Friday, March 21, 2008

Movie Movie

I reported in this post that the National Theater in Westwood, a favorite place of mine to see movies when I was a lowly college student, had closed.

I reported in this post that the National had been "saved," at least for a while, and had reopened.

And now I can report that they've torn the place down and there's now a vacant lot where it used to be. So I'll hazard a guess that's the end of the story.

• Posted at 4:02 PM · LINK

Wilder Thoughts

James H. Burns, who sends me some of the best links I post here, sent me this one to a report on a rare public appearance by Gene Wilder. All of it's interesting but it's especially eyebrow-raising to read the following about his view of a certain musical now playing on Broadway...

Wilder regards Brooks' current Broadway musical version of Young Frankenstein as a misguided attempt to marry the director's Borscht Belt humor to the wrong kind of story. Wilder came only for the curtain call on opening night and left immediately after.

That somehow doesn't surprise me and I wonder if it speaks to Mr. Wilder's status as a gentleman or as a profit participant that he hasn't said this louder and in more places. Having met him briefly (like twenty seconds apiece) two times and having heard nothing but good about him from those who really know him, I suspect the former.

• Posted at 1:07 PM · LINK

In the News Too Much

This morning on Fox & Friends, Chris Wallace "respectfully" took some of his colleagues on that network to task for what he called "two hours of Obama bashing." You can see the video here...and you might notice a little, perhaps unintended dig by Wallace when he talks about how the talent at Fox doesn't all stick to the "talking points." Good for him either way. I didn't see the whole broadcast but from the others' defensive reactions, it looks like he scored a bulls-eye with his criticism.

Someone should have said something similar to Keith Olbermann the other day regarding his coverage of the new "scandal" (which I kinda doubt will amount to anything) involving some folks snooping around in Obama's passport files. It may well be a criminal act and it sure sounds sleazy...but Olbermann devoted almost his entire hour to the story even though everything known about it was said in about the first four minutes. I like (and TiVo) his Countdown and there are times I think he's gutsy and taking expert aim, especially in calling out other news folks for sloppy research. But just as the Fox & Friends crew apparently ignored a lot of other news so they could fixate on one Obama comment, Olbermann didn't cover any number of other stories so he could say the same things over and over and over about this passport episode.

• Posted at 12:14 PM · LINK

Today's Video Link

For a while here last year and I think the year before, I was recommending that those of you in the Southern California area hurry your tailbones over to a theater where, once per week, you could see a live, fun re-creation of the old game show, What's My Line? A clever gent named J. Keith van Straaten was our genial host and he always seemed to have a panel of four witty folks, several people with interesting occupations for them to guess, and — best of all! — a famous Mystery Guest. I went more than a half-dozen times and it was always entertaining.

Alas, all good things come to an end...or in this case, they move to New York. Commencing this coming Monday night, you can see What's My Line? Live on Stage at the Barrow Street Theatre in that fine city. Keith is still the host and he has some of the same witty panelists (including, this Monday, Betsy Palmer) and he'll have Mystery Guests and I see no reason to think it won't be as great a show there as it was out here. Below is a video sampler of what it was out here and if you're in or around New York and it makes you want to go, all the details are on this page.

• Posted at 11:17 AM · LINK

Get Well, Jim Korkis!

I wasn't sure if it was okay to mention this in public but since Jerry Beck thinks it is, I'll trust his discretion. An old pal of ours, Jim Korkis, recently suffered a series of small strokes that do not appear to be life-threatening. This last part is good because I'm damned sick of writing obits here and Jim is just about the last guy I'd want to have to pen one about. He's not only a great fellow but he's one of the most valuable animation historians around. For no other reason than a love of the art form and the people who dabble in it, Jim has done hundreds of essential interviews and articles for the last few decades. If you study cartoons at all, you have either read Jim's articles (some of which he signs with names not his own) or you have read articles written by people who know what they know because of Jim's dilgence and passion.

Jim is the kind of person who always asks if there's anything he can do for you. Jim, if you're reading this, there is something you can do for me. You can get better. I would like that very much, thank you.

• Posted at 8:54 AM · LINK