I don’t often eagerly await motion pictures, since I don’t generally go to the theater to see movies anyway. But a film opening today has me excited.
Walk Hard stars one of my very favorite actors, John C. Reilly, in his first leading role, playing a character named Dewey Cox, a fictional legend of popular music, whose life and career trace a contour reminiscent of scores of rockers and country singers. The film is apparently a humorous homage to music biopics from Walk the Line and Ray to The Buddy Holly Story. John C. Reilly sings all the songs in the film, and from the excerpts I’ve heard, he is actually a talented singer. And the songs, while presumably played for laughs, seem to be genuinely good compositions. I heard a bit of a tune from the picture called “A Life Without You”, a Roy Orbison-inspired ballad, and it is fantastic, and, had it been written in 1960 would undoubtedly been a number one hit record, even sung by John C. Reilly.
I encourage you to listen to this extended interview with Reilly and director Jake Kasdan from the December 3 edition of Fresh Air. At about 24 minutes you can hear an excerpt of “A Life Without You”, and plenty of other music from the film throughout.
And, as an added bonus which I only just realized from looking at the IMDB entry for Walk Hard: the movie also stars Jenna Fischer.
When I was a kid I saw a movie called Invasion U.S.A. with Chuck Norris, in which he shoots two Uzis in seemingly random fashion. It was so over-the-top, preying on Americans’ irrational fear of invading Soviet forces, that I am sure if I was fortunate enough to see it again today I would laugh throughout. At the time I saw it, however, I was terrified by the perilous situations depicted in the film. For instance, terrorists attach a bomb to the side of a school bus sitting in traffic. Back then I rode the school bus each day, so the scene struck a chord with me. A chord of fear. Thankfully, Chuck Norris saves the kids, and dispatches the terrorists with a witty one-liner (and their own bomb).
Fast forward over twenty years, and the Soviets no longer inspire fear in the hearts of Americans, in spite of their backsliding on democracy under Vladimir Putin. There are actual lunatic terrorists on the loose in places like Pakistan, but god forbid we make good on President Bush’s “you’re-either-with-us-or-you’re-with-the-terrorists” rhetoric and come down hard on Pervez Musharraf. I am all in favor of parachuting Chuck Norris into the mountains of Tora Bora and having him deal with Osama bin Laden in whatever manner he saw fit. I imagine it would look something like this, but possibly less swampy.
Still, that doesn’t seem to be a priority for Republican voters or political candidates. Rather, their enemy has suddenly become Mexico, as though we’ve rolled the clock back to 1846. I have a big problem with politicians exploiting people’s bigotry to win office, nevertheless, if they do it like Mick Huckabee does here, I can at least appreciate it as comedy:
The writers strike that began this week and has already sent the evening talk shows into reruns has now claimed its first prime-time victim (that I care about): The Office. Since many of the actors on the show are also writers, production was halted Tuesday, and Steve Carell did not report to the set. So, after November 15, there will be repeats. Unless, of course, the strike continues, in which case they may turn to hastily assembled “reality” programs.
Here’s my pitch to NBC: An office-themed reality show where good looking guys and girls hook up and each week somebody gets “laid-off”. I call it, Office Slut. What? That sounds like crap, you say? You’re right. That is why writers are important. If the big networks had their way there would only be low-budget reality programs, lame game shows, and ridiculous washed-up celebrity interviews by Barbara Walters or Diane Sawyer. I certainly do not like most of the scripted police procedurals, hospital dramas and courtroom sagas, but the best TV we have now is better than almost anything that has been on television before. Do you remember how unfunny comedies used to be? Cheers was good and All in the Family was groundbreaking, but before Seinfeld most everything else was pretty weak. Have you tried watching old Who’s the Boss episodes? They’re pretty bad.
So, as tempting as it may be to think of all these writers as just a bunch of nerdy Harvard grads sitting around a table covered in free donuts and bottled water making each other laugh for a living, and shout out your car window at their picket lines, “get a real job”, try not to forget that the networks are making ridiculous profits off of these people’s work, and they don’t see much of it. I have several DVD sets of The Simpsons and Arrested Development, and I anticipate getting 30 Rock and some others as well. That’s hugely profitable for the networks, as are syndication rights, but the writers get left out of all that. I’m not saying I want to see another class of millionaires spring up from this, but the system as it stands now unjustly compensates actors over the writers that give them the funny lines.
There are many wonderful things about autumn, especially the cooler weather and open windows. Also nice: new episodes of my favorite television shows. The Office season premiere was last night, and, as expected, it was great. Spoilers below….
I love me some Tina Fey, and did even before her show 30 Rock began last year. But 30 Rock is hilarious; I never miss it, and I eagerly await its return. I had been quite worried toward the end of last season when, in light of its lackluster ratings and Alec Baldwin’s wanting-to-quit controversy, it appeared the show might be doomed. But, in a surprising display of network nurturing, NBC renewed the series, even though many other series with more viewers had failed. The show redeemed itself by winning an Emmy this month, which is much deserved.
I hope that more viewers warm to Fey’s humor, which I admit isn’t for everybody. Mrs. Hill feels that it is artificially self-deprecating, in a Conan O’Brien fashion. I can see how she might think that, though I don’t mind either way. For me it is an endless stream of intelligent and subtle characterizations that makes the show so magical. Also, no matter what anyone else says, Tina Fey is wicked hot.
I don’t often eagerly await motion pictures, since I don’t generally go to the theater to see movies anyway. But a film opening today has me excited.
