Category: Documentaries (Page 42 of 43)

A TCA posting on both Premium Hollywood AND ESDMusic?

July 15, 2007 /

Sure, why not a crossover…?

BET is running a new series entitled “Hip Hop vs. America,” and on the panel for the show was none other than the legendary Public Enemy front-man, Chuck D. The show focuses on the different sides of the hip-hop genre, and the social responsibility that its performers have to those who are listening. Great concept, and I’m psyched to see it…but, still, I had to ask what I knew lots of other wanted to know:

Yours Truly: Chuck, guys like you and KRS-One have taken rap and made political statements and aided it in being taken seriously as an art form. How do you think a show like, say, “Flava of Love” has affected you being taken seriously, I mean, as far as the rap community in general?
Chuck D: I come from a black family, and one thing black folks know, we always got that one in our family. But we take them in as family. Jimmy Carter had Billy Carter. You all remember him, right? It’s just that we outnumber Flava 12-to-one, but you might not draw focus on the other 11 — and Flava is a one-of-a-kind, believe that. He ain’t never ever changed and ain’t gonna change. So, hopefully, more shows — maybe we’ll get 11 guys to have shows that balance out the “Flava of Love.”

Word.

By the way, Chuck said he wasn’t really interested in getting his own show…although he said he did think that Professor Griff would do pretty good with one (though, personally, I have to wonder if that wouldn’t have the potential to be even more damaging to hip-hop’s reputation than Flav’s show)…but he admitted that, if he did get his own show, he’d want it to be a one-on-one interview format. I said, “Oh, kinda like Henry Rollins?” I knew he’d been on Rollins’ show…but, damn, boyee, I didn’t know how much he’d enjoyed it. Chuck just lit up and was, like, “Oh, man, Rollins, I love Henry Rollins, I love him, I love everything he does, and I’d love to do anything like that guy.”

In closing, another writer asked Chuck if he thought Flava would ever find love, and he instantly offered up a laugh and a scoff, saying, “Flava found love. Flava got more love than he know what to do with!”

Documentaries, External Entertainment, External TV, Gossip, Interviews, News, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Comedies

TCA Press Tour: Relative Relaxation ’til Showtime

July 15, 2007 /

Howdy do. So yesterday was a bit of a wind-down day for me, thankfully…and good thing, too. I needed it. After running from panel to panel, then doing the obligatory schmoozefest at the end of the evening, only to return to my room and write for an hour or two, was getting a little exhausting, and I was really starting to feel it. (I know, I probably lessened the amount of sympathy I might otherwise have gotten by referencing the schmoozefest aspect of my day, but at least I was honest.)

The day started with a trio of Disney Channel panels: “The Wizards of Waverly Place,” “High School Musical: The Music in You,” and the long-awaited-by-just-about-every-kid-you-know “High School Musical 2.” “The Wizards of Waverly Place” seems cute enough, a standard Disney sitcom about two teenagers who are training to be wizards; not really my cup of tea, but if I was a kid, I’d imagine that the blending of teen comedy and “Harry Potter” – because, c’mon, who are we kidding, that’s what inspired this – would be something I’d want to check out. As far as “High School Musical 2,” I admit it: I’ve never seen the first one. That said, though, the songs they played from the sequel were immediately endearing and catchy, and the choreography was fantastic, so, God help me, maybe I should go check out the original before this new one premieres. Ultimately, though, the far more interesting program was “High School Musical: The Music in You,” a documentary by Academy Award winning documentarian Barbara Kopple (“Harlan County USA,” “American Dream”) which details two rival high schools who are putting on their own renditions of “High Schol Musical.” As a music geek, I was most fascinated / depressed by the information about how expensive it is to stage one of these productions, simply as far as paying the publishing royalties. I never thought about that before…but, geez, you can see that these people certainly do…

Julia Worthington, one of the teachers putting on the musical, explained that “it depends on, first of all, how many performances you’re going to do, the size of your venue.” Worthington’s school’s production usually only has an audience of about 100, and, based on that average, she says that “the licensing and the royalties and everything was about $2,300.” Apparently, the amount started at around $500, and it varies wildly depending on the number of seats, the number of performances, and so forth…but, of course, that’s only for “High School Musical.”

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Actors, Actresses, Documentaries, External Entertainment, External TV, News, TCA Press Tour, TV

Help Bullz-Eye get the scoop on the fall TV season!

July 2, 2007 /

But not yet.

Sorry, just trying to start raising the excitement level a little bit. But here’s what’s going to be going on:

I’ll be attending the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour, which takes place at the Beverly Hilton from July 10th – 26th. Actually, I won’t be able to arrive ’til the 12th, so, unfortunately, I’ll miss the panels on the 10th and 11th, which are spotlighting the upcoming season for PBS, and, because of my flight time, I’ll also miss the first panels of the day on the 12th itself, so I won’t be able to tackle the new shows on Lifetime and FX…and, yeah, I know you don’t care that much about the Lifetime panels, but I’m sure you’re as bummed as I am about missing out on the FX stuff. Fortunately, I should still be able to get a transcript of the panels; I just won’t be able to score any one-on-one time with any of the actors.

Below, I’m going to list the shows I’m going to be trying to get the inside scoop on. If you’re particularly interested in my finding out about a specific series, please leave a comment to tell me which show (or shows), and I’ll do my best to get as much info as possible, as well as to speak with individual actors and actresses if the opportunity presents itself. I’ll be blogging the tour on a daily basis, so be sure to check back every day starting on the 12th!

And, now, the shows…and be forewarned: there are a LOT of them!

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Actors, Actresses, Documentaries, External Entertainment, External TV, Interviews, Jericho, News, Reaper, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Action, TV Comedies, TV Dramas

The Music of the Sopranos

May 24, 2007 /

HBO has been running a 15-minute documentary entitled “The Music of the Sopranos,” which features interviews with creator David Chase, Steven Van Zandt and others. Chase describes the methodology he uses to choose a song for a particular scene or montage, including how he decided on A3’s “Woke Up This Morning” as the show’s theme song.

They’re running it one more time this week: tonight at 11:45 PM ET. For fans of the show (or fans of music), it’s time well spent.

Documentaries, External TV, Interviews, The Sopranos, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

Soundies = the precursor of the music video

March 8, 2007 /

There’s a show airing on PBS stations around the country right about now that every music fan should check out, particularly if you enjoy history as well. It’s called “Soundies,” and its topic is stated outright in its title.

Soundies were, as the title of this post indicates, the precursor of the music video. The Mills Novelty Company created a refrigerator-sized machine called the Panoram, which was essentially a video jukebox, and these soundies – three-minute films of various musical artists performing their hit songs – could be watched on the Panoram in groups of three. (It was early technology, of course, so you couldn’t fast-forward or rewind; if you wanted to see the last soundie on the reel, you were stuck watching the first two as well, whether you wanted to or not.) The soundies began in 1940 and started off as a roaring success, but World War II caused the Panoram business to stumble – the war effort necessitated a slowing in the manufacturing of new machines – and by the time the armistice had been signed, it was too late; the era of the soundies was over by 1946.

But, wow, who knew how many video artifacts from those six years were still out there…?

Fans of jazz, country, pop vocalists of the ’40s, and even early R&B will find their jaws dropping at some of this footage. You’ll see performances from Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Les Paul, Kay Starr, Fats Waller, Spike Jones, the Mills Brothers, Merle Travis, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Doris Day, and even a young Liberace. The stock line about soundies is that while the most popular white artists tended to be under contract to other studios and were therefore unavailable to make soundies (there’s an interesting story about how Mel Torme’s group, the Meltones, did a soundie with another member lip-synching Mel’s vocals because Torme himself wasn’t contractually permitted to appear on camera), there were plenty of black artists who were more than willing to get in front of the camera in order maximize their exposure…and it’s so awesome that they did. Actually being able to see Fats Waller kick out the jams on the piano is pretty damned sweet.

There are also some interesting choices of talking heads brought onboard to discuss the soundies; in addition to new interviews with some of the folks who actually made them, like Les Paul and Kay Starr, we get commentary from Joe Franklin, Hugh Hefner, jazzmen George Duke and Wynton Marsalis, and…Stan Ridgway? Oh, it’s not so strange; didn’t you know that he recorded an album of standards a few years back? (If not, you will soon…when we discuss The Best Albums You’ve Never, Ever Heard. Check back at Bullz-Eye in early April!)

You can check out the official website for “Soundies,” but I’m led to understand that in addition to future airings, there’s talk of releasing it on DVD. Fingers crossed that that’s true; there’s a lot of stuff here that’s worth watching over and over again.

Documentaries, External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV

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