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RIP Roy Ward Baker

October 14, 2010 /

It’s a blissfully slow movie news week so far, after last week’s frenzy, so far (unless I missed something…I’m busy!).

In any case, it’s time to catch up on the passing last week at age 93 of one of the most reliable members of the Hammer Films horror and science fiction stable of the sixties and seventies, as well as the director of the some of the coolest British TV of that time, Roy Ward Baker. Aside from starting his career as Alfred Hitchcock‘s assistant director on the spy-comedy-suspense classic, “The Lady Vanishes,” being one of the main directors on the legendary season of “The Avengers” that featured Diana Rigg as the immortal Mrs. Emma Peel, aside from directing “A Night to Remember” (about the Titanic, but without Jack and Rose), as well as the racy “The Vampire Lovers” and the gender bending “Dr. Jeckyll and Sister Hyde,” he also made one of my favorite pieces of British film science fiction. We Americans call it “Five Millions Years to Earth” but to the rest of the world it’s….

External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies, TV, TV Action, TV Sci-Fi

Wolverine & the X-Men: The Complete Series

October 13, 2010 /

It’s hard to imagine another “X-Men” series ever eclipsing the popular cartoon from the 90s, but “Wolverine & the X-Men” comes pretty close thanks to some great storytelling and gorgeous character design. The season-long story arc is especially impressive considering it manages to connect several different subplots in a way that doesn’t feel too forced. The main story follows Wolverine as he takes control of the X-Men after a mysterious explosion leaves Professor Xavier in a coma, all while Xavier speaks to him telepathically from the future to help prevent the doomsday event that’s about to occur in the present. Meanwhile, a brooding Cyclops spends his days searching for Jean Grey after she suddenly goes missing during the attack on the X-Mansion, and Magneto forms an army of mutants on Genosha to fight against the impending threat of Senator Kelly’s Sentinel Project.

Some of the other X-Men get their time to shine as well – like Rogue’s early arc involving her defection to the Brotherhood of Mutants, and Nightcrawler’s romance with the Scarlet Witch – but this is still first and foremost Wolverine’s show. And though I understand why the creators would want to thrust him into the spotlight (he is, after all, one of Marvel’s most popular characters), it’s a bit much. There are even some episodes that include him when he’s not needed, and it’s one of the reasons why the series starts to drag towards the end of the season. Still, the writers have done a nice job of integrating classic stories from all eras of the X-Men comics into the show, and the Age of Apocalypse cliffhanger in the season finale would have made for a great sophomore year. Unfortunately, Season Two got scrapped due to some financier problems, which is why this set is being called The Complete Series. It’s a shame someone else didn’t swoop in to save it from cancellation, because while “Wolverine & the X-Men” certainly had its problems (namely, Wolverine’s overbearing presence), it’s a show that was clearly made with comic book fans in mind.

Click to buy “Wolverine & the X-Men: The Complete Series”

External TV, TV Cartoons, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

Going back to the future re: the mysteries of casting

October 13, 2010 /

There’s a clip from the upcoming “Back to the Future” trilogy anniversary Blu-Ray that’s been circulating that I think is revealing. It deals with the semi-legendary firing of Eric Stoltz after a shocking five weeks of principal photography (some films are finished in three or four weeks) and his replacement by Michael J. Fox back in 1985. It’s fairly self-explanatory.

I personally don’t think “Back to the Future” is remotely a “classic,” but it is 2/3 of a great screwball comedy. (I didn’t care for the science fiction portions of the film.) However, it really looks here like it wouldn’t have worked at all with Eric Stoltz. Obviously, we’re not seeing nearly enough, but these very brief clips were obviously selected because something is just clearly off and perhaps not only Stoltz’s unfortunate hairstyle — which might not have been his selection.

The irony is here that, as much as I like and admire Michael J. Fox as an accomplished comic actor and a public figure, in terms of sheer thespian ability, I’d say Stoltz is very likely the better actor — though being an actor and being a star are not the same gig. He’s certainly shown plenty in the way of versatility over the years and you can’t say he can’t be funny, especially given his brilliant turn as the world’s most relatable heroin pusher in “Pulp Fiction.” On the other hand, Fox clearly has something that Stoltz lacks in terms of being Marty McFly. It’s not just maybe knowing his way around a straight-up gag a bit better than Stoltz might have at the time, it’s an “everyman” quality, I guess. As the deformed Rocky in Peter Bogdanovich’s “Mask,” that very same year, Stoltz had that everyman quality, but I guess with his own face, it just evaporates and that slightly sarcastic demeanor of his can’t be entirely hidden without facial prosthetics.

Anyhow, just another reminder that “best actor” and the “right actor” are not the same thing.

h/t Michael Speier.

Actors, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, Sci-Fi Movies

The Biggest Loser: cupcakes and yellow and red lines

October 13, 2010 /

The food challenges are always interesting on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” Contestants can indulge (or not) to obtain some sort of prize that will give them an advantage in the game. This week it was cupcakes, but the prize was the biggest potentially in the history of the show. Finding the one-pound advantage card under the cupcake would be one thing, but then they could hold it over and let the card appreciate in value, giving that person two pounds next week, three pounds the following week, and up to eight pounds. Wow. But as some of the contestants pointed out, doing so would also put a target on that person’s back. Very true. So most of them didn’t even attempt it, but Adam and Rick did as well as Elizabeth, and Adam won, but not after ingesting about 1300 calories worth of cakes.

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External TV, Reality TV, The Biggest Loser, TV

Sons of Anarchy 3.6 – The Push

October 12, 2010 /

The life of an outlaw biker apparently doesn’t include vacation time, because the Sons always seem to busy with a variety of different jobs, crises and whatnot. So it was nice to see them relaxing a little bit in the clubhouse for the first time in a long while, even if it was to take care of a little paperwork. Along with the welcoming of three new prospects to the club (who are so unimportant that I don’t think we even got names for any of them), the charter also had to vote on transfer requests for Happy and Kozik, the latter of whom was denied by Tig because of their history with one another. We still don’t know why Tig doesn’t trust him, but Kozik doesn’t waste any time in proving his worth, getting right to work helping SAMCRO jack the van transporting the Mayans’ heroin for Stockton prison.

Instead of just selling it off and making some quick cash, however, Clay decides to use the heroin as barter in order to repair their relationship with the Mayans. In an effort to end their bloody war, Alvarez agrees to a truce that gives the Grim Reapers from Lodi the responsibility of transporting the drugs through Charming and SAMCRO a cut of each payload. In return, Alvarez just asks that the Sons take care of the surviving Calaveras member in the hospital – a seemingly simple job that Tig and Kozik manage to screw up. This will surely come back to bite them in the ass, and I’d even be willing to bet that Kozik will be the one who takes the heat for it in order to prove to Tig that he can be a team player when he needs to be.

sons_of_anarchy_3-6

Meanwhile, the club’s lawyer comes to visit Gemma in the hospital and inform her that the U.S. Attorney’s office has agreed to take the death penalty off the table if she confesses to both murders. Though it’s not exactly the best outcome, she agrees – that is, until Jax brings her a prepared statement that will seemingly clear her name. She can tell right away that it came from Agent Stahl, and though the last thing Gemma wants is to have to trust the woman who framed her in the first place, Jax convinces her that it’s the best thing for the club. The statement is actually pretty close to what really happened, except for one small detail: Gemma fingers Stahl’s partner/fuck buddy as the ATF agent who shot Edmond.

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External TV, Sons of Anarchy, TV, TV Dramas

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