Poetry-Arts Confidential

Random notes: Katie Couric, BEYOND BAROQUE and the end of book review sections in newspapers.

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:06:31 GMT

1. A familiar technique in TV journalism is to keep asking a question you want answered regardless of what the interviewee is saying. Chris Matthews did this the other day on HARDBALL when he kept throwing cues at Trent Lott (exhumed from obscurity to carry water for John McCain) to dis George Butch Jr. on-camera. Here's a link to Jason Linkins' HUFFINGTON POST article describing Katie Couric's attempts to hector Barack Obama into adopting the "the surge worked" conventional wisdom re Iraq: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/23/katie-couric-to-obama-peo_n_114520.html

2. On the Los Angeles literary front, it looks like Beyond Baroque is in trouble again--its new lease apparently doesn't extend to the theater area where local and national poets and writers come to perform. Here's a link to T.J. Sullivan's LA OBSERVED column: http://www.laobserved.com/intell/2008/07/beyond_baroque_in_another_bind.php

(Update 7/24/08) T.J. has updated his earlier piece; apparently Beyond Baroque is faced with the possibility of sharing its theater space with LA Theater Works. Here's a link to LOS ANGELES TIMES blogger Veronique Turenne's take on what's happening: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2008/07/another-beyond.html And here's another update: a letter from Concilman Bill Rosendahl's office:

Hello everyone:

And thank you for contacting the office of your Councilman.

To clarify, the Councilman is moving forward with an extended lease for
Beyond Baroque. And yes, that would include utilization of the Theater.
However, as some of you know there are two community based
organizations that utilize 681 Venice Boulevard: LA Theater Works and
Beyond Baroque. What the Councilman is seeking is a joint use agreement
so both agencies can have access and utilize all parts of the building
for the benefit of the entire community.

LA Theater Works has offered to make more community workshops available
for youth and all parties interested in participating. This additional
use would require the sharing of the theater space. I'm sure no could
argue that maximum utilization of the entire building is a benefit. So
therefore, by ensuring that both agencies share responsibilities, the
entire community will benefit. Both our poets and actors.

While the signing of this lease has not occurred in as efficient a
manner as the Councilman has hoped, he is committed to not only getting
it signed, but that 681 Venice Boulevard will be a true community
facility. By ensuring that two community based organizations are
committed to offering on going programs, the Councilman is positive that
both agencies will thrive hand in hand with the community.

Again, thank you contacting the Office of your Councilman, and feel
free to contact me should you have any other questions.

Sincerely,

Arturo Piña
Office of Councilmember Bill Rosendahl

3. One more Los Angeles literary issue: there's a lot of open-throated wailing over THE LOS ANGELES TIMES' decision to kill the Book Review section in favor of tacking a page or so of book coverage to the Sunday Calendar. Here's an article (which I first discovered via an e-mail from Dave Marsh's ROCK AND RAP CONFIDENTIAL) about the decline of book reviews in newspapers ordered to cut expenses:

from Publisher's Lunch:

Newspapers and Books: How Far We've Fallen

It was just over a year ago that the NBCC was able to rally people outside the offices of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on behalf of Teresa Weaver after her job as book editor was eliminated. Weaver didn't get rehired by the paper but at least a point was made. Now, with deep staff and coverage cuts at newspapers all across the country, the people who cover books and the slim pages that carried their work are all but marked for extinction. The reorganization at the Tribune Company is remaking such papers as the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Hartford Courant, Orlando Sentinel, Baltimore Sun and South Florida Sun-Sentinel into considerably smaller versions. The latest announced layoff with respect to books is Hartford Courant books editor since 2002 Carole Goldberg. (The paper's pages are being reduced by twenty-five percent.)

Yesterday former LAT Book Review editors Steve Wasserman, Sonja Bolle, Digby Diehl, and Jack Miles circulated a letter that has gotten some pick-up, but in today's environment it reads more as an obituary than a rallying cry:

"As former editors of the Los Angeles Times Book Review (1975 through 2005), we are dismayed and troubled at the decision by Sam Zell and his managers to cease publishing the paper's Sunday Book Review.

"This step signals the end of an era begun 33 years ago when Otis Chandler, then the paper's publisher and owner, announced the debut of the weekly section. Since then, the growth of the Los Angeles metropolitan region and the avidity of its numerous readers and writers has been palpable. For example, every year since its founding in 1996, the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books has attracted upwards of 140,000 people to the UCLA campus from all walks of life throughout Southern California. Four hundred writers from all over America typically participate. The written word is celebrated. It is the most significant civic event undertaken by the Los Angeles Times to deepen literacy and to strengthen the bond between its news coverage and its far-flung community of readers. But without the Book Review itself, the book festival will be a hollow joke.

"The dismantling of the Sunday Book Review section and the migration of a few surviving reviews to the Sunday Calendar section represents a historic retreat from the large ambitions which accompanied the birth of the section."
See the rest of the letter (and postcomments) here

Tribune competitor Teresa Budasi covered the letter on Chicago Sun-Times blog, but added this: "As a book editor who's been through the process of losing a section and being downsized in another, I sympathize withthem. But wake up, people! The fiscal health of the newspaper business was in the toilet long before they decided to ax a section. Now is the time to take what you're left with and do what you can with it. Just as the newspaper business as a whole is trying to figure out ways to reinvent itself, book review editors must do the same, whether it be by running shorter reviews, beefing up online content or what have you. Stop complaining about loss of culture and glorifying the past and move into the 21st century -- where books are still plenty and people are still reading!"

www.rockrap.com

Tags: Katie Couric, Chris Matthews, THE CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC, HARDBALL, Trent Lott, John McCain, Barack Obama, the surge in Iraq, Beyond Baroque, T.J. Sullivan, LA OBSERVED, LOS ANGELES TIMES Book Review, Steve Wasserman, David Ulin, Veronique de Turenne, Fred Dewey

Young Turks' Cenk Uygur on Bush's comments on economy to the have-mores.

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:20:39 GMT

Here's a link via HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE to Young Turk Cenk Uygur taking a little over nine minutes to deconstruct George Butch Jr.'s recent caught-unawares speech in Houston--and the effect that all the bailouts of unregulated financial giants have on the American economy: http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2008/07/astute_analysis.php

Tags: HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE, Wachovia, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, The Young Turks, Cenk Uygur, George W. Bush

RIP: AT THE MOVIES WITH EBERT AND ROEPER

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 20:19:19 GMT

The Walt Disney Company has decided to end Roger Ebert's long-running movie reviews show in its present form and go in a "new direction."

Here's a link to Ebert's announcement: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080721/FEATURED/150028057

And here's a more "official" article which mentions Richard Roeper's departure as well: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/07/21/people.roeper.ap/index.html

For its flaws (more apparent after Ebert left the show due to health problems and Roeper--more a cold-blooded businessman/fake "personality" who saw film reviewing as a means to an end rather than either a vocation or avocation--became dominant), Ebert's show (which I first saw on PBS in 1978 with the late great Gene Siskel as the other critic) was a means of broadening the exposure to film criticism beyond just magazines and newspaper columns. Numerous "imitation" shows followed in its wake, with critic/reviewers varying in quality from intellectual Neal Gabler to blurbmeisters like Jeffrey Lyons.

Now, with the Hollywood mindset being "we can make a bad/poorly executed movie that grosses hundreds of millions just like HANCOCK", The Walt Disney Company may see a market for a show that offers clips plus soft press kit "profiles" without any actual reviewing.

So, prepare for something like AT THE MOVIES WITH KELLY RIPA AND MARK CONSUELOS.

Update (7/22/08): Thankfully, I was wrong with the above prediction. Instead, Disney will keep the same format but with younger and cheaper hosts--Ben Mankiewicz (of the famous Hollywood dynasty--screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz was his grandfather) and Ben Lyons (son of blurbmeister Jeffrey). Allegedly, Ben Lyons claims that I AM LEGEND was a "great" film--so it's safe to say that he's ready to give overpraise to just about every mainstream piece of merde like his father or late-career David Sheehan.

Here's a link to Nikki Finke's announcement of the AT THE MOVIES reboot on DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD DAILY: http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/contract-disputes-end-ebert-roeper-show/

Tags: AT THE MOVIES WITH EBERT AND ROEPER, SNEAK PREVIEWS, Roger Ebert, Richard Roeper, Michael Phillips, The Walt Disney Company, Gene Siskel

MILLHOUSE: A relevant film in the wake of the Obama controversy.

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 06:57:10 GMT

Time to mention something from the past that's relevant in the wake of the controversy over the Obama cover of THE NEW YORKER and the ensuing "righteous progressive" noise about how "this is an important election and THE NEW YORKER should be ashamed if their irreverent cover deters one voter from voting for Obama and against John McCain:".

Earlier this week, I watched Emile de Antonio's somewhat irreverent 1971 documentary of Richard Nixon's life and career--MILLHOUSE: A WHITE COMEDY.

Nixon was so offended by the film that he managed to ensure its nonshowing after early and successful NYC runs--and de Antonio was included on Tricky Dick's infamous "Enemies List."

Moral: Ensuring political correctness through censorship is a very bad thing--whether from the left or the right.

MILLHOUSE is available for rent on Netflix or for sale as part of a boxset of de Antonio films from HVE Entertainment--a subsidiary of Criterion.

Update (7/19/08): Here's a link to SLATE columnist Jack Shafer's column on the NEW YORKER cover: http://www.slate.com/id/2195317/

Tags: THE NEW YORKER, MILLHOUSE: A WHITE COMEDY, Emile de Antonio, POINT OF ORDER, Barack Obama, John McCain, Richard M. Nixon, Nixon's enemies list, Watergate, Vietnam, the Checkers speech, Alger Hiss

FOX NEWS' Chris Wallace: Comedian.

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:26:28 GMT

From yesterday's issue of THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, I found this quote from Fox News' Chris Wallace regarding the hiring of Karl "you can't subpoena me, I'm Karl Rove" Rove as a component (along with former Hillaryite Howard Wolfson) of its election coverage:

"I don't understand why Congress and the White House having a fight over executive power should in any way inhibit who an independent news organization (hires)."

Cue the laugh track--especially on the words "independent news organization."

Tags: Karl Rove, Howard Wolfson, Chris Wallace, FOX NEWS SUNDAY, Fox News 2008 election coverage

FOX NEWS and their tribute-of-sorts to Tony Snow.

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 23:18:46 GMT

Tony Snow presented an amiable face to the public (except when he was irritated by liberal contrarians; witness the time he sniped at Matt Taibbi on an episode of REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER last season) and he doled out Butch Administration propaganda adroitly enough, but I'm guessing he won't be given the sendoff by the mainstream media that Tim Russert (who was good at washing the feet of powerful people and occaisonally playing the role of "tough journalist" by asking questions about inconsistent rhetoric on certain issues) received.

Yesterday, I turned to Fox News to watch a Butch Administration counsel (I believe it was Dan Bartlett) deliver a eulogizing phone call to whoever the male Saturday afternoon anchor was.

Then, a bumper appeared at the commercial break: WAS PHIL GRAMM RIGHT? IS AMERICA A NATION OF WHINERS?

I can imagine Tony Snow appearing as a ghost to Roger Ailes; giving an All-American smile and then disappearing, ready to ascend the stairway to GOP Heaven--confident that lies and distortions in the name of a conservative dictatorship will still be doled out to people who think anything is true if it appears on television and caters to their fears and prejudices.

Update (7/15/08): RADAR magazine's website has provided a greatest-hits transcript collection of Tony Snow's dissembling and "handling" the press during his tenure as Press Secretary:

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2008/07/remember-tony-snow.php

Tags: Tony Snow, Roger Ailes, FOX NEWS, Matt Taibbi, ROLLING STONE, REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER, Tim Russert, MEET THE PRESS, media coverage of the death of Tim Russert, media coverage of the death of Tony Snow

SALON's Gary Kamiya on Barry Blitt's satirical NEW YORKER Obama cartoon.

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:20:10 GMT

Here's a sane article about Barry Blitt's satirical cover art appearing on this week's THE NEW YORKER--spoofing Republican smearing of Barack and Michelle Obama:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008/07/15/new_yorker_cartoon/index.html

Tags: Barry Blitt, Gary Kamiya, THE NEW YORKER, Salon.com, NATIONAL LAMPOON, satire, humor

Brendan Fraser: subject of one of the all-time great celebrity puff articles.

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 22:55:03 GMT

Brendan Fraser, occasional actor (GODS AND MONSTERS, THE QUIET AMERICAN, CRASH, SCHOOL TIES) and more-often Big Handsome Galoot leading man in CGI-stuffed extravaganzas (THE MUMMY series and the just-opened JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH) gets a huge puff piece in today's LOS ANGELES TIMES by stringer Michael Cardona:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-fraser13-2008jul13,0,6439830.story

This should keep Fraser's ego properly inflated, especially the phrase about the combined gross of his films. It's safe to say that most moviegoers may like his amiable presence, but they go to films like THE MUMMY for reasons other than Brendan Fraser is toplining. If Cardona's logic about Fraser as Reliable Star of Big Tentpole Movies had more than an ounce of truth, then Joe Dante's misfired-but-sometimes-funny LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION (which Fraser and Jenna Elfman co-starred in) would have been a worldwide smash.

Nice try, Mr. Cardona, but Brendan Fraser is no Will Smith.

Tags: Brendan Fraser, Will Smith, Michael Cardona, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, celebrity profiles, movie stars

Phil Gramm's "whining" remark.

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:39:41 GMT

For those of us of a certain age with long memories, ex-Senator (and John McCain's "economic guru") Phil Gramm from my former home state of Texas was cringeworthy long before his recent remarks about the economy--basically Republican happy-talk denying the pain that a lot of people are suffering.

Gramm, in the 80s, went from Democrat to Republican and, over the years, has proven himself a combination of the worst character traits of Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.

Here's mainstream media pundit Howard Fineman, of NEWSWEEK and COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN fame, with a brief but pithy commentary on Gramm's recent blurt:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/145421/page/1

Tags: Howard Fineman, John McCain, Phil Gramm, Wendy Gramm, Richard Nixon, Lyndon B. Johnson, recession, US economy

Elaine May: Another example of older women in Hollywood who need to avoid plastic surgery.

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 05:17:30 GMT

Unfortunately, I don't have a screen-grab or a link, but I want you to take my word for it: legendary comedienne, screenwriter and director Elaine May (who made one of the funniest-ever comedies, A NEW LEAF, released in 1971) has replaced Priscilla Presley and GENERAL HOSPITAL's Jackie Zeman as the poster person for unnecessary-and-unflattering later-life cosmetic surgery. My wife and I vividly noticed this when watching a DVR playback of USA's two-hours-with-commercials condensation of the AFI Tribute to Warren Beatty.

In Ms. May's case, she rarely appears onscreen (the last example I can think of is a supporting role in Woody Allen's SMALL TIME CROOKS years ago)--so I'm amazed and appalled that women of a certain age that toil in Show Business on the other side of the camera feel the need to bow to social conformity by way of tucks and tightening. Whereas, aging men in the business such as screenwriter/director Robert Towne, are able to look like, say, an old desert rat in a tux, and no one looks askance at this sexist double standard.

Ms. May's face looks as if she were punched--hard--on both cheeks. By comparison, Faye Dunaway's facial surgery, with notable cheekbone work, looks relatively subtle.

Enough said on this unfortunate fact of Hollywood life.

Tags: Warren Beatty, American Film Institute, Elaine May, A NEW LEAF, Walter Matthau, Faye Dunaway, Jackie Zeman, GENERAL HOSPITAL, Robert Towne