Negromancer News Bits and Bites from March 21st to 31st, 2021 - Update #34

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

STREAMING - From Deadline:   Netflix is closing in on a 400-million dollar deal to mak two sequels to the hit 2019 film, "Knives Out."

TELEVISION - From Variety:    Actor Donald Faison will play "Professor Utonium" in "Powerpuff," The CW's live-action version of "The Powerpuff Girls."

MOVIES - From Vulture:   The second unit director and stunt coordinator on Brad Pitt's upcoming thriller, "Bullet Train," says that Pitt did 95 percent of his own stunts on the film.

BOX OFFICE - From Deadline:  The winner at the 3/26 to 3/28/2021 weekend box office is "Nobody" with an estimated take of 6.7 million dollars.

From Forbes:    Are movie theaters around the world going broke.

From Deadline:  "Godzilla Vs Kong" storms the international box office on its opening weekend with an estimated take of 121.8 million dollars at 38 overseas market. 

From Deadline:  "Godzilla Vs. Kong" looks at having the biggest domestic opening since the pandemic began.

AWARDS-NAACP - From Deadline:  Here is a list of winners at the 2021 / 52nd NAACP Image Awards, which wrapped up Sat., March 27th after a week of honors.

MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment:  Eliza Hittman talks about her groundbreaking film about a teen seeking an abortion, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always," and how one Oscar voter rejected it.

From Variety:  This article details the disagreement between director Eliza Hittman and Oscar winner and voter, Keith Merrill ("The Great American Cowboy"), over her film, "Never Rarely Sometimes Always."

TELEVISION - From Deadline:   George R.R. Martin's book series, "A Song of Fire and Ice," is the basis for HBO's Emmy-winning TV series, "Game of Thrones" and for a planned slew of spinoffs.  Now, Martin has signed a five-year overall development deal with HBO and its streaming sister, HBO Max.

TELEVISION - From Variety:  Embattled co-host, Sharon Osbourne, has left the CBS daytime talk show, "The Talk," in the wake of recent controversies regarding her defending her racist pal, Piers Morgan, and allegations of racist behavior to past co-hosts.  Osbourne was the last original co-host that launched the show 11 years ago.

MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment:   Director Fraser Heston speaks about his famous father, legendary Hollywood actor, Charlton Heston, on the 65th anniversary of his most famous film, "The Ten Commandments" (1956).  Fraser also speaks about his father's controversial support of the National Rifle Association (NRA).

TRAILER - From THN:   There is a trailer for the animated family film, "Felix and the Hidden Treasure" (June 4th, with previews on the weekend before May 31st).

SPORTS-TELEVISION - From NFL:  The NFL has announced its new broadcast deals that will begin in 2023 and through 2033.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Actor Bo Burnham has reportedly joined HBO's drama series about the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s.  Burnham will reportedly play Boston Celtics great, Larry Bird.  About 20 roles have been cast, including the roles of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Coach Pat Riley, to name a few.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Warner Bros. Television has fired Greg Spottiswood, from his job as executive producer and co-showrunner of the CBS legal drama, "All Rise," which he created.  Spottiswood has been accused of unprofessional behavior in the series' writers room.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Disney's "Black Widow" has given up the May 7-9, 2021 weekend.  So the Jason Statham action movie, "Wrath of Man," directed by Guy Ritchie, moving from its April 23rd spot to take the May 7th weekend spot.

AWARDS - From Deadline:   "Nomadland" wins the top prize at the 2021/ 32nd Annual Producers Guild Awards.  22 of the 32 winners of the top prize have won the "Best Picture" Oscar.  Last year's PGA winner, "1917" lost to Parasite at the Oscars.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Disney has greenlit a 10-episode TV series that is a reboot of the "National Treasure" film series (2004, 2007).  The TV lead will be a Latina, a DREAMer.  The third film in the original series is still being developed.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Sony Pictures is developing a film based on the classic TV series, "Bewitched" (ABC, 1964-72).  It will reportedly be closer to the series than Sony's 2005 "Bewitched" film.

MOVIES - From Variety:   Disney changes its film release schedule, postponing the release of several film, including the much-anticipated Marvel Studios movie, "Black Widow."

STREAMING - From Variety:  Halle Berry joins Mark Wahlberg in the Netflix spy movie, "Our Man from Jersey."

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Tyler Perry's next film for Netflix is "A Jazzman's Blues," Joshua Boone and Solea Pfeiffer.

MOVIES - From Variety:  Actress Sean Young talks about the shitty men, mostly directors and actors, that she has had to deal with in Hollywood.  The list includes Ridley Scott and James Woods.

AWARDS - From Deadline:   "Promising Young Woman" and "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" take top honors at the 2021 Writers Guild Awards.

MOVIES - From Deadline:   The "Resident Evil" film franchise reboot will be entitled "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City."  The film is scheduled for movie theaters Sept. 3rd.

BOX OFFICE - From Variety:   The winner of the 3/19 to 3/21/21 weekend box office is Disney's "Raya and the Last Dragon" with an estimated take of 5.5 million dollars.  This is the film's third consecutive week at #1.

MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  The character, Sally Hardesty, was the lone survivor ("final girl") in the 1974 film, "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre," will be in the upcoming new "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" film.  A new actress will play the character, as the originator of the role, actress Marilyn Burns, died in 2014.

TELEVISION - From THR:  CBS is rebooting the 1994 film, "True Lies," as a TV series.  They are pushing it back to give the reboot's producers, including James Cameron, the writer-director of the film, more time to develop the project.

MOVIES - From Variety:   Director Chris Columbus confirms that his 1994 smash hit, "Mrs. Doubtfire," which starred the late Robin Williams, does have a R-rated cut.  This rumor all started with a viral tweet that said that there were G, PG. PG-13, R, and NC-17 cuts of the film.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  The actor and poet, Craig "muMs" Grant, has died at the age of 52, Wednesday, March 24, 2021.  A prolific actor, Grant had numerous film, TV, and stage credits.  He is best known for playing "Arnold 'Poet' Jackson" in HBO's "Oz" (1997-2003) for the entirety of its run.  Grant also participated in many slam-poetry events.

From Deadline:  The novelist and screenwriter, Larry McMurtry, has died at the age of 84, Thursday, March 25, 2021.  McMurtry was a prolific novelist, and his 1985 novel, "Lonesome Dove," won the "Pulitzer Prize for Fiction" in 1986, and was adapted into a beloved 1989 television miniseries.  Many of his novels were adapted into film, including "The Last Picture Show" (book-1966; film-1971) and "Terms of Endearment" (book-1975; film 1983), which won the Academy Award for "Best Picture."  In 2006, he won an Oscar for co-writing the screenplay for the 2005 film, "Brokeback Mountain," an adaptation of E. Annie Proulx.

From Deadline:   The actress, Jessica Walter, has died at the age of 80, Wednesday, March 24, 2021.  Walter had a five decade career in film and television, but she was best known for her recent roles.  She was Lucille Bluth on the sitcom, "Arrested Development," which was originally broadcast on Fox and later streamed on Netflix.  Walter also provided the voice for "Malory Archer" on FXX's long running animated series, "Archer."  In 1975, she won an Primetime Emmy Award for her work on the limited series, "Amy Prentiss."  She was also nominated three other times for an Emmy.

From Deadline:   Television and film actor, George Segal, has died at the age of 87, Tuesday, March 23, 2021.  Segal stared in two long-running TV series, NBC's former sitcom, "Just Shoot Me" (1997-2003), and ABC's current sitcom, "The Goldbergs" (2013-).  Segal recently filmed Episode 16, his last, of the current season, and it is scheduled to air April 7th.  Segal also earned an Oscar nomination for "Best Supporting Actor" for his role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966).

From NBA:  Legendary NBA player and executive, Elgin Baylor, has died at the age of 86, Monday, March 22, 2021.  Playing the position of forward, Baylor is considered one of the NBA's greatest players.  He played 14 seasons for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers from 1958-71, and he was the vice president of basketball operations for the hapless Los Angeles Clippers for 22 years.  He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977.

Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone to Announce Oscar Noms

Oscar® Host Seth MacFarlane Joins Emma Stone To Announce Oscar Nominations

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards® will be announced by the show's host, Seth MacFarlane, and actress Emma Stone on Thursday, January 10. This will be the first time since 1972 that an Oscar show host has participated in the nominations announcement.

MacFarlane and Stone will unveil the nominations at a 5:30 a.m. PT news conference at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, where hundreds of media representatives from around the world will be gathered.

Since the first nominations announcement in 1964, the Academy president has been joined by one or more co-announcers at the event. This year the Academy will break with tradition when MacFarlane, who was named Oscar show host in October, joins Stone on Oscar nominations morning. Charlton Heston (1972) was the only other show host to participate in the nominations announcement.

Stone starred in the 2011 Best Picture nominee "The Help" and the summer release "The Amazing Spider-Man." Her other film credits include "Superbad," "Zombieland," "Easy A" and "Crazy, Stupid, Love." Stone will be seen in "Gangster Squad" later this month and in "The Croods," due out in March.

Nominations information for all categories will be distributed to news media in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Review: 1973 Version of "The Three Musketeers" Retains its Comic Charm

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 84 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Three Musketeers (1973)
U.S. release: 1974
Running time: 107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – PG
DIRECTOR: Richard Lester
WRITER: George MacDonald Fraser (based upon the novel by Alexandre Dumas père)
PRODUCERS: Alexander and Ilya Salkind
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Watkin (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: John Victor Smith
COMPOSER: Michel Legrand
BAFTA nominee

COMEDY/HISTORICAL

Starring: Michael York, Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain, Frank Finlay, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Geraldine Chaplin, Charlton Heston, Faye Dunaway, Christopher Lee, Simon Ward, Raquel Welch, Spike Milligan, and Roy Kinnear

The Three Musketeers is a 1973 swashbuckling comedy film from director Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night). This film is based upon Alexandre Dumas père’s 1844 novel, also entitled The Three Musketeers. This is also the first of a two-part film series, the other being The Four Musketeers (1974).

The film opens on young d’Artagnan (Michael York), a country bumpkin trained in the art of the sword by his father. D’Artagnan arrives in Paris with dreams of becoming a king’s musketeer – hopefully with the help of an old acquaintance of his father’s – but he is turned away. He meets and quarrels with three men: Athos (Oliver Reed), Porthos (Frank Finlay), and Aramis (Richard Chamberlain), each of whom challenges him to a duel. After discovering that the three men are real musketeers, d’Artagnan joins them in a brawl with the guards of Count Richelieu (Charlton Heston). Appreciative of d’Artagnan’s efforts, the three musketeers take him on as a kind of musketeer-in-training.

Meanwhile, the Duke of Buckingham (Simon Ward) has slipped into France to see French Queen, Anne of Austria (Geraldine Chaplin), with whom he is having an affair. Richelieu conspires to use the affair to bring down the Queen so that he can have more power over the King, Louis XIII (Jean-Pierre Cassel). Richelieu employs his spy and secret agent, Milady de Winter (Faye Dunaway), to help him.

D’Artagnan has an affair with Constance Bonacieux (Raquel Welch), a married woman who is an aid to the Queen. At her insistence, d’Artagnan decides to help the Queen. Soon the young musketeer wannabe joins Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, as they also seek to oppose Cardinal Richelieu at every turn.

It has been so many years since I read The Three Musketeers that I don’t remember much about it, although the film apparently adheres closely to the novel. I do remember this movie, though. I watched it and its sequel several times when I was a child and I loved it – love is the right word to use. Before I watched it again recently, I wondered if I’d still like it. It turned out that I still love this movie.

Lester and screenwriter George MacDonald Fraser inject a lot of humor into the story. In fact, the film emphasizes comedy over character, although the script gives each character a personality that is important in the context of the role he or she plays. The cast, which is composed of mostly veteran and talented actors and movie stars, makes the most of the material. For instance, Charlton Heston’s stout turn as Richelieu allows the character to be a villain, but an impeccable sense of timing also allows Heston to make the character menacing or mischievously funny, as necessary.

The Three Musketeers also tweaks the conventions of the swashbuckling movies of the 1940s and 50s. The film does the kind of lavish sets and art direction and sumptuous costumes that would make a 1940s MGM period film proud. However, director of photography David Watkins shot this movie with an eye for period detail, so he captures a squalid, more impoverished, and earthier reality as equally as he captures splendor. This makes the movie loose and energetic, rather than stiff and formal.

The Three Musketeers’ fight scenes are not fancy fencing duels like something out of an Errol Flynn movie. Rather, these fights are staged as brawls with the combatants using fists and knees as much as swords. In fact, furniture, food, sticks, and any objects at hand (even wet laundry) sometimes assist or replace swordplay.

When I first saw The Three Musketeers, I was too young to understand the bawdy humor and double entendres. Now, I see how Michael York strikes the perfect tone as d’Artagnan and also how the strikingly handsome Oliver Reed made the most of what is basically a supporting role. Raquel Welch as Constance and Faye Dunaway as Lady de Winter are devastating scene stealers; there could have been a movie built around just the two of them. The Three Musketeers is a childhood favorite that doesn’t disappoint the adult me.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1975 BAFTA Awards: 5 nominations: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (Michel Legrand), “Best Art Direction” (Brian Eatwell), “Best Cinematography” (David Watkin), “Best Costume Design” (Yvonne Blake), and “Best Film Editing” (John Victor-Smith)

1975 Golden Globes: 1 win: “Best Motion Picture Actress - Musical/Comedy” (Raquel Welch); 1 nomination: “Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy”

Friday, October 21, 2011

Review: Academy Award Winning Documentary "Bowling for Columbine"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 171 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Bowling for Columbine (2002)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for some violent images and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Michael Moore
PRODUCERS: Charles Bishop, Jim Czarnecki, Michael Donovan, Kathleen Glynn, and Michael Moore
EDITOR: Kurt Engfehr
Academy Award winner

DOCUMENTARY/COMMENTARY

Starring: Michael Moore, Charlton Heston, Marilyn Manson, Matt Clark, and Dick Clark

After passing over his Roger and Me in 1989, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) handed out its Oscar for “Best Documentary, Features” to filmmaker Michael Moore for his 2002 feature Bowling for Columbine. The Writers Guild of America also awarded Moore “Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen,” one of many American and international awards the film won.

In the film, Moore explores the roots of American’s predilection for gun violence. He also takes a look at the massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado where two students killed 13 people with guns and an incident in his hometown where a six year-old boy killed a six year-old girl with a handgun he found at his uncle’s home. Moore also examines American’s culture of fear and bigotry; he especially focuses on the bigotry against young, black men that marks them as violent predators. Moore also goes after powerful, elite political and corporate interests that directly make money by fanning a culture of bigotry, fear, and violence.

Bowling for Columbine is exacting in the detail to which it pursues its topics, although Moore seems as stumped as anyone to provide answers. It is as if he’s pointing at the symptoms or results of our culture, but can’t find out why things are as they are. It’s a fair and mostly balanced look because Moore gives people a chance to speak. Some, in particular, Charlton Heston (then president of the National Rifle Association or N.R.A.) seem simultaneously proud and embarrassed of their very vocal support of guns and tacit support of gun violence.

The film is often very funny. Its issues are perplexing – especially the examination of Canada, a country with a lot of guns, but very few gun deaths. BFC is also quite heartbreaking and dramatic; the segments on Columbine and the murder of the schoolgirl in Michigan are heartbreaking. Moore knows just how to push buttons when he reveals that the mother of the small boy who shot the girl works two very low paying jobs because of Michigan’s “welfare for work program.” Even with the two jobs, she couldn’t pay her rent and was evicted from her home. She moved in with her brother, and that’s where the child found the weapon.

The film is a little over the top at times. The Heston interview doesn’t go well, and in the segment, Moore seems to be picking on this elder statesman of acting, who was later revealed to be in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Oh, God must not like ugly.

Some may find BRC unbalanced, and though that makes it almost as much commentary as documentary, the film is important. Someone had to document the horrors of this violent, bigoted, and greedy leader of the free world in a form that would force its way into pop culture and into the popular conscience. This excellent film only makes people mad because it is both real and truth revealing.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Documentary, Features” (Michael Moore and Michael Donovan)