WCBE 90.5 FM: "It's Movie Time" - "The Day After Tomorrow," "Super Size Me," "Mean Girls"

It's Movie Time with John DeSando & Clay Lowe
"The Day After Tomorrow," "Super Size Me," "Mean Girls"
Tape: 4 pm, May 26, 2004
Aired: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm. May 28, 2004

Clay
"The Day After Tomorrow" is all frosting and no cake . . .

John
"Super Size Me" is a fast-food snuff film . . .

Clay
"Mean Girls" will tickle you pink but it won't make you think . . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle:
It's Movie Time in Mid-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC UP AND OUT

John
I'm John DeSando.

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe.

John ("The Day After Tomorrow")
'Till Hell freezes over? Well, some people say New York City is hell, so it's fitting that Roland Emmerich's ("Independence Day") "Day After Tomorrow" features the freezing of NYC, and the whole northern hemisphere for that matter, as a result of global warming.

This summer's disaster movie begins with an absurd premise about an instantaneous warming that leads to freezing in our lifetime and ends with the not absurd warnings about our planetary abuse of resources and the reliance we will eventually have on those third world nations we so subtly patronize.

I loved te opening helicopter shots of Antarctica, the CGI of frozen New York, and the overall warming warning. However, "Poseidon Adventure" is the director's favorite disaster flick; there is something universal and memorable there that is not present in "Day After Tomorrow." In fact, if you go to "Meteor," "Sudden Impact," or "The Core," you'll also find the disaster formula disappointingly presented.

Yet, I enjoyed the 2 hours. Go figure! It's summertime!

Clay ("The Day After Tomorrow")
John, director Roland Emmerich continues to prove he has a better eye for the visual than he does for a script.

You will TRULY never forget the images of our frozen planet as viewed from outer space. Nor will you forget the images of the tornado-filled skies wrecking down havoc on L.A.. And you will ESPECIALLY remember that rather mournful image of the Statue of Liberty deep-coated in blue-ish green ice. You're right, John, the special effects couldn�t be any better, so why SHOULD we expect anything more from a summertime flick? It�s a win-win situation.

Disaster movie fans will NOT be disappointed, environmentalists will cheer when the Vice-President admits he was wrong about global warming, and �Lord of the Ring� fans will be delighted when they discover that Ian Holm�s, of Bilbo fame, plays a role in the cast

So park your SUV's, folks, turn down your air conditioners, and be sure to vote Green., because this is one movie that shouldn�t have a sequel.

John ("Super Size Me")
The most disgusting movie of the year is "Super Size Me" because overindulging in fast food is inherently disgusting, and watching Morgan Spurlock do just that for 96 minutes is equally so. Spurlock spent a month eating McDonald's for three squares a day with unsurprising results.

More than proving the danger to the liver and sex life, eating this much fast food shows once again that overdoing anything is usually detrimental to some part of a life.

What good is it to endanger your liver and your lover? The corporation discontinued the super-sized menus after the release of the documentary; this is a good thing. What is not good, however, is that Spurlock is the center of all activity, and he is not super sized like Michael Moore to carry it off.

This review is downsized in honor of all those Americans whose
weight will fall and health rise because of "Super Size Me."

Clay ("Mean Girls")
John, "Super Size Me" may help some people cut back on their Big Macs, but "Mean Girls" will never keep high school girls from being shallow, plastic and nasty. Why? Because real girls just want to shop, look pretty, and have nothing but fun. At least that�s what you�ll think after seeing this movie.

Sure it's too bad the movie�s three �plastics�: Regina, Gretchen, and Karen have set their sights on Cady, the NEW girl in school. And sure, it's too bad when Cady falls for their ploy hook, line, and sinker. And sure it�s even worse when Cady�s real friends get thrown to the trash. But, cheer up folks, that's the way it is in the halls of the high schools in snooty-town America.

Tina Fey's script is insightful, fast-paced, and clever, but it's more descriptive of the way things ARE, rather than prescriptive about the way things MIGHT be.

But put away your winter blues, it's grading time.

John
Hooray!

HIT DRUMS

John
"The Day After Tomorrow" earns a "B" because it IS a "B" movie . . .. . .

Clay
"The Day After Tomorrow" gets a "B" because burning books is
bad even to keep from freezing . . .

John
"Super Size Me" earns a "B" for BEATING the fat merchants . . .

Clay
"Mean Girls" gets a "B" because Queen Bee's were born to be bad. . .

John
Clay, How could you have a video copy of "Super Size Me" in your library already, or was that another film? I'm outta here.

Clay
John, that wasn't a video cassette, it was an empty Big Mac container.

I'm so ashamed, I'm outta here too. See you a the movies, folks.

HIT MUSIC

Richelle:

The Award Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay
Lowe is produced by Richelle Antczak in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus 106.7 FM in Newrk, WYSO, etc. Reviews on the web, etc., etc.


MUSIC UP AND OUT

Copyright: John DeSando & Clay Lowe, 200

Peace Is Impossible (Or So It Seems): Christopher Bierre

"Peace is Impossible" by Chris Bierre
Son of Kevin and Lisa Sponable Bierre (Age 17)

Peace is impossible
No matter what they say
It can’t happen any day
We can try
But our efforts come up dry
Something happens that makes a war
And everyone wonders what we are fighting for

Even if we attain peace
Soon it will cease
Millions will die
In this chaotic fry
So why do we fight
From day to night
We search for weapons
But we found nothing
So then what happens?

What happens is war
The dying screaming in the fields
But neither side will yield
Neither side will give an inch of ground
The dead can’t make a sound
It all ends up the same way
Every single day
An American loses his life
By getting stabbed with a knife
But the media makes a big deal
By getting anger to people so they feel
But tens of thousands of miles away
Millions get slaughtered but no one cares to say

Why do they do these things?
Why do we do nothing?
It’s just not outside the U.S.
The political system is in distress
Two sides fight
Day and night
They say that we are equal, those snots
But we are really not
The rich own this country
The common man never owned this century

9/11 happened
Political parties cast the blame
What a shame
Why can't you fix it up instead?
Why can’t you stop the rising costs of meds?
Even though they say they try
It all comes up dry
Peace is impossible

Personal Journal Entry: Volume 15 (May 21, 1987)

Columbus, Ohio (1 am)
The Day Paul David Parker (Grandson) was born.

On the couch at Kim and Paul's with "Dixie," the cat. Danielle Parker in her bedroom now asleep. Kim and Paul are at Riverside Hospital, when she left her labor pains were 15 minutes apart.

Steamy hot day today, in high 80s, in early to the office again. My photographic communications class met today for first time in newly remodeled room 306 (Hasket Hall, OSU). I showed student video "Battleground OSU" about anti-war demonstrations on campus, Spring of 1970.

Early in the evening nine students from my class joined me at Mershon Auditorium to hear Senator John Tower talk about his "Tower Commission" report on the Iran-Contra investigation. His response to a concerned student was that if people suffer under a right wing government's persecutions, you can imagine how much more they'd suffer under the Soviets.

Returned home to receive call from Kim asking me to come over to stay with Dani while they went to hospital. Dani was very apprhensive when they left because she said: "Mommie was crying." Told her that her Mom would have some pain, like she did when she went to the dentist, but that she'd soon be O.K. Somewhat satisfied she took her bottle and blanket and went into bed, as I watched ABC's Nightline on "The Stark Incident," the story of the U.S. ship that was sunk accidentally by Iraq.

Several hours later Danielle had a new baby brother, Paul David Parker.

WCBE 90.5 FM: "It's Movie Time" - "Shrek 2," "Troy," "The Battle of Algiers"

“It’s Movie Time” with John DeSando & Clay Lowe
WCBE 90.5 FM
“Shrek 2,” “Troy,” “The Battle of Algiers”
Aired: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, May 21, 2004
WCBE streams live at: www.wcbe.org

John
"Shrek 2" is the fairy tale of all fairy tales . . .

Clay
“Troy” is a glorious visualization of Homer’s immortal epic . . .

John
“The Battle of Algiers” could be "The Battle of Baghdad" . . .. . .

HIT MUSIC THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle:
It's Movie Time in Mid-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC UP AND OUT

DeSando
I'm John DeSando.

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe.

HIT CD: “SHREK 2,” (CUT 1: “ACCIDENTALLY IN LOVE” ESTABLISH, THEN UNDER FOR

Clay ("Shrek 2")
John, in “Shrek 2,” the green ogre is back, as is his sassy donkey, and as is his ever-so-charming Princess Fiona. Though her babe-of-a-body still gets chunky at night[, because of an evil spell,] Shrek continues to love her, I wonder why?

Gone, however, are Shrek’s favorite swamps with their long grasses and foul gasses. Gone are the once-upon-a-time landscapes of thickly tree’d forests. And gone is the fire-breathing dragon who once captured the Donkey’s perfidious eye.

In their place is a fairy-tale suburb, resembling Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, ruled over by Fiona’s mom and dad, the King (John Cleese) and Queen (Julie Andrews).

“Shrek 2” IS as clever and witty as ever, but for me “Oh, dear, Oh my,” the Hollywood in-humor has stripped away some of its Fairy Tale charm.

MUSIC UP, THEN CROSS FADE TO CD: “TROY” (CUT 3 “ACHILLES LEADS THE MYRMIDONS” - BEGIN CUT AT 04:35 IN) THEN UNDER FOR

John (“Troy”)
In fact, it's even more charming, but at your age that you even LIKED it is a miracle.

Clay
At my age I'm lucky to be my age.

John
I HOPE you liked "Troy" with popular actor hero Brad Pitt playing classical warrior Achilles well enough that it will henceforth be shown by classics departments as the definitive tale of The Trojan War. When Pitt as Achilles says he did not engage Hector in the first meeting because it's too early to kill princes,' I was won over by the arrogance and superiority of the hero AND the actor.

Homer would be happy with this version: The spirit is for the ages,
thousands of years later, when men still go to war for reasons other than
love, occupy other countries at great peril, and die inexplicably happy to
have their names emblazoned on memorials while families cope with profound loss.

"Troy" is a blockbuster to complement a summer of real war and conflicted citizenry.

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP, THEN UNDER AGAIN FOR

Clay (“Troy”)
John, “Troy” is no Baghdad, but the setting is nearly the same, as are the central themes: the ruling gods will have their way and it’s the mere mortals who end up fighting their battles and having to pay.

Aging Priam (Peter O’Toole) with his watery blue eyes, the bearded and angry Agamemnon (Brian Cox), and the bulked-up Brad Pitt, who plays Achilles as a surfer dude with an attitude that just won’t die.

Honor, pride, arrogance and greed, John, you’ve got to love the honesty of those self-reflecting Greeks. And you’ve got to love “Troy,” it’s solid, moving, compassionate, and wise.

MUSIC UP, THEN UNDER AND OUT

John ("The Battle of Algiers")

Clay: "Wise" would be the best adjective to describe the re-release of the 1965 black and white "Algiers." This smart film shows the decade
leading to the liberation of Algeria from the French in a powerful story about Muslims asserting their rights through violence, hiding, and plotting in the Kasbah. It is a convincing story of a people who do not want to be occupied.

The torture of the Muslim prisoners is the most poignant relevance to the
recent scandal in Iraq. The justification--to gain life-saving
information-- is classic "ends-justify-the-means" logic still being used by
great nations. In fact, the Pentagon reportedly had seen this film during
the first days of the second Iraq War; some say they learned nothing from the film, which is an unforgettable study of occupation and defeat.

Clay (Continues)
Folks, “The Battle of Algiers” has already slipped out of town so you’ll have to look for it at your favorite video store or library. It’s a must-see.
But enough of fairy tales and monstrous wars, it’s grading time.

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

John
Hooray!

HIT DRUMS

Clay
“Shrek 2” gets a “B” because it’s as clever as ever but lacks some of its original charm . . .

John

"Shrek 2" earns an "A" because it includes ALL of pop culture . . .

"Troy" earns an "A" for an ACHILLES ACTOR who's NOT an ASS . . .

Clay

"Troy” gets an “A” because it’s always noble and never ASININE . . .

John
"The Battle of Algiers" is an "A" because it's so good Washington learned ALMOST nothing . . .

Clay
“The Battle of Algiers” gets an ”A” because Arabs aren’t always on the wrong side of history .. .

John
Clay, wish me good luck, I’ve got to go write my web review of “The Lost Skeleton of Cadaver.”

Clay

Good luck, indeed, John, recommending this movie to our listeners WOULD be a violation of the Geneva Conventions.

I'm outta here.

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT CD: “Shrek 2” (CUT 5: “FUNKYTOWN”), THEN UNDER FOR

Richelle:
The Award Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is produced by Richelle ntczak in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus 106.7 FM in Newark, WYSO, etc. Reviews on the web, etc., etc.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

Copyright: John DeSando & Clay Lowe, 2004

The Land He's Bound To - Jack Leigh: November 8, 1948 - May 19, 2004

Savannah Morning News, May 20, 2004

John David "Jack" Leigh, III, 55 died Wednesday, May 19, 2004 in his residence under the care of Hospice Savannah, Inc. Visitation: 5:00 - 7:00 PM Friday, May 21, 2004 in Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors Hodgson Chapel. Graveside Funeral Service: 10:00 AM Saturday, May 22, 2004 in Bonaventure Cemetery with Reverend Enoch Hendry officiating. Remembrances: Hospice Savannah, Inc. P.O. Box 13190, Savannah, GA 31416 or The Jack Leigh Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Savannah College of Art and Design, Department of Institutional Advancement, P.O. Box 3146, Savannah, GA 31402, telephone: 912-525-5856. Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors Hodgson Chapel Savannah Morning News, May 20, 2004 Please sign our Obituary Guestbook at www.savannahnow.com

Georgia Magazine
March 2001: Vol. 80, No. 2

The Land He's Bound To
by John English

"Jack Leigh is best known for a single haunting photograph—the one of the Bird Girl statue in Savannah's Bonaventure Cemetery that graced the cover of the blockbuster book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Leigh acknowledges that the Midnight image created a "new landscape" for him; he also recognizes his success didn't result simply from being in the right place at the right time. Over the last quarter century, Leigh has almost exclusively focused on his home turf—the low country of the Deep South. His photo essays not only record a subject, but also a context, a sense of place, right down to atmospheric conditions. Leigh's photography is honest and intimate with a trace of nostalgia in it. And it's exquisitely composed and elegantly presented. His impressive body of work has earned him a reputation as a fine art photographer with a passion to document what's around him. His empathy for and pride in his homeland is apparent. So is his artistry."

http://www.uga.edu/gm/301/FeatLand.html