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June 2008
Get out your ab roller … a ‘300’ follow-up is coming
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Get our your ab roller, fanboys. Frank Miller and director Zack Snyder are serious about making a follow-up to “300.”
Variety has confirmed with Legendary Pictures that Miller is writing what could be a sequel or prequel or some other related story in the wake of “300.” The film would arrive under the Warner Bros. banner.
With “300’s” main character — King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) — dead at the end of the film, it seems likely that Miller would find and concentrate on a different story involving Sparta or Greece.
My two cents: He ought to consider the Athens battle with Persian forces at Marathon that resulted in Pheidippides two-footing some 24 miles to deliver good news.
Do you want to see another “300”-type film?
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Is ‘Wall-E’ the best picture of the year?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Half of 2008 is done and we have just seen what could turn out to be the best movie of the year.
Pixar’s “Wall-E” is good. Real good. I actually saw the movie about a month ago (there are benefits to being a movie journalist) and it’s stuck with me. I love the film’s take on the human destruction of the environment and the innocent charm of its beeping robots.
You know there is genius at work when a smart guy like director Andrew Stanton can make you feel good about seeing clips from “Hello Dolly!,” one of the most pathetic, overblown movie musicals ever made.
A few years ago, Stanton was talked into not pushing “Finding Nemo” for Oscar’s best picture. He settled for the animation trophy.
This time, he ought to consider trying with “Wall-E” to go … all … the … way.
Did you like “Wall-E”? If so, what was your favorite part?
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Experience the robot band The Trons
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Watch your back Wall-E.
New Zealander Greg Locke’s official job is to design big blueberry sorting machines. But for kicks he’s also designed The Trons, a computerized rock band that plays drums, keyboards and guitars.
Watch and hear the robot band perform “Sister Robot!”
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‘Wall-E’ is one of the best moves so far this year
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s my indubitable list of what matters most among new movies this weekend:
1. “Wall-E.” Robot love with enough of the Pixar magic to make it as adorable as “Finding Nemo.”
2. “Wanted.” Just like director Timur Bekmambetov’s muscled Russian films, his Hollywood studio take on super-assassins is loud, funny, action-packed, violent and occasionally gross. Unlike his other films, this one has very recognizable faces: Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman.
3. “Savage Grace.” Whoa! (That’s right, I said, whoa!) Julianne Moore, who will do anything a script requires, takes on incest in the real-life tale of a tragic and wacko family. The acting is good; the storyline icky.
4. “The Children of Huang Shi.” Extremely earnest — and sleep-inducing — telling of the real-life story of British journalist George Hogg (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), who led orphaned Chinese boys across China during the Japanese occupation of 1937.
What’s your pick for the weekend? (Here’s hoping it’s “Wall-E.”)
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In foreign film debate, a beautiful mind trumps the heart
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
Long-time, first-time, and hoping you can settle an argument between me and my (imaginary) friend. He insists that the best foreign film director of all time is Pedro Almodovar and cites “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and “Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down” as evidence of his mastery.
I steadfastly insist that this honor should go to Akira Kurosawa, who directed perhaps the greatest foreign film of all time, “The Seven Samurai,” not to mention “Rashomon” and “Ran.”
We can think of no better arbiter of this debate than you. So where do you weigh in on the greatest foreign directors or films of all time?
RICHIE LESTER, Lake Worth, Fla.
Dear Step Into My Office, Please,
If I were to analyze you and your friend, which as you must realize I started doing posthaste, noting your inclusion of “(imaginary),” I would have to say you and your friend are yin and yang.
Your friend thinks with his heart. You, Richie, think with your mind. Which is why you are right and your friend is, well, not as right.
I wasn’t the first on the Almodovar bandwagon, but I will tell you that by the time I saw “Talk to Her” that this was a director who most certainly had become a film master.
But Almodovar is no Kurosawa.
The Japanese master, who passed 10 years ago this September, made astounding movies, many of them heady action movies with spurting blood and violence.
The list is long and stunning: “Rashomon” (1950), “The Seven Samurai” (1954), “Throne of Blood” (1957), “Yojimbo” (1961), “Sanjuro” (1962), “High and Low” (1963) and “Ran” (1985).
There are several scenes in the latter that transcend film.
I am also a fan of “Madadayo” (1993), Kurosawa’s exquisite, loving World War II-era dedication to teachers. It poignantly displays Japanese tradition, the culture’s respect for elders and sheer human decency.
Some of my more recent favorite foreign films: Danish director Christoffer Boe’s “Reconstruction,” Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles’ “City of God,” German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s “The Lives of Others” and Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
Among the best foreign films ever: Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander,” Italian director Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” and Italian director Vittorio De Sica’s “The Bicycle Thief.”
Two directors whose works I happen to like a lot are German director Tom Tykwer, especially “Run, Lola, Run” and “The Princess and the Warrior”; and Danish director Lars von Trier, especially “The Element of Crime,” “The Kingdom,” “Breaking the Waves,” “The Idiots,” “Dancer in the Dark,” “Dogville,” “Manderlay,” “The Five Obstructions” and “The Boss of It All.”
ALAN
P.S. You get a T-shirt and button for “The Incredible Hulk.”
Dear Mr. Smithee,
Until Christmastime, my husband and I went to a movie every Saturday night. Since then we have seen three movies, and they were not very good. It seems to me that there is a lack of good plots, compelling characters, good writing and fresh ideas.
Is it that way to you?
MICHELLE BARNETT, Powder Springs
Dear Seems?
How is it that you have not realized that Hollywood is a business geared mainly toward teen males?
It is an industry of horror films and action movies with an emphasis on jokes about the two P’s (hint: poop and penises).
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Kung Fu Panda” plush toy and “Young@Heart” T-shirt.
NOTE TO A SPECIAL READER: After my recent list of movies I’d take with me to a deserted island, I got this dismissive missive from an apparently uninformed reader known only as anythinguwantidontcare: “Those are your Top 10 movies? Joking, right? If serious, makes me wonder if you have ever seen any great movies.”
My humble reply: Who said anything about those being my Top 10 movies? Three of them would be in my Top 10. Some are just guilty pleasures.
And since it’s an island with just me on it, you don’t have to be bothered viewing films you don’t appreciate.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. SMITHEE?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
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Behold! Princess Camp
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The other day some friends mentioned that their daughter was about to go to Princess Camp.
Mind you, my once-wee children D.W. and Cecil B. are boys, which meant T-Ball and Computer Camp and everything but Princess Camp.
I really didn’t even know what Princess Camp was. So, naturally, I found an online video.
Behold: Princess Camp!
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The best films of Angelina Jolie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In “Wanted,” opening Friday, Angelina Jolie plays a near superhuman assassin who runs atop moving trains, spreads herself across the hood of a speeding car to shoot multiple bullets at a chasing vehicle and uses her big, pouty lips to lay one on co-star James McAvoy.
Jolie is probably more known for being a celebrity (humanitarian efforts mixed with strange rituals with former husbands — like wearing vials of blood) than for the movies she made. I can count what I think are her most worthy film efforts on one hand.
Here is when she’s been the best on film or TV:
1. “Girl, Interrupted” (1999) — A riveting, Oscar-winning portrayal of a young woman beyond the verge of a nervous breakdown.
2. “Gia” (1998) — The HBO movie, the sad story of a model, that propelled her into the limelight.
3. “The Good Shepherd” (2006) — Audiences didn’t embrace the film, but Jolie co-starred with Matt Damon in Robert De Niro’s compelling CIA drama
4. “A Mighty Heart” (2007) — She played real-life French journalist Mariane Pearl in a drama about the kidnapping and murder of her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
I am looking forward to seeing her in Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling” this fall.
What are your favorite Angelina Jolie movies?
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Jamia sings ‘It’s Your Day’ on CBS soap
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gwinnett County’s Jamia, the Oscar show performer who co-starred in “August Rush,” joins CBS’ “The Young and the Restless” today for a month-long storyline as Ana, the young daughter of a single mother.
In her first episode, 11-year-old Jamia attends a birthday party and sings the song, “It’s Your Day.”
Watch and listen.
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Here are the movies I’d rather see at the Fox
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Four more films have been selected to screen in August at the Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival at the Fox Theatre. Each is, as accurately described, a summer blockbuster.
The films are “Sex and the City” (7:30 p.m. Aug. 7), “Iron Man” (7:30 p.m. Aug. 8), “Kung Fu Panda” (2 p.m. Aug. 10) and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (7:30 p.m. Aug. 30). Three more films will be named later.
I don’t know about you … and I’m certainly not charged with the difficult task of filling 4,000 seats for a show … but I’m disappointed in the choices.
Why? I JUST SAW ALL THOSE MOVIES!
I like it best when the festival plays classics. Like “Casablanca,” which the fest did screen recently. And “Ben-Hur,” which will be shown July 13.
The festival should play more classics.
Since director-producer-actor Sydney Pollack passed in May, they could have considered showing “Tootsie” or “The Way We Were.”
This is the 30th anniversary of the festival. So why not book some movies from 1978? Like “The Deer Hunter,” “Halloween,” “Grease,” “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” or “Superman.”
If you want to celebrate an anniversary, fete the 50th birthday of “The Defiant Ones.” And while you’re at it, get your sponsor, Coca-Cola, to pony up to bring Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis to the Fox to talk about the movie. I think that would draw a crowd.
Here are other movies I wish were playing at the Fox: “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Mary Poppins,” “Thunderball,” “Blazing Saddles,” “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Big Night,” “The Birds,” “Dumbo,” “The Grapes of Wrath,” “Patton,” “The Naked Gun,” “Unforgiven,” “Stop Making Sense,” “Sunset Boulevard,” “Pulp Fiction,” “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “Shaft,” “Bonnie and Clyde” and “Chinatown.”
That’s just a start.
What films would you want to have screened at the Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival at the Fox?
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Meet the new Oscar voter: Sacha Baron Cohen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Oscar voting just got a little bit more interesting.
English comic Sacha Baron Cohen (“Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”) is one of seven actors who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.
One must presume Cohen will accept. And it will make him an official Oscar voter.
In total, 105 film industry participants have been invited to join the Academy this year.
Among actors who will become Oscar voters for the first time: Josh Brolin, Marion Cotillard (best actress Oscar winner this year for “La Vie En Rose”), Ruby Dee, Allison Janney, Jet Li and Ray Winstone.
Among directors invited to join the Academy: Sergei Bodrov (“Mongol”), James Gray (“We Own the Night”), Kimberly Peirce (“Stop-Loss,” “Boys Don’t Cry”), Jason Reitman (“Juno”), Walter Salles and Gore Verbinski.
Among writers selected: Judd Apatow, Diablo Cody (“Juno”), Tamara Jenkins (“The Savages”) and Nancy Oliver (“Lars and the Real World”).
It’s interesting to note the amount of talent included often devoted to comedy, a genre that’s usually an also-ran at the Oscars.
What do you think of the Academy’s additions? Are you surprised that Ruby Dee wasn’t already an Oscar voter?
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A little look at a big kid
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sometimes, some things are odd and sad.
Like this very short video of a child with extreme weight issues, coupled with a sound clip from Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar-winning performance in “There Will Be Blood.”
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It’s open season on Mike Myers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How bad is Mike Myers’ “The Love Guru”?
SPOILER ALERT! Well, it’s hysterical and monumental if you happen to think it would be funny to trot two pachyderms into a hockey rink and have them perform sex in front of an audience with dropped jaws.
Oops did I give away a joke?
I don’t think I can hurt “Guru” anymore than the film has already damaged itself. It underperformed at the box office, finishing behind not only “Get Smart,” but the older “Kung Fu Panda” and “The Incredible Hulk.”
Critics were far from kind.
“Mike Myers is anti-comedy,” John Anderson wrote in The Washington Post.
Pulitzer Prize-winner Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal piled on.
“The road taken by ‘The Love Guru’ could hardly be lower, and leads nowhere,” he wrote.
The film is steeped in juvenile humor with penis jokes aplenty. It’s approval rating on Rottentomatoes.com is a lousy 16 percent.
The mistake I think Myers made is not infusing his “Guru” character with the same insight and depth he provided for “Austin Powers.” He made Powers a likable guy. But in this instance, his guru is nothing short of weird and creepy.
Myers is planning on doing a remake of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” Hopefully this time he’ll try harder.
Did you endure “The Love Guru”? Do you like Mike Myers’ style of humor?
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What’s the best movie so far this year?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My favorite films so far this year:
1. “Iron Man.” Fresh, intelligent and well done. I’ve always thought Robert Downey Jr. was a great actor and he continues to prove me right.
2. “Kung Fu Panda.” I haven’t seen animation this much fun to watch since “Finding Nemo.”
3. “Young@Heart.” Proof that senior citizens can be forever young.
4. “The Fall.” I don’t care that it’s weird. I care that it is visually stunning.
5. “The Signal.” This made-in-Atlanta horror film was underpromoted by its studio and deserves attention. Get it on DVD.
Movies yet to debut that I like a lot: “Wall-E” and “Wanted.”
What are your favorite films so far this year?
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Here I sit with my big brain ready, willing and able to help you
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I work with disabled adults and one of them is a fantastic statistic keeper. We are trying to figure out which theater in New York “Schindler’s List” opened in. He knows the exact month, date and year (which I cannot recall right now), but is bent on finding out which theater. We here at work have exhausted all efforts on finding out.
MARILYN D. HANSEN, Eagan, Minn.
Dear Last Stop For Gas,
I am having a hard time with your words “exhausted all efforts.”
What am I, chopped liver?
I have yet to understand why the world runs amok like a chicken with its head cut off while little ole me and my quite substantial brain sit right here ready, willing and able to provide all the details any subsequently grateful person might require.
Because I am who I am, Marilyn, and you are who you are (which is an individual who can’t recall all the facts regarding “Schindler’s List”), I will relate to you more information than you or your statistic keeper or even your whole office need know. It will require exhaustive efforts to digest. But in all this data will be the answer to balm your chafe.
In 1993, “Schindler’s List” had its first premiere at the Cineplex Odeon theater on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington on Nov. 30. Among the attendees: President Clinton and Hillary Clinton.
The following day — as in Dec. 1 — the film was screened at the Coronet and Baronet Cinemas on Third Avenue in New York. (Note: The theater has since been demolished but people also referred to it not only as the Baronet and Coronet, but the Coronet I and II).
On Dec. 9, 1993, the film was screened at the Cineplex Odeon in Century City, Calif.
On Dec. 15, the film opened in 15 cities. In New York, it played initially at the Cineplex Odeon Regency Cinema on Broadway and 67th, at the Cineplex Odeon First & 62nd Cinemas and at Cineplex Odeon Chelsea Cinemas on 23rd Street. The first showing at all three theaters was simultaneously at noon.
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Incredible Hulk” cap and a “Sex and the City” pouch.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
In the late 1940s or maybe ’50s, I saw a movie in which a young woman was living in an old mansion haunted by two ghosts, one always accompanied by the fragrance of mimosa. I don’t know the movie’s name or the actress, but she was very good at being terrified. It might have been Joan Fontaine.
I would love to be able to see it again.
DOT BUCKINGHAM, Brooklyn Center, Minn.
Dear It Wasn’t Joan Fontaine,
You have good taste in ghost movies.
The film is 1944’s “The Uninvited” with Ray Milland, Ruth Hussey and Gail Russell. It was a psychological horror film involving death, hauntings, an impressive mansion and the distinct aroma of mimosa.
If you liked “Uninvited” — and I suspect you will again — you would probably enjoy these great movies: “The Haunting” (1963) with Julie Harris, “The Innocents” (1961) with Deborah Kerr, “Lady in White” (1988) with Lukas Haas and “The Old Dark House” (1932) with Boris Karloff and Gloria Stuart.
I am a big fan of “The Blair Witch Project” (1999), though many who don’t know better despise it.
And if you are feeling especially open to the bizarre, check out Lars von Trier’s full TV miniseries “The Kingdom” (1994). Good stuff.
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Young@Heart” T-shirt and a “Kung Fu Panda” plush toy.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I say “Napolean Dynamite” (the character) is basically a ripoff of Kevin (“Feelin’ 7-Up!”) from “Repo Man.” What do you think?
I respect your opinion, unless it differs on “Repo Man,” then you are wrong.
PATRICK MILLER, Marietta
Dear It’s Too Late,
Society made me what I am. It made you you, too. Truth is, my friend, nothing in this world is unique. There’s a lattice o’ coincidence that lays on top o’ everything.
I’m not even the first to say that.
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Wall-E” T-shirt and “What Happens in Vegas” coasters.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. SMITHEE?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
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Who loses in the battle of ‘Get Smart’ vs. ‘Love Guru’? Well, you the ticketbuyer
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here is my indubitable list of what matters most this weekend:
1. “Get Smart.” Not nearly as silly as it needs to be and lacking much of the infectious verbal jousting that uplifted the original TV show.
2. “The Love Guru.” My advice: see something else. Anything else.
3. “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl.” Harmless, but demand that your young daughter be patient and wait until tickets aren’t $20.
4. “Mongol.” A foreign film Oscar nominee and a watchable biopic about Genghis Khan.
5. “Jellyfish.” Insightful indie film about various lives in Tel Aviv.
6. “The Foot Fist Way.” Odd, mildly funny character study of a Tae Kwan Do-obsessed man you’d never want to meet or talk to in real life.
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The horror … AFI’s new lists ignore an important genre
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few random thoughts about the American Film Institute’s selections of Top 10 films in 10 genres.
You can see the AFI’s full lists here.
1. Where is horror? To ignore “The Silence of the Lambs” is to ignore a film as good if not better than many on the AFI’s lists.
2.”Shrek” is better than “Finding Nemo”? Excuse me. No.
3. “In Cold Blood.” I don’t remember the film for what happens in the courtroom. I remember the film for what happens inside the house.
4. “Godfather” this and “Godfather” that. In the Gangster category the AFI placed “The Godfather” at No. 1 and “The Godfather, Part II” at No. 3 with “Goodfellas” at No. 2. Doesn’t matter that “Godfather II” is likely the best of all three. You don’t separate the first two “Godfather” movies. You treat them as one movie … which happens to be the best movie ever made.
5. Good move. Glad to see the selectors were savvy enough to include “Caddyshack” in the Sports genre Top 10.
6. Order in the court. “The Verdict” should move up and “Kramer vs. Kramer” should move down.
7. Oops, you forgot one. How do you make an epic list and leave off D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance”?
What did you think of AFI’s choices? Which films would you add or take out?
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Tyler Perry’s relative issue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tyler Perry’s name is being tossed about today on TMZ.com. The website has obtained a copy of a letter in which Perry’s attorneys have advised the filmmaker’s cousin, Atlanta filmmaker Marlon Campbell (pictured below) to cease using Perry’s name in his press releases.
In a letter dated April 9, L.A. attorney Matthew Johnson writes:
“Mr. Campbell does not have the right to use Mr. Perry’s name in the furtherance of Mr. Campbell’s endeavors. The use of Mr. Perry’s name in connection with the promotion of any projects of Mr. Campbell, you or your agency is intentionally misleading, constitutes a substantial misrepresentation of the facts and wrongfully infringes upon the economic value of Mr. Perry and his products and productions.”
TMZ reports that Campbell told the website that “when he mentioned his cousin’s name in connection with his own movie, something called ‘Oblivious,’ he got a smackdown letter from Tyler’s lawyers.”
A copy of the letter is posted on TMZ’s website.
While TMZ goes out of its way to poke fun at Perry (it mentions in an obvious way how the Atlanta filmmaker’s next movie is “The Family That Preys”), it seems he is certainly entitled to have his name associated only with projects he wants to participate in.
Does the letter from Perry’s attorneys surprise you?
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From ‘Roots’ to ‘Aliens,’ Stan Winston was the fx, makeup man
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I love those times watching movies when the character or creature effects and the makeup are so good I’m just blown away.
I’m talking about “Aliens,” “The Terminator,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Jurassic Park” and “Predator.” “Edward Scissorhands,” too.
And that means I’m talking about Stan Winston. He died on Sunday of multiple myeloma at age 62 but he leaves a legacy of fully understanding the power of movies and the ability to transport those of us out there watching in the dark to places sometimes beyond our imaginations.
Think about someone who can lay claim to the mother alien, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s human-skinned cyborg and an unforgettable butt-ugly, bug-faced, dreadlock-headed extra-terrestrial hunter.
In his lifetime, Winston won four Oscars. He deserved every one of them.
Some of the other films he worked on: “Iron Man,” “Big Fish,” “Artificial Intelligence: AI,” “The Monster Squad,” “Pumpkinhead,” “Pearl Harbor” and “The Thing.”
For television, he also worked on makeup for “Roots” and “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.”
What were your favorite Stan Winston movies?
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Bea Arthur in ‘Sex and the City’ parody
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Low-cholesterol alfredo? Megafiber in your Cosmos?
For TV Land, Emmy winner Bea Arthur plays a rather aged Carrie in “Sex in the City,” a 5-minute parody of “Sex and the City.”
Arthur, who in heavy makeup looks a bit like Bette Davis’ Baby Jane, is joined by Charlotte Rae, Katherine Helmond and Sally Struthers. They’re gal pals in search of a “Matlock” two-parter.
And wait till you see Mr. Big.
Enjoy!
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It’s never too late to honor dad
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My favorite father’s day video on YouTube is this chalkboard poem “To Dad” from indiestopmotion in The Philippines.
Enjoy!
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Today’s query: Liv Tyler or Jennifer Connelly?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the first questions I remember from the schoolyard was simply this: Betty or Veronica?
Then came: Betty or Wilma?
Now with Ang Lee’s “Hulk” and the new “The Incredible Hulk,” we can finally ask, “Betty or Betty?”
In other words “Incredible Hulk’s” Liv Tyler or “Hulk’s” Jennifer Connelly?
I think the choice is easy. Connelly. I like smoky and dangerous over gooey and doe-eyed.
Connelly’s got the better film track record, too. I especially like her in “Dark City,” “Waking the Dead” and “Requiem for a Dream.”
I’d be more appalled that Hollywood is remaking “The Day the Earth Stood Still” (it arrives in December), except that Connelly is in it. She takes over the Patricia Neal role.
Who’s your choice: Liv Tyler or Jennifer Connelly?
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Once you start counting Oscars, it’s hard to stop
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I am curious what films hold the record for the cast that has the most Oscar wins. I can think of three films whose cast have won eight Oscars:
1. “Bad Day at Black Rock” (1955). Walter Brennan (3), Spencer Tracy (2), Lee Marvin (1), Dean Jagger (1) and Ernest Borgnine (1).
2. “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974). Ingrid Bergman (3), Sean Connery (1), John Gielgud (1), Martin Balsam (1), Vanessa Redgrave (1) and Wendy Hiller (1).
3. “Death on the Nile” (1978). Bette Davis (2), Peter Ustinov (2), Maggie Smith (2), George Kennedy (1) and David Niven (1).
DEAN BRONSON, Minneapolis
Dear Mathematical,
I can think of lots of movies that have a cast with eight Oscars among them:
“Julia,” “Reds” (if you count Warren Beatty’s director Oscar, which I certainly do), “Alice Adams” (as long as you count Walter Brennan even though his scenes were deleted), TV’s “Jesus of Nazareth,” “Gone With the Wind” and “Philadelphia.”
So I’ll not only see your tiny list of 8s, but raise you a few more. How does 10 sound?
“How the West Was Won” (1962). Henry Fonda (1), Karl Malden (1), Gregory Peck (1), James Stewart (1), John Wayne (1), Walter Brennan (3) and, as the film’s narrator, Spencer Tracy (2).
“American Creed” (1946). Ingrid Bergman (3), Katharine Hepburn (4), Jennifer Jones (1), James Stewart (1) and Shirley Temple (1, a special juvenile award).
Now, Dean, you might want to argue that “American Creed” is a 20-minute film short, but I don’t recall you putting restrictions on the tally.
Or maybe 11 sounds even better.
“That’s Entertainment!” (1974). Bing Crosby (1), Liza Minnelli (1), Frank Sinatra (1), James Stewart (1), Elizabeth Taylor (2), Joan Crawford (1), Clark Gable (1), Ginger Rogers (1), Wallace Beery (1) and, as long as I count special juvenile Oscars, Margaret O’Brien (1).
Still not satisfied? OK.
Then how about 15?
“The Player” (1992). Tim Robbins (1), Whoopi Goldberg (1), Sydney Pollack (2 — for directing and producing), Cher (1), Louise Fletcher (1), Joel Grey (1), Anjelica Huston (1), Jack Lemmon (2), James Coburn (1), Marlee Matlin (1), Susan Sarandon (1), Rod Steiger (1) and Julia Roberts (1). (Yes, I realize most of those were cameos.)
Need more? Would you consider 16?
As fate would have it, pay close attention to the title.
“The Oscar” (1966). Ernest Borgnine (1), Ed Begley (1), Walter Brennan (3), Broderick Crawford (1), James Dunn (1), Frank Sinatra (1) and … drumroll, please … Edith Head (8). Maybe she did win her Oscars for costume designing, but she appeared in “The Oscar.”
And, having saved my best for last, how about 22?
“Mickey and the Beanstalk” (1947). Walt Disney (22).
After all, Walt provided the voice of Mickey Mouse.
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Wall-E” mini-cooler and T-shirt.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I recently watched “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” starring Gene Kelly, Esther Williams and Frank Sinatra. The movie’s setting appears to be somewhere around 1910. In one dance number, Gene Kelly wears a white turtleneck while all the other male dancers have on striped buttoned shirts and bowties.
Of course, Gene looks very hip in his turtleneck, but it certainly isn’t in keeping with the traditional dress of the early 1900s.
I was wondering if you were aware of other fashion faux pas in movies.
JOAN KOESTER, Northfield, Minn.
Dear Well-Dressed,
Until his last breath, my distant cousin, Federico Smithee, insisted that he spied a Mexican soldier in 1960’s “The Alamo” wearing penny loafers.
I am far less concerned with fashion faux pas than I am intrigued by how far some people will go to overthink, if not overdress, their movie.
For example, one might be puzzled to learn that for “The Untouchables,” Robert De Niro insisted he needed to wear the same style of silk underwear that his real-life character, Al Capone, wore.
He, being De Niro, got his way. And, lucky us, he kept his pants on.
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Love Guru” figure and a “Get Smart” Frisbee.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. SMITHEE?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
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Full ‘Kung Fu Panda’ posted for hours on Youtube.com
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Did you want to see “Kung Fu Panda” for free?
You had to act fast.
For much of the day (Thursday), the new animated “Kung Fu Panda” was posted on Youtube.com in nine parts. It was the complete film. About 2,000 viewers or less watched each part.
By about 8 p.m. Thursday, the videos (an obvious bootleg copy of the film) were, according to Youtube, “taken down by the user.”
That was not long after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution sent an e-mail to the alleged poster, requesting an interview.
The posting was done by a Youtube user identified as 133781. A click to the website showed that 133781 identified himself as Mark O. Anthony, an 18-year-old student in Bloomington, Calif., an exurb of Los Angeles.
Internet users who watched the film were mostly appreciative.
“Wow, that’s so illegal it’s not even funny,” wrote a user identified as indianawsomeness. “Thanks for the movies!”
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‘Hulk’ is watchable … and if you see ‘Happening’ don’t say I didn’t warn you
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s my indubitable list of what matters most among new movies this weekend:
1. “The Incredible Hulk.” Not nearly as incredible as “Iron Man” but it certainly stomps Ang Lee’s “Hulk.”
2. “OSS 117: Cairo Nest of Spies.” We can only hope “Get Smart” will be this funny, this silly and this watchable.
3. “Bigger, Stronger, Faster.” A steroids wake-up call that may well be the documentary of the year.
4. “The Promotion.” Not as funny and indie-hip as it thinks it is.
5. “The Happening.” A horror movie released on a Friday the 13th is supposed to scare us to death, not bore us to death.
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‘Sex’ is a dinner and a movie phenom
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s more to “Sex and the City” than $101 million at the box office so far. Fans have also turned a night out with Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte into a dinner-, or sometimes, appetizer-and-a-movie phenomenon.
Since the film’s May 30 debut, Twist at Phipps Plaza reports business is up 35 percent from last year, driven mostly by groups of women who come to the restaurant before or after seeing the movie at the mall’s AMC theater.
It’s been busy at Strip, too, where the restaurant is located just across the street from the Regal theater in Atlantic Station.
“We’ve easily had 5,000 women coming through here on their way to see that movie,” general manager Tim Holland says. “And the ladies are dressed to the nines.”
Business has been so good that some restaurants — like Marlow’s Tavern, with locations in Midtown, Vinings, Kennesaw and Alpharetta, and Aqua Blue in Roswell — are creating special nights for women in an attempt to continue the momentum.
Tonight and each Wednesday through June, Marlow’s Tavern locations will offer $5 cocktails featuring “Sex and the City’s” classic Cosmopolitan, a Metropolitan and the HBO show-inspired Absolut Hunk, $5 appetizers and $5 wine flight.
On June 20, Aqua Blue is forming a “Sex and the City”-inspired girls night out that will benefit the Susan G. Komen cancer foundation. Drinks will be named after the film’s main characters. Appetizers will pay homage to the “Sex” men — as in Mr. Big mussels.
Midtown’s Ecco is also considering adding a ladies night.
“There’s definitely a market for it,” says Ecco’s general manager Andy Fox. “We want to tap into that crowd. It’s huge.”
Since the movie opened, it’s often been a steady stream of pink tutus, high heels and, well, weekends of women across metro Atlanta.
On Sunday, a dozen women walked into Aqua Blue and sat at the restaurant’s community table.
“They came in for Cosmos and appetizers and things like that,” says Aqua Blue general manager Brian Longacre. “For us, the ‘Sex and the City’ crowds built the second weekend more than the first. I think by the time all the ladies got around to having the free time to do this and get all the gals together it took like a week.”
At Twist, the impact was immediate.
“That first Friday we did a special martini list named after the characters,” says general manager Jason Sheetz. “That particular night we sold 500 of those martinis alone.”
He says women came throughout the day. “They were in tutus and really sexy dresses. Lots of pink. And it was all ages. All demographics.”
The main drink orders everywhere seem to be for Cosmos.
“This past week, we’ve sold three times as many Cosmos as the same week in previous months,” says Mike Stachura, director of beverage operations for Marlow’s Tavern.
And some say the party’s not over.
“Through June, I don’t see this going away,” says Strip’s Holland. “Since we’ve been here I’ve seen all kinds of movies come out — the new ‘Indiana Jones,’ the last “Rocky,’ Bruce Willis’ latest ‘Die Hard’ — none of them beat this. All together they did not touch this.”
Did you and your friends hit the restaurants and bars before or after seeing “Sex and the City”?
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‘Incredible Hulk’ shows some considerable bulk
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
To describe “The Incredible Hulk,” entertainment-happy IGN.com is using a fairly new word: requel.
Yes, not prequel, or sequel, but requel, meaning a movie that does not continue from a previous work or start a storyline over again.
In comic book-turned-movie lexicon it means “The Incredible Hulk,” which debuts in theaters this week with Oscar-nominee Ed Norton as the genetically enlarged mean, green, fighting machine, is really nothing like Ang Lee’s generally reviled “The Hulk” of a few years ago.
The new “Hulk,” screened here Monday night for an audience of metro Atlanta film critics and often cheering and applauding fans, wastes little time before leaping into and an action sequence that starts with characters on the run and builds to a deafening crescendo of bullets, huge chunks of tossed metal and the human changeling’s ferocious roar.
Like Marvel’s “Iron Man” before it, “Incredible Hulk” is shaped to entertain and also please a rather rabid fan base. While it definitely would be a surprise for the new “Hulk” to match “Iron Man’s” box-office muscle and critical reception, the likelihood is that Marvel, with these two enterprises, will emerge as the summer movie season’s premier powerhouse.
With only quick flashes of background material, the new “Hulk” has Bruce Banner (Norton) on the run from the military as he tries to find a cure for the gamma effects that change his body or, at least, a way to control it. Ultimately, he must fight a renegade militarist (Tim Roth) who has himself injected with some of Banner’s blood to alter himself into a rather grotesque, hulking monster.
Here’s what fans will likely be talking about after “Incredible Hulk” opens nationwide on Friday (there are also dozens of midnight and 12:01 a.m. screenings late Thursday night):
The fights: They are plentiful and brutal. The Hulk smashes a police car in two and uses both parts as boxing gloves. In the long, final battle, Roth’s behemoth is seen in a distance smacking at least three men into the air. Some fans might complain that these characters look more animated than real, but the action is fast and more involving than, say, Matthew Broderick’s ill-fated “Godzilla.”
The cameos: There are multiple nods to actors from the old “Hulk” TV series. And comic book guru Stan Lee, who appears in all Marvel films, shows up in what will likely be judged as his best cameo to date.
The supporting cast: Roth’s part calls for aggression and obsession and he delivers both. In a crucial scene, Tim Blake Nelson plays the intelligent — and slightly off-kilter — researcher Samuel Sterns. One possible fanboy Internet argument that might emerge: which Betty Ross do you prefer … delicate Liv Tyler of “Incredible Hulk” or brooding Jennifer Connelly of “Hulk”?
The humor: It’s infrequent and often subtle. One on-screen text message regarding morphing into the Hulk reads: “Days without incident — 158.” Later, after anger has unleashed the beast an on-screen message reads: “Days without incident — 1.”
Are you planning on seeing “Incredible Hulk”?
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Watch Englanders chase cheese and, perhaps, break a few ribs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Time for the annual Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake in Gloucester, UK. Here’s how it works: Take one eight-pound double Gloucester cheese and and a lineup of reckless humans. Roll the cheese down a near vertical hill and command the humans to give chase.
Calamity ensues.
Enjoy.
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And now … ‘Brokeback Mountain’ the opera
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First, “Brokeback Mountain” was a short story. Then it became a movie. And now it will be an opera.
The New York City Opera is hiring composer Charles Wuorinen to score an opera based on Annie Proulx’s story, according to Variety.
The 2005 film version, helmed by Ang Lee, won Oscars for best director, adapted screenplay and original score. It starred Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger and involved the secret love relationship between two 1960s cowboys.
The opera is expected to debut in 2013.
Are you interested in seeing an operatic version of “Brokeback Mountain”?
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Clint on Spike: ‘A guy like him should shut his face’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Spike Lee’s not the only one who can throw barbs.
Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood has verbally lashed out at Lee for the African-American director’s pointed comments last month that in Eastwood’s Iwo Jima movies, “Negro soliders did not exist,” adding that that has angered many black veterans. Lee’s upcoming film, “Miracle at St. Anna,” involves an all-black World War II American division fighting in Italy.
In an interview today with the Guardian in England, Eastwood responded:
“Has he ever studied history? … He was complaining when I did ‘Bird’ (the 1988 biopic of Charlie Parker). Why would a white guy be doing that? I was the the only guy who made it, that’s why. He could have gone ahead and made it. Instead he was making something else.”
Eastwood acknowledges to the Guardian that there was a small detachment of African-American troops on Iwo Jima, serving as part of a munitions company.
“But they didn’t raise the flag. The story is ‘Flags of Our Fathers,’ the famous flag-raising picture, and they didn’t do that. If I go ahead and put an African-American actor in there, people’d go, ‘This guy lost his mind.’ I mean it’s not accurate. … I’m not in that game. I’m playing it the way I read it historicaly, and that’s the way it is.
“When I do a picture and it’s 90 percent black, like ‘Bird,’ I use 90 percent black people.”
The Guardian reports that Eastwood then paused before delivering a final message to Lee: “A guy like him should shut his face.”
What do think of the Clint-Spike flap? Is one right? Or both?
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Do yourself a favor … Go see ‘Kung Fu Panda’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here is my indubitable list of what matters most among new movies this weekend:
1. “Kung Fu Panda.” A solid animated comedy that can successfully entertain kids and their parents.
2. “Surfwise.” Fascinating surfing documentary about a fascinating, unusual family.
3. “Standard Operating Procedure.” Quite successful in shining light on exactly what went down at Abu Ghraib.
4. “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan.” There’s no accounting for taste and, clearly, this comedy has none. But Adam Sandler fans will be amused by the plentiful genital jokes.
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Redos coming: ‘My Fair Lady,’ ‘I Spit on Your Grave’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What’s Hollywood without a remake, right?
This week came announcements of two from opposite ends of the movie spectrum: the musical “My Fair Lady” and the ultra-violent horror film “I Spit on Your Grave.” Also getting a big-screen makeover: the sci-fi film “Dune.”
“Lady” will star Keira Knightley as Eliza Doolittle, the role performed 44 years ago by Audrey Hepburn in the Oscar-winning version of the musical. The script is being reworked to heighten the high and low emotions of Doolittle. And, while the original musical was filmed on soundstages in Hollywood, this new version will use many actual locales in England, including Covent Garden, Wimpole Street and the Ascot racecourse.
The usually straight-to-DVD entity CineTel purchased the rights to “Grave,” the controversial 1978 female revenge and horror tale that highlighted rape and gruesome murders. Plans are for the remake to be splashed on the big screen.
Director/actor Peter Berg (“The Kingdom,” “The Rundown,” “Friday Night Lights”) is set to direct the remake of “Dune,” based on the Frank Herbert sci-fi novel and turned into an unsuccessful film by David Lynch in 1984.
“Dune” is a project of Paramount Pictures, which has scored this year with “Iron Man” and “Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” The studio’s next film: “The Incredible Hulk,” which debuts June 13.
Are you interested in a remake of “My Fair Lady”? Or “I Spit on Your Grave”?
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You think it’s easy to always have the answer?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
Greetings. I enjoy your column. I thought your recent comments on “The Wizard of Oz” were really terrific. My 16- and 19-year-olds think that “Oz” is a yawner and won’t watch it with me, though I’ll submit to “Rings,” “Potter,” et al.
“Oz” is one of the 10 that I’d take if stranded on an island.
Anyway, I have a question that’s driving me nuts. You’re the wizard, so it’s probably a no-brainer for you. I can’t remember who said, “It must be nice to be the smartest person in the room” … or something like that. I think it was Spacey or Macy.
JIM NELSON, Minnetonka, Minn.
Dear Lollipop Guild,
It appears to me you neglected your children’s education. Apparently, you must have failed to indoctrinate your children with ample viewings of “The Wizard of Oz” in their once-wee years.
But I also advise hopeful feelings. I recall that my once wee-sons, D.W. and Cecil B., were dutifully shown “The Bicycle Thief” in their wee years. They made fun of that movie for years.
Only now, as adults, have they come forward to say: “Dad, you were right. It is a great movie.”
As for your question, the line you speak of is spoken in “Broadcast News” by the late Peter Hackes, an NBC news correspondent who appeared in the film.
Here is what he says to Jane Craig, played by Holly Hunter: “It must be nice to always believe you know better, to always think you’re the smartest person in the room.”
What matters most, my friend, is Jane’s response. It is perfect.
Her reply: “No. It’s awful.”
Believe me, I understand her completely.
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Get Smart” T-shirt and a “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” T-shirt.
P.P.S. You mention something in your letter that I have been surprised that no one has ever inquired about before. That being your reference to 10 movies you’d take with you to a deserted island.
These would be my 10:
1. “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Because it’s my favorite movie.
2. “The Godfather.” Because it’s the best movie ever made.
3. “The Godfather, Part II.” Because if it’s not the best movie ever made, it’s the second best.
4. “The Lion in Winter.” Because I am consistently amazed by the perfect dialogue and perfect performances.
5. “Some Like It Hot.” Because from time to time, I’ll want to laugh.
6. “Miracle.” Because it honors a moment in time when I felt extremely happy.
7. “Reconstruction.” Because it’s the most complicated romance movie I’ve ever seen.
8. “North by Northwest.” Because it’s Hitchcock, and it exudes adventure.
9. “The Empire Strikes Back.” Because it’s my favorite “Star Wars” movie.
10. “The Shawshank Redemption.” Just because.
Dear Mr. Smithee,
I am always amazed by how right on the mark your lists of “bests” and “worsts” are.
With the growing popularity of televised poker and other gambling, which do you consider the best movies that deal with the subject of gambling?
Two come to mind, both with Paul Newman —“Hustler” and “The Color of Money.”
What others do you feel make the list?
GARRY GIERLICZ, Wellington, Fla.
Dear Omaha Hi/Lo,
Let me be very clear about one thing: Poker on television is wonderful because you get to see everyone’s hole cards, which gives insight into their thinking and game.
Poker in movies is, generally, a complete bore because so much time is spent explaining what is happening and why. Plus, with the game being part of the written screenplay, real-life poker players can fairly quickly determine a hand’s outcome.
As far as movies prominently featuring gambling, I like these (in no particular order): “Rounders,” “The Hustler,” “House of Games,” “Hard Eight,” “Bob Le Flambeur,” “Croupier,” “The Killing,” “Lost in America,” “The Deer Hunter” and, sometimes just for kicks, “Vegas Vacation.”
ALAN
P.S. You get a set of “Kung Fu Panda” play figurines.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. SMITHEE?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
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‘American Girl’ Abigail Breslin to appear in Alpharetta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
She’s coming! She’s coming! She’s coming!
Sorry, I’m just trying to sound like the little girl from “Little Miss Sunshine.”
But truth is, she’s coming. On Friday, Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin will be in Alpharetta to sign autographs and hobknob and push her latest movie “Kit Kittredge: An American Girl,” based on the popular doll that has its own store. The film opens June 20 at the North Point Market and in four other cities nationwide. It expands to other theaters on July 2.
Breslin will appear from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday at the American Girl Boutique and Bistro at North Point Mall.
Do you think Abigail owns one of the dolls? Do you think she’ll bring it along and take it to the store’s Doll Hair Salon (doll coiffures by American Girl hair specialists are $10-$20)? Do you think Abigail will fork over another $5 if she has a doll for it to get the Pampering Plus package which includes a doll facial scrub? Do you think I am making all this up? Because I’m not.
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Pixar’s ‘WALL-E’: What if R2D2 fell in love?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This summer’s most unlikely movie blockbuster would seem to be Pixar’s G-rated “WALL-E,” which arrives in theaters June 27.
How do you sell a computer animated film about robots in love with a deserted Earth full of trash heaps and dust, extremely limited dialog (especially in the first half hour) and continued film and song clips from, of all things, 1969’s insipid “Hello Dolly!”?
But seeing often brings believing. As Rottentomatoes.com’s Steven Horn wrote recently after watching the first 30 minutes of the film: “The design of ‘WALL-E’ is nothing short of spectacular. … The film hits on some of the best parts of sci-fi and has such rich characterization and subtlety throughout that you feel well taken care of as an audience member.”
WALL-E stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class and that is a small, rusted, bug-eyed robot that, when the film opens, appears to be the last thing operating or even living on a deserted Earth … except the bot’s cockroach pet. WALL-E watches an old VCR tape of love songs from “Hello Dolly!” and collects things like cigarette lighters and diamond ring boxes. Eventually a space ship arrives, offloading a sleek, exploratory robot dubbed EVE. And, yes, for WALL-E, it’s love at first sight.
Disney and Pixar recently screened the film for some of the metro Atlanta press. Here’s what moviegoers will likely be talking about when “WALL-E” opens:
The robot voices: Initially, they communicate a lot through computerized burps and beeps. WALL-E’s “voice” is reminiscent of R2D2 and the reason for that is Ben Burtt, who created the robot voices for “Star Wars” and does the same for this movie.
Our green Earth: The film’s message is clear: we have not been good planet stewards. In the past the world became dominated by the technology corporation Buy N Large, led by a CEO played by Fred Willard. Little has survived intact, except Twinkies. Need you know more?
The songs: Most are old, quaint and endearing, like Louis Armstrong warbling “La Vie En Rose” and Michael Crawford singing “It Only Takes a Moment” from “Hello Dolly!” Peter Gabriel provides the new song played over the closing credits.
The sci-fi homages: There are plentiful references to “2001: A Space Odyssey,” including an evil cruise ship computer with HAL’s red eye and use of the Richard Strauss classic “Also Sprach Zarathustra.”
Are you looking forward to seeing “WALL-E”?
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Move over Mei Lan, Jack Black’s my favorite panda
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Part of the success of “Kung Fu Panda” — and, trust me, it’s a good family movie — rests with Jack Black.
He’s the voice of Po the panda in “Kung Fu Panda,” which opens in metro Atlanta theaters on Friday, and Black infuses the character with wit and charm. I think I like him more than Zoo Atlanta’s little panda Mei Lan.
I’ve always been a Jack Black fan. He may not be Shakespearian, but he always makes his presence known.
Here are my four favorite Jack Black movies:
1. “The School of Rock” (2003). His personality is in full force as a fake substitute teacher who forms a school rock band.
2. “High Fidelity” (2000). He plays one of the finest supporting characters in movies in this century.
3. “Kung Fu Panda” (2008). I like how the characters in this movie, especially Black’s, have depth and aren’t just spouting inane pop culture references.
4. “Margot at the Wedding” (2007). It’s an odd — and dark — indie drama and Black plays the odd — and dark — boyfriend of Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Do you like Jack Black in comedy or drama? Do you think he’s funny?
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Your job couldn’t be worse than this guy’s job
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As of this moment, I expect you to never, ever complain about your job again!
Work can always be worse someplace else.
Like, what if you were this guy? What if your job meant you dressed up as urine vial and walked around town? And you were a health mascot known as Petey P. Cup?
Watch and learn!
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‘Sex and the City’s’ best moments
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
All the “top critics” are beating up on “Sex and the City,” and I’m left to wonder why.
Did they expect more? It’s a 30-minute TV show stretched to fill 2 hours and 22 minutes. I certainly expected less.
That I made it through every glamorized second and hundreds of costume changes surprised me. Honestly, I didn’t have the urge to run from the theater and go see “Iron Man” again. I guess I’d call the “Sex and the City” movie “entertaining.”
Is Carrie now, as the New York Times puts it, the Ick Girl? Maybe, but here’s a couple of things the movie got right:
Take, that Mr. Big: I did appreciate it that after being humiliated, Carrie took to a New York street and pummeled Big again and again with her flowers. Lucky for him it’s what she had handy. In another setting it might have been a kitchen knife.
The angry Charlotte: She’s cute when she’s hot under the collar. Who wouldn’t want such a loyal friend?
The clothes: Honestly, I thought this was what “Sex and the City” is all about. And the movie got it right. I don’t know much but I know that Vivienne Westwood can fashion a killer wedding dress.
What did you like or not like about “Sex and the City”? Did you and your friends go see the movie all dressed up?
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