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Random thoughts on Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Richard Nixon and “Il Divo”

June 26th, 2009 by Scott Marks

Last month my computer died. This month, my new computer caught a virus. It’s in the shop, as they say, and I should get it back by Tuesday. AAARGH! If I’m gone over the next few days, you will know why. In the meantime here are a few random thoughts concerning movies and names in the news.

For those of you living in San Diego, Paolo Sorrento’s “Il Divo,” my vote for best picture of the year (until “Shutter Island” arrives) opens today at Landmark’s Ken Cinema, It’s a whopping tale of a stagnant leader the likes of which I haven’t seen since Bertolucci’s ”The Last Emperor” and at 105 minutes it’s tied with “Land of the Pharaohs” as one of the shortest epics on record. Unless you are an expert on Italian politics, this will require a second, third and fourth viewing.

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An earlier tape finds Bob wishing Mr. President a Happy Birthday

News arrived earlier in the week that fresh excerpts from the Watergate tapes were going to be released. I sat through an hour of Anderson Cooper to find one 30-second clip concerning Nixon’s thoughts on abortion read by the host.

Thursday I was all fired up when Chris Matthews took to the airwaves with actual audio portions. First thing out the gate, Bob Hope, right here!

Hey, Bob put in a call to the Oval Office and he and President Nixon talked briefly about the 1973 release of POWs:

NIXON: You know, it makes—you know, after all the business that you and I have taken through the years, it makes you feel pretty good, doesn‘t it?
BOB HOPE: Oh boy. Oh, it‘s just—it‘s (AUDIO GAP) a thrill. It‘s just a thrill.
NIXON: And the main thing is, apart from—apart from the personal thing, Bob, it‘s so good for the country. The country could not lose this war.
(INTERFERENCE)
NIXON: We had to win it.
HOPE: What they did for this country, you know, this—and it emanates from you, your strength and how right you were.
NIXON: Our enemies respect us. Our allies now trust us.
HOPE: Isn‘t that something?

Minutes after this tape was broadcast, Michael Jackson was dead.

A source close to RH2 Entertainment, who begged that his name not be divulged, told EC that Mr. Hope was reluctant to let this news leak out. In light of that “commie punk Obama’s” efforts to undo George W. Bush’s fine work, Mr Hope felt that if this information were to fall into the wrong hands it would bring about a speedier resolution to the war.

Hope needed a diversion. Instead of bringing down another public landmark and risking the lives of thousands of Americans, Ol’ Ski Nose put out a hit on the Gloved One.

Bob was there to meet MJ at the Pearly Gates. The two shook hands and as Bob patted Jacko on the shoulder he leaned in and whispered in his ear, “I thought it would be a good career move for you.”

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Was there a greater, more subliminally seductive masturbatory aid in the 70s than this poster. (Look carefully and you’ll see the word “S-E-X” airbrushed into Farrah’s locks.) Farrah Fawcett did for hair what James Dean did for red jackets and John Travolta mechanical bulls.

She was beautiful, but sadly forgettable. I never watched more than a few minutes of “Charlie’s Angels” and her film career wasn’t much to speak of. (The only two Farrah features I own are “Myra Breckinridge” and “Cannonball Run 2.”) Her beauty made such a strong impact that she remained in the headlines throughout her career. Sadly, the last decade was marked by news of scandal and sorrow in her relationship with Ryan O’Neal. She was the textbook example of what happens to a starlet once they lose their looks. Megan Fox take heed.

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So many people asked me why the Academy decided to up the stakes from 5 best picture nominees to 10. It’s so obvious. There are still a lot of fans out there that insist on seeing every best picture nominee. Since the industry has fallen on hard times Sid Ganis and the boys at Oscar, Inc. decided to boost attendance by doubling the amount of nominees. Don’t buy into this nonsense that the Academy was pressured into expanding the field by those who believe the best picture should be the biggest blockbuster. They could nominate 50 films and “The Dark Knight” would still not take home the gold.

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See you next Tuesday, unless they fix my computer sooner.

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Filed Under Rants

Review: FROST/NIXON / Ron Howard (2008)

December 3rd, 2008 by Scott Marks

Nixon/Frost (2008)
Directed by Ron Howard
Written by Peter Morgan from his play
Starring: Michael Sheen, Frank Langella, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon, Rebecca Hall, Toby Jones, Patty McCormack and Clint Howard
Running Time: 122 min.
Photographed by Salvatore Totino in

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

If nothing else, Frost/Nixon answers one burning question: Whatever became of Patty McCormack, the pig-tailed demon in The Bad Seed. She’s all grow’d up now and playing Pat Nixon in Ron Howard’s made-for-TV blow-up of the sensational 1977 video dismantling of America’s 37th president.

In the closing minutes of Frost/Nixon, James Reston, Jr. (Sam Rockwell) admits to underestimating what it was that made the Nixon/Frost confrontation such a smashing success: the reductive power of the close-up. If I were Ron Howard, I wouldn’t end the picture by drawing attention to what I’d been doing for the past 115 minutes.

Howard wasn’t the first director to have his fingerprints on this project. Mike Nichols, George Clooney, Sam Mendes, Bennett Miller and even Marty were all in the running. (Everybody’s first choice on every film is Him. I bet Marty even got an offer to direct New York Minute.) Based on a play that was based on a TV interview, Ron Howard was the natural choice. (All kidding aside, Mike Nichols could have done wonders with this script.)

Perhaps the British accent fooled me growing up, but I don’t remember David Frost being this much of a lightweight. (Peter Cook dubbed Frost “the bubonic plagiarist.”) According to Howard’s vision of the events surrounding the historic interviews, David Frost comes off as an unprepared, unengaged, money mad pleasure seeker. Instead of spending the night before the interview cramming for the defining moment of his career, Frost is at the Cineramadome attending the premier of The Slipper and the Rose, a film he executive produced. He was still searching for sponsors days after the interviews began filming.

According to the film, the trio of media heavyweights Frost surrounded himself with were so formidable, the talk show host felt no need to brush up on his Nixon. Veteran reporter Bob Zelnick (Oliver Platt) was Frost’s strategist and executive editor of the interviews. John Birt (Matthey Macfadyen) produced the show and James Reston, Jr., the acerbic Nixon-hating author and lecturer, was hired as Frost’s writer. Reston’s diatribe against Nixon is pitched to a modern audience fed up with the current commander in chief.

Frost had a reputation as a womanizer, but the seemingly fictitious Caroline Cushing character, played by the comely Rebecca Hall, appears to be a composite created by the filmmakers for purposes of eye candy. Ms. Hall quietly stole the show in Woody Allen’s Vicky Christina Barcelona. Under Howard’s lazy eye she does little more than change and model the Nino’s form fitting, authentic to the period costumes.

Continue reading Review: FROST/NIXON / Ron Howard (2008)

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