Jane Withers in 1941's Golden Hoofs, now available from 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives. I had a delightful chat with her on Thursday. It should post early next week.
Electric Shadow
Nintendo: Spin Attack or How They Win?
I love Nintendo. I have since I was an elementary school kid begging for an NES Action Set. The Wii U is my first Nintendo system since the Gamecube, and it hasn't been powered on in three months.
The recent System Update has drastically improved its speed, but there's a lot more wrong with it and Nintendo than loading times.
Nintendo has problems galore, many of which spilled out over the last week, following their announcement of their second consecutive annual earnings loss. I'm not sure that there is a clear path for them out of this. They have, however, done a couple of things right in the midst of a bunch of PR spin deflection. This is my analysis of the current state of Nintendo, a company that could be doing much better than they are.
Heroes of Small-Town Cinema
My pal John Gholson tweeted a link to this story, which is partly an obituary of cinema owner/operator Bill Schulman, but more a compact history of his family independently owning and operating movie theaters in non-metropolitan towns in Texas:
One of those theaters included the Manor East 3 in Bryan, one of the first six theaters in the world to implement the Dolby Sound stereo system. This theater was so popular, “The Man from Snowy River” ran 38 consecutive weeks, longer than it ran at any other theater in the world. Mr. Dolby himself visited their theater in Bryan when it showed “Star Wars.”
It's a great series of stories that not enough people will read. Just as important is Gholson's personal tribute to the man:
That key allowed me to go in and make up and break down the films that would arrive, but also (with Mr. Schulman’s permission, of course) allow me and a guest or two to sit up in the formerly “coloreds’ only” balcony of the old place on weekends and watch trash cinema (biker flick The Devil Riders, faux-documentary Forbidden Sexuality and Texas-made stag cheapieCommon-Law Wife) and Woody Woodpecker reels that he’d collected over his many years of theater operation. I can draw a direct line backward from my current job as a movie critic and blogger to the days when I was a teenager with my own access to a movie theater any time I wanted.
Stewart/Colbert/Hardwick and the Future of The Late Show
I missed writing about this earlier in the week, but wanted to chime in on Comedy Central positioning a new Chris Hardwick show just after The Colbert Report. Chris is one of the smartest guys working when it comes to new media, and this lineup shores up Comedy Central's play for the 18-35 demographic, and a serious late-night player. This is just as big a get for Hardwick as it is for Comedy Central.
Having his profile raised alongside Stewart/Colbert is a big deal for his future. It's so big that when, if ever, David Letterman steps away from The Late Show, it would be difficult to not think of Hardwick as part of the succession plan, either taking the top spot himself or taking over Craig Ferguson's stomping grounds at The Late Late Show.
I'm just as excited by Hardwick's showrunners being Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant. This increases the value of my Hulu Plus subscription even more.
Why DEFENDERS?, or: Doctor Strange Reading List (Supplemental)
My podcast pal Merlin (whom I address that way due to having never met him in person) asked me how to get into Doctor Strange. That's a longer conversation than just a pithy post can cover (expect an upcoming Comic Shack to cover this). What I can do is recommend Marvel's recent Matt Fraction-written The Defenders series, which is all now available in trade paperback: Volume 1 runs about $15, and Volume 2 goes for $18. They total 12 issues worth of self-contained story, and it's a hum-dinger.
Why do I recommend this as the way into Doctor Strange at the moment? Issue 4 is one of the best one-and-done Strange stories I've read in a long time, for starters.
More importantly, it's become apparent that there are a lot of timey-wimey things going on in the Marvel Multiverse right now (Age of Ultron, All-New X-Men, the upcoming Battle of the Atom crossover, the arrival of Spider-Man 2099 in the present day's Superior Spider-Man this fall, maybe even the upcoming Infinity event...the list might keep going on and on forever. From Comic Book Resources' Q&A with Superior Spider-Man writer Dan Slott at C2E2 last weekend:
Can you talk at all about Miguel's state of mind or motives when he arrives in the present day? And at what point in the classic "Spider-Man 2099" run does his time travel trip take place?
Slott: If you're paying close attention to the Marvel Universe, there are a lot of time anomalies and time travel stories that all seem to be happening during Marvel NOW!. We have the younger selves of the original five X-Men now in the present, the "Age of Ultron," plus, there are a couple of other surprises on the horizon. And now there's this. Something seems to be happening to Time in the Marvel U., which makes it the perfect time for someone from the future to come to the present.
If a brand-new comics reader, you may initially get lost wondering where this Red She-Hulk came from, or why this Atlantean dude Namor is such an egotistical jerkface, or who the hell "Iron Fist" is, but in the space of 12 issues, you actually get a nice little introduction to who everyone is as a person, in a general sense. Silver Surfer, Black Cat, Ant Man, and Nick Fury bits all gel nicely as well.
The story spins out of a crossover called Fear Itself, which is absolutely not required reading, since we find out rather quickly what's going on. That is to say that this group of heroes get together to try to prevent reality from breaking apart when a machine that can change existence itself goes haywire.
I have a feeling that this series was planned to run exactly these 12 issues and no more, as sorry as I am to see it gone.
In a more just world, there would be a Defenders movie franchise, too.
"Goodbye Circus Circus"
Here's a rundown on where things are at in the lead-up to WWDC for iOS 7 according to All Things D. The de-skeumorphication of iOS is something I heartily welcome if it cleans up the interface and (possibly) improves performance by reducing the unnecessary animation, graphics, and other things that make my iPhone drain battery like there's no tomorrow.
Great Horsepower Brings Great Driver Responsibility
Car commercials didn't previously quote iconic comic book lines, did they? Does this mean that Ford is about to do a 30-second piece using lines from Star Trek?
"When on the road of life, the needs of the many...outweigh the needs of the few. The new 2014 Ford Expedition Ultra: boldly going where no family has gone before..."
Sam Smith's Process for Criterion's RICHARD III
My pal Sam Smith breaks down his process for the packaging and menu design of Criterion's Blu-grade of Laurence Olivier's Richard III. Clean, classical, and gorgeous work.
Netflix Instant Loses Nearly 2000 Titles Today
My friend Christina Warren over at Mashable has it wrong that all of these expiring movies are going to Warner Archive Instant...since none of the expiring titles were WB to begin with. I'm surprised she had never heard of WAI, too.
Part of Reed Hastings' statement on letting their Viacom deal lapse was saying that, more broadly, Netflix is letting go of non-exclusive content.
If Warner is putting more of their deep cut stuff on WAI, then it would theoretically be Netflix's choice in a future when they start dropping WB titles, and not greedy, evil Warners yanking away the content.
Update on 2013-05-02 01:36 by Moises Chiullan
When I posted this, I didn't realize how crazily this whole thing had spread. Makes me hate the internet.
I'm more angry than I was earlier about this particular paragraph that Christina wrote, which has yet to be amended, corrected, or retracted:
So why are these titles leaving Netflix? Licensing. The titles belong to Warner Bros., MGM and Universal and will soon only be accessible through the Warner Archive Instant service — a service I didn't even know existed. For $10 a month you can get a selection of streaming films only slightly better than what Redbox Instant offers.
The "WB/Uni/MGM titles will go to Warner Archive Instant"? Completely untrue. Her assessment of WAI's selection following a soft-launch as being "only slightly better than what Redbox Instant offers"? That's her opinion, but I would point out that this snark toward WAI is undeserved, especially from an entertainment journalist who writes for one of the most-read sites on the web who didn't so much as notice that a major studio launched a streaming service almost exactly one month ago.
Most importantly, if you're going to say "all this stuff is going to this other service", at least attribute a source. Where did this info drop out of the sky? I'd love to know.
Shame on Ars Technica likewise for rallying more torches and pitchforks, heaping culpability on WB without doing any due diligence of their own.
Also worth noting...the "2000" titles are expiring throughout the month of May, not all at once on this day of "Streamageddon". Here's InstantWatcher's dynamically-loading list of titles soon-to-expire.
Southern California Public Radio made an italicised partial correction at the bottom of this post. Author Mike Roe cries tears for the James Bond movies Netflix had disappearing, but this has happened before.
Someone just find me this magic list of "hundreds of Warner Bros. movies" that have allegedly been greedily snatched away, and I swear I'll shut up.
Malick Working on Longer Cut of TREE OF LIFE
The Playlist unearthed this by interviewing frequent Malick editor Billy Weber. The longer version would be destined for some sort of home video release at some point, but there's no concrete info on whether there would be a small theatrical run as well. Their speculation about Criterion is just that: speculation. I liked Tree of Life very, very much, and I welcome a longer cut.
The tiny bit of info about the IMAX-destined Voyage of Time is that it's scheduled for a 2014 release, but who knows what state of completion it's in.
Brief Thoughts on Soderbergh's State of Cinema Speech (Video)
The text of this was posted the other day, and I held off posting in the hope that the San Francisco Film Society would convince Soderbergh to allow the video to be made available. Below the video, I've excerpted some of my favorite bits. The whole speech is fantastic.
State of Cinema: Steven Soderbergh from San Francisco Film Society on Vimeo.
Four Minutes of Ebert on Ozu
Criterion posted the first four minutes of Roger Ebert's commentary on their Floating Weeds DVD at the beginning of April, which I only noticed when they put a link to this post at the top of their most recent newsletter.
Help Close TODD AND THE BOOK OF PURE EVIL
An inventive, funny show that deserved a wider viewership, FEARnet cancelled Todd and the Book of Pure Evil before it could be properly wrapped up. Where Zach Braff and Veronica Mars want a couple million dollars each, the Todd crew are trying for under $100k.
ROCKY: The Musical Hits Broadway February 2014
Lynn Ahrens co-wrote Ragtime, one of the best musicals I've ever seen (and performed in, for that matter, as Houdini). The music style feels like a weird fit for Rocky, but it's apparently been a hit in Germany, so who knows.
Ed Douglas Update
In something like less than two weeks, almost $45,000 out of the $50,000 goal for film critic and pal Ed Douglas' leukemia treatment has been raised. Let's get him the rest of the way there.
Best in Blu-ray 2012: Trends, Top Shelf Discs, and More
I’ve been working on this piece in various capacities, tempos, and formulae, since January 2012. “But…it’s been 2013 for four months now!” you cry. “Best Of List Articles should be finished within the year they’re written about or as insanely quickly afterward as is possible!”
Welcome to “as insanely quickly afterward as is possible”.
Compiling a list like this one is not as simple for me as scribbling off 10-25 numbers on a dry erase board and throwing titles at it to see what sticks, and then spending a couple of hours writing capsule reviews for each. Let me pause a moment to clarify: this is not simply a list, it’s a collection of a few lists.
I've looked at loads of "Best of 2012 Blu-rays" lists around the web (some posted as recently as the end of March). I found them all lacking as a thorough or comprehensive-enough reference point. Go look around the web. Most of them are under 1000 words and read like something designed to butter up to their favorite labels or publicists. I don't find pieces like that very helpful.
At first, I set out to write a shorter version of this for myself. It mutated into its current form where, at just over 13,000 words, it includes a healthy dose of pondering and analyzing the Blu-ray market itself. I added in pushing movies that readers may have not had on their radar nor knew were on Blu-ray in the first place.
Please click on the links of individual titles if you choose to buy through Amazon. Doing so helps make this column and articles like this one possible. I've listed the usual/reasonable prices of different discs and sets for all individual honorees so that you have a barometer of what really constitutes a "deal". These are also listed to reflect where pricing is across the board (aka still too high).
Lawrence of Arabia
"If you've never seen Lawrence, you're missing out on one of the greatest case studies for why Blu-ray is an important format."
Criterion's Brief Encounter
An early 2012 release from Criterion, the story packed into the sleeves of David Lean Directs Noël Coward is masterfully composed and told.
Criterion's The Game
David Fincher's 1997 thriller has finally seen the HD light of day it deserves, adding long-OOP laserdisc extras to a little bit of new stuff and an outstanding transfer.
David watching Lawrence of Arabia in Prometheus
Charles de Lauzirizka's three-hour-plus documentary, Furious Gods: The Making of Prometheus, is worth the price of purchase even if you hated the movie.
Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies
Don't mind the washed-out color of the cover art: the disc is gorgeous, and features a new English dub if you care about those.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1
Steven Spielberg's OBAMA
This is better than most of these faux trailers usually are at political events.
Daily Grab 128: Grew Up Around Horses
Henry Fonda looking impossibly young in The Farmer Takes a Wife.
SNL Archives Find a Home at Yahoo
...says Deadline. Hopefully, full episodes will be available unabridged. Does this mean Hulu Plus is losing SNL?
Daily Grab 127: Cream for Kitty
Janet Gaynor feeding the canal ship kitten in Victor Fleming's The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935), which co-stars Henry Fonda as the titular Farmer who takes expert cook Gaynor as the titular wife (spoiler alert!). It's now available through Fox Cinema Archives, the Manufacture-On-Demand offshoot of Fox Home Entertainment.
Screen legend Jane Withers has a bit part as the plucky little girl. As a child actress, Withers was Fox's B-picture answer to their own Shirley Temple. She grew up to be the only woman on the Giant set that James Dean trusted to clean his lucky shirt. It looks like I'm interviewing her next week.
