The Doctor in the Hallway News Report 01.02.08
Posted by Ben Moser on 01.02.2008
WGA gives a SAG exception, the Library of Congress gets some addition, and Ben Moser makes some resolution. All that and more in this 2008's first edition of The Doctor in the Hallway News Report. Read it, or I'll put you in charge of guarding Dick Clark until next New Years' Eve.
Hi Kids, welcome back to the Doctor in the Hallway News Report. It's a new year, so here are a few of my movie resolutions, just for you.
1) I resolve to watch more movies I'm not immediately excited about. I wrote off Waitress for far too long, and kicked myself for it by the time I finally got around to giving it a view. I missed out on one of the best movies of 2007, but will not miss out on 2008.
2) I resolve to reinstate my sliding scale of movie expectations. I confess, I went into Spider-Man 3 expecting something amazing in spite of all the warning signs. It's Spider-Man 2's fault. But after that heartbreak, I went in to Fantastic Four 2 with proper expectations and fully enjoyed myself. I tell you all of that to tell you that I won't be expecting art house quality storytelling from Iron Man in 2008.
3) I resolve to stop loudly judging movie trailers when at the theater. I'm probably not going to keep this one.
Now, I resolve to bring you some news:
Does this WGA make me look SAGgy?
The Screen Actors Guild is mailing ballots to its members for voting in the 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards for five film and eight primetime TV categories along with new honors for film and TV stunt ensembles.
The WGA's granted a strike waiver to SAG so the ceremonies won't be picketed.
Unlike the Globes and the Oscars, which are still filed under "will be picketed," the SAG awards may go off without any serious hitches. The waiver means that any SAG members who, due to a show of solidarity or membership to the WGA, can participate without crossing any lines. The only problem is that far, far less people care about the SAG awards than do about Globey or Oscar.
McFly gets registered
The list of films added to the Library of Congress National Registry was announced Thursday by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. The 25 chosen this year bring the registry total to 475.
All films are eligible for inclusion, and hundreds are nominated by the public each year; those selected are "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.
The 25 new flicks?
Back to the Future, Bullitt, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Days of Heaven, Dances with Wolves, The Naked City, Oklahoma!, 12 Angry Men, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Tol'able David, The Strong Mann, Mighty Like A Moose, The Sex Life of the Polyp, Grand Hotel, Three Little Pigs, Our Day, Wuthering Heights, The Women, Dance, Girl, Dance, Now, Voyager, The House I Live In, In A Lonely Place, Glimpse of the Garden, Tom, Tom the Piper's Son, and Peege.
Back to the Future is obviously the most culturally significant because it show beautifully shows off the 80's and 50's as well as shows us that we thought flying cars and silver sunglasses were going to be all the rage come 2015(there's still time!). It's the most historically significant because it's about history. And it's the most aesthetically significant because Lea Thompson was my first ever celebrity crush.
"Ben was the hottest 1st grader to ever want me"
iTunes gets Foxy
Apple is set to break new ground with iTunes, offering movie rentals in a bid to rejuvenate that sluggish part of the otherwise boffo service.
Fox and Disney will be announced as partners in a major unveiling by Apple chief Steve Jobs at the annual MacWorld confab on Jan. 14, according to studio sources.
Apple isn't satisfied with digital music domination. So this is the latest attempt to get people to use iTunes to get their movie as well as their music on. The problem here, though, is that Netflix and OnDemand services allow people to use their super awesome home theater setups with the HD's hanging on the wall and the surround sound blasting from all corners. They don't want to watch movies on a 12-inch screen on their laptops and figure "why bother?" when it comes to rigging it up to their home theater system when popping in a DVD takes 3 seconds. Also? Watching movies on an iPod makes my head hurt.
Swinton has her Turkish Delight and eats it, too
British actress Tilda Swinton has confessed to leading an extraordinary double life following a spate of Internet rumors about an alleged affair. The 47-year-old admits to enjoying a romantic liaison with a "delightful painter" while still living with her long-term partner and their two children. Swinton, who is nominated for a Golden Globe award for her role in Michael Clayton alongside George Clooney, spends much of her time away from the family home in Scotland with a mystery partner. And despite having a new man in her life Swinton insists that she is still in a relationship with John Byrne, who is the father of her 10-year-old twins. She tells the Los Angeles Times: "We are the best of pals and adore being parents and are devoted to that project. We ostensibly live in the same house but I travel the world with another delightful painter. The arrangement is just so sane." Meanwhile, writer/director Byrne, who began his relationship with Swinton in 1990, tells Britain's The Mail On Sunday, "We're amicably living together in the same house, under the same roof. It's extraordinary. We love each other too, in an extraordinary way."
It's nice that Tilda still thinks I'm delightful. I'll leave it at that.
This week's installment of CHEER UP, BEN AFFLECK!
2007 may have passed you by without some crazy person naming their child after you, but CHEER UP, BEN AFFLECK! People think you're knocking boots with Jennifer Aniston! From National Ledger:
Much was made about a 'mystery man' that was spotted boarding a plane with Jennifer Aniston for what appears to be a little R&R in Mexico with her BFF Courteney Cox, her husband David Arquette and the kids. The guy looked a bit like a large Ben Affleck and the blogs were buzzing at the photographs that showed him ready to board the private jet to head south of the border.
So just in case this is true, for those keeping score, TMZ and People can continue to use "Bennifer" for your third straight hook-up. Way to keep it simple Ben!
Jen vs. Jen...I've got five bucks on the one with the pointy weapon
That'll do it for this week...
I'm way behind my deadline, so no homework this week. Just a reminder not to do anything I wouldn't do...
(This week's sources: Variety, IMDB, National Ledger)
