ali songang

  • Subscribe to our RSS feed.
  • Twitter
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Facebook
  • Digg

Friday, 29 April 2011

How I witnessed TV history for minimum wage

Posted on 08:27 by anderson
This week I reviewed the documentary "Exporting Raymond," which follows "Everybody Loves Raymond" creator and writer Phil Rosenthal to Russia for an ill-advised attempt to translate the All-American, Average Joe sitcom for Russian audiences. It's funny, utterly ridiculous and true (even if the whole impetus for the project was to make a documentary about how funny it would inevitably be). You can read my review here.

But what made me want to review the film in the first place was good old fashioned nostalgia and a slightly unnerving love of television history. (I was the only person I know who got an A+ in my college History of Television class --yes, even in the Ivy League people -- and my enthusiasm and performance in that 200+ person class landed me an internship at Martin Scorsese's production company. Fodder for another post I think).  Having grown up on television with a penchant for the oldies (Little Rascals of "Our Gang" fame, "The Twilight Zone" and "The Dick van Dyke Show" being just a few of my favorites), I knew I was going to work in "the entertainment business"--whatever that was.

Outside of internships with hypochondriacal directors who think typewriters are "too loud," my first paying job in the business (if I may use the term loosely here) was as a page at Paramount Studios, the oldest working studio lot in Hollywood.

You're probably thinking, "Oh, a page -- like Kenneth from '30 Rock!'" Not exactly, but we did have to wear terrible polyester suits, with the women getting the added humiliation of having to don a skirt with hose and a saggy bow tie thingy straight out of a late-1980s office wear catalogue (this was 1996).  Here's 23 year-old me proudly posing in front of the famous Bronson gate, sans horrible suit jacket.

Yes, I do look proud because, even though my paycheck was paltry to say the least, I got to spend my days roaming freely around a studio backlot, soaking up film and television history at every turn. I also got to share it with the hordes of tourists assigned to me as their guide for our walking tour through the backlot.

While they spent their time wildly looking around for any signs of a movie star  (never happened, unless you count Eddie, the dog from "Frasier," or that host from "Entertainment Tonight" who was often mistaken for Tom Cruise--something I usually didn't attempt to correct), I happily rattled on with great reverence about the empty tank (now in a parking lot) that was used to part the Red Sea for Cecil B. DeMille, or that building where Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz made monumental television together. Rare was the tourist who cared, so I made sure to point out the grassy corner where Bobby Brady got in a fight defending Cindy in that episode of "The Brady Bunch," which usually pleased them.

Besides giving underappreciated public and VIP tours (we got to drive carts!), pages also worked the audience at TV show tapings. Worst job ever. All those poor tourists, lured from Hollywood Boulevard by some obnoxious pamphleteer, who now find themselves standing in a long unmoving line, waiting to find out what TV show they'll get to see taped. Of course, they'd all been told they'd see "Frasier" or "Wings" or something of the sort, but more often than not they got funneled into the shows with less demand and more need for people willing to laugh for free at the same joke over and over again. By the time you drag the sunburned bunches into the sound stage of "Sister Sister," you better be prepared for a riot.

During my six-month tenure on the lot, I was tapped to be one of those poor souls. If you think it's tough to fill the seats for some obscure UPN show, then imagine how hard it is to find people to sit for hours in a freezing cold sound stage for a pilot show that nobody's ever heard of. That's when they call in the pages, baby. Minimum wage is about as close to free as you can get, so when the producers of a pilot get desperate, they pick up the phone and get some pages on loan.

And that's how I ended up in the studio audience for the pilot episode "Everybody Loves Raymond" -- or as we identified it when we first got there, "some sitcom starring a stand-up comedian we've never heard of." We were thanked profusely for being there and it soon became clear why -- a pilot episode needs to be tight, perfect. It's a sales tool to show the network the magic that you've assembled among the cast members, writers and crew. It also takes a REALLY long time to get it right.

Did I know the show was something special? At the very least, I had a feeling it was going to be different based on the fact that it was produced by David Letterman's company, Worldwide Pants. (Dave's blessing meant a lot to me when I was in my early 20s). And when they introduced Peter Boyle, the best part of one of my favorite comedies "The Dream Team," and his on-screen wife, TV legend Doris Roberts, I knew this was a show aiming to make history.

But I also knew that rush hour was approaching and I didn't want to be stuck in Universal City any longer than I had to. And I resented the fact that our page supervisor treated us like wooden pegs that he could shuffle around as needed, always threatening to "blackball" us if we disappointed him (yes I was naive enough then to believe him).

But isn't that what it's like to work in Hollywood? Excitement and celebrity mixed with resentment and traffic? No wonder I left such a glamorous life behind.
Read More
Posted in documentaries, Me, movie studio, TV | No comments

Sunday, 24 April 2011

Put the DVD down, and your hands up!

Posted on 09:30 by anderson
Dear Movie Studios,

I always thought you wanted me to like your movie -- even when I know that you know that it sucks.

But after enduring another DVD screener with security warnings and water marks sprayed like graffitti over 2/3 of the screen for 2/3 of the movie, I'm pretty convinced that you don't.

In fact, it seems like you're just being mean. You are calling me a thief after all. What else am I supposed to think of your ridiculously elaborate security measures, which now include special PIN numbers to watch the DVD?

I am a professional person doing a job. If you don't agree, then why are you sending me the DVD in the first place? So let me do my job. Let me SEE THE MOVIE.

It's hard enough to give a film the attention it deserves when you're watching it on your living room television. Your incessantly flashing warnings and reminders that ACME Studios owns this movie don't help.

I get it. People are stealing your content. It's a huge problem and I'm sure your stockholders don't like it one bit. But you can't possibly think that a bunch of renegade movie critics are the culprits? That would require them to actually do something besides watch movies and argue about them with their friends.

So while we're jumping through all of your security hoops, your threats to fine us or send us to jail, the hurtfulness of your unspoken accusations (cue tiny violins, please), the real thieves are downloading, sharing and selling your movies on street corners in China and in some teenager's bedroom.

But you're paranoid, I know. And I kind of don't blame you. But I also don't have to like it. Which means I'll be sitting there, watching your movie on my TV-- and not liking it.

I'm just saying.
Read More
Posted in film criticsm, Industry, movie studio | No comments

Friday, 22 April 2011

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold: Review (2 1/2 stars), Interview with Morgan Spurlock

Posted on 07:57 by anderson
I've never been one for approaching celebrities I encounter "in the wild." I mean, really --what could I possibly say to them that would make me any different than some other slobbering fan? "I like your movies." Duh. "You were really good in X." Double duh.

When it comes to interviewing them, it's not even a question. We're both there to do a job. Get in, ask your questions, get your answers, get on with your day.

But when it came time for me to interview filmmaker Morgan Spurlock about his new documentary "POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold," I threw my point-and-shoot camera in my purse alongside my notepad and had no problem asking for a snapshot of the two of us post-interview.

Why? Well, of course I'm a fan. How can you not be? He's charming, clever, and willing to challenge mainstream thinking. I loved "Super Size Me" but was an even bigger fan of his TV series "30 Days." If this was my only motivation, I'd still keep my mouth shut and go about my business asking questions and trying to get him to say something, anything, he hasn't already said in the countless interviews he's done over the last month.

The reason I happily packed my camera and captured this poolside snapshot? The logo-covered suit of course. He's a walking billboard--and an extremely enthusiastic one at that--and what kind of billboard asks you to respect its privacy?

Here's my interview with Spurlock about his very meta experiment in making a documentary about marketing and advertising by funding his entire film with marketing and advertising. And then find out what I thought the film in my review, out today.

And by all means, go out and enjoy an ice cold glass of anti-oxidant rich POM Wonderful, would ya?




Read More
Posted in celebrity crush, interviews, Morgan Spurlock, reviews | No comments

Friday, 15 April 2011

"Scream 4" - No Charge

Posted on 10:00 by anderson
Well, it looks like the Weinsteins decided I needed a week off from reviewing. 

Instead of spending my Tuesday morning at a "Scream 4" press screening, I showed up at my day job at a normal hour, then spent the evening leisurely making a dent in my Netflix queue. 

I was actually disappointed when they called off the press screening the night before. Sure, I knew the movie was probably a train wreck--based not only on the last minute cancellation of the press screening, but also on the reports of friction during production that resulted in the franchise's brainchild Kevin Williamson (you can thank him for Katie Holmes and that guy who played Dawson) leaving the film halfway through the shoot. 

But for me, revisiting the franchise after a decade was more an exercise in feel-good nostalgia than "cinema appreciation." I can still recall how thrilled I was by the 1996 original:  the genuine shock when Drew Barrymore got herself gloriously hacked in the opening scene, the refreshing/bordering on annoying jabber of overly articulate teenage brats, the shameless waving of the movie geek freak flag..... the freshness of the experience was enough to let me love the original, endure the sequel, pretend the third didn't happen and, after a decade of sub-sub-sub par knockoffs and the genre's unfortunate plummet to torture porn, "Scream 4."

So here I sit, spouting opinions and ideas about the "Scream" franchise, without getting paid a dime. I doubt the Weinsteins have such problems - or at least they don't fret over such paltry amounts of lost income.

If you actually do fork over your hard-earned cash to see it, by all means make it a matinee--and tell me how it was.

Enjoy your weekend.
Read More
Posted in horror, movies, Weinsteins | No comments

Friday, 8 April 2011

"Hanna": Review (3 stars) and Interview with Director Joe Wright

Posted on 08:33 by anderson
I wasn't expecting much for my interview with "Hanna" director Joe Wright. Not only was he almost 30 minutes late (a radio interview ran long), but he was clearly exhausted by the time he shook my hand and collapsed onto his chair.

But even through the exhaustion (a one-month old baby and a hefty promotion schedule are the likely culprits), the British director impressed me with his clarity of vision, passion and--most of all--feminist perspective. Not to mention the easy job I had of transcribing the interview due to his British mannerisms full of polite qualifiers and other Hugh Grant-ish verbal fillers. 
Photo: San Diego Union-Tribune/Peggy Peattie

You can read my interview with Wright here. I think you'll be impressed with him too. (I was even more pleased when Wright went public with his criticism of the portrayal of women in the marketing campaign for Zack Snyder's "Sucker Punch," a movie I simply refused to see for that very same reason.)

Then read my review of "Hanna," Wright's fairy tale action movie starring his teenage muse Saoirse Ronan (the Oscar nominated young star from "Atonement").

I also caught "Your Highness" this week, hoping for a much needed laugh. I got a few but not nearly as many as I expected (I could count the seconds in every scene where opportunities for humor were missed). Still, you won't hear too much complaining from me when James Franco and Natalie Portman are on screen - even when they're sharing that screen time with a graphic depiction of minotaur penis. Yes, you read that right. Minotaur penis.

Enjoy your weekend!
Read More
Posted in celebrity crush, interviews, James Franco, Joe Wright, reviews, women in film | No comments

Friday, 1 April 2011

"Win Win" interview, review (3 stars); Source Code (2 1/2 stars)

Posted on 08:40 by anderson
The last two weeks have been jampacked with press tours and I'm heading out the door for yet another, this time with Morgan Spurlock, director of the new doc "Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold." That story will run April 22, along with my review of the film.

But in today's paper is my interview with writer/director Tom McCarthy and the teenage wrestler, Alex Shaffer, who stars alongside Paul Giamatti in the new film "Win Win."  Both were a delight to interview and I was struck by the relationship between the novice actor and the director--also a working actor who's known for being tough on his performers. Read the full story here and my review of the film here.

I also reviewed "Source Code" this week, the new Duncan Jones-directed film starring one of my celebrity crushes, Jake Gyllenhaal. Read my review here.

Next week, my interview with "Hanna" director, Joe Wright.

Happy weekend!
Read More
Posted in celebrity crush, documentaries, interviews, Jake Gyllenhaal, reviews, Tom McCarthy | No comments
Newer Posts Older Posts Home
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Popular Posts

Categories

  • Academy Awards
  • Ang Lee
  • animals
  • animation
  • Anne Heche
  • awards
  • Batman
  • books
  • Bradley Cooper
  • celebrity crush
  • Chris Evans
  • Colin Farrell
  • Comic-Con
  • complaining
  • critics
  • Daily Show
  • David O. Russell
  • documentaries
  • Ed Helms
  • Elizabeth Olsen
  • Emma Stone
  • fanboys
  • Feedback
  • film criticsm
  • film festivals
  • Fox News
  • holidays
  • Hollywood
  • horror
  • Industry
  • interviews
  • Ira Glass
  • J.J. Abrams
  • Jake Gyllenhaal
  • James Franco
  • January Jones
  • Jennifer Aniston
  • Jennifer Lawrence
  • Joe Wright
  • John C Reilly
  • John Sayles
  • Liam Neeson
  • marketing
  • Me
  • media
  • Michael Fassbender
  • Mike Birbiglia
  • Morgan Spurlock
  • movie studio
  • movie theaters
  • movies
  • Music
  • Netflix
  • Off the Clock
  • On Second Thought
  • Oscars
  • Pixar
  • podcasts
  • politics
  • reviews
  • romantic comedy
  • Ryan Gosling
  • San Diego
  • Scorsese
  • screenings
  • SDFCS
  • Sean Durkin
  • seth rogen
  • Steven Spielberg
  • SXSW
  • Terrence Malick
  • This American Life
  • Thora Birch
  • Tom McCarthy
  • TV
  • UCTV
  • Union-Tribune
  • Weinsteins
  • Wikipedia
  • women in film
  • Woody Allen
  • YouTube

Blog Archive

  • ►  2013 (7)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  March (2)
    • ►  February (2)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2012 (10)
    • ►  December (1)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  July (1)
    • ►  June (1)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  March (1)
    • ►  February (1)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ▼  2011 (35)
    • ►  December (3)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (2)
    • ►  September (1)
    • ►  August (3)
    • ►  July (4)
    • ►  June (3)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ▼  April (6)
      • How I witnessed TV history for minimum wage
      • Put the DVD down, and your hands up!
      • The Greatest Movie Ever Sold: Review (2 1/2 stars)...
      • "Scream 4" - No Charge
      • "Hanna": Review (3 stars) and Interview with Direc...
      • "Win Win" interview, review (3 stars); Source Code...
    • ►  March (3)
    • ►  February (5)
    • ►  January (2)
  • ►  2010 (12)
    • ►  December (4)
    • ►  November (2)
    • ►  October (1)
    • ►  September (5)
Powered by Blogger.

About Me

anderson
View my complete profile