Ghost Twitter in the Sky

When Stars Twitter, A Ghost May Be Lurking -What is Twitter? A microblogging tool that facilitates the posting of short, mundane, diary-like entries. Posts stylistically capture the breathlessness of an extremely busy person taking taking a momentary timeout from a hectic life - "just picked up my dry cleaning, OMG why can't they ever get the starch right". Entries appear to be posted from cell phones and other mobile sources, as if the poster understands that friends, fans, etc. ( all 3 of them, generally too busy twittering themselves to actually read anything) can't wait hours for yet another self-promoting normal blog entry. In fact, surveys establish that over 70% of twitter entries are posted from easy chairs. The twitterers are indeed rushed, they need to complete the post before the commercial break ends. No one wants to miss a single second of that fabulous Gilmore Girls dialogue.

As Good As News is shocked to learn that certain celebrity twitterers (and some celebrities actually have thousands and thousands of pod people awaiting every tweet) view Twitter as just another tool to build the brand (i.e., shamelessly promote themselves by any means, fair or foul). A few celebs employ ghost twitterers - that's right, they actually hire people to write messages one sentence long (although a complete sentence is a Twitter rarity) for a medium that is designed to capture spontaneous, personal thoughts on a real time basis. OK, we already admitted As Good As News is shocked. Shocked but not outraged (blogger's are required by law to reserve outrage for AIG bonuses), because Twitter readers deserve whatever they get. The real news is that some of the ghosts are celebrities themselves. Some samples from today:

SHAQ: Why bother practicing free throws when the foul line keeps moving all the time - ghosted by Amy Winehouse;

A-ROD: I kiss myself in the mirror every morning, what's the big deal, doesn't everyone? - ghosted by Madonna;

CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL - Circumcision prevents STDs - ghosted by President, International Society of Mohels;

MANHATTAN DA ROBERT MORGANTHAU - This art swindler Salander is like something out of the Producers, selling the same painting three times, the man cannot be serious - ghosted by John McEnroe;

CURT SCHILLING - Of course I should be in the Hall of Fame - ghosted by Bert Blyleven with assistance from Jack Morris and Mike Mussina;

PRO-CREATIONIST (Note from AGAN, that's a fundamentalist who opposes the teaching of evolution, not a Big Love sire of thirty children) TEXAS SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER BOB CRAIG (Larry Craig's nephew) - We're switching to small scale guerrilla war on evolution and opening up a whole new front with this Burkah requirement for the lady teachers - ghosted by Ayatollah Khamenei.

Alien Trespass - If you loved The Blob ...

Think about science fiction movies in the 1950s, The Blob for example, or the recently remade The Day The Earth Stood Still. Director R.W. Goodwin thinks about them - a lot. Alien Trespass isn't really a spoof, although it winks back across fifty years more than once. It isn't quite an ordinary homage, although Goodwin, with writers James Swift and Steven Fisher, value the genre and the era. Alien Trespass is more like a game or a challenge - I can beat you with one hand tied behind my back - or in this case, we can make a good sci fi pic while simulating the same social conventions and limitations of budget and technology that our forebears faced in the 1950s.

Alien Trespass simulates the 1950s extraordinarily well. The film opens with a newsreel, the celluloid crackles and the the light scatters as if a projectionist is changing reels. The not so special effects include a flying saucer made from a miracle substance that appears to be plywood, an alien marshal sheathed in aluminum foil and, getting every dollar onto the screen, an alien outlaw who seems almost, well, rubber like. It's not just the special effects that capture the 50's feel. The dialog is spiced with ironic puns that the actors ignore - not a spoof, but a true to the genre phenomenon that made Mystery Science Theater possible. The leading ladies, Jody Thompson, as Lana Lewis the wife of Professor Ted Lewis (Eric McCormack) and Jenni Baird as the waitress/heroine, exude sex appeal while hewing to the Legion of Decency code. The sound track features the eerie yet tonal whine of the Theremin.

Okay, so Alien Trespass does a great job following its own rules, is it worth seeing? The characters are limited - possibly a deliberate nod to convention, but one that hurts this movie just as it did much of the science fiction in the 1950s. A capable cast doesn't have to do much heavy lifting, although Baird and Thompson manage to stand out.

The story is predictable, but it's enough to hold your attention. A flying saucer crashes and two passengers emerge, an alien monster and the marshal transporting him. The marshal must recapture the monster in a small Western town before the monster multiplies via cell division and devours the earth. The first few monster scenes are genuinely scary. Eventually the town learns that not all aliens are monsters. Alien Trespass sheds no new light on earth or mankind. Here again, perhaps a choice, most of its 1950s forebears were not great stories, not classic sci fi - but why not choose to make a picture with a few deeply drawn, memorable characters and an original story that has something to say. Why not a "new classic", Mr. Goodwin? You can play with one hand tied behind your back and still go for the win.

If you loved The Blob, you'll love Alien Trespass. If not, it's probably still worth renting on a slow night. Take The Blob - adequate story, campy humor, Steve McQueen - not all bad. Add a cup of nostalgia and two tablespoons of irony derived from shooting the same type of film, at a remove of fifty years in an era when computer graphics sometimes swallow the genre alive. The result is entertaining, if not thought provoking.

Green White House

Barry O'Bama goes all out for St. Patrick's day with a green White House fountain (pray for freezing weather tonight - the jello shots are on Michelle -- literally) and the appointment of Steeler owner Dan Rooney as ambassador to Ireland. Rooney is known as a peacemaker in spats between NFL owners. Pacifying Jerry Jones is probably good training for dealing with former IRA gunmen. Language will be a barrier. Forget the endless confusion over what "football" really means - Rooney will spend weeks trying to explain the term "Yinz" to Irish officials already shocked because the American Embassy now seems to be flying something called the Terrible Towel right next to the American flag. Dublin and Pittsburgh, two great cities separated by more than a common language.

Adventureland

The Lord saw Superbad and he said unto Director Greg Mottola:

"Thou canst do better, for a lot less money. You shall maketh another coming of age comedy. I shall taketh away Judd Apatow and the big studio money, but I shall giveth unto you these things:

That script with all the witty dialog, the one you wrote before you shot Superbad;

Jesse Eisenberg (great as a teen in The Squid And The Whale), the poor man's Michael Cera - Jesse may not be poor for long;

Kristen Stewart - by the way, Greg, thou art very lucky. Adventureland shall be Kristen's last low budget film as she is about to become Hollywood's only bankable female lead - for good reason. She will take a role that could be an overwrought trainwreck and play it so well that she keeps Adventureland on track - but next time thou shalt require her to participate more fully in the comedy that doth surround her;

Martin Starr (another Freaks and Geeks alum), because someone has to delivereth that witty dialog and this guy is perfect;

Bill Hader, because witty dialog alone doth not a comedy maketh, and this loaner from Saturday Night Live will keep things just light enough with some screwball stuff, including one scene with a baseball bat that works remarkably well;

A sound track that proveth there actually was (a little) acceptable music in 1987;

Kennywood Park, a location so nice that thou shalt struggle constantly to make it dumpy enough for your dream; and most importantly

The Last Pacer, that's Pacer as in American Motors fka Rambler.

With these things thou shalt make a funny, sometimes touching movie in which recent college grad James (Eisenberg) is forced to cancel his Summer in Europe and work the games booths at Adventureland to save money for Columbia Journalism school. Adventureland shall prove a real education. James, the 22 year old virgin (where is that Apatow guy when we really need him), shall fall hard for the beautiful Emily (Stewart), an NYU student and Adventureland veteran. James shall not understand that Emily is struggling with a secret bad boy lover (Ryan Reynolds who plays an interesting role understatedly), her mother's death, a wicked stepmother, and a weak father - yes that script with the witty dialog is a compilation of cliches, but thou shalt shoot it anyway and Stewart, Starr and Eisenberg shall make it work for you."

As Good As News won't argue with the Lord. Adventureland is often funny and sometimes touching, despite the cliches. The characters sometimes seem too old for their problems, but in other ways the movie is just in time. Russian Lit grads are going to work in amusement parks and layoffs are changing many grad school plans.

Worth seeing in the theater if you are in the mood for a comedy that's a little sappy. More than worthy of a rental. Last chance to see Kristen Stewart in a "small" picture. Well, not really. You can always rent The Cake Eaters, reviewed here.

The Great Buck Howard

As The Great Buck Howard opens, Troy Gable (Colin Hanks) quits law school to become an assistant to Buck Howard (John Malkovich) - an unpleasant eccentric touring a circuit of Grade B theaters across America as a mentalist. As the film closes, Buck Howard is an unpleasant eccentric touring a circuit of Grade B theaters as a mentalist. Little happens in between. Very little. Buck nearly resurrects his career to the heights it achieved twenty years ago when he was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson (think The Amazing Kreskin). Then his own bitterness and an ill timed lapse in his abilities send him back to that Grade B circuit, oddly content with the realization that it has become the place where he belongs. Troy sticks with Buck through a little thick and a lot of thin, happy that he's doing something real. Troy resists the cynicism (but not the sex appeal) of publicist Valerie Brennan (Emily Blunt) and finds himself as a writer.

So much for story. The Great is essentially a character study with a peek at old time, small time theater entertainment, an indie sheep in studio clothing. John Malkovich makes Buck Howard believable, but not enjoyable. His commitment to playing Howard as a petty egomaniac may actually kill the picture. It just doesn't seem all that important when Buck responds to Troy's doubt with yet another successful demonstration of his signature effect, a performance that amazes Troy along with the small town audience and shows that Buck is right where he belongs. Colin Hanks is unobjectionable, but he just doesn't add enough to make the picture go. Watson shines in a role that's less than pivotal.

Stay home. Rent only if you are committed to viewing the entire Malkovich cannon.

The Juche Idea -

Jung Yoon Lee, a South Korean born filmmaker, moves from Japan to a North Korean artists camp, where she farms and films in a Stalinist paradise that worships dictator Kim Jong Il and his Juche philosophy of art. The framework of The Juche Idea is a mocumentary narrative of Lee's work and life at camp, but clips of her work and training materials are director Jim Finn's real playground - he gets to toy with the meaning of video, propaganda and language - all with an occasionally interesting concoction of real archival propaganda (North Korean and Voice of America) mixed into work that's at least two steps (fictional Lee is shooting fictional films) removed from reality. The Juche Idea includes some humor, particularly in scenes featuring the use of Oleg, who can't really speak English at all, to demonstrate capitalist and socialist English.

A segment of the audience laughed out loud at the humorous moments. Sadly, I was not in that segment. After investing several minutes getting interested in Lee's story, getting a feel for when we were shifting from mocumentary to video project and back and starting to think about what it all meant, I was just too tired to mine the humor in fractured English ironic propaganda. The film festivals love The Juche Idea, but I would have fared better with more story - take that mocumentary to the finish line Mr. Finn, what ever happened to Lee? - and more structure -themes like what are video, language, art and propaganda work better for me in small doses. Let me move through 1.01 then add 1.02, not start at 1.77.5. with multiple, fragmentary graduate level messages.

One bright spot was nearly enough to overcome the pain of reading both a left hand column of Juche philosophy and a bottom of the frame subtitle at the same time. Daniela Kostova (pictured above), a real life artist from Russia via NY, plays a Bulgarian artist who mentors Lee at camp. Kostova is so scarily adept at keeping Lee on the Worker's path that there is no doubt she could run a socialist labor camp by day and take over the New School's adult ed film class at night. Look for Kostova in anything else, maybe this role will launch a new career. See, or rent, The Juche Idea only if you need material to discuss with film fanatics - this could be a campus cult classic for a while.

Was that SZ or ZS? No Subtitles Required: Laszlo & Vilmos

No Subtitles Required: Laszlo and Vilmos - This documentary on famed cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond and Laszlo Kovaks gets off to a running start with footage of the 1956 Hungarian uprising, the Russian invasion of Budapest and Hungarians fleeing across the border into Austria. Two of those fleeing Hungarians were film students Laszlo and Vilmos, who risked death to shoot the film and then smuggle it across the border. This was only the beginning of two extraordinary lives that should have made for a more exciting biography.

No Subtitles captures the bio basics by mixing spectacular clips from their films with interviews of Laszlo and Vilmos themselves and a host of celebrity colleagues - directors and actors who worked with them. After a perilous return to Hungary by Laszlo to pick up their girl friends, the pair moves to America - but hard labor on an upstate NY maple syrup farm is worse than a Hungarian labor camp. They head to Hollywood, where the cinematography establishment rejects the foreigners like a heart transplant from the wrong donor. Instead of joining the union they work fast and cheap on "no budget" B minus pictures for a few years, then start to catch some breaks. Peter Bogdanovich (Targets) and Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider) hire Laszlo for serious films that are shot on the cheap, requiring some creativity and daring from the cinematographer. Robert Altman, John Boorman and Steven Spielberg find Vilmos for McCabe and Mrs. Miller, Deliverance and Sugarland Express. Each goes on to receive many, many, many nominations and awards, including Vilmos's Oscar for Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The many celebrity interviewees, Peter Bogdanovich and Sharon Stone come to mind as two with much screen time, add a little flavor. Laszlo was a handsome daredevil who loved to shoot woman and could improvise a rigging on a shoe string. Vilmos would build trust with an entire crew. The problem is that every interviewee is working hard to find new ways to say the same nice things about the title duo (by the way, isn't "Laszlo & Vilmos" actually a necessary subtitle?). The subjects themselves are cooperative, but they only really loosen up when talking about the escape from Hungary. Neither says much about their personal lives. Neither says anything about their working relationships with directors like Bogdanovich and Spielberg.

No Subtitles works well when its showing clips from the work of these two masters, and best of all when the clips mesh with a little talk about how they found the right lighting or rigging or filter (including an in-person tip from Orson Welles). Fortunately, there are a lot of great Laszlo and Vilmos movies from which to pull scenes, and this alone makes No Subtitles worth a rental. Unfortunately, the celebrity interviews don't capture the humanity of the subjects. No Subtitles would have been better off either cutting much of the interview footage and leaving the focus on the cinematography itself or going for more with the interviews. Maybe find some non-celebrities who are willing to dish a little not too embarrasing dirt (the forgotten location scout from The Deer Hunter tells all) and push Laszlo and Vilmos to talk a little more candidly about what it was like to work with, oh maybe, Spielberg compared to Altman. Sadly, Laszlo died suddenly of a heart attack while this film was being made and the chance of really capturing these two extraordinary lives on film is fading.