Blog Trek

Distinctive Running

Actors have distinctive voices.  They also have distinctive ways of running. 

I watched Keanu Reeves this evening, running in that graceless way of his as he barreled his way across snow, city streets and up a rising bridge section.  He runs as though his feet are about to cross one over the other and send him sprawling.

Harrison Ford is another graceless runner.  He makes running look like the biggest chore he ever has to do, and has always looked that way, even in the original "Star Wars," where he almost falls over the bottom of a closing door panel.  When I first saw that, I thought it was probably just a fluke that was left in because it looked more realistic.  I now realize that even if 20 takes occured, he probably would still have tripped.

Tom Cruise, for all his faults, runs like a champ.  I had the pleasure of watching him the other night as he sprinted down streets and alleyways while wearing a heavy woollen coat and carrying an attache case in one hand.

Acting classes for runners, anyone?

Magnum, but not in size

I see Magnum, PI is going to hit the big screens.  Some things age well, and others just look ridiculous.  I hope they are going to update this concept in a big way.  I have caught a few episodes on TV lately, because I get sick of watching the news while eating dinner and I have to have some downtime before I hit the paperwork or the revisions.  Magnum, PI has not aged like fine wine.

I never did think much of the series, but it was empty-headed entertainment when it debuted.  Now, it looks so incredibly tacky and outdated, it's farcical.  Magnum wears short shorts throughout the majority of the shows, even while the rest of the cast is wearing dress pants, jeans or even sweat pants.  He looks like he forgot to put on his pants and is walking around in boxers. 

The whole idea of Robin Masters' estate is ridiculous, with Higgins prancing around like he's permanently on safari and blustering insults at Magnum as though he's 6 years old and has to be chastized for misbehaving.  The two sidekicks are either just as infantile, or worse, the little boys in big mens' clothing.  They ogle women and play at being grownups with the assistance of Rick's bar and the helicopter.

Now, we are going to be treated to an adaptation that can enlarge all these plot disasters onto a larger screen.

I just wonder who is in development at the studios these days.  There are so many fabulous scripts that will never get read, so many terrific books that could be adapted.

But what do we get? 

Magnum, PI.

Rambo's back--or did he ever leave?

I see Sylvester Stallone is set to make another Rambo installment.  I wonder how dated he will look, slathered up with oil and wearing his headband.  Actually, around here, Rambo has never left, but lives on in the guise of a Roach Coach (the all-things-edible rolling wagons that proliferate in L.A.)  This particular one spends most of its time in front of the Adelphia Cable building.  Rambo's Tacos are its claim to fame, and it has been hanging out in the Eagle Rock/Highland Park area at least since my daughter and I moved here in December 1997.  I guess it just proves that Rambo, like Rocky and indeed, Sylvester Stallone, are never out of the limelight, in whatever dubious form they inhabit.

Get real, Hollywood

The receipts are in and the movies this year are taking in less than previous years.  How astonishing.  How unbelievable...not.

Given the prices of movie-going and the fare in the theatres, it's a small wonder that there hasn't been a bumper year.  Who in the world decided it would be a good idea to dredge up all these old dated T.V. shows of yesteryear (or a couple of decades ago) and turn them into movies?  I cringe when I think of "The Dukes of Hazzard," which although it might have been entertaining in its time looks ridiculous in re-runs, let alone turning it loose on the big screen.  All I keep hearing about is what Jessica Simpson looks like in those hotpants.  This really makes me want to go see this movie.

The execs in the studios need to start listening to the public.  They've got to offer better fare with riveting plots and stellar casts, not looking to a "blockbuster" of nothing but endless car chases, explosions and smoke-screens, starring the flavor of the month piece of cheesecake.

The other thing I never want to see again is a woman falling during a chase scene.  Let the man fall on his face and scream his head off.  Ridiculous?  Yes.  Then why have a woman do it?  Not all of us are useless in a crisis--ask any mother faced with a bleeding child or a nurse in a trauma room at the ER.

The next time there's a meeting of the (questionable) minds in the studios, perhaps they should consider looking at some GOOD ideas for a change, and then actually producing those instead of dredging up just one more tired old plotline and assuring themselves that the public will continue to go to the theatres and hand over the price of admission.

The last STAR WARS

I just read the first review on the latest, and last Star Wars movie.  Sounds like it's a winner, and well-worth going to see.

I still remember seeing the original Star Wars.  We were living in North Carolina at the time, my then-husband was in the Air Force and the kids were really little.  I knew as soon as I saw it that this was something different, as did everyone else.  It was the little movie that could, and did, for the next 30 years.

My family remembers where we were for the next in the series.  We went to the Alabama Theatre in Houston, not that long after we moved to the area.  We sat up in the balcony and were enthralled.  Within a couple of years, the theatre became a BookStar and we would wax nostalgic about seeing Star Wars upstairs while we were waiting in line to buy our books.

The third one in the series was seen in a forgotten location and was pretty much forgettable itself.  Where the other two had put us all on the edge of our seats while still managing to make us laugh, the last one became silly and juvenile.  What in the world was George Lucas thinking when he made a species of teddy bears?  Where was the subtle yet riveting sexual tension between the Princess and the Scoundrel, who seemed to be totally mismatched and tentative now that it was revealed Luke had kissed his sister (Yuk!  What in the world was George Lucas thinking when he allowed that to happen?  Obviously, he wasn't thinking trilogy at the time, much less a six part series!!) and she was very much free and available?

Then, after a long wait, came the next two in the series, and it was revealed that like the real-life drama of the teacher who fell in love with her 12 year old student and subsequently bore two children from the relationship (and went to jail for it,) Anakin Skywalker would fall for the much older Queen Padme, and she would reciprocate, even after she saw him as a little boy and watched him grow up.  How many of us have the hots for someone we saw originally in short pants with dirty knees and a big case of immaturity?  How many Queens would jeopardize their thrones for the love of an adolescent when they must be pushing thirty?

I suppose we must put all this down to the fact that this all takes place long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away, where the limits of age and propriety obviously don't exist on the same plain as good ole planet earth.

It's all fiction, after all, and I must remind myself that "It's only a movie."

More on Spaghetti Westerns

After reminiscing about Giuliano Gemma, I decided to do a little surfing.  Lo and behold, the man is still acting at the age of 67.  I have to email my friend, who will be very interested to learn that "GG," as we called him, wasn't just a flash in the pan.

Being young and impressionable, we had big crushes on GG.  Whenever a new movie came out, we were among the first at the theatres.  We saw "For a Fistful of Dollars," "For A Few Dollars More," and "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly"  and loved all of them, despite missing something in translation from time to time.  We thought Terrance Hill more handsome than Clint Eastwood after watching "Call Me Trinity" and "Trinity is Still My Name."  Giuliano Gemma had us from the moment we watched the "Ringo" movies.

Half the fun was listening to the movie scores, composed by Ennio Morricone.  That man had pure talent when it came to scoring westerns.  The music felt like another character on the screen.

Lee Van Cleef made an excellent villain while Bud Spencer played the bumbling sidekick.  Eli Wallach and Clint Eastwood looked totally at home on the Mediterranean range.

When I arrived in the U.S., I found many people laughing at the spagghetti westerns, but I guess those same people wish today that they hadn't laughed so loud, after Clint Eastwood transitioned back to these shores and went on to a long a highly successful career that might not have been so notable had he not perfected the role of The Man With No Name in the original low budget productions that thumbed their noses at the big cost and long in production movies being turned out by Hollywood.  Those Europeans were way ahead of their time, and the indie film makers of today need to pay homage to those folk who traipsed around the hot desert regions surrounding Almeria with their substandard, antiquated equipment and dedicated film makers such as the ones my friend and I were lucky enough to meet and become friends with all those years ago.

I'm sure there are moments Clint Eastwood thinks back and thanks his stars he climbed on a plane, wore that poncho and chewed on his signature cheroot.

THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED

Since I have had to work late for the last few days, and even see patients on Saturday, blogging has not been possible.  I haven't even had time to revise my query letter and get my manuscript sent out.  Frustrating.  Anyway, I thought I'd serve up a bit of my own personal trivia that shows a little of my diverse background.

Many years ago, I lived in Spain.  I went there with a friend and ended up staying four years, but the first year was the most adventurous.  We wanted to see a spaghetti western being made, and hitchhiked out to the desert (yes, we were fearless and probably stupid, too!)  There we found a crew leaving from one location to another.  The soundman and his partner waved to us and told us to hop in the vehicle and come along for the ride, which we did.  That started a relationship for me with the soundman that culminated, kind of, in my friend and I getting a one day job dubbing for THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED.

Antonio asked us if we wanted to earn money for the dubbing, and of course, we agreed--easy money?  Certainly.  The studio was in a remote part of Madrid, miles from where we were living at the time.  It took quite an effort for us to get there.  On our arrival, the heel of my friend's sandal fell off, probably from all the walking, and there was a dilemma--she told Antonio she would have to go around barefooted, but he would have none of it--he had asked a favor for us to be included in this dubbing, and he was also working on the prestigious project pro bono for the experience, so he wasn't going to present two greenhorn girls, one of them without shoes, to the production crew.  Despite his best efforts to fix that damned shoe, the heel wouldn't stay on and my friend had to do her best to walk around all day without anyone noticing she had no heel on one shoe.  This was particularly hard for her, because she was a free spirit.  If she hadn't been so fond of Antonio, this would never have come to pass.

We were told nothing about the plot-line, only that Lilli Palmer was involved as a star.  A young English actor, whose name I can't remember right now, but hopefully will come to me shortly, was our coach.  There were several other late-teens, early twenties girls for the group scenes and a couple of girls who were dubbing the parts of the principles.

We were given directions on the content of the scenes and what our reactions should be like.  I remember two scenes more vividly than any of the others: one in the kitchen, another when a new girl arrived at the boarding school and the other girls took items out of her trunk, shaking out clothes, etc.  We were never told this was a horror movie, and we never saw the actual, completed movie.  Antonio and I parted company amicably and went on with our lives on separate courses.  My friend and I never got parts in any other movies, although we did get to sit in on a few sets, and I went on to date someone who worked behind the scenes on another project for a while.  We hung around the fringes of the movie industry in Spain for a couple of years, attending wrap parties, casting calls, etc.  It was a lot of fun, and if I had really thought about the possibilities, maybe I would have hung out more with the crews and actually learned some of the technical aspects more than just the social aspects of filming.

But, I digress.  About a year after I arrived in the U.S., my husband and I were watching T.V. late in the evening, and here came THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED.  I had told him about dubbing the movie, but never thought I would actually see it playing anywhere, much less on late night T.V. in the U.S.  Although Antonio had told us the movie was being dubbed into English for distribution to foreign markets, so were a lot of other movies at the time.  We had watched our favorite spaghetti western actor, Guliano Gemma, speaking English with a very pronounced accent at one remote location, his voice to be dubbed by someone without the accent, but at least his lips not moving in contrary ways like the early Japanese dubbing jobs.

THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED turned out to be a scary, classy type of horror movie.  I was actually pleased to find out that it was something I could be proud I was associated with, even though it looked like most of the scenes my friend and I had participated in had been cut.  Perhaps they were cut to reduce the length of the movie for the T.V. market.  I really should buy a copy of the original.  It can be found online now, like most things that weren't available to anyone but the most determined amateur detective until the World Wide Web came into being.  I found a good review from Troy Howarth on the recent DVD release (2003) at http://www.dvdmaniacs.net/Reviews/E-H/house_that_screamed.html.  The actual movie was released in 1969 under the title of LA RESIDENCIA.

I actually did something memorable in my wild youth.  Imagine.

Create better movies to fill up those extra slots, Fox

20th Century Fox is going to increase their output from 14 films to 20 or 25 next year, according to the Hollywood Reporter. This may be good news for writers, because hopefully Fox will not be remaking old movies but looking for new ideas. If the execs. would realize that spending $135 mill. to make a movie isn't necessary, and that good storylines beat special effects any day, even more movies could be made and released.

It's that old adage: just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. The ability to blow up the world in every movie doesn't mean it should be done. Not everything has to be shot in front of a green screen and the following months spent putting in CG characters. What happened to using actors & actresses? Are they are mostly dying breed? Are we really going to become vested in all these CG characters? The Oscars are going to look really strange without the red carpet.

The ability of the indies to find an audience and to make movies on a shoestring proves that the old business isn't dead, it's just being rejected by the big studios as being obsolete. It's a case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Look at what George Lucas did after he remastered (& masterfully) Star Wars the first time, improving the quality immesurably, only to go overboard and completely revamp a classic by adding CG figures. That's like adding them to Gone with the Wind (a movie I absolutely hate, by the way--the editing totally sucks, with abrupt cuts and choppy scenes along with totally cardboard acting from all the principles and an operatic tone that smacks of melodrama at its worst.) Did I mention I didn't like it?

Also, why are fairly recent movies being remade? Why do execs. think they will look better only 10 or 15 years after they've been made by putting new stars in them and brushing up the storylines to look a little more present day? Why can't some things be left alone? The exception would be Gone with the Wind again, but if they can't remake that one better, then they had best leave it alone until it dies a natural death.

We need new blood, new ideas, fresh visions and less fake. Bring back the emotions, the plots, the characters we all remember long after the movies have left the theatres. Then people won't mind paying $10 for the movie and $20 at the concession stand (where they rip you off for anything you've got left in your pocket after paying for the movie.)

And is there anything more nauseating than going out to dinner, then going to the movies only to smell pizza that's being eaten by the group next door? Yuk!

Short shorts

I just watched the spoof, MY LAND, on Atom Films (www.AtomFilms.com) & what a great little spoof it is. I laughed outright throughout the whole thing and reran it in case I had missed anything along the way.

The short film is definitely a new art form. When I attended a media convention a few years back, IFILM had a great short about a jet landing on the 405 while the driver of a car tried desperately to get out of its way. The biggest hurdle he had to overcome was a little old lady in a very big sedan.

To make a complete movie in so little amount of time is something I have yet to master. I never was good at turning out short short stories. There is a women's magazine that features a really short mystery every month, and I always wonder how people manage to do it whenever I happen (infrequently) to pick up a copy.

I guess I am just too wordy, or maybe too grandiose, for the short tale. My hat comes off to those who can turn a few minutes into a beginning, a middle and an end. The George Lucas spoof of a few years back is a prime example of that art form. My daughter managed to get a copy of a copy of a bootleg copy and we played that grainy VHS tape over and over.

So many big budget movies seem to be tanking these days, maybe the powers that be should take another look at these little masterpieces and ask themselves some pretty tough questions.

Cutting in the right place

I read in the obituaries that one of Robert Altman's favorite editors died recently. I was reminded tonight of how important editors are, both in film, television & the written word. If the editor cuts badly, then vital parts of the story may be lost on the cutting room floor, or under the slash the the infamous red pen.

Star Trek: Insurrection is showing on television. In it, Data and Captain Picard row out to a holographic image of a village. One of the villagers, a very attractive woman, goes with them. An alien tries to kill them while they are there, and Captain Picard throws the woman out of the way. She lands in the water but cannot swim, placing her in danger of drowning. He jumps in to save her, revealing to both of them that there is an intense attraction between them. He returns to the Enterprise wearing different clothes, since his are wet.

In the edited for T.V. version, the near drowning has been cut out completely. We are led from the death of the alien to the destruction of the holographic image and then suddenly, Data & Picard materialize on the Enterprise and voila, Picard is wearing a different outfit and is obviously still wet.

So much for seamless cutting.

When I took editing classes at Golden West College, one of the students took clips of a bank robbery and made the bandit into the hero and the police officer into the villain. The instructor was actually quite angered and demanded she re-edit the piece or fail the course (this was our final exam.) Her attempt at creativity was like serving up food that had not been ordered.

So much for creativity.
So much for giving the producer what he asked for.

When taking classes in creative writing at Houston Community College, I had one fellow student slash one of my stories and give it a completely different meaning and ending. I couldn't see how she had missed the entire point of the story and given it a totally different spin. Her reworking of my piece felt insensitive and somehow egotistical. I ignored her version.

So much for good intentions.
So much for ignoring the vision of the creator.

I have to watch the rest of Insurrection to see what else the cutting process mutilated.