Still Late After All These Years!

With Conan O'Brien booted off of the Tonight Show and Jay Leno on his way back to 11:30, it seemed like an appropriate time to take a look at HBO's 1996 movie The Late Shift, which takes a look at the first time NBC decided to royally screw the late night pooch.

You see, back in 1991 the perception by some was that Johnny Carson was getting increasingly irrelevant. Ratings were slipping a bit and the brass at NBC were starting to worry about the future of their enormously successful late night block. Something had to be done. NBC, of course, got greedy and in an attempt to keep ahold of a "hot new talent" (Leno) and a proven talent they'd put ten years into grooming (Letterman) they wound up allowing themselves to be bullied in one of the epic clusterfucks of the 20th century.

We all know how it ended, so you'd think The Late Shift would be all about the whos, hows and whys. What we really get (aside from parade of forgettable,spineless executives)is a scapegoat in the form of Jay Leno's agent, Helen Kushnick (played here by Kathy Bates). Bates won a Golden Globe for her performance, but it's painfully obvious that she's simply phoning in (on a giant 90s car phone) a stock, fat 'n' sassy performance amped up to 10 on the retarded scale. Seriously, in the scene where she goes apeshit and knocks everything off her desk... it's just shockingly bad. Even more shocking is to think about what we used to accept as quality programming even as recently as 1996. This is HBO! The folks that gave us Oz, Sex and the City and The Sopranos. This crap makes Arli$$ look like friggin' Schindler's List. But I digress.

A lot of folks give props to John Michael Higgins' portrayal of David Letterman, and he deserves it. What begins as a pretty decent impression slowly becomes a fully developed character as we begin to glimpse the paranoia and distrust at the core of Letterman's character. Poor Daniel Roebuck, on the other hand, must have drawn the short straw.

Roebuck seemes like a genuinely nice guy, but anyone tasked with pulling off that lithpy, lilting Jay Leno voice is destined to look like a fool. And I haven't even mentioned the Leno make-up yet. Yup, they go for the full-on false chin. In fact, the jowl and chin prosthetic is so ridiculous that he looked more like Rocky Dennis than Jay Leno. And stuuupid? Do they play Leno stupid? He is waaay in the dark about everything going on around him. Of course, it's supposed to make him sympathetic, but he comes off as an inept manchild. He will hold onto his late night show. He will love it and pet it and call it George! Pathetic.

The Late Shift is a neat little curio of the early 90s late night wars, but beyond that it has little to offer. But I am psyched for the next two entries into what will surely be a trilogy of Jay Leno sticking it to other, more talented television hosts. Conan's royal screwing in 2010 will be the Empire Strikes Back of the series, while Jimmy Fallon's inevitable shafting in 2027 will bring it all to a close.

Or will it?

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Crestwood House Monster Books: I Need These!

Back in my elementary school days, the Crestwood House Monster books were the end all be all of horror. It was an astoundingly thorough collection (nearly twenty individual volumes) covering all of the most iconic film monsters. I'm sure I checked each and every one of them out multiple times during our once a week trips to the school library.

It was kinda cool. They were always way back in the farthest corner of the library. Lined up in a neat little row of tattered orange spines if you were lucky. If you weren't, there'd just be one or two loose volumes. Then, you were all like, "No! Please... don't let it be... Crap! 'The Deadly Mantis' is the only one left!" Didn't really matter. You knew you were taking it anyway.

Damn. Gotta get my hands on a set of these. Check out Paxton Holley's Flickr set for a stroll down memory lane.

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Mega-Bite: Recipe Look

In educational theory (and in the design world, and probably the world of filmmaking, too), visual thinkers are singled out for their aptitude for sight-based learning and understanding. While I don't consider myself a strictly visual thinker, I do have strong tendencies in that direction.

Those of you who are simlarly inclined may enjoy Recipe Look, a blog that catalogs visual representations of recipes, rather than the more common text format.

On the day I visited, on the top was a beautiful, simple illustration explaining how to stir-fry "Prawns, garlic and Chilli with Green Beans and Linguini."

It didn't have amounts for the ingredients, but most stir-fry recipes are just improvisations that someone has written down, anyway. And the circular graphic told me at a glance in what order to add the ingredients. I almost didn't have to read. I just absorbed. AND I LOVED IT!

(By the way, it reminds me of some of the beautiful photo illustrations in Thomas Keller's new Ad Hoc At Home cookbook, which I got as a Christmas gift.)

When I have more time, I'm definitely going to explore Recipe Look further.

And apparently, those of us so inclined could submit our own illustrations.

Just wanted to take a quick minute and share this exciting little idea with you.

(With thanks from HOW Blog for the link ... )

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Remember the Titans?

There's a renaissance afoot.

I haven't been this excited about a crop of upcoming movies since I don't know when.

And that's due not in small part to some particularly compelling trailers. (I'm hopeful that the films will live up to the hype. I stubbornly cling to faith in the art of filmmaking -- perhaps the only example of eternal optimism on my part.)

After a year in which we saw a dozen films, maybe, the anticipation is all the more welcome.

So take a look, and be enthralled. Set aside the skepticism. Downplay the disbelief. Get your hopes up, people! Maybe, if enough of us believe, we can will the movie world back to excellence.

Here's the rundown on what I can't wait to see:

Clash of the Titans

I have quite a nostalgic fondness for the 1981 original, stemming from middle school studies of Greek mythology for Super Bowl -- the academic battle of wits, not the one with all the Roman numerals. (Laurence Olivier as Zeus! Harry Hamlin as Perseus! An epic battle for our hearts!) So I was rather skeptical when I first heard rumors of a remake. But having watched this trailer. I'm sold, and I'm psyched.

The Wolfman

We've been waiting for this one a long time. It's been years since the news that Benicio Del Toro was to play the iconic Universal monster -- a great choice, I thought then, and still do.

Then, the movie got pushed back. And back.

But now, it looks like our wait might finally pay off.

The buzz has attributed delays to the need for time to work on fx. With Rick Baker, of An American Werewolf in London fame, on set, surely it will be worth it.



The A-Team

I know what you're thinking. Another remake?!? I thought I was sick of them too. But here I am, talking up a third one. And the source material for this one is classically '80s, too. But ever since the release of the first official picture of the main characters, I've been wildly hoping for the best.

The trailer showcases all the kitschy cache of the old TV show. (And, for you District 9 fans, note that Murdock is played by Wikus himself, Sharlto Copley.)

It promises to be a fun summer romp.



Shutter Island

Another long-anticipated film, the release of which was pushed back. Scorsese does terror. I reeeeally hope it works. And I really hope patient 67 isn't who I think it is.



Inception

Another Leo DiCaprio film, another thriller. Add Christopher Nolan (director of Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight), and I don't need any convincing. This trailer messes with your head, leaves you with questions begging for answers ...



Hot Tub Time Machine

Continuing with the '80s theme ... This looks like it might be fun. And John Cusack comedy? Yes, please. The premise is simple: Four funny guys time travel by way of a hot tub. Hilarity no doubt ensues. (The trailer is red band for language. If you're offended, you can't say I didn't warn you ... )



Other notables

The Green Hornet -- I have to be honest and say that I don't know much about the source material. The Green Hornet's no Batman, after all. But director Michel Gondry is one of my favorite filmmakers -- such an artist! -- that I'm completely intrigued nonetheless.

Eclipse -- No trailer yet, but I have been looking forward all along to seeing what David Slade -- director of the great and terrorising vampire flick 30 Days of Night -- would do with the story. My prediction: Steve will hate it, I will enjoy it. The series (books and films) has its faults, but I'm tuned in till the end.

Machete -- So, seems as if the what-ifs might've gotten out of control on this one. It seemed like such a simple little story back when it was a mock trailer in the Grindhouse package. But now that it's materialized, in addition to the great Danny Trejo and Cheech Marin, it has Robert DeNiro, Steven Seagal, Jessica Alba and ... Lindsay Lohan?!? I love Robert Rodriguez, but I dunno ...

The Expendables -- Seems it's the year of the macho renegades. This one's no exception. Sylvester Stallone (directing and starring), Jet Li, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Danny Trejo, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, David Zayas (Angel Batista from Dexter) and more. It's definitely got potential.

The Lightning Thief Greek mythology redux. Modern kids are the progeny of the gods. Director Chris Columbus has quite a pedigree (Adventures in Babysitting. Gremlins. Goonies.) Might be fun ...

The Last Airbender --M. Night Shyamalan. Dev Patel (of Slumdog Millionaire fame). Looks interesting. But compelling? Jury's out.

Morning Glory -- JJ Abrams. A newsman with scruples(?). Rachel McAdams. It's got good things going for it. Will I see it in the theater? I don't know. Maybe the trailer will get me more excited ...

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