WCBE 90.5 FM: "All the King's Men," "The Last Kiss," "Flyboys," "Studio 60 Premiere"

WCBE #285-Final
It's Movie Time: “All the King's Men," "The Last Kiss," “Flyboys,”
Co-hosts, writers & producers: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Taped: 1:00 pm, September 20, 2006
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, September 22, 2006
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

John

“All the King's Men" is less interesting than a WHITE HOUSE press conference . . .

"The LAST Kiss" shows young men in their LAST moments of LUST. .

Clay

"Flyboys" takes us back to World War I when the bad guys were the Germans . . .

HIT MUSIC, THEN UP THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle Antczak

"It's Movie Time" in Columbus 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 ("All the King's Men")

Clay, All the King’s Men is ABOUT the interesting and manipulative Willie Stark aka Huey Long (Sean Penn), governor of Louisiana in the ‘50’s but CENTERS on his much less interesting publicist, Jack Burden (Jude Law).

This disappointingly distant and cold adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s novel, previously made into a black and white film classic starring Broderick Crawford, has Burden losing his better angel of idealism to his demon of ambition.

Penn tries too hard to portray good and evil in Stark. Kate Winslet’s Anne Stanton, Stark’s lover, seems lost in the period trappings with nothing to do but look sorry for the trouble she’s causing. Law underplays to successful effect an insider trained to look from the outside but unable to leave ambition just to his pen.

Clay ("All the King's Men" 110 words)

Folks, this most recent film version of All the King's Men fails most of all because it's more of a stage play than a movie.

Too tightly shot, too darkly lit, too dependent upon dialogue, and not dependent enough upon the ambient powers of Willie’s Po Boy South, the movie's director and scriptwriter fail to deliver the novel's most powerful warning: Beware of the politician who would do anything to hold on to power.

Though Sean Penn's Willie is impressive as a ranter and raver who can stir his people into a frenzy, he unfortunately never successfully reveals why he is so willing to betray those people who love him.

John (The Last Kiss)

I don’t know about YOU, but maintaining LOVE amid the pressures of modern society makes ME feel every time as if this kiss were the last kiss.

Clay

Judas would have understood.

John

Will she tire of me? Will marriage lock me in to my future without my control?

Clay

Oh, poor John.

John

These and other contemporary questions are the purview of The Last Kiss, a realistic melodrama that watches the disintegration and sometimes rehabilitation of every relationship in the film.

The Last Kiss does not attempt to glamorize or accessorize the everyday challenges of maintaining love. [As writer Paul Haggis did with Million Dollar Baby and Crash, he fashions reality-like dialogue around common struggles, which he elevates to universals.]

Ibsen crossed with Pinter is the closest I can come to the style and tone. It’s as good an explication of modern romance as we're going to get this year.

Be prepared to face yourself if you have a last kiss.

Clay ("Flyboys" 130 words)

Well, folks, the romance in "Flyboys" is as bittersweet as is the movie's last good-bye, [but when the goings get good it doesn't get any better.]

One of those rock 'em, sock 'em, war movies that Hollywood was so good at making in the black and white forties, this current color version of what it was like to fly and die in the skies during the early days of the First World War is destined to become a genre class.

The sky battles are magnificent. The writing is as clever as it is introspective. And the actors are as handsome as they are charming.

Could it be that war is really all about killing?

HIT DRUMS, THEN UNDER FOR

But enough of navel gazers, political demagogues, and lovers’ last kisses, John, because it's grading time.

John

Holy Heartbreaks, Hooray!

"All the King's Men" earns a “C” for its COINCIDENTAL BUSHWACKING . . .

Clay

"All the King's Men" gets a "C" because it’s both COLORLESS and CLAUSTOPHOBIC . . .

John

"The LAST Kiss" earns a “B” because BOYS DESERVE to be kissed LAST . . .

Clay

"Flyboys" gets an "A" because it's ALL ABOUT what makes war heroes tick . . .

John

LAUGHS . . . Clay, I suspect you may NOT remember YOUR last kiss . . .

I'm outta here.

Clay

Wrong again, John, I remember her sweet lips as well as I remember her kids that kept calling me daddy.I'm outta here too.

But this TV note before I go, last Monday night's premiere of "Studio 60" indicates to me that this it has the potential of being one of the hottest shows of this new TV season.

See you at the movies, folks.

HIT CLOSING THEME THEN UNDER FOR
Richelle:

The Award Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is written and produced by John DeSando and Clay Lowe in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus, Ohio.

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT

Copyright by John DeSando & Clay Lowe, 2006

WCBE 90.5 FM: "Hollywoodland," "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man"

WCBE #283-Final
It's Movie Time: “Hollywoodland,” “Leonard Cohen: I’m You Man”
Co-hosts, writers & producers: John DeSando & Clay Lowe
Air Time: 3:01 pm and 8:01 pm, September 8, 2006
Streaming live on the web at http://www.wcbe.org .

John

“Hollywoodland” is a film about broken dreams . . .

Clay

“Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” features the music of a beautiful loser . . .

HIT MUSIC, THEN UP THEN UNDER FOR:

Richelle Antczak

"It's Movie Time" in Columbus 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 (“Hollywoodland” 131 words)

Hollywoodland: The title may be a reference to Disneyland, itself a Hollywood spin-off full of dreams shallow and disappointing while offering only immediate gratification.

Clay (laughs)

Sounds promising.

John

The same can be said of the film Hollywoodland, a noir in the tradition of Chinatown with a detective, played by Adrien Brody, out of his league as he snoops around the real-life “suicide” of the ambitious George Reeves, who played Superman in the popular ‘50’s TV series.

There even might be homage to Citizen Kane with Kane’s reporter trying to find out the meaning of Rosebud and Reeves’ manager looking like Kane’s manager Bernstein. But be assured, Hollywoodland is in no where near the greatness of these classics.

Hollywoodland is a B movie with an ambition like its characters—doomed to be devoured by Hollywood.

Clay (“Hollywoodland” 129 words)

Folks, Allen Colter has directed some of TV’s hottest shows (from The Sopranos to Sex & the City), but directing a feature film calls for some skills that Colter has not yet perfected. Case in point, Hollywoodland, which is his very first feature film.

Though his producers pulled together an excellent cast, he wasn’t able to guide them into an ensemble performance. Adrien Brody’s private eye doesn’t blend in with the rest of the cast because he thinks he’s Nicholson in Chinatown.

Ben Affleck as George Reeves is so low key that when he finally does lose it, he ridiculously goes over the top. And, it’s the same for the ladies, their performances are fine, but they too seem to be in different films.

You’re right, John, a classic film Hollywoodland is not.

HIT CD: “LEONARD COHEN: I’M YOUR MAN” (CUT 13: SUZANNE), ESTABLISH THEN UNDER FOR:

John (“Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” 129 words)

Here’s a doc about a CLASSIC guy.

I once succeeded with an attractive older woman because we shared poetry lovers’ delight in Leonard Cohen’s Suzanne.

Clay

Maybe that's because you drank her tea and ate her oranges.

John (Ignores)

Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man is an entertaining tribute documentary from a concert in January 2005 at the Sydney Opera House. Although Nick Cave and the Wainrights among others could hold their own in concert, when they successfully cover Cohen’s songs here, there’s a slight disappointment that
the basso gravel voice himself is not singing.

When Cohen finally sang Tower of Song, I knew why he was being feted, and why he sings his compositions better than anyone else.

His smirk is not smug either: It mirrors a translucent soul loving
humanity in all its weaknesses, as he loves himself in all his. Deservedly.

Clay (“Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” 130 words)

A translucent soul indeed, John, few singer-songwriters are more soulful than this 72 year-old troubadour from Montreal.

And, like his voice of the poet in his “Bird On a Wire,” few
singer-songwriters have so longed for freedom. You know: freedom from guilt. Freedom from betrayal. Freedom from Being. If you want to intellectually understand Cohen trying reading Nicolai Berdyaev’s The Destiny of Man.

John

Yes, Sir, Rev. Dr. Professor.

Clay

But, if you just want to emotionally understand him, slide on down in your theatre seats and listen carefully to the music in “Leonard Cohen: I’m the Man.” You might even find yourself fascinated, as was I, at how his presence seems to fill the musicians as they sing his words and play his songs.

Not a perfect film, but when Cohen’s on screen the experience is
transcendent.

MUSIC DOWN AND OUT

Clay

But enough of lamenting Supermen, Russian theologians, and wailing Canadian poets, John, because it’s grading time.

HIT DRUMS, THEN UNDER FOR:

John

Holy Tobermory, Hooray!

“Hollywoodland” earns a “C” because a CAREER can go south faster than a speeding bullet . . .

Clay

“Hollywoodland” gets a failing grade because both ‘Hollywood’ and ‘land’ end in a “D”. . . .

John

“Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” earns a “B” because his songs BEG to be sung BY this man . . .

Clay

“Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man” gets a “B” because you’re right, John, no one does it BETTER than Cohen . . .

John

Clay, Son Erik and buddy Kato Katlin in Hollywood don’t seem to be anywhere near George Reeves’ depression.

Do you suppose it’s because they don’t fly or because they nurture young female companionships?

I’m outta here.

HIT CD: LEONARD COHEN: I’M YOUR MAN (CUT 6: “CHELSEA HOTEL”), ESTABLISH, THEN TAKE DOWN AND UNDER FOR:

Clay

Got me, John., Hollywood’s your Nirvana; mine’s at the Chelsea Hotel . . .

I’m outta here too.

See you at the movies, folks.

CONTINUE WITH “CHELSEA HOTEL” HELD UNDER THE ANNOUNCER

Richelle:

The Award Winning "It's Movie Time" with John DeSando and Clay Lowe is written and produced by John DeSando and Clay Lowe in conjunction with 90.5 FM, WCBE in Columbus, Ohio.

MUSIC UP, THEN DOWN AND OUT TO TIME

© 2006 John DeSando and Clay Lowe