“People can get a cheeseburger anywhere, ok? They come to Chotchkie’s for the atmosphere and the attitude. That’s what the flair’s about. It’s about fun.”
— Office Space
Category Archives: Film & TV
March Madness on Demand.
CSTV.com will offer live and on-demand streaming video of up to the first 56 NCAA Tournament games through the Regional semifinals as well as streaming video of interviews, pre-and post-game press conferences, and video highlights. Local-market webcasts of games broadcast by CBS will be blacked out. [More at E-Media Tidbits]
Hustle & Flow
A recent entry in the Sundance Film Festival, Hustle & Flow — written and directed by Memphis native Craig Brewer, and produced by John Singleton– has been purchased by Paramount.
“Djay is a pimp suffering a midlife crisis and although nominally successful, he yearns to record his flow and become a respected rapper. Galvanized by a gospel song, he sets his dream in motion–recruiting his motley crew and building a studio in his home. And though he succeeds in putting his rap, “It’s Hard for a Pimp,” onto tape, the barriers to fame and fortune are many, and getting there becomes an elusive goal.”
Kennett Senior Correspondent Viretta, proudly reports that her baby boy, Luke, worked on the soundtrack. She adds that she’s not bothered that the film is about “pimps & ho’s.”
Ferris Bueller: “You’re not dying”
As Ferris Bueller so bluntly put it, “You’re not dying, you just can’t think of anything good to do.”
Numb3rs.
I’m a big fan of the movies of Ridley and Tony Scott, so I don’t know how I missed the fact they are brothers. The two are collaborating on TV series (that premiers on CBS in January) called Numb3rs:
“Rob Morrow stars as an FBI agent who recruits his mathematical genius brother to help the Bureau solve a wide range of challenging crimes in Los Angeles. Inspired by actual events, the series will depict how the confluence of police work and mathematics provide unexpected revelations and answers to the most perplexing criminal questions.”
I’d be much more hopeful about the series if it were going to be on HBO but I’ll be watching.
Judgment at Nuremberg
Name a movie in which the following actors appear: Spencer Tracy; Burt Lancaster; Richard Widmark; Marlene Dietrich; Judy Garland; Montgomery Clift; and…William Shatner.
Three Days of the Condor – Final Scene
I think the best answer can be found at the end of Sydney Pollack’s 1975 spy flick, Three Days of the Condor. Robert Redford’s character (Joe Turner) is talking to CIA agent Higgins (played by Cliff Robertson) about the no-longer-secret plan to invade the Middle East for oil.
Higgins: The fact is, it wasn’t a bad plan. It could’ve worked.
Turner: Jesus — What is it with you people? You think not getting caught in a lie is the same as telling the truth.
Higgins: It’s simple economics, Turner… There’s no argument. Oil now, 10 or 15 years it’ll be food, or plutonium. Maybe sooner than that. What do you think the people will want us to do then?
Turner: Ask them!
Higgins: Now? (shakes head) Huh-uh. Ask them when they’re running out. When it’s cold at home and the engines stop and people who aren’t used to hunger… go hungry! They won’t want us to ask… (quiet savagery:) They’ll want us to GET it for them.
The Trio Channel
Last night I discovered Trio (pop, culture, tv). I’m prone to endless channel surfing so I don’t know how I’ve missed this but I happend upon “Parking Lot.”
Spawned by the classic 1980s underground film “Heavy Metal Parking Lot,” Trio travels to the parking lots and convention grounds of America’s favorite pop culture events to hear fans express their devotion. And they never show any of the performances. Just fans in the parking lot, before and after. Very weird.
I’m going to try to catch some of Trio’s “Dysfunctional Family Thanksgiving” marathon, including:
- Almost Elvis takes you into the world of Elvis impersonators. Their daily trials and tribulations and a pilgrimage to Memphis for the “Elvis Impersonator World Championships.”
- The Devil’s Playground follows a group of Amish teens in their Rumspringa period as they venture into the world of their ‘English’ peers.
Pattern Recognition, the movie?
“Peter Weir wants to direct it, there’s an option deal in place, and Weir has a contract with Warner to…well, not to go ahead and shoot it, but to go forward toward that end. Toward which he’s hired a screenwriter — whose name I’ve forgotten (which is actually a good sign with regard to Weir’s choice) — and has gone to London, Tokyo and Moscow to look at locations.”
— From William Gibson’s blog
Old TV, New TV.
A friend who had seen Jon Stewart savage the Crossfire weenies called to tell me about it and I remember thinking, “Crap. I missed it.” Then, I remember thinking, “I’ll be able to find it on the Net.” And I did. Jeff Jarvis calls it “the future of TV”:
“In old TV, a moment like this came, and if you missed it, you missed it. Tough luck. In new TV, you don’t need to worry about watching it live–live is so yesterday–because thousands of peers will be keeping an eye out for you to let you know what you should watch, and they’ll record it and distribute it.” [C|Net story]