic filmmaker who doesn’t want to make comedies anymore. But he’s been invited to be a guest speaker at a film festival of his own movies. So off he goes reluctantly while battling it out with the movie studio that’s making his latest picture. They want it to be funny and have a “Jazz Heaven.” Sandy just wants peace and quiet. In the meantime, he’s haunted by memories of his schizo ex-girlfriend. Indeed, this is the film with the classic line “I love your movies, especially the earlier, funny ones.” It’s too bad, then, that Woody took his uptown like in NYC far too fucking seriously later on and began doling out a series of interchangable films with too few laughs.
2. Bananas – And before he became so damned seriously amusing, Woody started out making hilarious, slapstick-influenced features. In Bananas, Woody is Fielding Mellish (quite possibly the best character name of all time), a products tester who finds himself joining the rebel forces in a recently overthrown San Marcos. Before you know it, he becomes the leader and much madness ensues. There are too many great jokes here to list, but among my favorites is when Allen invites Louise Lasser in to his apartment where he can “open a can of ribs” if she’s hungry. Lots of cameos in this one, too, including Howard Cosell, Sylvester Stallone, and Conrad Bain and Charlotte Rae (!) whom if you recall respectively became Mr. Drummond and Mrs. Garrett on “Dif’frent Strokes” and “The Facts of Life.” A ragtime-infested musical score by Marvin Hamlisch rounds out the groove of this classic.
3. Take The Money And Run – This is Allen’s first wrting/directing/starring debut and it still holds up with lots of laughs. Woody plays a bumbling petty thief who can’t do anything right. He spends a lot of time going into and breaking out of prisons, and falling in love, natch. Probably the most famous scene is the one which he goofs a bank hold up with a misspelled note (“What’s this…’Apt natural’?”; “I’m pointing a gub at you.”). Other classic scenes find Allen playing cello in a marching band and trying to keep with it during a parade down main street, and some hilarious moments on a chain gang (especially during said gang’s escape). It’s another screwball comedy, but no one made ’em like this. No one still does.
4. Zelig – Woody plays the “human chameleon” Leonard Zelig in this bizarre mockumentary. Long before Forrest Gump wowed audiences by putting Tom Hanks into various old news reel clips with the help of some fancy computers, Allen did it here first with good old opticals. It apparently took a lot of hard work and effort, but the visuals here are far more strking and funny than those of Gump. Mia Farrow plays a doctor who wants to cure Leonard of his affliction (he can turn into anyone because he has self-image problems) and ultiamtely falls in love with him. During one portion of the therapy, Zelig is placed under hypnosis where he tells Farrow how much he hates her pancakes. There’s also a zippy tune called “Doing The Chameleon” that sticks in your mind for long afterward. This is definitely one of Allen’s forays into the esoteric, and like Stardust Memories, not everyone loves it, but it’s one of those experiments that paid off and became more well-loved years later.
5. Radio Days – Allen only narrates this feature, a terrific memoir of his childhood days when the radio was everything and nobody knew what a TV really was. For those of us who were born far too late to have experienced any of it, it can certainly make you want to have been there and lived through the times. Lots of great performances here, with the best probably coming from Dianne Wiest, who plays Woody’s good-timing Aunt Bea. Mia Farrow also excels here, putting forth her best comedic performance ever as Sally White who has a really thick Noo Yawk accent. Her diction lessons are hilarious, and when she finally does overcome her affliction, she gets to sing one of the best fictional jingles ever, “Get Regular With ReLax”, for a laxative commercial. Decoder rings, nostalgia, and a killer soundtrack of really great old pop tunes make this a must.
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