ScottDS's Comments

Big Hollywood : Report: Conservative Movies Outsell Liberal Movies

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 00:04:55 +0000

I think they're confusing conservative with family-friendly - the two are not synonymous. Most of the movies they mention are apolitical and even many of the films they cite as the type of movies people want (Hugo, The Artist) didn't exactly set the world on fire, though I give them credit for recognizing good work. Besides, if a film is rated R, less people can see it. It doesn't mean R-rated movies are unwanted. They pan Twilight yet I've read many reviews of those films labeling them as "conservative" (or at least "conservative-friendly"). And I'm surprised to see The Muppets on their good list considering the controversy. But you know what... 91 "conservative" movies to 105 "liberal" ones? Dare I say it, that actually sounds almost balanced.

Big Hollywood : Which Celebrity Had the Best Super Bowl Ad?

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 16:44:35 +0000

The Ferris Bueller ad was... somewhat disappointing. A cameo from Alan Ruck or Ben Stein would've helped. :-) Anyway, I'm biased because I'm a fan but 30 Rock is not pretending to be anything - the media is pretending (what else is new?). Even I'm forced to admit it's not a pop culture phenomenon like Seinfeld or Friends - at best, it's a cult favorite like Party Down or Arrested Development.

Big Hollywood : William Shatner Dishes on Khan, George Takei and El Rushbo

Mon, 6 Feb 2012 12:32:31 +0000

To be fair, I borrowed that line from Wikipedia. Apparently, that's the description used by the show's creators. :-)

Big Hollywood : William Shatner Dishes on Khan, George Takei and El Rushbo

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 15:07:33 +0000

"[...] and his appearances on the “Columbo” television series, where he played the villain to Peter Falk’s detective." A friend and I just watched Shatner's Columbo episode. Shatner plays an actor (with the matinee idol name "Ward Fowler") who's best known for playing a TV detective named Lt. Lucerne. He decides to kill his producer who's blackmailing him and Columbo is put on the case. Fowler takes a bizarre interest in his own case and decides to "help" Columbo solve it, but he does it in the character of Lucerne. I swear Shatner's talking about himself in the fourth person at one point where he's speculating what his fictional alter-ego might do to solve the case. It's quite ridiculous, but also a lot of fun. :-) Incidentally, I'm only 29 and I'd never seen a full-length episode of Columbo. Neither my friend nor I had any idea how a typical episode was formatted so it came as a surprise that they showed the crime being committed and that the entertainment came from seeing Columbo put the clues together. It's not a "whodunit" - it's a "howdhecatchem."

Big Hollywood : Actor Ben Gazzara Dies at 81

Sat, 4 Feb 2012 00:29:27 +0000

"I see you found my trophy room, Dalton. The only thing that's missing... is your ass."

Big Hollywood : HomeVideodrome: Gosling's Cool and Cunning 'Drive,' Plus a Forgettable 'Killing Fields'

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 20:32:55 +0000

For the most part, Enterprise was filmed in HD and should be ready to go for a Blu-Ray release. (TNG was posted on video which can't be upgraded to HD, hence all the new work.) I'm surprised they haven't released it already but I'm sure it's just a matter of time. You're certainly not the only one who's wondering about that. I don't want to get into this (too late!) but I thought DS9 was the best of the spinoffs. I thought Enterprise suffered from uneven writing and when it finally got good, they cancelled it. I was, however, a big fan of the Trip Tucker character and I'd love to see that actor (Connor Trinneer) do something bigger one day.

Big Hollywood : HomeVideodrome: Gosling's Cool and Cunning 'Drive,' Plus a Forgettable 'Killing Fields'

Wed, 1 Feb 2012 19:58:39 +0000

Re: Star Trek: TNG in HD, they're actually doing something even better than what they did with the original series. Instead of re-creating the effects shots with CGI, they've gone back to the original 35mm elements and are recompositing the same shots from scratch. And since the episodes were edited and posted on video, they've gone back and reconstructed every episode from scratch as well. The team at Paramount/CBS has three shifts operating around the clock: http://trekmovie.com/2012/01/20/first-impressions... They'll be using CGI only when they have to (phasers, energy fields, etc.) but from the screencaps I've seen, the show looks like it was shot yesterday (80s hairstyles notwithstanding). Paging Mr. Lucas...! :-)

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: SAG Snubs Clooney & Streep, 'Ferris' Returns, and the Death of Cable TV?

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:42:59 +0000

Nathan Fillion stopped by the set one day :-) http://chucktv.net/2010/02/22/photo-nathan-fillio...

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Do We Trust Spielberg with Moses?, Russell Brand's a Creep, Why the Netflix Reboun

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:54:40 +0000

Edgar Wright didn't have anything to do with Paul - he was busy directing the infinitely superior Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. And Simon Pegg and Nick Frost wanted Paul to have a more nuanced view of religion but the studio ordered them to dumb it down. I believe Hunter Duesing mentioned that in his review. As for Russell Brand... meh. I thought he was okay in Forgetting Sarah Marshal but that's probably because he works better in small doses. Hollywood's attempt to shove him down our throats reeks of, "This man is funny! You must like him!" But hey, Katy Perry is single again! :-) And hopefully it'll be Raiders of the Lost Ark Spielberg directing the Moses flick... I wonder where that guy went...?

Big Hollywood : BH Interview: Cuba Gooding Jr. - 'Red Tails' Represents 'My Love Letter to the Armed Forces'

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:54:42 +0000

I'm not that familiar with the story behind The Passion but I believe Icon already existed as Gibson's production company and I know an indie outfit called Newmarket Films assisted with the distribution. As for Lucas, I'm surprised he would have so much trouble. You'd think after all the success of all the Star Wars films, 20th Century Fox would jump at the chance to work with him again.

Big Hollywood : BH Interview: Cuba Gooding Jr. - 'Red Tails' Represents 'My Love Letter to the Armed Forces'

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:39:37 +0000

I believe Lucas did use his own money. Getting a major studio to advertise and distribute it was the problem.

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Springsteen's 'Angry' Album, Healthy Movie Food, and Happy Friday

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:25:05 +0000

John, re: Bound for Glory, you're thinking of cinematographer Haskell Wexler. And re: Star Wars, perhaps this poster is more to your liking? :-) http://www.etsy.com/listing/89403987/the-greatest...

Big Hollywood : HomeVideodrome: 'Moneyball' Tackles Universal Themes, Not Just Sports

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:28:54 +0000

"(I angrily stormed out of a screening of the wretched “Tout Va Bien!” starring Hanoi Jane during a film course in college)." And with that, Mr. Duesing, you just became my new best friend. :-) I Netflixed the film when Criterion released it five or so years ago and I want my 96 (which felt like 196) minutes back. The film is just one big labor lecture and the only remotely good thing I remember about it is a long tracking shot from one end of a supermarket to the other and back. I also vaguely remember the film cuts to a still photo of a woman holding a man's junk... I'm still not sure what that was about.

Big Hollywood : Top 10 Ways Hollywood Can Win Its Audience Back

Mon, 2 Jan 2012 14:34:35 +0000

John, you mention the entertainment media several times but, unfortunately, THEY won't be changing anytime soon. They will continue to publicize bad behavior even when the actor in question is trying to make amends (that's a general statement, not a specific example)... They will continue to ask actors inappropriate political questions... They will continue to promote non-talents like the Kardashians at the expense of good unknown actors who could use the publicity. Perhaps a "5 ways the entertainment media can improve" article is in order, or are we beyond the point of no return? And lest we forget, money isn't the final arbiter of success, time is. In the Valley of Elah, Redacted, ad nauseum have already vanished from the public consciousness (as they should have) but Hugo, Tintin, etc. could be rediscovered later. :-)

Big Hollywood : Box Office Analysis: Many Christmas Casualties

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:34:35 +0000

Mission Impossible was a lot of fun. One actor who's in the film that no one mentions is Josh Holloway (Sawyer on Lost). He completely owns the ten minutes of screen time he has, which begs the question: When is he gonna get his own big-screen action franchise?! :-) Re: Dragon Tattoo... I can appreciate the concept of "counter-programming" but, yeah, this might be a case where fans of the book were happy with the original film adaptations. A friend of mine saw it and liked it but he never read the books, nor did he watch the original movies, so he literally had no idea what he was getting into. Re: We Bought a Zoo... Cameron Crowe could use another hit but, in terms of actors, perhaps he would've been better served with someone like Owen Wilson or Adam Sandler instead of Matt Damon...?

Big Hollywood : Red Letter Media Eviscerates 'Indy 4's' Awful Storytelling and Left-Wing Politics

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:06:13 +0000

I never thought the politics in the film (to the extent that they're there) were overbearing - they were simply a symptom of bad screenwriting, like everything else in the film. Why couldn't Mutt simply have arrived at Indy's house after work one day and they go from there? The CIA/Commie subplot has no payoff. Indy just as easily could've taken a leave of absence. Further analysis: http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/2011/03/10-scree... Plinkett also nitpicks a really nerdy detail that always bothered me - Spielberg used a take of Ford saying "Part time" in the trailer that is better than the take he used in the actual movie. :-)

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: John Wayne vs. Clint Eastwood, My Top Five Most Anticipated Films of 2012, and Blu

Fri, 9 Dec 2011 18:56:24 +0000

John, if you want to see CGI done flawlessly, check out this reel from HBO's John Adams miniseries. I was amazed at all the work that went into it. http://youtu.be/oTUs7hDq2PA

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

Wed, 7 Dec 2011 20:01:33 +0000

The IntenseDebate profanity filter is a little touchy... ...so I have nothing to say. :-) -ScottDS, die-hard Stooges fan

Big Hollywood : Harry Morgan, Colonel Potter on âMAS*H,â Dies at 96

Wed, 7 Dec 2011 18:05:29 +0000

Captain Gannon: "Frank won't be coming into work today Joe." Friday: "24 hour virus?" Captain Gannon: "Or tomorrow." Friday: "48 hour?" Captain Gannon: "Frank quit, moved to Ukiah, bought a goat farm..." One of those classic actors who you knew would bring the goods even if the material itself was less than par. :-)

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: 'Grown Ups' Sequel, Best TV Shows on Netflix, and Khaaaaaaaaaaannnnnn!!!!

Wed, 7 Dec 2011 17:13:13 +0000

I never thought of it like that. :-)

ScottDS's Comments

Big Hollywood : Report: Conservative Movies Outsell Liberal Movies

Big Hollywood : Which Celebrity Had the Best Super Bowl Ad?

Big Hollywood : William Shatner Dishes on Khan, George Takei and El Rushbo

Big Hollywood : William Shatner Dishes on Khan, George Takei and El Rushbo

Big Hollywood : Actor Ben Gazzara Dies at 81

Big Hollywood : HomeVideodrome: Gosling's Cool and Cunning 'Drive,' Plus a Forgettable 'Killing Fields'

Big Hollywood : HomeVideodrome: Gosling's Cool and Cunning 'Drive,' Plus a Forgettable 'Killing Fields'

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: SAG Snubs Clooney & Streep, 'Ferris' Returns, and the Death of Cable TV?

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Do We Trust Spielberg with Moses?, Russell Brand's a Creep, Why the Netflix Reboun

Big Hollywood : BH Interview: Cuba Gooding Jr. - 'Red Tails' Represents 'My Love Letter to the Armed Forces'

Big Hollywood : BH Interview: Cuba Gooding Jr. - 'Red Tails' Represents 'My Love Letter to the Armed Forces'

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: Springsteen's 'Angry' Album, Healthy Movie Food, and Happy Friday

Big Hollywood : HomeVideodrome: 'Moneyball' Tackles Universal Themes, Not Just Sports

Big Hollywood : Top 10 Ways Hollywood Can Win Its Audience Back

Big Hollywood : Box Office Analysis: Many Christmas Casualties

Big Hollywood : Red Letter Media Eviscerates 'Indy 4's' Awful Storytelling and Left-Wing Politics

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: John Wayne vs. Clint Eastwood, My Top Five Most Anticipated Films of 2012, and Blu

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

Big Hollywood : Harry Morgan, Colonel Potter on âM*A*S*H,â Dies at 96

Big Hollywood : Daily Call Sheet: 'Grown Ups' Sequel, Best TV Shows on Netflix, and Khaaaaaaaaaaannnnnn!!!!

Big Hollywood : Harry Morgan, Colonel Potter on âMAS*H,â Dies at 96