Negromancer News Bits and Bites from December 23rd to 31st, 2018 - Update #26

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SCANDAL - From THR:  A Massachusetts judge order today (Monday, Dec. 31st) that Kevin Spacey must appear for his arraignment in a case of an alleged sexual assault made against him.

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 12/28 to 12/30/2018 weekend box office is "Aquaman" with an estimated take of $51.55 million.

From THR:  "Aquaman" looks to cross $900 million+.

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LGBTQ - From Truthout:  Eight LGBTQ-Led Social Justice Struggles the Corporate Media Missed in 2018.

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MOVIES - From IndieWire:  52 directors name their favorite movies of 2018.

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TELEVISION - From BleedingCool:  Michael Palin becomes the first member of the British comedy troupe, Monty Python, to receive the honor of (substantive rather than honorary) Knighthood from Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, which will occur during the New Years Honors investitures.

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MOVIES-TV - From ShadowandAct:  Jordan Peele's Monkeypaw Productions has apparently sent out an open call for scripts.

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AWARDS - From QZ:  You can watch some of the films shortlisted for nominations in the Academy Award category of "Best Animated Short Film" (not the official title) online - for free.

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CULTURE - From Truthout:  Renew the Resistance! The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa Light the Way.

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BLM - From TheOregonian:  In the latest example of "Black-people-as-perceived-threat," meet Jermaine Massey vs. #HotelEarl.

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COMICS TO FILM - From YahooEntertainment:  Stage and screen legend, Dame Julie Andrews, had to choose between a cameo in "Aquaman" and one in "Mary Poppins Returns."  Andrews starred in Disney's original "Mary Poppins."

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COMICS-FILM  - From Newsarama:  Marvel Studios boss, Kevin Feige, has not started thinking about merging the X-Men and Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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CELEBRITY - From YahooNews:  In a rare photographic image, Eddie Murphy poses with all 10 of his children.

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AWARDS - From Deadline:  Black Film Critics Circle name "Black Panther" the "Best Picture" of 2018.

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MOVIES - From THR:  Universal has releases the first trailer for Jordan Peele's upcoming horror film, "Us," which is due March 15, 2019.

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BOX OFFICE - From THR:  "Aquaman" crosses the $500 million mark in global box office.

From Collider:  With a week to go, the domestic box office has set a record with $11.383 billion in tickets sales, beating the 2016 total of $11.382 billion.

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SCANDAL - From Deadline:  Yikes!  Kevin Spacey is facing a felony charge (indecent assault and battery) in Nantucket over an alleged attack on an 18-year-old in 2016.

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TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Kill-my-husband prison bitch mad at Ben Stiller over "Escape from Dannemora."

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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo:  The winner of the 12/21 to 12/23/2018 weekend box office is "Aquaman" with an estimated take of $67.4 million.

From Variety:  "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" opens at $26 million in China, the largest opening for a foreign animated film in China this year.

From TheWrap:   Universal's "Welcome to Marwen," directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Steve Carell, has a $2.4 million opening weekend.  That ties it with Paramount's "Action Point" as having the lowest opening weekend in 2018 for a film from a major studio.  It is also a career low for Zemeckis and Carell.

From Variety:  "Welcome to Marwen" to lose $50 million for Universal.

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SPORTS-CULTURE - From RSN:  NBA star LeBron James says, "NFL Owners Are "Old White Men" With "Slave Mentality" Toward Players

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TELEVISION - From THR:  Syfy has cancelled the zombie action-drama series, "Z Nation," with the current fifth season.  The December 28th, 2018 season ending episode will now be the series finale.

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MOVIES - From BleedingCool:  Filmmaker Chad Stahelski still really, really wants to remake the film "Highlander" (1985).

OBITS:

From CNN:  Richard Overson, the oldest living American World War II veteran and the oldest man living in the United States, died at the age of 112, Thursday, December 27, 2018.  Overton volunteered for the Army starting in 1942 and served with the 188th Aviation Engineer Battalion, an all-black unit that served on various islands in the Pacific.

From TheWrap:  Hong Kong film director, Ringo Lam, has died at the age of 63, Saturday, December 29, 2018.  Lam's best known work is "City of Fire," which apparently "inspired" Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs."  He also made three films starring Jean-Claude Van Damme.

From Variety:  The actor Frank Adonis has died at the age of 83, Wednesday, December 26, 2018.  Adonis is probably best known for his appearances in the Martin Scorsese films, "Goodfellas," "Raging Bull," and "Casino."

Review: "A Fish Called Wanda" is Still Amazing (Happy B'day, Kevin Kline)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 153 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Charles Crichton
WRITERS: John Cleese, from a story by Charles Crichton and John Cleese
PRODUCER: Michael Shamberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Alan Hume
EDITOR: John Jympson
Academy Award winner

COMEDY/CRIME with elements of romance

Starring: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Marie Aitken, Tom Georgeson, Patricia Hayes, Cynthia Caylor, Ken Campbell, and Geoffrey Palmer

Set in London, a crooked foursome: heist man Georges Thomason (Tom Georgeson), his partner and close friend, Ken Pile (Michael Palin), George’s American girlfriend, Wanda Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis), and Otto (Kevin Kline) a weapons expert who pretends to be Wanda’s brother, but is really her lover, successfully pull off a big time diamond heist. They are about to get away with it when someone informs on George, who is promptly arrested.

George, however, never trusted Otto, so he hid the diamonds away, and only Ken knows where the new hiding location is. Meanwhile, Wanda seduces George’s barrister (attorney), Archie Leach (John Cleese), in hopes that he can discover and reveal to her the stolen loot’s location. There are, however, complications. Archie really falls in love with Wanda, but jealous Otto keeps interfering every time Wanda is about to get intimate with Archie and get the info she and Otto need. As George’s trial approaches, the desperate situation to learn the location of the diamonds really tests the notion of “honor among thieves.”

Nearly two decades after its initial release, A Fish Called Wanda remains a truly great comedy. I laugh at it now as much as I did when I watched in numerous times in the late 80’s. There is any number of reasons the film works so well as both a comedy and a crime film. One is timing, which is required for comedy. If the cast is in synch, it’s probably because they have good chemistry, and good screen chemistry gives a ring of truth to the proceedings – a sense of verisimilitude. The audience can suspend disbelief and believe that the actors are who they’re pretending to be and are really living in the film’s situations. One of the really good examples of this is the scene in which Archie Leach’s wife, Wendy (Marie Aitken), returns home and nearly catches Archie seducing Wanda. While Wanda and Otto, who’d also snuck into the home, scurry behind curtains, we get to watch Cleese’s hilarious performance as he tries to explain to his wife why he’s suddenly appeared in their upstairs living room with a bottle of champagne and two glasses – when he didn’t even know that she’s returned.

The film is also very well written in terms of characters and well-directed in terms of allowing the cast to develop and play the characters. The script is written by the most famous alum of the comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus, John Cleese, and Charles Crichton, a filmmaker at the legendary Ealing Studios, where he directed another great heist film, The Lavender Hill Mob (the film to which Wanda was often compared when Wanda was release in 1988). Both brought their sensibilities for creating truly mean-spirited, venal, vain, and eccentric characters. American filmmakers are good at making mean characters, but they often transform them into heroes – especially in comedies. From beginning to end, there is never any doubt that the characters in A Fish Called Wanda are liars, cheaters, thieves, and sometimes murderers, but we’re supposed to laugh at them. Their wicked ways cause them many inconveniences and hardships, and their vanity causes them embarrassment. Other characters are constantly picking at the things that make them vain and eccentric. This is comedy and fiction, so it’s OK to laugh at and even like these “bad guys.”

A Fish Called Wanda is also marked by what’s often called tour-de-force performances, and much of it has to do with the fact that the entire cast, especially the four leads are highly skilled actors, but are also excellent comic actors. Each does a simply fabulous job selling their characters to the audience. The most memorable performance in the film probably belongs to Kevin Kline, who won an Oscar for his role as the supposed-CIA agent, Otto. However, he’s only the cherry on top of what remains a great, great comedy.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
1989 Academy Awards: 1 win: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Kevin Kline); 2 nominations: “Best Director” (Charles Crichton) and “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (John Cleese-screenplay/story and Charles Crichton-story)

1989 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins: “Best Actor” (John Cleese) and “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Michael Palin); 7 nominations: “Best Film” (Michael Shamberg and Charles Crichton), “Best Actor” (Kevin Kline), “Best Actress” (Jamie Lee Curtis), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Maria Aitken), “Best Direction” (Charles Crichton), “Best Editing” (John Jympson), and “Best Screenplay – Original” (John Cleese)

1989 Golden Globes: 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” (John Cleese) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical” (Jamie Lee Curtis)

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

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The Real "Brazil" Still Dazzles the Imagination

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 209 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Brazil (1985) – Director’s Cut
Running time: 144 minutes (2 hours, 24 minutes)
MPAA – R
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: UK
DIRECTOR: Terry Gilliam
WRITERS: Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, and Charles McKeown
PRODUCERS: Arnon Milchan
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roger Pratt
EDITOR: Julian Doyle
Academy Award nominee

SCI-FI/FANTASY/COMEDY with element of romance

Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Ian Holm, Bob Hoskins, Michael Palin, Peter Vaughan, Kim Greist, Barbara Hicks, Charles McKeown, Kathryn Pogson, Shelia Reid, and Holly Gilliam

In a dystopian future, an inefficient bureaucracy controls society. Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is a daydreaming civil servant in the Department of Records (part of the Ministry of Information) who spots an error in a sea of paperwork – an innocent man was arrested and apparently killed because that error mistakenly identified him as a terrorist. In this future, the government expects citizens to pay fines and monetary penalties for their offences against society (the government) simply because even the most minor offenses generate so much paperwork. So the family of the innocent, now-deceased man is owed a refund for the money charged them for his “crimes.” While attempting to deliver the refund, Sam encounters Jill Layton (Kim Greist), and she looks exactly like the woman who is in all his daydreams. In the course of trying to catch up with Jill, Sam incorrectly becomes the object of government’s (via the Ministry) ire, as they assume him to be the mysterious, illegal serviceman and terrorist, Harry Tuttle (Robert De Niro).

Part social commentary, part outrageous fantasy, and black comedy, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil is one of the most dead-on socio-political satires in film history. It so accurately portrays both bureaucratic excess and negligence that it is both uncanny and uncannily timely, especially in light of recent events involving individual citizens being mistaken for terrorists because of their names, nationalities, and/or ethnicities. In fact, the Ministry of Information’s slogan, “Suspicion Breeds Confidence” defines the mentality of post-9/11 America.

The things that make this film excellent are the script and the actors’ ability to interpret its subtleties, while performing amidst the director’s indulgences. Terry Gilliam’s (Time Bandits) direction is obtuse, and he often seems more enamored with the dressings of his scenario rather than the narrative and allegorical aspects of it. Meanwhile, the cast seems better at bringing Gilliam’s vision to the screen that the director himself. This includes a brilliant performance by Jonathan Pryce as an exasperated everyman who doesn’t realize that he truly is different from everyone one else (kind, considerate, intelligent) and how much that endangers his life. The text (writing) is what makes Brazil a superb social commentary and an exceptional black comic satire, and luckily the cast acted as midwife to bring the script’s best aspects to screen even when Gilliam meanders.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
1986 Academy Awards: 2 nominations: “Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen” (Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, and Charles McKeown) and “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Norman Garwood and Maggie Gray)


1986 BAFTA Awards: 2 wins” “Best Production Design (Norman Garwood) and “Best Special Visual Effects” (George Gibbs and Richard Conway)

Sunday, October 8, 2006