Last night’s episode of “American Idol” was mercifully 90 minutes instead of the usual 120, meaning the judges’ snarky comments and Ryan Seacrest’s annoying banter were kept to a manageable minimum. After Crystal led off, it all kind of was just, as Simon would suggest, like bad karaoke. Of course, they propped up a few that didn’t deserve it, but really, this is still Crystal’s competition to lose now. And the guest mentor? Adam Lambert. Remember him? Here is the recap:
I’m just a hair late but, as I write this director Stanley Donen’s 86th birthday has just wrapped up. The man largely responsible for several of the greatest musicals ever made always seemed to excel especially at cafe scenes, and this send-up of modern dance from 1957’s “Funny Face,” with a frustrated Audrey Hepburn “expressing herself” is certainly one of them.
Mr. Donen will be in attendance at a screening of his most famous and perhaps greatest musical classic, “Singin’ in the Rain,” at the TCM Film Festival in Hollywood, on Saturday, April 24. Should be amazing.
I personally won’t be utterly sure it’s real until the man himself writes about it over at Whedonesque, but news today came via both Mike Fleming and (unlinkable/unreadable w/o subscription) Variety that mega-culty writer-producer-director Joss Whedon will be directing “The Avengers” as well as reworking the screenplay already written by Zak Penn.
It’s important to note that no one’s saying it’s yet a 100% done deal, just that Whedon and Marvel Studios are in “final negotiations.” I imagine that could mean anything from lawyerly due diligence, to the movieland equivalent of leaving a real estate transaction in escrow, to quibbling over whether craft services on the film will provide marshmallows along with the hot chocolate. Still, there is certainly some truth to the story, and not only because Fleming and Variety are highly reliable sources, but also that, if there were not, Whedon himself would almost certainly have piped up about it by now. He’s known for staying in touch with his fans and has quickly squelched many a baseless, “squee!”-generating rumor.
As a confessed Whedonite, I’m sure I’m biased, but I love this idea. When I first got seriously hooked on Whedon’s “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” TV series, it was because I felt something of the same sense of involvement in the characters and backstory I had when I had become involved in the often soapy plot complications of Silver Age Marvel comics. When Whedon cites Charles Dickens and Stan Lee as his two favorite authors, it makes perfect sense to me.
More objectively, I’m not really that surprised that Marvel choose him and I think he’s a shrewd pick from their point of view. Some commenters have argued that Whedon is not an experienced action film-maker. I don’t think they’ve been paying attention. He’s supervised four action-heavy television series (“Buffy,” “Angel,” “Firefly,” and “Dollhouse“) and has directed one very strong action-packed movie space opera (“Serenity“) complete with space-car chases, martial arts, and even a bit of sword play mixed with down-and-dirty street fighting. I think he’s got that ground covered.
Moreover, he brought the film in with what is, by current standards, an impossibly tiny budget for a movie with copious effects and action ($40 million) and, in my book at least, he did so with plenty of cinematic style. That has to please the notoriously tight-fisted Marvel Studio heads and probably puts them somewhat in mind of their other “risky” choice of “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau, who prior to making “Zathura” had pretty much no experience with action or effects. More or less like “Serenity,” that film garnered good reviews but did kind of badly at the box office. At $65 million, it was a somewhat higher budgeted box office disappointment, however.
“Serenity” fared poorly because it was a based on a TV show (“Firefly”) that most people had never seen, and was cursed with a premise and background that was very difficult to explain. Moreover, the title reminded people of very non-action-movie things like meditation, spas, and adult diapers. Worse, Universal was not really prepared to risk extra money on a months-long publicity campaign to try and bring the audience up to speed on what Whedon’s “verse” was all about. “”The Avengers” will not have that problem. It’s about a group of superheros doing superheroic stuff together. People will get it.
As a fan, I do have one concern — well, not a concern, but more a point of curiosity. Whedon has had, for the most part, rather fabulous luck with acting ensembles comprised mostly of unknowns, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what he can do with actual superstars like Robert Downey, Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson. This is, however, also the first time he’s not chosen his own cast but been given a ready-made ensemble, and it’s not like he can really make any major changes if he’s not happy with the way things are jelling. It’s just one of many aspects of this production that should be interesting to follow.
After back-to-back weeks of great episodes, tonight’s Hurley-centric story was a bit dull in comparison, but it did have a few WTF moments that definitely made up for some of the slower sections. I mean, did anyone even see that death coming? It was straight out of a “Final Destination” movie. One minute, Ilana is lecturing Hurley about how she’s been training her whole life to serve as Jacob’s bodyguard (all while Hurley warns her to be careful with the unstable dynamite), and the next minute, kablooey! And with Ilana out of the way, it makes it a lot easier for Hurley to plan his next move: blowing up the Black Rock (and all the dynamite inside it) by order of Michael’s ghost. On a related note, I love how Michael has literally been relegated to a whisper.
Richard didn’t seem all that happy with Hurley’s decision to suddenly take a stand, but after he realizes that there still might be explosives at the Dharma camp, he leaves determined to blow up the plane. Of course, that only begs the question, if there were still other explosives on the island, why the hell did they try using the dynamite with a history of blowing up prematurely? It’s about as nonsensical as Hurley’s decision to meet up with the rest of the Losties so he can have a chat with Smokey. Jack, Sun and Lapidus also tag along, but aren’t they just playing into Smokey’s hands by walking right into his camp? Granted, he can’t harm the three of them since they’re candidates, but I’d hate to see Hurley go through all that trouble only to get Lapidus shot. Then again, they’re going to need someone to operate that plane when they leave the island, so I think it’s safe to say that Lapidus doesn’t have to start looking over his shoulder just yet.
Plus, Smokey has far more important things to worry about right now, like Desmond. Though he tells the truth for the most part when Smokey interrogates him, I don’t think he was able to completely fool him into thinking he didn’t know why he was there. After all, he even admitted that he was well-informed about his immunity to the electromagnetism coursing through the island, and I don’t think Smokey is willing to take any chances with a wild card like him. His solution? Toss him down a well. Of course, that’s hardly going to stop Desmond, who’s already following through with a plan of his own back on Earth-2.
While most of the Earth-2 story was dedicated to Hurley’s reconnection with Libby, (a sweet subplot that finally saw the two characters going on their big date while also progressing the concept behind the merging realities), it was Desmond’s brief appearance that made it so memorable. After watching their reunion from a distance, I couldn’t help but feel like Desmond was fast becoming the new Jacob of the “Lost” universe. He obviously has a vested interest in getting the Losties to realize the connection they have with one another, and I think he’s using that in order to convince them to make the best of their lives in this reality. In order to do so, however, he might need to hurt a few people in the process – like, say, running over John Locke with his car.
It sucks to think that Locke might not get his happy ending, but considering that he already had to sacrifice himself once, he may need to do it again. I think Desmond understands the connection between the two realities, and in order to prevent Smokey from getting off the island and wreaking havoc on the world, he needs to kill Locke from Earth-2 as well. It’s just a theory, but with only a few more episodes before the series finale, it’s becoming painfully obvious that the two realities have a connection for a reason. Then again, maybe Desmond was just having a case of the Mondays.
With Matthew Vaughn’s “Kick-Ass” due in theaters this Friday, Sony picked the perfect time to release their own movie about a wannabe superhero – only “Defendor” is a little different in that its title character isn’t exactly right in the head. Granted, anyone that decides to get into the vigilante business has to be a little crazy, but Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson) is also a little slow. Dressed in a black suit with a duct-tape “D” on the chest and boasting an arsenal of weapons ranging from a WWII trench club to marbles and wasps, Defendor roams the city helping those in need. After saving a crack-addicted call girl (Kat Dennings) from a crooked cop (Elias Koteas) one night, Defendor teams up with her to take down a New York City crime boss that he believes to be a fictional villain named Captain Industry. Highlighted by a solid performance by Woody Harrelson, “Defendor” has its moments, but it ultimately falls prey to some shoddy direction from Peter Stebbins, who doesn’t seem to know whether the movie is supposed to be a dark comedy or a gritty crime drama. Koteas has some funny moments as the sleazebag cop who’s constantly harassed by Defendor, but it’s hard to find the humor in a mentally challenged adult who risks his life because he doesn’t think that bullets can harm him. “Defendor” definitely had the potential to be a great addition to the superhero genre, but it’s never better than mediocre.
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