Z-View: “The Wiz Live”

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The Wiz Live  [2015]
Director: Kenny Leon
Based on the play The Wiz by William F. Brown
Starring: Shanice Williams, Elijah Kelley, Ne-Yo and David Allan Grier.

The Pitch: We need a new musical to do live on tv…. Hey, let’s do The Wiz!

The Tagline: “Ease on down the road to Oz!”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Everyone knows the story of The Wizard of Oz.  This is an adaptation of that story.  Actually, this version is an adaptation of an adaptation of The Wizard of  Oz.

The Wiz first appeared as a Broadway play in 1975.  Then in 1978, The Wiz turned up in theaters as a movie starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson directed by Sidney Lumet.

This version was broadcast live with Shanice Williams as Dorothy, Elijah Kelley as the Scarecrow, Ne-Yo as the Tin Man and David Allan Grier as the Cowardly Lion.  Queen Latifah plays the Wizard and there are appearances by Common, Mary J. Blige and Stephanie Mills.

I enjoyed The Wiz.  The cast was excellent and special mention to David Allan Grier as the Cowardly Lion and Elijah Kelley as the Tin Man for their performances.  Stand out scenes include Dorothy meeting the Scarecrow [loved the crows], when our group on the way to Oz come across the poppies, and the Lion singing “I’m a Mean ole Lion.”

If I were to pick nits:  I wish the show had been presented before a live audience.  I think it would have enhanced the viewing experience.  I was a bit let down by the tornado sequence, the creatures sent by the Wicked Witch to collect Dorothy and some of story shortcuts.

Overall, I really enjoyed The Wiz Live.  It was a fine way to spend a couple of hours in Oz.

Rating: 4 of 5 stars.

21 Thrilling Facts About Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 21 Thrilling Facts About Michael Jackson’s Thriller.   Here are three of my favorites…

3. THE ALBUM’S TITLE WAS ALMOST MIDNIGHT MAN.
Quincy Jones asked arranger/songwriter Rod Temperton to come up with an album title. He wrote down 200 to 300 possible titles in his hotel room before deciding on Midnight Man. The next morning he woke up and the word “Thriller” popped into his head. “Something in my head just said, this is the title,” recalled Temperton. “You could visualize it on the top of the Billboard charts. You could see the merchandising for this one word, how it jumped off the page as ‘Thriller.'”

5. VINCENT PRICE MADE LESS THAN $1000 FOR HIS WORK ON THE TITLE TRACK.
Jones’ then-wife Peggy Lipton knew Price. The horror movie legend managed to record his part in two takes. Once the album got big, Price expressed frustration over his meager paycheck and said that Jackson had stopped taking his calls.

19. THE “THRILLER” MUSIC VIDEO COST $500,000.
The Showtime cable network footed $300,000 of the budget for the rights to first air the music video and the “making of” feature, with MTV paying the rest to broadcast it after Showtime. Jackson asked John Landis to direct the video after seeing his work on the movie An American Werewolf in London. “I want to turn into a monster,” Jackson told Landis. “Can I do that?” Landis wrote the disclaimer that appears in the beginning of the video because Jehovah’s Witnesses (a group which Jackson belonged to at the time) told the artist that “Thriller” endorsed Satanism.

Z-View: “Snowpiercer”

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Snowpiecer  [2013]
Director:  Bong Joon-ho
Screenplay: Bong Joon-ho and Kelly Masterson
Starring: Chris Evans, Kang-ho Song, Ed Harris, John Hurt and Tilda Swinton.

The Pitch: ”Hey, let’s let Bong Joon-ho make a movie of the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige – he’s hot off of directing The Host and movies based on comic books are killing at the box office!”

The Tagline:  “Fight Your Way to the Front.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Snowpiecer is set in an apocalyptic future when the only surviving humans live on a huge train that continually speeds along a track that takes a year to circumnavigate.  All plant and animal life outside the train has died due to a climate change that has left the world a frozen wasteland [Winter World, anyone?]

Those in the front cars are living the life — plenty of food, nice furnishing and clothes – the party rages on.  For those in the rear, life is a struggle – they survive on a gelatinous protein rationed to them, their living quarters are cramped, and they are at the mercy of Minister Mason [Tilda Swinton] and her armed guards who sometimes come to collect an adult or some children that are never seen again. [I know, I was thinking Soylent Green, myself.]

Chris Evans leads a group who are determined to fight their way to the front of the train and change the social order.  There are surprises [and not just who will live or die] as the group fights their way to the front.  The action scenes are well done and the movie moves at good pace.

If you buy the premise, you’ll probably enjoy the movie.  I had a hard time taking things at face value because the movie took itself so seriously.  The ending was supposed to be upbeat but left me hanging.  I think that polar bear is in for some train treats.

Rating:

14 Fascinating Facts About “Slingblade”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 14 Fascinating Facts About Slingblade.  Here are three of my favorites…

2. BEFORE THE FEATURE, THERE WAS A SHORT FILM TITLED SOME FOLKS CALL IT A SLING BLADE FEATURING MOLLY RINGWALD.
The 29-minute movie was released in 1994, written by Thornton and directed by George Hickenlooper. Molly Ringwald portrayed the newspaper reporter in Hickenlooper’s version; she was replaced by Sarah Boss in the feature. Thornton did not mention the short during theSling Blade Oscar press tour because he had a falling out with Hickenlooper, who was claiming the movie was based on the short, while Thornton said it was based on his one-man show. At the time, Thornton said he “would have been glad to have talked about the short if George hadn’t bad-mouthed me all over town. This whole thing is based on the character, and I created that before I ever knew George Hickenlooper existed.”

5. RITTER GAVE VAUGHAN THE LAST NAME “CUNNINGHAM” AS A REFERENCE TO HAPPY DAYS.
The former Three’s Company star revealed as much on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1997. As an in-joke to some of his friends who were on the cast of Happy Days, Ritter made his character a Cunningham to open up the possibility that Vaughan was actually Chuck, Richie and Joanie’s older brother from season one of Happy Days, who was written out of the show and never spoken of by any of the characters again after he disappeared. In Ritter’s mind, Chuck had a “different alternative lifestyle” that he was too ashamed to reveal to his parents. Thornton had no idea this was the reasoning behind the surname choice.

13. HARVEY WEINSTEIN PAID $10 MILLION FOR THE DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS AFTER WATCHING THE FIRST 30 MINUTES.
The head of Miramax initially agreed to give Thornton the final say on editing. Weinstein then saw the rest of the movie and wanted Thornton to cut 20 minutes. Martin Scorsese told Thornton not to change his edit, before Weinstein went ahead and edited it without Thornton’s knowledge. For what it’s worth, Sling Blade producer Larry Meistrich later admitted that Weinstein’s edit was better than Thornton’s.

Z-View: “The Cat and the Canary”

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The Cat and the Canary  [1939]
Director: Elliott Nugent
Screenplay: Walter DeLeon and Lynn Starling based on the stage play by John Willard
Starring: Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard.

The Pitch: ”Hey, let’s team Bob Hope in a film with Paulette Goddard.  We could do a remake of the 1927 silent film The Cat and the Canary which is based on the 1922 stage play of the same name.”

The Tagline: “A Chill-and-Chuckle Chase!… A Fortune at Stake and a Monster at Large!”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Ten years after the death of an eccentric millionaire, Cyrus Norman, his remaining family members are brought to his spooky-looking mansion deep in the bayou.  Before the will is read, his former caretaker informs the group that the spirits have said one of them will die that night. Sadly there is no way to leave the mansion until the next day.

Norman left two wills: The first leaves everything to Paulette Goddard [much to the disappointment of all except Bob Hope]; the second will is to be opened only if Goddard dies or goes insane before the month is out.  The second will leaves everything to one of the others [although who is unknown until Goddard dies] which of course puts Goddard’s life in danger.  To make matters worse, the group learns that a homicidal maniac known as the Cat has escaped from a nearby insane asylum and is in the area.

As the night wears on things get progressively worse – lights go on and off, people disappear, real eyes in paintings are watching, secret passages are found and what? Someone has been murdered!

Rating:

17 Facts About “Misery”

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Roger Cormier and Mental_Floss present 17 Facts About Misery.  Here are three of my favorites…

3. BETTE MIDLER TURNED DOWN THE ROLE OF ANNIE WILKES.
Midler thought it was too violent. She later called herself “stupid” for her decision. The Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and All the President’s Menscreenwriter William Goldman wrote Misery with then unknown but respected theater actress Kathy Bates in mind.

4. JAMES CAAN WAS FAR FROM THE FIRST CHOICE TO PLAY PAUL SHELDON.
Kevin Kline, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Dustin Hoffman, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Richard Dreyfuss, Gene Hackman, and Robert Redford all said no to the role of Paul Sheldon. William Hurt said no twice. Warren Beatty showed a lot of interest and gave Reiner and Goldman ideas for the character before having to turn them down, too, because he had to keep working on Dick Tracy.

14. CAAN AND BATES CLASHED OVER THEIR ACTING METHODS.
Caan believed in as little rehearsal as possible. Bates, with her theater background, was used to practicing a lot. When Bates commented to Reiner that Caan wasn’t attempting to relate or listen to her, Reiner told her to use that frustration toward her character.

9 Little Known Facts About Mark Twain

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Hayley Igarashi and Good Reads present 9 Little Known Facts About Mark Twain.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. At the peak of his fame, a letter addressed to “Mark Twain, God Knows Where” was actually delivered.
This was not an isolated occurrence. Other successfully delivered letters were addressed to “Mark Twain, Somewhere,” “Mark Twain, c/o President Roosevelt. The White House,” and “Mark Twain, Somewhere, (Try Satan).”

3. In another world, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer might’ve been written by Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass.
Most people know Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Clemens, but did you know about the author’s other pseudonyms? He also tried out the pen names W. Epaminondas Adrastus Perkins, Sergeant Fathom, John Snooks, and Thomas Jefferson Snodgrass.

6. Nikola Tesla and Twain became friends because of a very effective electrical charge.
Few friendships have been forged under more unusual circumstances. Desperate to find a cure for his constipation, Twain visited one of Nikola Tesla’s salons, where the scientist conducted some of his more outlandish experiments. One electrical charge and a few x-rays later, Twain was cured. The two men remained friends for the rest of their lives.

Z-View: “Creed”

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Creed  [2015]
Director:  Ryan Coogler
Screenplay: Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone and Tessa Thompson.

The Pitch: ”Hey Sly, my name is Ryan Coogler and I have an idea to continue the Rocky legacy…”

The Tagline:  “Your legacy is more than a name.”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Sylvester Stallone was content that after six feature-length films Rocky’s story had been told.  Ryan Coogler had a different outlook and movie fans are better for it.

Creed  isn’t a sequel as much as an expansion of the Rocky Balboa universe.  In the past films, Rocky was the center of attention and Rocky’s struggle was the reason for the movie.  Now the focus shifts to Adonis Creed, Apollo’s illegitimate son.

In less adept hands Creed could have been a straight-to-video attempt to squeeze out the last few dollars from a series that many (including Stallone) thought was over.  Instead we’re treated to one of the most satisfying, emotional and uplifting movies that I can remember ever seeing.

Michael B. Jordan is an amazing actor.  He is required to go through a gauntlet of emotions throughout the film but they are never overstated or hammy.  He and Stallone share a couple of scenes where the actor talking isn’t the most important part of the scene.  The range of emotions that they go through is subtle and all the more powerful because they pull us into the scenes.

Sly has never been better.  Never.  An Oscar nomination should be in the bag.  Don’t believe me? Rewatch the scene with the doctor when she tells Rocky his diagnosis.  Or when Rocky returns to the gym.  Or when Rocky talks to Adonis about Adrian, what she went through and what he would go through for one more day with her.  Heck, think about the scene with Rocky and Adonis in the holding cell.

Ryan Coogler deserves special mention for making Creed happen.  Not only can Coogler write, but his direction is spot-on.  Coogler creates a world where all of the characters are believable.

There are so many cool touches Coogler puts in the film – Adonis watching the second fight between Rocky and Apollo with Adonis mimicking Rocky’s punches – Rocky talking about how everything he cared for has moved on [Adrian and Paulie have died, his son lives in Vancouver, even his turtle tank now only contains one turtle] – the fact that Rocky is still recognized as a celebrity “When were you going to tell me your uncle was Rocky Balboa” is just one example] but that time has moved on as well..

Coogler made what could have been a simple boxing movie into a drama about so much more than boxing… yeah, I guess you could call Creed a modern day Rocky.  And you know for me, there is no higher compliment.

Rating:

30 Facts About Your Favorite Steven Spielberg Movies

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Mental_Floss presents 30 Facts About Your Favorite Steven Spielberg Movies.  Here are three of my favorites…

7. TOM SELLECK WAS SUPPOSED TO PLAY INDIANA JONES.
Prior to the production’s start date in May 1980, George Lucas and Spielberg set up shop in the old Lucasfilm corporate headquarters to begin the casting process. Actors and actresses in consideration for the lead roles of Indiana Jones and his tough but beautiful companion Marion Ravenwood included Jane Seymour, Debra Winger, Mark Harmon, Mary Steenburgen, Michael Biehn, Sam Shepard, Valerie Bertinelli, Bruce Boxleitner, Sean Young, Don Johnson, Dee Wallace (who would later go on to star as the mother in Spielberg’s E.T.), Barbara Hershey, and even David Hasselhoff.

For Indy, Lucas and Spielberg eventually settled on actor Tom Selleck. But when CBS got wind of what the two were up to, the network legally barred Selleck—the lead of the hit show Magnum, P.I.—from appearing in the film. Spielberg then suggested Harrison Ford as a quick replacement, but Lucas was reluctant to cast Ford because he was already Han Solo in hisStar Wars films. But Spielberg’s quick thinking prevailed, and Ford was added to the cast just two weeks before principal photography began. (A similar snafu happened with Danny DeVito, the first choice to play Indy’s jovial companion Sallah, who couldn’t take the part due to his contractual obligation to appear on the popular ABC show Taxi.)

12. SPIELBERG REFUSED TO ACCEPT A SALARY FOR SCHINDLER’S LIST.
Though Spielberg is already an extremely wealthy man as a result of the many big-budget movies that have made him one of Hollywood’s most successful directors, he decided that a story as important as Schindler’s List shouldn’t be made with an eye toward financial reward. The director relinquished his salary for the movie and any proceeds he would stand to make in perpetuity, calling any such personal gains “blood money.” Instead, Spielberg used the film’s profits to found the Shoah Foundation, which was established to honor and remember the survivors of the Holocaust by collecting personal recollections and audio visual interviews.

20. GARTH BROOKS NEARLY PLAYED PRIVATE JACKSON IN SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
Frank Darabont was hired to do uncredited rewrites on Saving Private Ryan, and created the role of the Bible-quoting sniper, Private Jackson, to be played by country singer Garth Brooks. Brooks dropped out of the movie after Spielberg came onboard and cast Tom Hanks in the lead role. Apparently Brooks didn’t want to play second fiddle to Hanks, but Spielberg offered him a chance to play another role of his choosing. Instead of a specific role, Brooks allegedly said he wanted to play the “bad guy,” but in Saving Private Ryan there is no real bad guy other than the entire Wehrmacht, so Spielberg ultimately decided to drop Brooks from the movie.

“The Big Heat” Needs a Poster with Some

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The Big Heat is one of my all-time favorite movies.  It was directed by Fritz Lang.  The screenplay was by Sydney Boehm based on the Saturday Evening Post serial and 1953 novel by William P. McGivern.  The film stars Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Jocelyn Brando (Marlon’s sister) and Lee Marvin.  Carolyn Jones even has a small role.

It’s a great film.  I just wish it had a great poster to match.

10 Back-And-Forth Facts About Abbott and Costello

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Mark Mancini and Mental_Floss present 10 Back-And-Forth Facts About Abbott and Costello.  Here are three of my favorites…

1. LOU COSTELLO WAS ONCE AN AMATEUR BOXER.
As a young competitor, Louis Cristillo fought in 12 matches under the alias “Lou King.” With 11 victories and one draw, Cristillo’s boxing career was off to an impressive start—until his father abruptly forced him into an early retirement. A multi-sport athlete, Cristillo could also light up a basketball court, despite his below-average height of 5’ 5”. In fact, he was once reportedly crowned Paterson, New Jersey’s foul shot champion.

Athleticism would help Cristillo earn his first few Hollywood gigs. While struggling to become an actor during the late 1920s, he appeared as a stunt double in a handful of films, most notably The Trail of ’98 (1928). Unfortunately, Cristillo was seriously injured during that shoot and decided to move back east, where he planned on taking voice lessons. Since “talkies” were rising in popularity, this seemed like a smart move but Cristillo’s modest personal fortune only got him as far as St. Joseph, Missouri. It was there that he got his first taste of live theater and developed the bumbling persona he retained throughout his career. During this time, Cristillo chose yet another stage name: Lou Costello (a nod to silent film actress Helene Costello).

5. IN 1942, THEY RAISED $85 MILLION FOR AMERICA’S WAR EFFORT.
On their own dime, Abbott and Costello toured 78 cities in 34 days, with the proceeds funding Uncle Sam’s war bonds and stamps. En route, they were treated like national heroes—the good people of Lincoln even made them both honorary admirals in the fictitious Nebraska Navy.

6. COSTELLO HATED THE SCRIPT FOR ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.
Between 1940 and 1956, Abbott and Costello made nearly 40 movies together. By 1948, sheer overexposure weakened their popularity with filmgoers, who began to tire of their antics. Then along came this blockbuster horror-comedy, which rejuvenated the duo’s cinematic career and launched several genre-mixing follow-ups, including Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951), Abbott snf Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde(1953), and Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy (1955).

However, Costello almost derailed Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein during pre-production. At one point, he barged into producer Robert Arthur’s office and claimed “My [five-year-old] daughter could write a better script than this. You’re not serious about making it, are you?” Arthur eventually calmed Costello by promising to hire the star’s favorite director, Charles Barton.