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Emulsion Compulsion curates SDMA’s SCREEN ON THE GREEN

July 30th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Let’s Get Together!

For the second year in a row, the San Diego Museum of Art was gracious enough to ask me to curate their annual Screen on the Green series.

Five weeks out of the year, SDMA transforms Balboa Park into a gorgeous outdoor theatre. Admission is free (San Diegans love free), so even though all of the movies are older, most are even in primitive black and white, we manage to attract a huge crowd. If you are planning on attending, I suggest you get their early with your lawn chairs, blankets and picnic baskets in tow.

All of the films are family friendly (sadly, no Russ Meyer) and if I do say so myself, this year’s lineup offers a great escape for the next five Thursday evenings. The schedule is as follows:

July 31 Ernst Lubitsch’s The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

August 7 Billy Wilder’s Sabrina (1954)

August 14 David Swift’s The Parent Trap (1961)

August 21 Sing along with George Sidney’s Bye, Bye Birdie (1963)

August 28 Peter Bogdanovich’s Paper Moon (1973)

As is my habit, each feature will begin with a vintage cartoon. Screen on the Green: Summer Movies at Balboa Park plays every Thursday at 8 pm through August 28. The screening is located on the East Lawn, near the Botanical Building and Casa del Prado. For more info, call 619-232-7931 or visit the SDMA website.

Screen on the Green is brought to you through the generous support of Phil and Lyn Gildred. Hope to see you all there!

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Review: SIN CITY / Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (2005)

July 30th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Sin City (2005)
Directed by: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez and “Guest Director” Quentin Tarantino
Written by: Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez
Starring: Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Josh Hartnett, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, etc.
Running Time: 126 min.

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Once again a Hollywood adaptation of a comic book looks great and goes nowhere. The long-awaited big screen version of Frank Miller’s Sin City presents a visually dazzling flipbook netherworld that should please only a comic book mentality.

Miller was soured on Hollywood after his experience writing the two RoboCop sequels and refused to relinquish the rights to any of his comic books. Rodriguez, a big fan of Miller’s work, filmed an “audition” scene between Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton, later used in the finished product. He presented Miller with the footage and told him, “If you like this, this will be the opening to the movie. If not, you’ll have your own short film to show your friends.”

Rodriguez deemed the comic book’s visual style so influential he insisted Miller receive a co-director credit. The Director’s Guild of America refused and Rodriguez politely ceased to belong saying, “It was easier for me to quietly resign before shooting because otherwise I’d be forced to make compromises I was unwilling to make or set a precedent that might hurt the guild later on.” This brave move cost Rodriguez a gig on Paramount’s upcoming John Carter of Mars.

Why a ‘Guest Director’ credit? In addition to pointlessly referencing episodic seventies television credits, Tarantino expressed interest in experimenting with HD cameras, a Rodriguez pet. In exchange for one dollar, Rodriguez agreed to compose the soundtrack to Kill Bill Vol. 2. With another exchange of Washington’s, Tarantino returned the favor. Frankly, they both overpaid. Long a film-over-digital proponent, when asked about his experience, Tarantino merely replied, “Mission Accomplished.” (Tarantino directed the overlong Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia homage between Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro.)

Continue reading Review: SIN CITY / Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (2005)

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Mr. T branded a homophobe after candy bar commercial equates speed-walking with homosexuality

July 30th, 2008 by Scott Marks

I pity the poor politically correct fools that think a candy bar commercial featuring Mr. T is anti-gay.

The commercial for Snickers bars, which features T scolding a speed walker for not “running like a man,” has been yanked off of UK airwaves after US human rights groups cried homophobia.

According to the Daily Mail, “Mr. T pulls up in a truck alongside a man exercising in tight yellow shorts and shouts: ‘Speed walking. I pity you fool. You are a disgrace to the man race. It’s time to run like a real man.’ He then forces the man to break into a sprint by taking pot shots at him with a Snickers machine gun. The commercial ends with Mr T uttering the slogan to the current Snickers campaign – ‘Get some nuts.’”

200 people, including US protesters, called to complain about the commercial. Oddly enough, the spot has yet to air on American television.

The U.S. lobby group Human Rights Campaign criticized Mars – which makes Snickers – for condoning “the notion that the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is a group of second class citizens and that violence against GLBT people is not only acceptable but humorous.”

Since when is it the business of the United States to meddle in another country’s source of ad revenue? The Mars Company should grow some nuts and tell those offended to shove their Snickers. Instead, a backpedaling spokesperson for the candy giant said, “We understand that humor is highly subjective, and it is never our intention to cause offense. Accordingly, we have pulled the Mr. T speedwalker ad globally.”

Links:
Mr. T Photos

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Jerry Lewis caught with gun at Las Vegas airport

July 29th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Schtick ‘em up!

Actor, director, mime, singer, night club performer, comedian, recipient of the French Legion of Honor, conductor, clown, writer, producer, dancer, American Treasure and National Chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association Jerry Lewis was nabbed carrying an unloaded gun at Las Vegas’ McCarran airport.

Police say the 82-year-old was caught packing a piece before boarding a Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit Friday. Isn’t Detroit the only city in America where people are encouraged to bring a concealed weapon? The nutty gunslinger told Metro police he forgot that he had placed the gun in his carry-on bag.

Officers confiscated the 22-caliber Beretta and cited Lewis for having a concealed weapon without a permit and not altering or modifying his act one iota over the past 30 years. OH YEAH! TIMPANI!

Airline pilot Eddie Peyton offered his sincerest apologies and Monsieur Pussycat was allowed to take his flight.

***UPDATE***

This just in, Lewis’ manager, Claudia Marghilano, says the handgun is a hollowed-out prop gun that Lewis sometimes twirls during his show. She tells The Associated Press that the gun, not unlike her octogenarian client, couldn’t fire.

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Miley Cyrus thinking of leaving “Hannah Montana” ?!?! Blow out the pilot light!

July 29th, 2008 by Scott Marks

It can’t be. Say it ain’t so. This is more cataclysmic than when WOR axed The Howard Stern Summer Show after only two seasons!

Miley Cyrus is talking about leaving Hannah Montana! The chipmunk-faced teen sensation told E! News, “We’re thinking this is our last season.”

Hey, Miley — I have five words for you: “Screech.” Forget about that yente Jamie Lee Curtis, it’s time you turned to Dustin Diamond as your role model. No matter how much producer Peter “Der Vicer” Engel tried to dilute and degrade the character (towards the end Screech became Mr. Belding’s bitch) Dustin rode that Saved by the Bell wave until The New Class got old and the show was canceled. Diamond even went on to appear in a porno film. I ask you, is there a better person alive to guide Miley’s career than Screech Powers?

C’mon, Miley don’t kill of Hannah. It can’t possibly take much work to film that three-camera crapola. There will be plenty of time for you to make more 3D movies, pose in various sorts of undress and even make that racy feature you’ve been jockeying for. Besides, the normally tight fisted folks at Mouse-TV will surely line your coffers with enough dough to keep you in bubble gum, stock options and “FU” money for the rest of your life.

Continue reading Miley Cyrus thinking of leaving “Hannah Montana” ?!?! Blow out the pilot light!

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“Joker” arrested for stealing Batman memorabilia from Michigan movie theater

July 28th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Heath Ledger died for your sins!

The Smoking Gun reports that a 20-year-old man dressed as the Joker was arrested earlier today by police in Three Rivers, Michigan for attempting to steal Dark Knight posters and memorabilia from a movie theater lobby.

When I used to steal posters from theater lobbies, I never once considered dressing up as a character from the movie. Imagine me dolled up as Mongo from Blazing Saddles or sporting a Travis Bickle mohawk from Taxi Driver.

Police were called to a disturbance just after midnight and discovered the theater staff restraining Spencer Taylor, who was decked out in his finest Joker regalia. Taylor was booked on felony larceny and malicious destruction of property. Wait till the boys in Three Rivers Penitentiary get a load of him!

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