WCBE 90.5 FM "War of the Worlds" (Novel, Radio Broadcast, 2 Movies)

WCBE#224-FINAL
It's Movie Time
Co-hosts: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Producer/Director: Richelle Antczak, WCBE 90.5 FM

Reviews: “War of the Worlds”
Taped: 3:30 pm, June 29, 2005
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, July 1, 2005
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

The Script:

Clay
Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” is full of some of the most memorable moments of disaster you’ve ever seen on the screen . . .

John
"War of the Worlds” remains the world's gold-standard for invasion stories . . . .

MUSIC UP THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle Antczak
"It's Movie Time" in Central-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP THEN SLOWLY DOWN AND OUT

John
I'm John DeSando

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe (continues)

Clay (“War of the Worlds: Novel and radio show)
Folks, Brit novelist and respecter of science, H. G. Wells wowed the world with his “War of the Worlds” even before celluloid’s big bad boy of the cinema, Orson Welles, was even born. But history now knows, that both of these men were able to masterfully manipulate their respective readers and audiences.

From H. G. Well’s “Time Machine” to his “The Invisible Man,” and finally to his “War of the Worlds” (written in 1898), Wells the novelist sparked his readers’ imaginations and fueled their fears of the unknown. Just as forty years later young writer-director Orson Welles in 1938 turned that original novel into one of the most famous scary radio broadcasts of all time.

Great entertainers, stimulating thinkers, and social agents provocateurs, both of these men used their versions of “War of the Worlds” to enable their audiences to more thoughtfully come to terms with the fears of their times.

John (“War of the Worlds” - George Pal)
Clay-The 1953 “War of the Worlds” is the mother ship spawning countless alien invasions films, right up to the recent “Independence Day” and the current remake. The original won the Oscar for special effects, although by contemporary CGI standards you easily see miniatures, wires, puppets, and worse acting than that of Hayden Christiansen on a good day.

Clay
John, you just can’t leave that guy alone, can you?

John
The '53 WOW was based on Orson Welles' radio adaptation of the HG Wells novel, both part of a noble pedigree, which in 1953 hinted that the red invasion from Mars is a warning about Soviet Russia or a foreshadowing of Vietnam and Iraq. In any case, this memorable sci fi reminds us how our pride leaves us vulnerable.

The professor, played by Gene Barry, offers the sobering observation that, Martian or American, Syrian or Frenchman, "We'll find their mortal weaknesses and destroy them that way."

Sobering indeed.

Clay ("War of the Worlds" - Spielberg)
Sobering, indeed John, but Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” is a further extension of Spielberg’s coming of age that has him more seriously confronting both his own personal history and the history of our time. In this movie Tom Cruise gets to play a father who has let down his family but now gets a chance to prove he loves them more than he knew.

Played against the backdrop of some of the most spectacular and frightening scenes of terror and destruction you’ve ever seen in a film, it’s ironic that you remember most of all the panic and fear on the faces of the father (Cruise), the daughter (Dakota Fanning), and the older son (Justin Chatwin).

Rivers filled with floating bodies, ferocious vaporizing machines that vibrate audiences as well as the on-screen victims, is you like to be scared, then sitting in a theatre watching this film is the place you’ll want to be.

It’s almost as scary as the evening news.

John (“War of the Worlds” - Spielberg)
Clay, Steven Spielberg phoned home from The Terminal, connected with his inner genius once more, and gives us an excellent remake of the 1953 War of the Worlds touched with his signature obsession about family and graced with special effects that simulate the terror of invasion as Iraqis and Afghans could currently understand.

Making sure we know the bad guys are really bad (The 1953 version made the invaders a bit too cute), Spielberg wastes little time showing the tripodites destroying everything in sight with dock-worker dad Tom Cruise careering through debris like an Olympic runner, 10-year-old daughter Dakota Fanning in tow, crying too much for my taste.

Parallels to America's current vulnerabilities are as abundant as they were in the cold war '50's, yet both red and blue states can claim Spielberg's support, either for listening carefully to Donald Rumsfeld's apocalyptic warnings or Ted Kennedy's rueful lamentations.

No matter, this is a rip-roaringly scary invasion tale, told by a master filmmaker, who seems to invade every genre with child-like wonder.

Clay
Enough of rip-roaring cary invasion tales, John, because it’s grading time.

John
Holy digital suction cups, Hooray!

Clay
“War of the Worlds,” novel and radio broadcast, both get an “A” because they both AUDACIOUSLY played upon our fears . . .

John
The 1953 "War of the Worlds" earns an "A" for its A-LIST ALIENS . . .

Spielberg’s "War of the Worlds" earns an "A" because it's as good as AI. . . .

Clay
Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” gets an “A” because it’s much better than “A.I.” . . .

John
Clay, Do you suppose there is anyone today who will learn from our film that invasion can be dangerous to your health?

Clay
John, no more than we’ve learned from “Jaws” that it’s dangerous to swim in a sea full of sharks.

I’m outta here.

See you at 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 and 106.7 FM in Newark.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

© 2005 John DeSando and Clay Lowe

WCBE 90.5 FM: "Winter Solstice," "My Summer of Love," "George Romero's Land of the Dead"

WCBE#223-FINAL
It's Movie Time
Co-hosts: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Producer/Director: Richelle Antczak, WCBE 90.5 FM

Reviews: “Winter Solstice,” “My Summer of Love,” George Romero’s Land of the Dead”
Taped: 3:30 pm, June 22, 2005
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, June 24, 2005
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

The Script:

Clay
“Winter Solstice” is a quiet movie full of the sounds of silence
. . .

John
"My Summer of Love” is more like a winter of whining . . . .

Clay
“George Romero’s Land of the Dead” is a rip-roaring parable about the have’s, the have not’s, and the ARE not’s . . .

MUSIC UP THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle Antczak
"It's Movie Time" in Central-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay
Lowe . . .

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP THEN SLOWLY DOWN AND OUT

John
I'm John DeSando

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe

John (“Winter Solstice”)
Clay, in Winter Solstice, widower Jim Winters (Anthony La Paglia) says that Gardens "fall apart pretty quickly, and you have to take care of them." His family needs much care as it recovers from the loss of his wife and the two boys' mother.

In the Seinfeld mode, but without the humor, Winter Solstice is about nothing. It's about getting through without letting mom's death freeze you in sorrow. Older son Gabe says about leaving town and his fine girlfriend,"That's my problem, and I'm dealing with it." They're all dealing with life.

The simplicity of the days, coupled with the minimalist dialogue and plot, characterizes this rich, small movie. About the change in seasons and lives, Shakespeare's Richard says in King Henry VI, Part iii, "I, that did never weep, now melt with woe/That winter should cut off spring-time so."


Clay ("Winter Solstice")
Folks, the title, “Winter Solstice,” aptly describes the long night of darkness that has overtaken the male characters in this film. The awkward silences at the dinner table evidence how the presence of the mother is still sorely missed. And the disappearance of the father and sons into their own shadows of darkness only further evidence that none of them knows how to get on with their lives.

Dominated by the powerful performance of La Paglia, who’s the archetypal strong-and-silent male, we feel deeply for both him and his boys because none of them have a clue about what it takes to replace the love once given to them by the woman who is now missing from their lives.

John, “Winter Solstice” IS indeed a touching movie, but I’ve got to ask you: Are we men really that helpless without a woman?

John (“My Summer of Love”)
Many of you are!

Clay
Speak for yourself, not me.

John
But let’s look at the WOMEN without the wimps. The Yorkshire moors gave us the Bronte sisters with all their creativity and their repression; today in the new “My Summer of Love,” the closest two teen girls, plain Mona and hot Tasmin, come to creativity
is making out with each other while repression still hangs about.

Modern fundamentalist Christianity, embraced with devotion by Mona’s brother, is the repressive influence threatening to take Mona’s freedom and her brother’s sanity.

This film has fashionable, low-key lesbianism . . .

Clay
Whatever that is.

John (continues)

. . . young people’s need to find love and a home, a handheld camera with saturated color, and an improbable story that languishes into nothing. Worst of all, the dialogue is anemic.

I learned more about the challenges of teenage girls from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and those girls didn't have the British Bronte
moors to inspire them.



Clay (“George Romero’s Land of the Dead”)
Folks, George Romero doesn’t need the British moors to inspire his demons. Give him an urban landscape, all lit up at
night in light so blue and cool, and you’ll have done all you need to do
in order to evoke the darkest of his demons so nasty and cruel.

His “Land of the Dead,” however, is not just an exercise in sadomasochistic violence, though that it is too. Standing proud and tall in the city’s skyline is Fiddler’s Green, a bastion of
privilege and power. Far below are the city streets full of the starving people. And standing nearby, across the river, are the living
dead who have finally figured out that they’ve been had, and that they aren’t going to take it anymore.

Well cast, well acted, and directed with uncompassionate power, “Land of the Dead” is a splendid display of cinematic anger at not only this world’s inequities but also, perhaps, of the next.

But enough of Winter, Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall, John, because it’s
grading time.

John
Holy Princess Summerfallwinterspring, Hooray!

"Wnter Solstice" earns an "A" for ATTENDING to the little ACTIVITIES
of living.

Clay
“Wnter Solstice” gets a “B” because Dads and boys left ALONE don’t always do fine . . .

John
"My Summer of Love" earns a "C" because CAVORTING CUTIES do not always a CULTURAL CONTRIBUTION make. .

Clay
“George Romero’s Land of the Dead” gets a “B” BECAUSE it’s a classic
horror film that will never give up and just die . . .

John
Clay, Women with women, men without women, I wish we could just
be the NORMAL NAUGHTY the NUNS loved to hate when I was growing up.

Clay
Whaddya mean me, John? There were no nuns in my life and there are no woman making me do naughty things in my life.

John
Too bad.

Clay
No it isn't. (laughs)

I’m outta here.

See you at 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 and 106.7 FM in Newark.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

© 2005 John DeSando and Clay Lowe

WCBE 90.5 FM: "Batman Begins," "Howl's Moving Castle," "The Leopard"

WCBE#222-FINAL
It's Movie Time
Co-hosts: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Producer/Director: Richelle Antczak, WCBE 90.5 FM

Reviews: “Batman Begins,” “Howl's Moving Castle,” “The Leopard”
Taped: 3:30 pm, June 15, 2005
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, June 17, 2005
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

The Script:

Clay
"Batman Begins” is not only dark it’s a psychological mess . . . .

John
“Howl's Moving Castle” is a hoot . . .

Clay
Luchino Visconti’s “The Leopard” screens at Mershon this Friday and Saturday evening . . .

MUSIC UP THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle Antczak
"It's Movie Time" in Central-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP THEN SLOWLY DOWN AND OUT

John
I'm John DeSando

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe

John (“Batman Begins”)
Clay, a Batman with psychological realism? Why not? The turn to character study in one of the darkest comic book characters of all time is timely and successful in Batman Begins.

Clay
You’re wrong.

John
The overly long plot relating to the bad guys is nothing special. But fascinating is Christian Bales' Batman overcoming his fear of bats and fashioning an ubercop for an anarchic Gotham City.

Part of Batman Begins’ success lies in Christopher Nolan’s (Memento) ability to keep us from Batman for almost half the movie, immersing us in the development of Bruce Wayne without our demanding the appearance of the caped crusader. Judging from the preview audience’s clapping at the film’s conclusion and their rapt attention throughout, this film may be the bridge to a deeper, more satisfying aesthetic experience of a preeminent genre, comic book adaptation.

In that day a man shall cast his idols . . . to the moles and to the bats." Isaiah ii. 20.

Clay ("Batman Begins")
Underground moles, bloody black bats, and American idols, Oh boy!

Folks, will filmmakers never get tired of inflicting upon us their tortured and tormented mind-groping heroes? Enough of psychodrama, I say. Enough of Freud and Jung and the psychological babble of Adler. What the world needs on the screen are real red-blooded comic book heroes who will stand up to the forces of darkness.

Christopher Nolan’s Batman, with no offense to Christian Bale, Michael Kane, or Liam Neeson; is simply a bore. The cinematographic is static and decidedly undynamic. And Gotham city looks like the backdrop of an ad for GQ Quarterly, BMW’s and Rolex watches.

Whatever happened to those simplistic story lines that pitted good versus evil? Are Bush, Cheney, and Karl Rove the only media savvy people left in this country who know that what Americans really long for are good old fashioned heroes? Too bad not even they are able to deliver.

John (“Howl's Moving Castle”)
Clay, now I know why everyone was excited about Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar winning animation because his new Howl’s Moving Castle is more original and thoughtful than any American entry in that genre.

A cumbersome castle on chicken legs right out of Russian folklore; a vain, kind, and immature hero; villains morphing into lovable friends; a fire that talks like Billy Crystal and surpasses Eddie Murphy’s wisecracking donkey are some of the touches of this hip Asian anime that comments on the folly of war promoted by very neocon-like leaders and the endlessly interesting conflicts between the good and bad angels of each character.

Shape-shifting heroine Sophie says, "I don't want to live if I can't be beautiful!" Now there’s my kind of lady--callow and heroic in the same film.

No one dimensional characters for this director, perhaps the most gifted animator in the world .

Clay (“The Leopard” - Visconti)
In the world of “Howl’s Moving Machine” and Miyazaki’s earlier “Spirited Away” evil was always lurking in the shadows and living things were always morphing into objects and creatures quite different from themselves.

In the films of Luchino Visconti the lead characters almost always appear to exhibit an outward appearance of elegance and charm, but often conceal within themselves a proud spirit capable of doing much harm. Burt Lancaster’s land owner in “The Leopard,” for instance, is fully aware his family’s wealth and power is slipping away, but nevertheless he continues to keep himself under control but never stops in his attempt to control others.

Now John, get this. If ever there were a filmmaker who was born with the pedigree needed to fully understand Bruce Wayne’s Batman, Visconti would have been the one. And if ever there was an actor capable of capturing the full intensity and dark power of Batman, it would have been Burt Lancaster. Too bad no one ever asked.

But enough of Batman, Miyazaki, and Luchino Visconti, because it’s grading time.

John
Hooray!

"Batman Begins" earns a "B" because BATMAN can sometimes be BEAUTIFUL, other times BORING. . .

Clay
“Batman Begins” gets a "C" because even the Batmobile needs a CRASH COURSE in aerodynamics . . .

John
Howl's Moving Castle" moved me to give it an "A" for for AWARD-winning ANIME. . .

Clay
“Howl’s Moving Castle” gets an “A” because the ANIMATION is ASTOUNDING and the story telling is super fantastic . . .

John
Clay, there's no decorative codpiece for the new Batman. Do you think cussing Dick Cheney also influences Hollywood COSTUME DESIGN?

Clay
I don’t know John, but don’t put Batman in between Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson during next year’s Super Bowl. Can you imagine what would happen if you had a malfunctioning codpiece?

I’m outta here.

See you at 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 and 106.7 FM in Newark.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

© 2005 John DeSando and Clay Lowe

WCBE 90.5 FM: "Mad Hot Ballroom," "Rock School," "The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D"

WCBE#221-FINAL
It's Movie Time
Co-hosts: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Producer/Director: Richelle Antczak, WCBE 90.5 FM

Reviews: “Mad Hot Ballroom,” “Rock School,” “The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D”
Taped: 4 pm, June 8, 2005
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, June 10, 2005
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

The Script:

Clay
"Mad Hot Ballroom” is a junior sized version of “Strictly Ballroom” . . . .

John
“Rock School” rocks as a documentary . . .

Clay
“The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D” is neither “Whale Rider” nor “Finding Nemo” . . .

MUSIC UP THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle Antczak
"It's Movie Time" in Central-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP THEN SLOWLY DOWN AND OUT

John
I'm John DeSando

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe

John (“Mad Hot Ballroom”)
Clay, It’s been two glorious weeks for us award-winning teachers. Last week I reviewed the documentary Rock School, a raucous romp with teens from Philly grooving Zappa all the way to Germany. This week’s Mad Hot Ballroom shows NYC public schools 11 year olds competing for top honors in ballroom dancing, a required course that lets students and teachers strut their best stuff.

Like last year’s Spellbound, everyone gets to show competitive spirit with low-level anguish at losing and testosterone-fueled joy at winning. The common denominator in both films is the enthusiasm of teachers who have little to gain but the biggest prize of all—the success of their charges.

Ballroom captures the harmony that pervades a group project where the human body gracefully expresses its glory and young people experience perhaps for the first time the wonder of collective activity that ties them to peers and teachers and effaces their natural youthful loneliness, delinquent temptations, and fear of losing.

You’ll want to put on your dancing shoes after this film.

Clay ("Mad Hot Ballroom")
Folks, John DeSando IS an award winning teacher (I’ve seen his plaque), but instead of teaching his students about dancing and prancing, he teaches them about how to more fully explore Marlon Brando’s performance in “Last Tango.” [Ah, Marlon we miss you.]

Though there are no Brando’s, Travolta’s nor Astaire’s in “Mad Hot Ballroom,” there ARE some very exciting performers. Keep your eyes on the 11-year-old team of Wilson and Jatnna from PS 115 in Washington Heights, for instance. What Wilson lacks in linguistic skills, he makes up for in charisma and charm. And his lovely partner, Jatnna, has a poise and elegance that transcends her youth and social standing. [Watch for her swirling and whirling in fuchsia.]

The teachers, the dance instructors, and the students themselves are the stars of this film, so if you have fault with the inexperienced filmmakers who sometimes lose control of their material, you will still be able to phase-lock into the musical rhythms with the student performers. [Olé!]

John (“Rock School”)
Clay, in Don Argot’s documentary, Rock School, Paul Green takes a group of 9 to 17 year olds in his Paul Green School for Rock Music in Philadelphia and makes them into a band playing Black Sabbath, Santana, and a Zappa that an audience bowed to at a German Zappanele concert.
Green abuses his learners with profanity dominated by variations of the “f” word (“Don’t f---ing make mistakes!”), but he keeps his job while his students achieve undreamt of results. Unlike old chestnuts such as To Sir with Love, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and Seize the Day, which purport to show the gifted teacher at work, this film honestly depicts the flaws and virtues of a dedicated facilitator living only to see his pupils excel.

“If it wasn’t for rock school, I’d probably be dead,” says one student deeply hooked by the school’s charismatic leader and unmitigated success.

Rock on.

Clay (“The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D”)
John, the professional performances in “The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl” not only lack charisma, they also score high in annoyance. That is, with the exception of Lava Girl (Taylor Dooley), the superhero girl with the fuschia hair, who would have made a striking same-gendered partner for Jatnna the young dancer in “Ballroom.”

But Shark Boy (Taylor Lautner) has a more annoying chip on his shoulder than the classroom bully. And Max (Cayden Boyd), the younger brother of Jenna (from “The Missing” and “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”), does not yet have the talents of his sister.

Set first in Max’s classroom, then in Max’s imaginary tundra-like land of milk and honey, “Shark Boy & Lava Girl” may hold the attention of pre-teens and pre-schoolers, but it will have mom and dad running for cover to get popcorn, fruit punch, and candy.

But enough of imaginary worlds and rocking Latino rhythms, John, because it’s grading time.

John
Hooray!

“Mad Hot Ballroom” earns an "A" for its ADOLESCENT and ADULT ACHIEVEMENT . . .

Clay
“Mad Hot Ballroom” gets a “B” because it’s the BOYS AND GIRLS who make this picture . . .

John
“Rock School” earns a "B" for BRAVELY showing the "f" word worthy enough to be used by Dick Cheney . . .

Clay
“The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl” gets a “D” because it’s a cardboard cutout of a movie . . .

John, after listening to some of our more recent shows, I’m beginning to worry that our format and delivery is getting too slick, too smug, and too smooth. Whaddya think?

John
Clay, not slick or snug ENOUGH for my Seinfeld-like self apsorption. In fact, you should work on that weakness of caring for people too much.

When more listeners complain about our smugness, I’ll feel we have done our job.

I'm outta here.

Clay
John, you are the original Mr. Freeze.

I’m outta here too.

See you at 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 and 106.7 FM in Newark.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

© 2005 John DeSando and Clay Lowe

WCBE 90.5 FM: "Mad Hot Ballroom," "Rock School," "The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D"

WCBE#221-FINAL
It's Movie Time
Co-hosts: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Producer/Director: Richelle Antczak, WCBE 90.5 FM

Reviews: “Mad Hot Ballroom,” “Rock School,” “The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D”
Taped: 4 pm, June 8, 2005
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, June 10, 2005
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

The Script:

Clay
"Mad Hot Ballroom” is a junior sized version of “Strictly Ballroom” . . . .

John
“Rock School” rocks as a documentary . . .

Clay
“The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D” is neither “Whale Rider” nor “Finding Nemo” . . .

MUSIC UP THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle Antczak
"It's Movie Time" in Central-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP THEN SLOWLY DOWN AND OUT

John
I'm John DeSando

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe

John (“Mad Hot Ballroom”)
Clay, It’s been two glorious weeks for us award-winning teachers. Last week I reviewed the documentary Rock School, a raucous romp with teens from Philly grooving Zappa all the way to Germany. This week’s Mad Hot Ballroom shows NYC public schools 11 year olds competing for top honors in ballroom dancing, a required course that lets students and teachers strut their best stuff.

Like last year’s Spellbound, everyone gets to show competitive spirit with low-level anguish at losing and testosterone-fueled joy at winning. The common denominator in both films is the enthusiasm of teachers who have little to gain but the biggest prize of all—the success of their charges.

Ballroom captures the harmony that pervades a group project where the human body gracefully expresses its glory and young people experience perhaps for the first time the wonder of collective activity that ties them to peers and teachers and effaces their natural youthful loneliness, delinquent temptations, and fear of losing.

You’ll want to put on your dancing shoes after this film.

Clay ("Mad Hot Ballroom")
Folks, John DeSando IS an award winning teacher (I’ve seen his plaque), but instead of teaching his students about dancing and prancing, he teaches them about how to more fully explore Marlon Brando’s performance in “Last Tango.” [Ah, Marlon we miss you.]

Though there are no Brando’s, Travolta’s nor Astaire’s in “Mad Hot Ballroom,” there ARE some very exciting performers. Keep your eyes on the 11-year-old team of Wilson and Jatnna from PS 115 in Washington Heights, for instance. What Wilson lacks in linguistic skills, he makes up for in charisma and charm. And his lovely partner, Jatnna, has a poise and elegance that transcends her youth and social standing. [Watch for her swirling and whirling in fuchsia.]

The teachers, the dance instructors, and the students themselves are the stars of this film, so if you have fault with the inexperienced filmmakers who sometimes lose control of their material, you will still be able to phase-lock into the musical rhythms with the student performers. [Olé!]

John (“Rock School”)
Clay, in Don Argot’s documentary, Rock School, Paul Green takes a group of 9 to 17 year olds in his Paul Green School for Rock Music in Philadelphia and makes them into a band playing Black Sabbath, Santana, and a Zappa that an audience bowed to at a German Zappanele concert.
Green abuses his learners with profanity dominated by variations of the “f” word (“Don’t f---ing make mistakes!”), but he keeps his job while his students achieve undreamt of results. Unlike old chestnuts such as To Sir with Love, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and Seize the Day, which purport to show the gifted teacher at work, this film honestly depicts the flaws and virtues of a dedicated facilitator living only to see his pupils excel.

“If it wasn’t for rock school, I’d probably be dead,” says one student deeply hooked by the school’s charismatic leader and unmitigated success.

Rock on.

Clay (“The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D”)
John, the professional performances in “The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl” not only lack charisma, they also score high in annoyance. That is, with the exception of Lava Girl (Taylor Dooley), the superhero girl with the fuschia hair, who would have made a striking same-gendered partner for Jatnna the young dancer in “Ballroom.”

But Shark Boy (Taylor Lautner) has a more annoying chip on his shoulder than the classroom bully. And Max (Cayden Boyd), the younger brother of Jenna (from “The Missing” and “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”), does not yet have the talents of his sister.

Set first in Max’s classroom, then in Max’s imaginary tundra-like land of milk and honey, “Shark Boy & Lava Girl” may hold the attention of pre-teens and pre-schoolers, but it will have mom and dad running for cover to get popcorn, fruit punch, and candy.

But enough of imaginary worlds and rocking Latino rhythms, John, because it’s grading time.

John
Hooray!

“Mad Hot Ballroom” earns an "A" for its ADOLESCENT and ADULT ACHIEVEMENT . . .

Clay
“Mad Hot Ballroom” gets a “B” because it’s the BOYS AND GIRLS who make this picture . . .

John
“Rock School” earns a "B" for BRAVELY showing the "f" word worthy enough to be used by Dick Cheney . . .

Clay
“The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl” gets a “D” because it’s a cardboard cutout of a movie . . .

John, after listening to some of our more recent shows, I’m beginning to worry that our format and delivery is getting too slick, too smug, and too smooth. Whaddya think?

John
Clay, not slick or snug ENOUGH for my Seinfeld-like self apsorption. In fact, you should work on that weakness of caring for people too much.

When more listeners complain about our smugness, I’ll feel we have done our job.

I'm outta here.

Clay
John, you are the original Mr. Freeze.

I’m outta here too.

See you at 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 and 106.7 FM in Newark.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

© 2005 John DeSando and Clay Lowe

WCBE 90.FM "Cinderella Man," "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants"

WCBE#220-FINAL
It's Movie Time
Co-hosts: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Producer/Director: Richelle Antczak, WCBE 90.5 FM

Reviews: “Cinderella Man,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”
Taped: 4 pm, June 1, 2005
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, June 3, 2005
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

The Script:

John
"Cinderella Man” pulls no punches for a winning biography . . .

Clay
“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” is a wonderful movie awkwardly titled . . .

MUSIC UP THEN UNDER FOR:
Richelle Antczak

"It's Movie Time" in Central-Ohio with John DeSando and Clay Lowe . . .

MUSIC BRIEFLY UP THEN SLOWLY DOWN AND OUT

John
I'm John DeSando

Clay
And I'm Clay Lowe

John (“Cinderella Man”)
Hamlet said, “Sir, in my heart there was a kind of fighting ,

That would not let me sleep . . . .”

Clay
Now there was a man of conscience.

John
Equally sleepless is James J. Braddock, who lived in the Depression Era and fought for his family’s life while defeating Max Baer for the heavyweight championship of the world in 1935. Ron Howard directs Russell Crowe in Cinderella Man with an affection for difficult times, the fighter, and the actor.

Comparisons to Seabiscuit, both racehorse and film about him, are inevitable and flattering on all sides. Comparisons to “Rocky” go only as far as boxing and the rise and fall and rise again of thoroughly American heroes.

Ron Howard can depict complex characters and times in equal measure while still indulging his taste for sap (see Renee Zellweger as Braddock's whiny wife), Russell Crowe is an actor of enormous subtlety, and James Braddock was a true American hero, a fighter who came back, a symbol of an indomitable America coming back from economic failure.

Clay ("Cinderella Man")
John, only in America could you have an Australian actor (Russell Crowe) convincingly play the son of Irish American immigrants and not be a kissin’ the Blarney when you call him a true American hero. [Harry Golden and Studs Terkel would be proud of you.]

Biff. Bang. Slam. Bam. Little Ronnie Howard continues the man of action tradition he established with his ultra-violent Western, “The Missing.” Once more in “Cinderella Man” he brings to the screen the story of a come-back tough guy, who by sheer tenacity becomes the movie’s hero.

Hooking up again with both the cameraman and the editor from “The Missing,” Howard and his movie making team know how to move in on, and stay with the action. They capture it all.

[They also know how to evoke mood. You can smell the coal dust burning in the tenements. You can feel the burn of the ropes on your hands on the docks. And you can feel every punch that Russell Crowe’s Jim Corbett both gives and takes in the ring.]

“Cinderella Man” is a must see for all those red blooded Americans who have ever found themselves flat on their backs. Let’s hope Donald Rumsfeld doesn’t see this one.

John (“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”
Clay: The only magic realism in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is the one, one-size-fits-all pair of jeans worn by the four girlfriends, whose summer adventures bring a dose of realism magical only for insights into life. As a coming-of-age film, this ranks with the best of them for non-condescending, adult-like perceptions, with nary a “like” in the teeners' vocabulary.

The ten rules of the sisterhood are dominated by the logistical one that states, "You must pass the pants along to your sisters according to the specifications set down by the Sisterhood." FedEx does the delivery; the girls supply the specific adventures that echo the anguish and resilience of being a teen .

You will care for each girl; I guarantee it as if it were a pair of Levis, sturdy and malleable, sexy and comfortable. Come to think of it—that IS The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Clay (“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”)
John, I like my Levis straight and tight even though my shape has more in common with the movie’s more generously proportioned Carmen (America Ferrera) than it does with her much leaner soccer playing buddy Bridget (Blake Lively). The miracle, of course, is that one size does fit all, including their two other adopted summertime sisters.

Color Bridget’s adventure ‘Golden Brown’ for her summer in Mexico playing soccer. Color Carmen’s story ‘Cul De Sac White’ for her painful visit to see her Dad and his new family in South Carolina. Color Lena’s (Alexis Bledel) summer odyssey ‘Mediterranean Blue’ because it takes place on a romantic Greek island.

John
Just like Corfu.

Clay
Yep, we’ve been there.

But save the color of ‘Discount Red’ for poor Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), who has to stay home and make money.

Compassionate, idealistic, witty and clever, this “Sisterhood” is the best movie I’ve ever seen about coming of age in the summer.

But, John, enough of tight jeans, boxers, and babes playing soccer because it’s grading time.

John
Hooray!

“Cinderella Man” earns a "B" because its BOXING BARELY BEATS Howard's emotional BRACKEN . . .

Clay
“Cinderella Man” gets an “A” even though we have to ARDUOUSLY endure the dullness of Braddock’s domestic life in between fights . . .

John
“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” earns an "A" 'cause it AIN"T like any other teen flick you've seen . . .

Clay
“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” gets an “A” because the only way to get through ADOLESCENCE is by the seat of you pants . . .

John
Clay, I knew you'd like the young girls in "Sisterhood" and the tough guy in "Cinderella Man." Your biography could have this title: "Cinderfella: The Man who Loved Women in Pants."

Clay
John, if you end up writing my bio, call it what you will, but never forget that in my world, as in Norman Mailer’s, tough guys don’t dance and real girls never wear pants.

I'm outta here too.

See you at 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 and 106.7 FM in Newark.

MUSIC UP AND OUT

© 2005 John DeSando and Clay Lowe