Negromancer News Bits and Bites from February 1st to 11th, 2023 - Update #21

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

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

MOVIES - From THR:   Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith, who co-created the 2013 British crime drama "Run," has been tapped to write the action thriller, "Rainbow Six," that has Michael B. Jordan starring and Chad Stahelski directing.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Writer-director David Twohy and star Vin Diesel are reunited for a fourth film in the "Riddick" series, entitled "Riddick: Furya."

From JoBlo:  On Instagram, Vin Diesel shares some concept art for the upcoming, "Riddick: Furya."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Oscar-nominee Sacha Baron Cohen and Keke Palmer ("Nope") are teaming up with writer-director David O. Russell ("Amsterdam") for "Super Toys."

AMAZON - From Deadline:  Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis will headline Amazon Studios' TV series adaptation of Patricia Cornwell's "Kay Scarpetta" novels.  Kidman will play the lead, and Curtis will play her sister, Dorothy.

TELEVISION - From EW:  British comedy legend, John Cleese, is reviving his beloved BBC sitcom, "Fawlty Towers," with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.  The series is being developed by Rob Reiner's Castle Rock Entertainment.  The original series ran for two series of six episodes each in 1975 and 1979.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Sony Pictures is developing a direct sequel to its 1997 hit slasher film, "I Know What You Did Last Summer."  Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze, Jr. are in talks to reprise their respective roles from the original.

NETFLIX - From THR:   Matthew McConaughey has signed on to voice Elvis Presley in Netflix’s adult animated action comedy series "Agent Elvis."

MOVIES - From THR:  The AMC Theatres chain is going start basing movie ticket prices on where patrons want to sit in the auditorium.  This price will take place after 4 pm.

MUSIC - From Deadline:  At the 2023 / 65th annual Grammy Awards, "Harry's House," an album by recording artist Harry Styles, won the top honor "Album of the Year."  With her 32nd Grammy win, Beyonce became the all-time leaders in career Grammy wins.

MOVIES - From BloodyDisgusting:  Film producer-director, Sean S. Cunningham, is "working to get his own 'Friday the 13th' reboot off the ground.  Much depends on the setting the franchise's rights issues"

BOX OFFICE - BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 2/3 to 2/5/2023 weekend box office is "Knock at the Cabin" with an estimated take of 14.2 million dollars.

From Here:  Negromancer's review of "Knock at the Cabin."

From Variety:  Actor Dave Bautista explains his most shocking scene in the new film, "Knock at the Cabin."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Warner Bros has acquired the rights to Stephen King's novel, "Billy Summers.  JJ Abrams and Leonard DiCaprio's respective production companies are producing.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  NBC has given its comedy revival, "Night Court," a renewal for a second season.

MUSIC - From Variety: Grammy-winning recording artist and music icon, Beyonce, has announced stadium tour dates for her "Renaissance" world tour.  The first U.S. date appears to be July 12th in Philladelphia.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Jerry Bruckenheimer and director Guy Ritchie's World War II movie, "The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare," has added eight new names to a cast that already includes Henry Cavill and Eiza Gonzalez. New cast includes Alex Pettyfer and Cary Elwes.

AMAZON - From Deadline:  Amazon Prime's "The Terminal List," staring Chris Pratt, will continue with a second season and will become a franchise with a prequel executive produced and starring Taylor Kitsch.

MOVIES/MUSIC - From Variety:  Jaafar Jackson will portray his late uncle, Michael Jackson, in director Antoine Fuqua's biopic about the Grammy Award-winning legend and music icon, which is entitled "Michael."  Jaafar is the second youngest son of Michael Jackson's brother, Jermaine Jackson, songwriter, producer, recording artist, and member of the "Jackson 5."

*DC STUDIOS - From Deadline:   DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran finally revealed their plans for an inter-connective universe of DC Comics character-based film and television.

*MOVIES - From Deadline:  Will Smith and Martin Lawrence announced that "Bad Boys 4" is in pre-production.  "Bad Boys for Life" directors El Arbi and Bilall Fallah are also returning.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  Songwriter, composer, and record producer, Burt Bacharach, has died at the age of 94, Wednesday, February 8, 2023.  Over a three decade career, he composed hundreds of pop songs that have been recorded by over 1000 recording artists.  He won the "Best Original Song" Oscar twice and "Best Original Score" once (for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid").  He won six Grammy Awards, including for the 1987 "Song of the Year" award for "That's What Friends Are For" (1986, co-written with his then wife, Carole Bayer Sager).

From MarinIJ:  Author and activist, David Harris, has died at the age of 76, Monday, February 6, 2023.  He was a leader and an icon of the Vietnam War draft resistance movement.  He encouraged young men to resist the draft and to refuse to report for military service.  When he himself was drafted in 1968, he refused to report and was immediately indicted.  He spent 20 months of a three-year sentence in the federal prison system.  He would go on to write for "Rolling Stone" and "The New York Times Magazine."  He also published 10 non-fiction books on a range of topics, including the NFL, politics, and international events.

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AWARDS:

From Oscar:  The nominations for the 2023 / 95th Academy Awards have been announced.  The winners will be announced Sunday, March 12, 2023.

From Deadline:  "Top Gun: Maverick" wins "Best Picture" at the "AARP Movies for Grownups Awards" held Saturday night in Beverly Hills.

From Variety:  The nominations for the 2023 Writers Guild Awards have been announced.  Winners will be announced Sunday, March 5, 2023.

From Variety:  The nominations for the 2023 EE BAFTA Awards have been announced. The Netflix World War I drama, "All Quiet on the Western Front," leads with 14 nominations.  The winners will be announced Sunday, February 19, 2023.

From Deadline:  The winners were announced at the 2023 / 28th annual Critics Choice Awards.  "Everything Everywhere All at Once" was named "Best Picture."

From Deadline:  The nominees for the 2023 / 34th Producers Guild of America Awards have been announced in both film and TV categories.  The winners will be announced Sat. Feb. 25th, 2023.

From Deadline:  The nominations for the 2023 / 29th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards have been announced.  The winners will be announced Sun., Feb. 26th, 2023.

From Deadline:  The National Society of Film Critics has named "Tar" its "Best Picture" of 2023 and its star, Cate Blanchette, as "Best Actress."

From Deadline:  The nominations for the 2023 / 23rd Annual Black Reel Awards have been announced.  "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and "The Woman King" have tied for the lead in nominations with 14 apiece.  The winners will be announced February 6, 2023.

From Deadline:  The Black Film Critics Circle named "The Woman King" the "Best Film" of 2022.

From Deadline:  The winners of the 2022 Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) Awards have been announced.  "Everything Everywhere All at Once" and "Tar" tie for "Best Picture" award.

From Deadline:  The nominations for the 2023 / 80th annual Golden Globes Awards were announced today (Mon., Dec. 12th).  "The Banshees of Inisherin" led the film field with eight nominations. ABC's "Abbot Elementary" lead the TV side with five nominations.  The winners will be announced January 10, 2023.

From Deadline:  The American Film Institute (AFI) has named its "AFI Awards Film" list of "Top 10 Films of 2022."  The list includes "Avatar: The Way of Water," "Top Gun: Maverick," and "The Woman King."

From THR:  The African-American Film Critics Association name "The Woman King" the "Best Film of 2022."

From Deadline:  The nominations for the "2023 Critics Choice Awards" in the television categories have been announced.  ABC's sitcom, "Abbot Elementary" leads the nominations.  The winners will be announced Sunday, January 15, 2023 and broadcast on The CW.

From Variety:  The 2022 / 88th Annual New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Awards have been announced.  Todd Field's "Tar" wins "Best Film" and "Best Actress" (Cate Blanchett).  Keke Palmer wins "Best Supporting Actress" for her performance in "Nope."

From Deadline:  "Everything Everywhere All at Once" wins the "Best Feature" award at the 2022 / 32nd Annual Gotham Awards, one of two wins for the film.

From IndieWire:  The nominations for the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards have been announced.   "Everything Everywhere All at Once" leads with eight nominations.  The winners will be announced March 4th, 2023.

From Variety:  The nominations for the 2022 / 32nd Annual Gotham Awards were announced a month ago.  Todd Field's "Tar" leads with five nominations.  The winners will be announced Monday, November 28th.

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TYRE NICHOLS:

From NBCNews:  Tyre Nichols' death: A summary and timeline of his encounter with Memphis police officers

From YahooNews:  In the 67 minutes of the Tyre Nichols video, brutality followed by nonchalance.

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BRITTNEY GRINER:

From CBSNews:  WNBA star Brittney Griner has been released from her Russian imprisonment in a one-for-one prisoner swap for notorious international arms dealer, Viktor Bout.

From NBCNews:   Brittney Griner will enter a system of isolation, grueling labor and psychological torment when she is transferred to a penal colony, the successor to the infamous Russian gulag, to fulfill a nine-year sentence handed down Tuesday in Moscow, former prisoners and advocates said.

From NBCNews:  A Russian court has rejected Brittney Griner's appeal of her nine-year prison sentence on (fake) drug charges.

From Reuters:  Russia says that it is ready to talk prisoner swamp for Brittney Griner and U.S. Marine veteran Paul Whelan, but also scolds the U.S. Embassy.

From TheDailyBeast:   Legendary NBA bad boy and champion (Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls), Dennis Rodman claims that he has been given permission to go to Russia and help free imprisoned hostage, WNBA star, Brittney Griner.

From Vox:  Vox's Jonathan Guyer talks the Brittney Griner case with Danielle Gilbert, a Dartmouth professor who is writing a book about states and rogue actors that take hostages.

From ESPN:   A Russian court sentenced WNBA star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison Thursday, Aug. 4th.  Griner was arrested Feb. 17 for bringing cannabis into the country and pleaded guilty July 7, though the case continued under Russian law.

From ESPN:  The Biden administration has offered a deal to Russia aimed at bringing home WNBA star Brittney Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.

From RSN:  "Will Support From LeBron James, Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian, and Other Celebrities Help Free Brittney Griner From a Russian Prison?" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar via Substack

From ESPN:  Detained WNBA star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty on Thursday to bringing hashish oil into Russia, telling a judge that she had done so "inadvertently" while asking the court for mercy.

From CBSSports:  The Brittney Griner situation explained.

From RSN:  According to The Washington Post Editorial Board: "Brittney Griner is a hostage, plain and simple."

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from May 8th to 14th, 2022 - Update #18

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

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  "The Sugar Shack," the painting by artist Ernie Barnes that was displayed in the end credits of the late CBS sitcom, "Good Times," has sold at auction for $15.3 million.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Director Rob Reiner and stars: Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, and Christopher Guest are reuniting for "Spinal Tap II," a sequel to the cult classic "mockumentary" (mock documentary film), "This is Spinal Tap."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Actor Dan Stevens is set to be the lead in the sequel to "Godzilla vs. Kong," which will reunite Stevens with the film's director, Adam Wingard.

MOVIES - From THR:   Oscar-winner Christopher Walken has joined the cast of "Dune: Part Two."

MOVIES - From THR:   Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, and Laurence Fishburne are among the cast of director Francis Ford Coppola's self-financed film, "Megalopolis."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Hayden Panettiere will return as "Kirby Reed" in "Scream 6."  Kirby was the lone survivor of "Scream 4."

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  NBC has put in a series order for the comedy, "Lopez Vs. Lopez," starring George Lopez and Maya Lopez.

DISNEY - From THR:  Rick Riordan, author of the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" books series, and his wife, Rebecca, condemn racists attacks against actress Leah Sava Jeffries.  Jeffries will star in the Disney+ series version of "Percy Jackson," which the Riordans are executive producers on the upcoming series.

POLITICS/DISNEY - From THR:  U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo) has proposed a federal legislation that would limit copyright protection to 56 years.  The law would apply retroactively to existing copyrights.  Hawley's legislation is apparently aimed at the Walt Disney Company, which would lose its copyright to certain iterations of Mickey Mouse, for instance.  The legislation is unlikely to pass.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 5/6 to 5/8/2022 weekend box office is Disney/Marvel Studios' "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" with an estimated gross of 185 million dollars.

From Deadline:  "Doctor Strange 2's" $450 million global debut is the second largest for a Hollywood film during the pandemic era.

From Here:  My review of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness."

AWARDS - From Variety:  The nominations for the 2022 / 75th Tony Awards were announced Mon., May 9th. The winners will be announced June 12th.

AMAZON - From Deadline:  Amazon's "Jack Ryan" series (with John Krasinski in the lead) will end with Season 4.  Amazon Studios is considering a spinoff with actor Michael Pena.

TELEVISION - From BBC:  The 29-year-old Rwandan-born, Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa will take over the role of "The Doctor" on the BBC's "Doctor Who."  Gatwa replaces Jodie Whittaker and is the 14th Doctor.

MOVIES - From LATimes:  The paper takes a look at the French abortion drama, "Happening."

OBITS:

From Variety:  Actor Fred Ward has died at the age of 79, Sunday, May 8, 2022.  Ward was best known for numerous films, including "The Right Stuff," "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins," "Henry & June," "Tremors," "The Player," and "Short Cuts," to name a few.

From THR:  Country singer and songwriter and businessman, Mickey Gilley, has died at the age of 86, Saturday, May 7, 2022.  Gilley may be best remembered as the owner of "Gilley's Club," what would later become known as "the world's largest honky tonk."  The club inspired the nightclub, "Gilley's," that appeared in the 1980 John Travolta film, "Urban Cowboy," in which Mickey himself also appeared.  Gilley received six Academy of County Music Awards.  His "Gilley's Urban Cowboy Band" won a Grammy for "Best Country Instrumental Perfomance in 1981.  He also had 17 No. 1 songs.

From Deadline:  The film, television, and stage actor, James Olson, died at the age of 91, April 17, 2022.  He was best known for his performances in such films as "Rachel, Rachel" (1968) and "The Andromeda Strain (1971).  He appeared in numerous TV series, including "Bonanza," "Maude," "Wonder Woman," and "Murder, She Wrote," to name a few.

Review: "THE PRINCESS BRIDE" Still Storming the Castle

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 21 (of 2020) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review originally appeared on Patreon.]

The Princess Bride (1987)

Running time: 98 minutes (1 hour, 38 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR:  Rob Reiner

WRITER:  William Goldman (based on the book by William Goldman)

PRODUCERS:  Rob Reiner and Andrew Scheinman

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Adrian Biddle

EDITOR:  Robert Leighton

COMPOSER:  Mark Knopfler

Academy Award nominee

FANTASY/ROMANCE/ADVENTURE/FAMILY

Starring:  Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant, Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Carol Kane, and Billy Crystal

The Princess Bride is a 1987 fantasy-adventure and romantic film from director Rob Reiner.  The film is based on William Goldman's 1973 novel, The Princess Bride, for which Goldman wrote the screenplay adaptation.  2017 will mark the 30th anniversary of the film's release (October 9, 1987).  In The Princess Bride the film, a grandfather tells his grandson the story of a princess sought by two men who desire her – one a mysterious hero and the other a hateful prince.

The Princess Bride opens with a framing story in which The Grandfather (Peter Falk) reads a book, “The Princess Bride,” to The Grandson (Fred Savage), who is sick and relegated to his bed.  The story then travels from the present day of the Grandson's bedroom to the past of the Renaissance Era.  The place of arrival is a country named “Florin.”  There, we meet Buttercup (Robin Wright), a beautiful young woman, and Westley (Cary Elwes), the farmhand she loves to order around.  The truth is that Buttercup loves Westley, but one day, Westley leaves the farm to seek his fortune.

Later, Buttercup learns that Westley was on ship that was attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts and is assumed dead.  The story moves ahead five years, and Buttercup has reluctantly agreed to marry Humperdinck (Chris Sarandon), Prince of Florin.  There are, however, conspiracies and conspirators afoot who stand in the way of that marriage.  This includes a Sicilian crime boss named Vizzini (Wallace Shawn), a giant named Fezzik (André the Giant), a Spanish master swordsman named Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin), and a mysterious man in black.

Recently, IDW Publishing sent me a copy-for-review of their adult coloring book based on The Prince Bride, entitled The Princess Bride: A Storybook to Color.  I decided that I finally needed to sit down and watch The Princes Bride, start to finish, in its entirety, which I had never done.  Why had I not done that before?  I don't know.  I have always been curious about the movie, and I even owned a copy of William Goldman's novel a long time ago (which I lost before I could read it).

I can describe The Princess Bride as a multi-genre movie.  It is part medieval fantasy, part storybook romance, and part swashbuckling adventure (quietly and gently adventurous).  And the result is a damn fine movie.  I don't know what makes it work, but I think director Rob Reiner has a lot to do with that.  His directorial pace and mood suggests that he wanted this movie to be a storybook tale that found comedy in the elements of fairy tales and fantasy, but without mocking and parodying them.  Also, I think William Goldman's screenplay builds the characters using quirks and eccentricities so that he can poke fun at the players rather than at the genres that are their field of play.

The resulting film is an utterly delightful and a truly unique cinematic gem.  I don't think Reiner could get The Princess Bride made today, not without pumping it full of intense action and making extensive use of computer-generated imagery (CGI).  If made today, even the film's photography would be heavily altered and enhanced through the use of software.

The Princess Bride is essentially a “hand-made” movie, and somehow the talent involved in this film made magic.  I bet they did not realize that until they saw the finished film.  If you have not yet seen The Princess Bride, it is time for you to realize the magic, too.

9 of 10
A+

Sunday, January 22, 2017

NOTES:
1988 Academy Awards, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Music, Original Song” (Willy DeVille for the song "Storybook Love")

The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from October 1st to 10th, 2020 - Update #29

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

Support Leroy on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS: 

DISNEY - From Deadline:  Pixar's upcoming animated film, "Soul," will skip theaters and debut on the streaming service, "Disney+" on Christmas Day.

STAR TREK - From Variety:  Actress Kate Mulgrew will return as "Captain Kathryn Janeway" (of "Star Trek Voyager") for Nickelodeon's animated "Star Trek: Prodigy."

POLITICS - From YahooNews:  The federal government has broken up a plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer by seven members of the militia group, the "Wolverine Watchmen." 

POLITICS - From YahooFinance:  Most Americans support higher taxes if it's spent on these 2 things: Poll

MOVIES - From IndieWire:   Robert Downey, Jr. is working of his third "Sherlock Holmes" film, following the first two, in 2009 and 2011.  He hopes to use this third film to launch a Marvel-style cinematic universe with Sherlock-inspired films.

MOVIES - From People:   Whoopi Goldberg says there is work being done to bring about "Sister Act 3," which would be the second sequel to her hit 1992 film, "Sister Act."

STREAMING - From Deadline:   AMC Network's streaming service, UMC, will launch the limited series thriller, "Terror Lake Drive."  "Empire" star, Malik Yoba, leads the cast.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Constantin Film has set a reboot of its "Resident Evil" film franchise.  Writer-director Johannes Roberts has said that he has conceived an origin story with "faithful ties" to the original Capcom video games.  Netflix is also planning an eight-episode TV series based on the game.

CULTURE - From YahooLifestyle:  'They dictate their care': VIP (very important patient) syndrome may be behind Trump's discharge from Walter Reed, expert says

TELEVISION - From TCM:   TCM's (Turner Classic Movies) "Star of the Month" for October 2020 is the late, great lion of British cinema, Peter Cushing.  On Monday evenings in October, TCM will be screening two films starring Cushing.

MOVIES - From Variety:  Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment have delayed the release of director Denis Villeneuve's "Dune" from Dec. 18th, 2020 to October 1, 2021.

BOX OFFICE - From Deadline:   The winner of the 10/2 to 10/4/2020 weekend box office is "Tenet" with an estimated take of 2.7 million dollars.

From Deadline:  "Tenet" leads the international box office with a take of 11.5 million.

From Variety:  OPINION - "Why 'Tenet' was the Wrong Movie at the Wrong Time." (Column)

From Variety:  Cineworld is considering closing all its Regal Cinemas in the U.S., U.K., and Ireland.  This may be fallout from the announcement that the next James Bond movie, "No Time to Die," has been moved from a November 2020 release date to April 2021.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Clint Eastwood has found his next film.  He will star in and direct "Cry Macho" for Warner Bros.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  Rob and Michele Reiner have revived the "Castle Rock" banner that Rob Reiner co-founded in 1987.  The Reiners have signed an overall multi-year directing and producing deal with Warner Bros. Television.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Warner Bros. has moved "Roald Dahl's The Witches" from a theatrical release (scheduled for release Oct. 16th) to a streaming release on HBO Max on Oct. 9th.

STREAMING - From EW:  Netflix releases first look at the late Chadwick Boseman ("Black Panther") in his final role in the film, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Don Cheadle and Benecio del Toro headline director Steven Soderbergh's all-star HBO Max crime thriller, "No Sudden Move."

OBITS:

From CNN:  American reggae and pop music singer-songwriter, Johnny Nash, has died at the age of 80, Tuesday, October 6, 2020.  Nash was best known for his 1972 hit song that he wrote and produced, "I Can See Clearly Now," which hit "No.1" on the "Billboard Hot 100" charts.  He was one of the first non-Jamaican artists to record reggae music in Kingston, Jamaica.

From RollingStone:   Rock music and rock guitar legend, Eddie Van Halen, has died at the age of 65, Tuesday, October 6, 2020.  Van Halen was best known for co-founding the rock band, "Van Halen," which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007.  Eddie was frequently considered among the very best or the best guitarist of all time.  Eddie had apparently been battling throat cancer for the past five years.

From Variety:   The actor, Thomas Jefferson Byrd, was killed Saturday, October 3, 2020 at the age of 70.  Byrd appeared in several Spike Lee films, beginning with "Clockers" (1995) and ending with "Chi-raq" (2015).  He received a Tony Award nomination for his role in the 2003 revival of "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."

From StLouisPostDispatch:   Hall of Fame Major League Baseball pitcher, Bob Gibson, has died at the age of 84, Friday, October 2, 2020.  Gibson spent his entire 17 year career, 1959 to 1975, with the National League's St. Louis Cardinals.  Gibson won the top pitching honor, the Cy Young Award, 1968 and 1970, and he was the National League MVP in 1968.  He was the World Series MVP in 1964 and 1967, leading the Cardinals to the World Series Championship both years.  1968, the pinnacle of his career, saw him post a 1.12 ERA (earned run average).

From RollingStone:   Country music singer-songwriter and actor, Mac Davis, has died at the age of 78, Tuesday, September 29, 2020.  Davis' initial fame came as a songwriter for Elvis Presely, writing such hits as "A Little Less Conversation" (1968) and "In the Ghetto" (1969).  Davis' own solo hits included “Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me” (1972), “Stop and Smell the Roses” (1974), and “One Hell of a Woman" (1974).  Davis parlayed his hit music into a career in films and television, including hosting a number of his own TV variety specials.

From Deadline:  Australian-American singer, actress, and activist, Helen Reddy, has died at the age of 78, Tuesday, September 29, 2020.  Called the "Queen of 70s Pop," Reddy was best known for her feminist anthem, "I Am Woman," in particularly the 1972 recording of the song which had originally been released in 1971.  In 1973, "I Am Woman" won Reddy a Grammy Award for "Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female."

CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 NEWS:

From CDC:   The Centers for Disease Control has a "COVID Data Tracker."

From YahooNews:  Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?

From YahooNews:  Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.

From Deadline:  The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.

From TheNewYorker:  The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.

From YahooNews:  Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?

From YahooLife:  What is "happy hypoxia?"  And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?

From JuanCole:  Remember when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19.  Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.

From TheIntercept:  The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...

From TheAtlantic:  The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.

From ProPublica:  Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns

From TheGuardian:  More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.

From RSN/WashPost:  The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.

7/13 - From YahooSports:  Maybe a pandemic means that there will not be college football this fall.

7/13- From YahooNews:  The CDC adds four new symptoms (including nausea and purple or blue lesions on feet and toes) to the list of COVID-19 symptoms.

7/19 - From YahooFinance:  Harvard Public Health professor Dr. Howard Koh says the U.S. "needs to regroup" to find COVID-19.

7/22 - From YahooNews:  A public health employee predicted Florida's coronavirus catastrophe — then she was fired.

7/22 - From YahooLifestyle:  Florida mom loses son, 20, to coronavirus, and then days later, her daughter.

7/23 - From TheWrap:  The site has a list of movie and TV stars, entertainment and sports figures who have tested positive for COVID-19

From Bloomberg:  Will the COVID-19 pandemic turn Millennials into socialists?

7/27 - From CNN:   Chief of critical care at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Joseph Costa, passes away due to Covid-19 complications... after treating the hospital's sickest COVID-19 patients.  He was 56 and leaves behind family, including a husband of 28 years.

7/30 - From Deadline:  Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston ("Breaking Bad") reveals that he had a bout with COVID-19.

7/31 - From YahooEntertainment:  Writer and actress, Lena Dunham, creator of HBO's "Girls, reveals that she contracted COVID-19 and the symptoms she experiences and still experience.

7/30 - From YahooGMA:  In their bid to crackdown on illegal gatherings amid COVID-19, New York authorities break up an alleged sex party.

7/31 - From Slate:  COVID-19 is airborne - for reals!

8/2 - From TheDailyBeast:  In Mississippi, COVID-19 has coroners terrified.

8/6 - From YahooNews:  Testing everyone constantly could stop the spread of COVID-19... according to this article.

8/8 - From YahooNYT:  The coronavirus is new, but your immune system might recognize it.

8/8 - From YahooNBC:  They thought COVID-19 was a hoax, and they almost died from it or are watching family and loved ones suffer with it or die from it.

8/9 - From YahooNews:  The rest of the world is incredulous at the pitiful U.S. response to COVID-19.

8/9 - From YahooAFP:  According to the real-time tally kept by John Hopkins University, the United States has hit 5 million cases of COVID-19.

8/16 - From Truthout: COVID Deaths Continue to Surge in Countries Led by Far Right Authoritarians

9/19 - From WashPost:  U.S. coronavirus death toll reaches 200,000

9/23 - From CNBC:  Mark Cuban, who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and star of ABC's "Shark Tank," suggests that every household in American get a $1000 check every two weeks for the next two months.

9/28 - From Deadline:  John Hopkins University's coronavirus tracker reports that over 1 million people have died of COVID-19 worldwide.

10/2 - From YahooNews:  President Donald and the First Lady have tested positive for COVID-19.

BLACK LIVES MATTER:

From RSN:   Judge's Blistering Opinion Says Courts Have Placed Police Beyond Accountability

From TheGuardian:  Yusef Salaam, one of the "Central Park Five," says in an interview, "Trump would have had me hanging from a tree in Central Park."

From NPR:  Prosecutors' plea deal required drug suspect to name Breonna Taylor a "co-defendant."

From ChicagoSunTimes:  Rev. Jesse Jackson: America has millions of people in poverty because Americans choose not to demand the policies that would lift them out of poverty.

From APNews:  No one will be held accountable for the killing of Louisville African-American resident, Breonna Taylor.

From Channel4:  Revealed: Trump campaign strategy to deter millions of Black Americans from voting in 2016

From GuardianUK:  California is going to consider paying reparations to the descendants of African slaves after adopting a landmark law to study and to develop proposals around the issue.

From TheRoot:   What to Do When Your Country Turns Into a Dumpster Fire

From Vox:  It's True: 1 in 1,000 Black Americans Have Died in the Covid-19 Pandemic

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from June 21st to 30th, 2020 - Update #41

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

Support Leroy on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:

ACADEMY AWARDS - From YahooUSA:  Academy exceeds inclusion goal after #OscarsSoWhite: New voters are 45% female, 36% diverse.

CELEBRITY-BLM - From YahooEntertainment:  John Wayne was not a racist says the late actor's son, Ethan Wayne.

MOVIES - From Collider:  The site has several images from David Ayers' upcoming thriller, "The Tax Collector," starring Shia LaBeouf and Bobby Soto.

BLM-CRIME-HISTORY - From Alabama.com:  16th Street Baptist Church bomber Thomas Blanton dies in prison.  The bombing, which occurred in 1963, is known for the "Four Little Girls."

MOVIES - From YahooMoviesUK:  "John Wick" director, Chad Stahelski, says that a reboot of the 1980s action-fantasy movie cult classic, "Highlander," is "in heavy development mode."

CELEBRITY-POLITICS - From TheDailyBeast:   How Mary Trump (President Donald's niece) Found Herself in the Hot Mess of a William Faulkner Novel

MUSIC-STREAMING - From Variety:  The streaming service, Disney+, will releases Beyonce's new visual album, "Black is King," July 31st.  The LP is inspired by "The Lion King," and its released date is just after the one-year anniversary of the 2019 release of Disney's live-action version of "The Lion King."

LGBTQ - From YahooLifestyle:  Gay ER doctor who survived COVID-19 says he can't donate plasma because he’s sexually active

POLITICS - From RSN:  "Saint Donald and the Dragon" - Donald Trump and the China!

SPORTS - From YahooSports:  Bubba Wallace on Confederate flag ban protests: 'We won’t see cops pepper-spraying them and shooting them with rubber bullets'

MOVIES - From THR:  Actor Margot Robbie and writer Christina Hodson, who teamed up on "Birds of Prey," are reunited on a new "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie.  It is separate from the other reboot being developed "Pirates" scribe, Ted Elliot," and "Chernobyl" writer Craig Mazin.

MOVIES - From THR:  The release date of Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" has been delayed again, from July 31st to August 12th, 2020.

MOVIES - From THR:  Inside "Hollywood's nastiest producer feud," the story of Roy Lee vs. John Middleton.

POLITICS - From TheGuardian:  How the US military has failed to address white supremacy in its ranks.  This is in the wake of an alleged plot by a young solider to coordinate with a neo-Nazi group to attack and kill members of his own army unit.

BLM-ANIMATION - From TVGuide:  Jenny Slate will no longer voice Missy on Netflix's "Big Mouth": 'Black Characters on an Animated Show Should be Played by Black People'

From BuzzFeed:  Voice actor Mike Henry has retired from providing the voice of "Family Guy" African-American character, "Cleveland Brown."  He is the latest white voice performer to announce that he is exiting the voice role of a Black character, following Jenny Slate leaving Big Mouth and Kristen Bell shifting to a different role on Central Park.
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MOVIES - From Deadline:  Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Revenant") and Barry Jenkins ("Moonlight") have united to make a film adaptation of the documentary, "Virunga," about rangers who risk their lives to protect an African national park and its endangered gorillas.

BOX OFFICE - From Deadline:  27 years after it first hit movie theaters, "Jurassic Park" was the #1 movie at the Father's Day weekend box office.  Steven Spielberg, who directed "Jurassic Park," had a big weekend as his 1975 classic, "Jaws" was a close second.

TRAILERS - From Deadline:  Disney+ releases the first trailer for the live-action version of the Broadway smash, "Hamilton."  The film arrives on Disney+ July 3rd, 2020.

CULTURE-BLM - From THR:  African-American Hollywood attorney, Nina Shaw, writes a guest column on being "the Only Black Person in the Room" for 30-plus years.

CELEBRITY - From YahooDailyBeast:  Actress Bryce Dallas Howard talks about having Oscar-winning producer-director, Ron Howard, as her father.  The interview is done in conjunction with Bryce's new documentary film, "Dads," which debuted on Apple TV+.

MUSIC - From YahooEntertainment:  An acoustic guitar belonging to the late Kurt Cobain of the band, Nirvana, sold for a record 6-plus million dollars at auction.  That is the highest auction price ever paid for a guitar.  The 1959 Martin D-19E is the guitar Cobain played for the entirety of his "MTV Unplugged" performance.

CELEBRITY-COVID-19 - From ABCNews:  Comedian D.L. Hughley passed out while performing on stage in Nashville TN.  Afterwards, he tested positive for COVID-19 at a local hospital.

MOVIES - From YahooGMA:  Jamie Foxx shows off his body transformation for his starring role in a biopic of champion boxer, Mike Tyson.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  Pioneering television comedy writer and director, Carl Reiner has died at the age of 98, Monday, June 29, 2020.  Reiner is best known as the creator and writer-director and actor on "The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-66).  Five of the 9 Primetime Emmy Awards Reiner won were for his work on the show.  He first came to big TV fame and acclaim working on Sid Ceasar's TV series, "Your Show of Shows" (NBC, 1950-54) and "Ceasar's Hour" (NBC, 1954-57).  Reiner was also famous for being the son of television and film writer, director, and actor, Rob Reiner.

From Variety:  Animator and director, Kelly Asbury, has died at the age of 60, Friday, June 26, 2020.  Asbury co-directed "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" (2002) and directed "Shrek 2" (2004).  He began his career with Walt Disney Feature Animation and, he worked on such films as "The Black Cauldron" (1985) and "Toy Story" (1995).

From Deadline:  Noted film director, Joel Schumacher, has died at the age of 80, Monday, June 22, 2020.  Schumacher was known for a number of films, including "St. Elmo's Fire" (1985), "The Lost Boys" (1987), "Flatliners" (1990), "The Client" (1994), and "A Time to Kill" (1996).  He caused ire among comic book fans with his two contributions to the Batman film franchise, "Batman Forever" (1995) and "Batman and Robin" (1997).

From Deadline:  American businessman and film financier, Steve Bing, has died at the age of 55, Monday, June 22, 2020.  In the film business, Bing invested in two animated films by director Robert Zemeckis, "The Polar Express" (2004) and "Beowulf."  He founded Shangri-La Entertainment, which had interests in property, construction, entertainment, and music.

BLACK LIVES MATTER NEWS:

From RSN:  The four corners of police violence

From TheIntercept:  Black Lives Matter Wants to End Police Brutality. History Suggests It Will Go Much Further.

From YahooNews:  "The Confederacy of California": life in the valley where Robert Fuller was found hanged

From CNN:  Colorado police officers involved in the death of Elijah McClain reassigned for safety reasons.

From Truthout: " Three North Carolina Police Fired for Racist Rants, Threats to Kill Black People" - and what they said is crazy and scary

From Truthout: Bryant Gumbel Gives Powerful Commentary on the 'Black Tax,' the 'Added Burden' of Being Black

From YahooEntertainment:  Oscar-nominated songwriter and Grammy Award-winning recording artist, Ray Parker, Jr., may be best known for writing the theme to the film, "Ghostbusters," but when he was a teenager, Parker was beaten by Detroit police officers.

From RSNewYorker:  Jelani Cobb: An American Spring of Reckoning.

From NBCNews:  Baton Rouge, LA activist, Gary Chambers, makes an impassioned speech about changing the name of Robert E. Lee High School in Baton Rouge.

From YahooNews:  Racial violence and a pandemic: How the Red Summer of 1919 relates to 2020

From DemocracyNow:   Fear Grows of Modern-Day Lynchings as Five People of Color Are Found Hanged


CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 NEWS:

From CDC:   The Centers for Disease Control has a "COVID Data Tracker."

From YahooNews:  Why does COVID-19 kill some people and hardly affects others?

From YahooNews:  Yahoo has a dedicated page of links updating news about COVID-19.

From Deadline:  The news site "Deadline" has a dedicated page for news about coronavirus and the film, TV, and entertainment industries.

From TheNewYorker:  The venerable magazine has a dedicate COVID-19 page free to all readers.

From YahooNews:  Re: the federal government's response to COVID-19: What if the most important election of our lifetime was the last one - 2016?

From YahooLife:  What is "happy hypoxia?"  And do you have this COVID-19 symptom?

From JuanCole:  Remeber when President Donald went crazy and suggested that we ingest household cleaning supplies and UV light to fight COVID-19.  Here is the video and commentary from Juan Cole.

From TheIntercept:  The federal government has ramped up security and police-related spending in response to the COVID-19/coronavirus pandemic, including issuing contracts for riot gear, disclosures show. The purchase orders include requests for disposable cuffs, gas masks, ballistic helmets, and riot gloves...

From NPR:  A sad milestone: over 100,000 American have died due to COVID-19.

From TheAtlantic:  The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying. The pandemic has exposed the bitter terms of our racial contract, which deems certain lives of greater value than others.

From ProPublica:  Hospital's Secret COVID-19 Policy Separated Native American Mothers From Their Newborns

From Truthout:  Trump Moves to End Federal Support for Testing Sites Amid Record COVID Spikes

From TheGuardian:  More than 20 million Americans could have contracted COVID-19, experts say.

From RSN/WashPost:  The COVID-19 mutation that has taken over the world.

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Review: THE PRINCESS BRIDE: A Storybook to Color

THE PRINCESS BRIDE: A STORYBOOK TO COLOR
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

ARTIST: Rachel Curtis
ISBN: 978-1631407734; paperback (November 2016)
80pp, B&W, $16.99 U.S., $21.99 CAN

The Princess Bride is a 1987 fantasy and romantic film from director Rob Reiner.  William Goldman wrote the film's screenplay, basing it upon his 1973 fantasy novel, also entitled The Princess Bride.

The film uses as its framing sequence a grandfather reading a book, entitled “The Princess Bride,” to his ailing grandson.  The book's story concerns a beautiful farmgirl, Buttercup, and the love of her life, the farmhand-turned-pirate, Wesley, and their struggle against the arrogant Prince Humperdinck of Florin who is determined that Buttercup marry him.

The film will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2017; it was originally released to U.S. theaters in October 1987.  Oscar-nominated, The Princess Bride has a loyal following that seems to continue to grow, and among movie fans, it is one of the most beloved American films of all time.

Adult coloring books have been all the rage the last few years.  Of course, it is conceivable that The Princess Bride would be perfect for adaptation into a coloring book, adult or otherwise.  It should only be done, however, if it can be done right.  An artist and her publisher, in fact, did it right.

IDW Publishing presents The Princess Bride: A Storybook to Color, a new adult coloring book with illustrations black and white illustrations created by Rachel Curtis.  Curtis provides more than 70 illustrations based on The Princess Bride for you, dear reader, to color as you wish.  These illustrations are printed on high quality paper that won't let colors bleed through.

I love The Princess Bride, and so does Rachel Curtis.  She turns practically every key moment in the film into double-page illustrated spreads for readers to color.  There are even pages that take as a theme objects that are key to the film, including swords, ropes, items of clothing, eyeglasses, implements, and crowns, to name a few.

The spreads that I like the most include recreations of some of my favorite scenes in The Princess Bride.  Curtis offers a stylish take on the scene in which Buttercup faces giant eels that menace her as she tries to swim to safety; it looks like a stain glass illustration.  Curtis perfectly captures the poison-wine duel sequence between Wesley and Vizzini, the Sicilian crime boss who holds a knife on Buttercup.  I can't resist the two-page spread of decorative R.O.U.S. (rats of unusual size), and her wide screen interpretation of Count Rugen's torture experimentation chamber is impressive.

I love Curtis' take on the sequence of the heroes riding off into forever after their victory at Humperdinck's castle.  If you want to draw your own version of that scene or any other, Curtis crafted a few pages with decorative borders and space for you to illustrate.  Rachel Curtis' detailed, decorative, and emotive illustrations are a love letter to both The Princess Bride and to its fans.  That makes The Princess Bride: A Storybook to Color a superb gift for The Princess Bride fan.

A

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


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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"The Wolf of Wall Street" Posters Released

Revered filmmaker Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio).   From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption in the late 80s.  Excess success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title – “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Money.  Power.  Women.  Drugs.  Temptations were for the taking and the threat of authority was irrelevant.  For Jordan and his wolf pack, modesty was quickly deemed overrated and more was never enough.

Visit the official site and make your own The Wolf Of Wall Street GIFS: http://TheWolfofWallStreet.com

In theaters December 25th

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWolfOfWallStreet
Official Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheWolfofWallSt

View one of the trailers here.

Review: "This is Spinal Tap" Never Stops Being Funny (Happy B'day, Rob Reiner)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 106 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

This is Spinal Tap (1984)
Running time: 83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)
MPAA – R
DIRECTOR: Rob Reiner
WRITERS: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, & Rob Reiner
PRODUCER: Karen Murphy
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Peter Smokler
EDITOR: Kent Beyda and Kim Secrist

COMEDY/MUSIC

Starring: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer, Rob Reiner, June Chadwick, Tony Hendra, RJ Parnell, Fran Drescher, Patrick MacNee, Bruno Kirby, Ed Begley, Jr., Billy Crystal, Dana Carvey, Howard Hessman, Fred Willard, Paul Shaffer, Gloria Gifford, and Anjelica Huston

The subject of this review is This is Spinal Tap, a faux documentary that parodies rock documentary films. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film also satirizes the behavior and attitudes of members of hard rock and heavy metal bands.

This is Spinal Tap basically says that, “It’s time to get personal with one of music history’s greatest and loudest rock bands… Spinal Tap.” Documentary filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) is making a “rockumentary,” a rock documentary of the band’s 1982 tour in support of the release of its 15th album, but the band has falling on some hard times. They’re playing smaller venues in front of an ever-shrinking audience, and the band’s front men: guitarist/co-songwriter David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), lead guitarist/co-songwriter Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) are older and struggling with inner band turmoil. DiBergi’s documentary gives them a chance to talk about themselves, their history, and their music and gives the audience a behind the scenes look at rare footage and a chance to hear lots of music. Will Spinal Tap survive, or will we die laughing first?

This is Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner’s faux documentary, created a film genre, the “mockumentary” or mock documentary. This is Spinal Tap is a fake documentary that follows the life and times of an aged metal band on an less-than-successful American tour, and everyone involved, especially the band comes across as twits. They don’t, in all seriousness, see themselves as pathetically funny as they actually are. Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer wrote all the songs for the fake band called Spinal Tap (which some movie audiences initial thought was a real band), and with the rest of the cast, adlibbed most of the dialogue.

Anyone with more than a passing knowledge of heavy metal music and the eccentricities of metal’s most famous practitioners will double over in laughter at this “behind the scenes” look at band infighting, groupies, cancelled concerts, impractical stage sets, musical and performance pretensions, tight pants, misogynistic music, and the long hair and makeup. Even if you don’t like music, This is Spinal Tab is still funny; in fact the magazine, Entertainment Weekly, named it the #1 cult film of all time.

The film’s strength is in the music; one is actors playing the front men are all competent musicians. Spinal Tap’s songs are so funny and so dead on rock and roll and heavy metal, that for all that they are satires of metal songs, they also work quite well as actually metal music. Great parodies have to work as the thing they are parodying; Mel Brooks has made a career on getting the setting right in such films as Young Frankenstein, which looked like the classic black and white Universal Studios Frankenstein films and Blazing Saddles, which looked and acted like a western. The film’s other strength is the cast. Everyone is so good at playing so many absurd situations and saying so many ridiculous things with the straightest faces, as if the entire Spinal Tap scenario were all real and serious. This is Spinal Tap is a must-see for lovers of comedy.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2002 National Film Registry: National Film Preservation Board, USA

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