I’ll be back in a bit with something more substantial, but I’ve been outside running around taking care of odds and ends in the wake of my return from Comic-Con, it’s hot out, and now I need a nap and an ice-cold diet Orange Crush.
In the meantime, Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall remind us of the perils of film fandom in the dark days before easy access to IMDb.
The MSRP on “Peanuts: 1960s Collection” seems a tad exorbitant – six 30-minute TV specials plus a featurette on the music of composer Vince Guaraldi, needlessly spread over two DVDs, does not seem like it should carry a $30 price tag – but there is no denying the quality of the contents. There is a raw beauty in these early shorts; television was a new medium for Charles Schultz, and he made sure his stories, true to form, spoke from the heart and entertained the kids in the process. (He always maintained that his comic strip was never meant for children.) The one-two punch of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” are worth the price of the set alone, but what a pleasant sight to see the long-lost baseball episode “Charlie Brown’s All-Stars” (where Schultz teaches kids the importance of loyalty) and “He’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown,” where Snoopy gets his first lead role, as it were. The Guaraldi featurette turns out to be one of the set’s highlights – he is the one that suggested the muted trumpet sound whenever the teachers spoke – but they missed a golden opportunity to include the Robert Smigel cartoon of Jesus welling with pride and doing the Franklin dance after watching “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Still, we’re splitting hairs, and besides, you already decided to buy this the second you saw the title, didn’t you? At least, those of you born before 1975, that is.
Fans of “Saved By the Bell” will dig this clip from “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”…
Courtesy of Lance and Oliver Mannion….
And, here’s an oldie but a goody — a classic, re-imagined for a new medium…
Things have been a bit crazy at Casa Westal, what with this new regular blog gig and attendant mishegas and other projects, plus this afternoon the kind folks at AT&T let my household Internet go bye-bye. (I’m writing this at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf nearest me, because the other guys’ “free” Internet deal sucks beyond all words, even if they’re egg sandwiches are good and I actually like very darkly roasted coffee.)
Nevertheless, there is stuff to tell you.
* I’ve been remiss in failing to mention that Sunday’s Bruno/Slim Shady rectal contretemps has been confirmed as a staged event, via the wondrous and personally very cool Anne Thompson. However, Sacha Baron Cohen has at least on potential serious problem — a lawsuit that is a lot more serious than the “Borat made me look stupid and racist, possibly because I really am stupid and racist” actions that were brought against him before. This time a woman alleges that Baron Cohen’s crew attacked her to get a reaction for the film and that she is disabled as a result. If true, I have to wonder why criminal charges weren’t filed, and as Matthew Belloni comments, the timing (just prior to the release of the “Bruno” movie) is worth noting.
* THR and Variety both have reviews of “Land of the Lost.” Neither cares for it. As for the original series, Variety‘s Brian Lowry refers to it as “campy” and Kirk Honeycutt refers to the show as being “fondly remembered (in some quarters).” Those quarters would belong to our own Ross Ruediger. Read on….
* And one more item from Anne Thompson. Something calling itself the Ultimate Movie Site is in beta. At first blush, I’m not feeling it. It’s definitely ambitious, but also strikes me as a little confusing and unfocused in its lay-out and in precisely what it’s trying to do. And, if something calling itself that doesn’t work for this mega-movie geek, will it work for others? Besides, I thought this was the ultimate movie site….
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