Final specs for Martin Scorsese’s SHINE A LIGHT
February 27th, 2008 by Scott Marks
Thanks to my pal J.R. Cordray at Allied Advertising for providing me with this late breaking news.
SHINE A LIGHT
SPANISH SUB-TITLES - N/A
FRENCH – N/A
35MM
DIGITAL 2 D
IMAX 2D
DTS - CSS (Cinema Subtitling System) - OPEN CAPTION FOR HEARING IMPAIRED
FORMAT: FLAT
SOUND: QUAD
RUNNING TIME: 122 (FINAL)
REELS: 7
RATING: PG-13
LINEAR FT.: 11189 (billing footage w/o header)
Filed Under News
THE SIGNAL prompts stabbings in California movie theater
February 27th, 2008 by Scott Marks
FULLERTON, Calif. Two people were stabbed at an AMC multiplex during the screening of the horror film The Signal on Sunday night. Police are still searching for the suspect.
According to CBS2.com, the victims, who reportedly did not know each other, were sitting in separate areas of the same theater when they were attacked around 7:30 p.m. at the Fullerton AMC Theater.
I was curious to discover how far into the film the audience participation took place. The Signal is an omnibus feature with a trio of directors each helming a third of the narrative. Stories about technology gone wild are not exactly leading edge. Part 1, directed by David Bruckner is as creepy and effective a horror film as any I’ve seen in the last twenty years. How did a film go so wrong so fast? By the time it got around to the gore-fest in Part 3, I was worn down by the middle section’s self-conscious buffonnery.
Therefore, it came as no surprise that the stabbings took place approximately 4o minutes into the showing. After the film’s strong opening quickly evaporated into standard silliness I wanted to killl somebody, too.
The suspect, still on the loose, was described as a heavy set white dude in his late to mid 20s, 5 feet 10 inches tall, with black hair. He was last seen making an early exit out of one of the back doors.
Investigators reviewed surveillance tape from the theater but the video, not unlike the photography in The Signal, was of poor quality.
One of the victims was hospitalized with a stab wound to the arm, which also punctured one of his lungs, but he was expected to survive. The other victim suffered a non-life threatening stab wound to the arm.
Neither victim knew one another or their assailant. Police believe the attacker may be the same individual who had been kicked out of the theater that same day — an intoxicated man who was very disruptive during a movie. Guilty! Tie him to a car and drag him!
Anyone with information on the attacks was asked to call the Fullerton Police Department at (714) 738-6800.
Tags: AMC Movie Theaters, California, Fullerton, Movie Theater, Stabbing, THE SIGNALFiled Under News
Kenner’s Give-A-Show Projector, the toy that started it all
February 26th, 2008 by Scott Marks
It may have been nothing more than a comic strip and a glorified flashlight, but at the age of six my Kenner Give-A-Show Projector was a Zoetrope, Magic Lantern Show and 35mm Simplex all rolled into one.
Needless to say, the first Give-A-Show I owned prominently featured the Three Stooges on the front. There were several different editions, each one equipped with 16 different slide shows that contained a total of 112 color images. Knowing how quiclky a kid can go through 16 stories, Kenner also sold 10 film refill packs.
I was more impressed with the box and literally spent hours studying the kaleidoscopic cardboard shell, dazzled by the cornucopia of cartoon royalty represented and the individual hues embossed on each letter in the product name. The cover art was much closer in spirit to the actual design of the characters than anything found on the flimsy, cardboard encrusted celluloid frames that slid through the slot in the side of the toy.
For the first few nights bedtime couldn’t come fast enough. Here I was barely out of kindergarten and already a projectionist! The fun quickly faded. How many times can one experience the same lame seven panels? The fixed storylines were a perfect compliment to the projector’s lack of automated parts. Soon I was using the device as an undercover source of illumination with which to read comic books.
It wasn’t exactly a 16mm Kodak Pageant beaming across the living room window shade, but it was a start. With my mattress as a booth and just about every surface in my darkened bedroom a screen (what 6-year-old knows about keystoning?, the Give-A-Show Projector prepared me for a life in focus.
Tags: Cartoon Characters, Cartoons, Kenner Give-A-Show Projector, Movie Projectors, Slide Projectors, Vintage ToysFiled Under Rants
Oscar 80 Post Game Recap
February 25th, 2008 by Scott Marks
In spite of Robert Boyle’s speech, the 2008 Academy Awards came in ten minutes shy of it’s anticipated 210 minute running time. With the exception of Julie Christie’s surprising loss to Marion Cotillard, it was pretty much Oscar by numbers. Let’s take a moment to dismember this year’s low and high points.
- Jon Stewart hosts a politically slanted cable comedy show and has no business presiding over the Oscars. Next year I want Mickey Rooney to host.
- Wesley Snipes and Spike Lee looked like they were dressed for a day at the track.
- The Dennis Hopper old age cracks served as a warm up for Robert Boyle.
- It was great to see Charles Napier in a Diet Coke commercial.
- This year’s clip reels were particularly dull. Put Chuck Workman out to stud.
- Two best acceptance speeches of the night: Ratatouille’s Brad Bird reminiscing about a belligerent Junior High guidance counselor who gave him the perfect training to work in the film business and Tilda Swinton goofing on rubber-nippled George Clooney on the set of Michael Clayton.
- Katherine Heigl looked stunning, but have you ever seen a more nervous presenter? I think that Colin Farrell slipped on a puddle she left.
- It was an especially bad hair year for Oscar nominees and presenters. Amy Adams, Katherine Heigl and Kennedy clone Patrick Dempsey came off best. Tilda Swinton looked like she just stepped out of the shower while Cate Blanchett, Keri Russell, Ellen Page, Tom Hanks, Renee Zellwegger, John Travolta’s yarmulke cut and the gang stationed at the Al Faw Palace on Camp Victory in Baghdad all needed more time in the chair.
- Norbit was robbed.
- Three, count ‘em, three Bob Hope references.
- What dosage of Paxil is Amy Adams on? God damn if that Happy Work Song wasn’t happy.
- Jon Stewart gets the Ed Norton award for laughing at his own jokes.
- Patrick Dempsey, Miley Cyrus and The Rock shouldn’t be allowed to watch the Academy Awards on TV let alone stand on the stage.
- Is it my imagination or did the ceiling of the Kodak Theater look like an upside-down pinball machine?
- From this day forward, it shall forever be referred to as “The Academy Award winning The Golden Compass.”
- Worst cue card reader of the night: Jennifer Hudson. Miley Cyrus had a more naturalistic delivery.
- Does Owen Wilson blow his nose with a pliers?
- Even though Bee Movie wasn’t nominated, wasn’t Jerry Seinfeld a sport for prerecording that side-splitting bit?
- Winners of Best Animated Short should not be allowed to bring their toys on stage when they accepting their awards. The guy looked like a retarded adult.
- Was Alan Arkin speaking as the drug addled grandpappy in Little Miss Sunshine when he said, “The Golden Age of Cinema is very much alive?”
- By Jon Stewart’s standards, 71-year-old Jack Nicholson is still the most fertile man in Hollywood.
- Judging by their inarticulate best adapted screenplay acceptance speeches, it’s no wonder Joel and Ethan Coen’s No Country for Old Men is a word-for-word transformation of Cormack McCarthy’s novel.
- Academy president Sid Gannis is a real house of fire, isn’t he? His “how to” video on Academy voting makes Night and Fog look like a masterpiece.
- Stewart’s “the baby goes to” bit tanked,
- Biggest intentional laugh: Jonah Hill coming back after presenting an award and saying, “Good evening, I’m Miss Halle Berry.” He didn’t fool me, though. Hill didn’t hit anyone on the drive over.
- Christopher Rouse, best editing winner for The Bourne Ultimatum, is the son of Russell Rouse, the auteur behind THE OSCAR! Now do you understand?
- From this day forward, it shall forever be referred to as “The three time Academy Award winning The Bourne Ultimatum. “
- Nicole Kidman appears to be consulting The Joker’s plastic surgeon.
- For awhile it looked as though he wouldn’t make it, but 98-year-old Robert Boyle delivered the speech of the night.
- Keep those Sid Ganis cutaways coming!!!
- Classiest moment of the night: Jon Stewart bringing Marketa Irglova back to finish her best original song acceptance speech.
- Biggest unintentional laugh of the night: Clips of crybaby Spielberg winning his Schindler’s Oscar.
- Just because Tom Hanks was in Saving Private Ryan shouldn’t automatically make him the liberal spokesman for America’s military.
- Note to Diablo Cody — Wilma Flintstone wants her dress back. (Credit John Schultz!)
- Jon Stewart introduced Him as simply, “The great Martin Scorsese.”
- For those who have seen Swimming With Sharks, the Kevin Spacey character is allegedly based on Scott Rudin. This guy is supposed to be one of Tinsel Town’s most ruthless, egomaniacal a–holes which makes his saccharine reference to his life partner as “honey” a hundred times funnier.
Filed Under News
Oscar Show rundown, complete and timed to the second!
February 24th, 2008 by Scott Marks
I don’t know when or how, but some time during tonight’s
broadcast, there will be Hope!
Want to know the perfect time to throw a bag of corn in the microwave or pay a visit to the commode during Hollywood’s yearly reenactment of the Bataan death march? Here’s your blow-by-blow breakdown of tonight’s festivities.
Looks like there will be no Irving Thalberg award (never liked him anyway after what he did to the Marx Bros.) or a Jean Hersholt giveaway for that matter. There is buzz about Nicole Kidman paying tribute to either Sydney Pollack and/or Heath Ledger, but nothing is confirmed. The only honorary award will go to production designer par excellence Robert Boyle.
The show starts at 5:30 (PT). The picture runs three hours and twenty-nine minutes (giver or take a commandment); there will be many intermissions.
I want to thank all of you who read Emulsion Compulsion on a daily basis. I love everybody! Gotta’ go…the red light is blinking. (Blows kisses to audience.)
OPENING MONOLOGUE: 6 minutes
AWARD #1: COSTUME DESIGN
Jennifer Garner: 5:50 PM (PT)
AWARD #2: ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway
AWARD #3: MAKEUP
Katherine Heigl: 5:57
BATHROOM BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #1 :6:03:09
“Happy Working Song” 2:07
Amy Adams-vocs, orchestra
AWARD #4: VISUAL EFFECTS
Dwayne Johnson: 6:09
AWARD #5: ART DIRECTION
Cate Blanchett: 6:13
Laughter ensues when Jon Stewart jokes about Blanchett’s double nomination as Queen Elizabeth and Bob Dylan.
AWARD #6: ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Jennifer Hudson: 6:18
PRESENTER INTRO PERFORMANCE
Keri Russell: 6:27
POPCORN BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #2: 6:27
“Raise It Up”
Jamia Simone Nash, Impact Repertory Theatre of Harlem, Total Praise Community Choir, Orchestra
AWARD #7: LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Owen Wilson: 6:30
AWARD #8: ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Barry B. Benson: 6:36
AWARD #9: ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Alan Arkin: 6:39
SCI-TECH AWARDS RECAP
Jessica Alba: 6:49:20
AWARD #10: ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
James McAvoy, Josh Brolin: 6:50
PRESENTER INTRO PERFORMANCE
Future Oscar winner Miley Cyrus: 6:57:38
PHONE BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #3: 7:00
“That’s How You Know”
Kristin Chenoweth-vocals, Dancers, Marlon Saunders-singer, Steel Drummer, Kids, Tuba Players, Chorus
AWARD #11: SOUND EDITING
For you youngsters in the audience, Jonah Hill & Seth Rogen: 7:06
AWARD #12: SOUND MIXING
More with Jonah Hill & Seth Rogen: 7:09
AWARD #13: ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Forest Whitaker: 7:15
SMOKE BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #4: 7:27:43
“Falling Slowly”
Glen Hansard-vocals, guitar, Marketa Irglova-vocals, piano
Jack Nicholson to present a montage of Best Picture winners over the last 80 years.
AWARD #14: FILM EDITING
Renée Zellweger: 7:33
HONORARY OSCAR TO ROBERT BOYLE
Nicole Kidman, Randy Thomas, Robert Boyle: 7:38
AWARD #15: FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Penélope Cruz: 7:47
PRESENTER INTRO PERFORMANCE (Patrick Dempsey)
OXYGEN BREAK / NOMINATED SONG PERFORMANCE #5: 7:54:46
“So Close”
Jon McLaughlin-vocals, Featured Dancers, Ballroom Dancers , Band Member Extras, Bill Conti
AWARD #16: ORIGINAL SONG
John Travolta, Ballroom Dancer-Valentina: 7:55
AWARD #17: CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cameron Diaz: 8:04
IN MEMORIAM TRIBUTE (3:00)
Hilary Swank: 8:11
AWARD #18: ORIGINAL SCORE
Amy Adams: 8:15
AWARD #19: DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Tom Hanks and Special Guests: 8:19
AWARD #20: DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Tom Hanks: 8:22
AWARD #21: ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Harrison Fordz-z-z-z-z-z: 8:30
AWARD #22: ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Helen Mirren: 8:37
AWARD #23: DIRECTING
Martin Scorsese!: 8:47
AWARD #24: BEST MOTION PICTURE
Denzel Washington: 8:49
GOODNIGHTS 8:53:49 (Jon Stewart)
Tags: Academy Awards, Breakdown, Heath Ledger, Itinerary, Jack Nicholson, Keith_Ledger, Lineup, Oscar, Oscars time, Presenters, Rundown, Sydney Pollack, Sydney_Pollack, What time do the oscars startFiled Under News
Oscar predictions and last minute thoughts on Hollywood’s longest night
February 23rd, 2008 by Scott Marks
Oscar……………………………….Picks
At least we have one thing to look forward to: Marty is guaranteed to make an appearance to hand out this year’s best director award.
Admittedly, I have never been much use when it comes to handicapping the Oscars. As much as I enjoy the more ghoulish aspects of the ceremony, I detest what these prizes represent. Art shouldn’t compete especially when all everyone is concerned with is commerce. Besides, who cares about art when we have starlets on the red carpet eager for our evaluation of their designer gowns?
Contests to predict the winners have been going on for ages. In the late 70s, a high school chum dreamed that he entered the offices of the Chicago Tribune with chain in hand screaming “I’M HERE TO BEAT SISKEL.” My literal minded crony was fantasizing over the newspaper’s annual “Beat Siskel” contest that asked readers to outguess their prized critic’s Oscar picks.
Every year I tried to beat (down) Siskel and every year I lost. I haven’t a clue as to what (other than wind) goes through the minds of Academy voters. It might help if they were to occasionally nominate a picture that displayed something other than nice scenery and good intentions. Over the past twenty years, only three best picture winners (The Last Emperor, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby) appeared on my top ten lists. (The fact that it took the Academy decades to finally catch up with Clint Eastwood owes more to the law of averages rather than any genuine recognition of artistry.) Conversely, Rain Man, Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, Shakespeare in Love, American Beauty, Chicago and Crash all found worthy homes in my critical dungeon.
In a not so bold attempt to make me look like a schmuck come Monday morning, here are the pictures and people that will probably lose simply because I prematurely envisioned them winners. My choices by no means indicate a film that deserves acclaim; it’s what my gut tells me the Academy voters will go for.
Best Picture: “Atonement,” “Juno,” “Michael Clayton,” “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood.”
Best Actor: George Clooney, “Michael Clayton”; Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”; Johnny Depp, “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street”; Tommy Lee Jones, “In the Valley of Elah”; Viggo Mortensen, “Eastern Promises.”
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”; Julie Christie, “Away From Her”; Marion Cotillard, “La Vie en Rose”; Laura Linney, “The Savages”; Ellen Page, “Juno.”
Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”; Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”; Hal Holbrook, “Into the Wild”; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Charlie Wilson’s War”; Tom Wilkinson, “Michael Clayton.”
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There”; Ruby Dee, “American Gangster”; Saoirse Ronan, “Atonement”; Amy Ryan, “Gone Baby Gone”; Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton.”
Best Director: Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”; Jason Reitman, “Juno”; Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton”; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men”; Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood.”
Foreign Film: “Beaufort,” Israel; “The Counterfeiters,” Austria; “Katyn,” Poland; “Mongol,” Kazakhstan; “12,” Russia.
Adapted Screenplay: Christopher Hampton, “Atonement”; Sarah Polley, “Away from Her”; Ronald Harwood, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”; Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men”; Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood.”
Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, “Juno”; Nancy Oliver, “Lars and the Real Girl”; Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton”; Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco, “Ratatouille”; Tamara Jenkins, “The Savages.”
Animated Feature Film: “Persepolis”; “Ratatouille”; “Surf’s Up.”
Art Direction: “American Gangster,” “Atonement,” “The Golden Compass,” “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” “There Will Be Blood.”
Cinematography: “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “Atonement,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood.”
Sound Mixing: “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Ratatouille,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Transformers.”
Sound Editing: “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Ratatouille,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Transformers.”
Original Score: “Atonement,” Dario Marianelli; “The Kite Runner,” Alberto Iglesias; “Michael Clayton,” James Newton Howard; “Ratatouille,” Michael Giacchino; “3:10 to Yuma,” Marco Beltrami.
Original Song: “Falling Slowly” from “Once,” Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova; “Happy Working Song” from “Enchanted,” Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz; “Raise It Up” from “August Rush,” Nominees to be determined; “So Close” from “Enchanted,” Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz; “That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted,” Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.
Costume: “Across the Universe,” “Atonement,” “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” “La Vie en Rose,” “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”
Documentary Feature: “No End in Sight,” “Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience,” “Sicko,” “Taxi to the Dark Side,” “War/Dance.”
Documentary (short subject): “Freeheld,” “La Corona (The Crown),” “Salim Baba,” “Sari’s Mother.” (No prediction.)
Film Editing: “The Bourne Ultimatum,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “Into the Wild,” “No Country for Old Men,” “There Will Be Blood.”
Makeup: “La Vie en Rose,” “Norbit,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.”
Animated Short Film: “I Met the Walrus,” “Madame Tutli-Putli,” “Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven),” “My Love (Moya Lyubov),” “Peter & the Wolf.”
Live Action Short Film: “At Night,” “Il Supplente (The Substitute),” “Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets),” “Tanghi Argentini,” “The Tonto Woman.”
Visual Effects: “The Golden Compass,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “Transformers.”
Tags: Academy Awards, Oscar, Oscar Picks, Oscar PredictionsFiled Under News
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Quotes, Quips and Fun Facts
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Fun Fact: The following is from a press release for the movie Duck, "starring one of America's most versatile actors, Phillip Baker Hall...In the film "Duck" an old man discovers the will to live because of a duck who believes him to be his mother."
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