R_Dittmar's Comments

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Sinatra in 3D, Reminder: Nobody Watches '30 Rock,' and 'Dragon Tattoo' Marches On

Tue, 3 Jan 2012 20:31:35 +0000

On the most anticipated movie front, I have to say that I saw a trailer for that Edgar Allen Poe movie and it looks absolutely terrible! John Cusack is laughably miscast to boot. And is it just me or does anyone else think that Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Killer will probably be more historically accurate than Speilberg's flick?

Big Hollywood : Box Office Analysis: Many Christmas Casualties

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 02:00:10 +0000

I went to see MI4 this weekend and can't complain about spending the money. As diversions go, it was fun and harmless and seemed to be free of sucker punches. The problem is that I started thinking about it later that night and realized that it didn't really make much sense. (The least of the logical problems - one moment Cruise is single-handedly subduing an entire prison-full of hardened oversized Russian criminals, another moment he's barely holding his own against an aging over-weight Swedish guy.) And then it kind of saddened me to realize that I'd probably never really want to see it again, and that seems kind of symptomatic of all that's wrong with movies today. I can watch my favorite older actioners over and over again, but nowadays the best they can do is divert you for an hour or two with something that never merits a second look.

Big Hollywood : Trailer Talk: 'The Three Stooges' - What's Old is ... Old Again

Wed, 7 Dec 2011 21:14:01 +0000

I was ready to write this movie off as the most misguided, disasterous idea in the history of humanity, but I do have to admit that I too laughed at that trailer.

Big Hollywood : Morning Call Sheet: Blockbuster vs. Warner Bros., 'Man of Steel' Leak, and a Movie I No Longer Hate

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:22:47 +0000

How can I live without a look at the new Three Stooges movie!!! I think your link is bad.

Big Hollywood : Morning Call Sheet: Spielberg Rips 'Crystal Skull,' I Heart Glenn Close, and Time to Forgive Netflix

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:46:10 +0000

Honestly, I don't think any of them other than the first was very good. The second was unpleasant when the characters weren't being annoying, and the third was an unoriginal rehash of the first. The third one even seemed cheap when I first saw it. The teaser is supposed to be taking place aboard ship and it's as obvious as can be that everyone is standing around in a parking garage getting water thrown at them while Spielberg shakes the camera around.

Big Hollywood : Morning Call Sheet: Spielberg Rips 'Crystal Skull,' I Heart Glenn Close, and Time to Forgive Netflix

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:38:03 +0000

Let me put in a good word for Apple's little iTV box. One of our friends got it for my wife and me last year and we love it. It's a wee little thing about the size of a pack of cigs and it has a built in wireless receiver, so all you need to do is plug it in to your TV and link via your wireless router. It lets you access Netflix streaming and YouTube videos and has some sports and music stuff you can link to as well. You can also buy movies from iTunes, but my wife and I never do. It's pretty cheap too (< $100), so you're not out very much if it becomes obsolete in the future. If you're thinking about getting it, I'd say give it a try.

Big Hollywood : Morning Call Sheet: Netflix Blinks, Clooney Disappoints, And My Moonshine Business

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 23:23:38 +0000

To link two sub-threads together here, I just found out the other day that the first three seasons of "Breaking Bad" are now available streaming from Netflix. As recently as a couple of months ago, you still had to get the DVDs by mail if you wanted to watch it.

Big Hollywood : 'Blood Simple' Blu-ray Review: The Dawn of The Coen Brothers' Dynasty

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 21:56:35 +0000

<quote>The chinese remake, "A Woman, A Gun & A Noodle Shop" was very good as well. </quote> This is an absolute must-see for anyone who enjoyed Blood Simple. It is truly amazing how faithfully they could transfer the plot to such a different time and place.

Big Hollywood : Morning Call Sheet: The Return of Blofeld and the Joy of Cancelling Netflix

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:39:26 +0000

Color me very, very skeptical that Blofeld will be coming back. The legal rights to that character and the SPECTRE organization are (or were at one time) co-owned by one of Fleming's co-authors of the movie and novel Thunderball. That's why the guy was able to make his own rogue Bond film Never Say Never Again. Whether he or his estate still owns rights I don't know, but I suspect that EON isn't interested in re-litigating this case just to bring Blofeld back. Some of the convoluted history of "Thunderball" is given here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderball_(novel)#...

Big Hollywood : Morning Call Sheet: All Hail Spielberg, Terminator Snubs Kirk, and a Netflix Oops?

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 16:39:30 +0000

Kate Winslet as Elizabeth Taylor!! Did she pack on 80 to 90 pounds or borrow Martin Lawrence's get-up from Big Momma's House??

Big Hollywood : Morning Call Sheet: Superhero for a Day, More 'Angel Heart,' and 'Star Trek' at 45

Fri, 9 Sep 2011 19:12:39 +0000

If you're a fan of Angel Heart, be sure to track down and read the book on which it is based: http://www.amazon.com/Falling-Angel-William-Hjort... It's a great read in its own right and it makes some scenes in the movie clearer as well. It seems that scenes were shot for the movie that were cut to limit the running time. From the vestiges of them, however, it's clear that they were referencing some incidents from the book.

Big Hollywood : 40 Years: Remembering 'All In the Family'

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 19:24:10 +0000

I used to love this show when I was a kid, but when I see it now I can't help but cringe. Every plot is written so as to portray Archie as ignorant or dishonest or (of course) bigoted and hateful. Every other character - included those that flit through the plot secondarily - are pointedly portrayed as being smarter and much better people than Archie. It's clear that the writers were going for a cumulative effect of making the viewer think that Archie was the most contemptible person IN THE WORLD. It's a testament to what a great actor Carroll O'Connor was that he made such a likeable character out of Archie in spite of this. When every story you appear in is meant to paint your character as stupid and hateful and contemptible and you still make him lovable dispite this, you are truly a master thespian.

Big Hollywood : The James Bond Chronicles: 'The Spy Who Loved Me' (with All-New Rating System!)

Sun, 24 Jul 2011 20:00:59 +0000

You're exactly right, and The Spy Who Loved Me was not the only remake of You Only Live Twice! The basic plot is supervillain steals something from one superpower, implicates the other in order to start WWIII and Bond must team up with female spy from to defeat plan. This plot has served as a jumble over the years - mix and match superpowers and nationality of female spy. Given that, I'd argue Tomorrow Never Dies is the second, cheesier looking remake of YOLT. Villain steals missles from Britain and blames China in order to start WWIII. Nationality of female spy is Chinese this time around. For that matter, Moonraker is kind of like a 2 and 1/2th remake of YOLT. - villain steals space shuttle and Bond teams up with American female agent. The only wrinkle is that general destruction is planned rather than WWIII.

Big Hollywood : Political Correctness Is Destroying Broadway

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:47:42 +0000

I saw "Wicked" this weekend, and I thought I did detect some Bush bashing in it though. There are some throwaway lines about "regime change" and the people needing to be distracted by creating enemies that are codewords in the liberal Bush-bashing books. I think at least the people staging the play were trying to push the Wizard-as-Bush analogy. That said - even if I'm right - the musical as a whole was refreshingly apolitical and I'd recommend it as far, far better than anything else mentioned in this post.

Big Hollywood : Trailer Talk: Vampire Remake 'Fright Night' Preview Thrills

Wed, 25 May 2011 15:17:11 +0000

I'm sorry to say it, but this looks absolutely terrible. For one, it looks utterly humorless - something the original was not. Second, what's with the gas explosions and crossbows? Third, why is David Tennant not in the trailer? He should have a pretty meaty part. Was he so embarrased that he demanded that his face not be shown to sell the picture? Fourth, Imogen Poots??? With a name like that you, my lady, are no Marcy D'Arcy!

Big Hollywood : The James Bond Chronicles: 'Live and Let Die'

Sun, 15 May 2011 21:30:30 +0000

What's always cracked me up about this movie is the big deal the writers made about being so much more socially conscious than Ian Fleming. You can see some of this in the special features on the DVD when Mankiewicz goes on about how it was just impossible in this day and age to directly adapt Fleming’s bigoted story. Now nearly 60 (!) years later, Fleming’s novel is still taut and exciting with a scary villain and some pretty intense violence. This movie on the other hand looks like a museum piece with all the mutton-chopped afro-haired henchman in bad 70’s checked suits going on about how they’re going to “waste” this “jive-ass honkey”. Even the admittedly transgressive inter-racial seduction is spoiled by the fact that Rosie Carver is a complete ditz. Couldn’t these socially aware writers make her seem competent and intelligent instead of making her the black precursor to Mary Goodnight?

Big Hollywood : The James Bond Chronicles: 'Diamonds Are Forever'

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:25:45 +0000

We'll have to keep him honest. For Your Eyes Only was pretty good and fairly serious for a Moore outing. I like Octopussy even better. Despite some silly bits, it's one of the few movies that has Bond actually battling some dirty rotten Commies! And who can gainsay The Living Daylights? Easily the best reboot until Casino Royale. I think the shredding can easily be saved for those truly awful Brosnan outings of the 90's and the aught's.

Big Hollywood : The James Bond Chronicles: 'Diamonds Are Forever'

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:15:48 +0000

I think that's - "Named after your father no doubt.".

Big Hollywood : The James Bond Chronicles: 'Diamonds Are Forever'

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 22:14:47 +0000

They should have realized that 30 years after the fact obsessive Bond fans would be watching the film again and again on DVD and laughing at their screw-ups. ;-)

Big Hollywood : The James Bond Chronicles: 'Diamonds Are Forever'

Sun, 10 Apr 2011 20:57:50 +0000

We probably shouldn't let discussion of this movie close without pointing out the key bit of trivia. DAF has the Mother of All Continuity Errors. Bond drives a Mustang into an alley and we see the car go up on two wheels on the passenger side. When it exits the alley its up on the two driver side wheels. Surely the editor was drunk off his @$$ to not notice that!