So yesterday, the internet was all abuzz with the debut of the “42,” trailer, the new Jackie Robinson biopic featuring the music of Jay-Z. First of all, what trailer doesn’t feature the music of Jay-Z these days. Second, the introduction of this movie’s presence into my little world, sent my movie loving heart into overdrive. Historical biopics are my absolute favorite genre of movie, even though they are almost all terrible. Quentin Tarantino said it best, and I’m paraphrasing, ‘You can’t just shove a famous person’s life into a 2 hour movie and expect it to be a good exercise of film-making.’ He’s right, practically every historical biopic is fatally flawed for this reason. In these movies, the main actor is usually too old looking for the teenager scenes, and too young looking for the elderly scenes. Think “J. Edgar.” Another problem is the level of historical accuracy. Most times, historical fact is stretched for storytelling purposes in order to sensationalize the person or their story. One scene that comes to mind is from “Nowhere Boy” where fictional teenage John Lennon punches fictional teenage Paul McCartney at John’s mother’s funeral.

Needless to say, this never happened. The director of the flick, Sam Taylor-Wood, remarked that they needed a way to show John and Paul physically bonding…you know outside of their incredible musical partnership.

Another problem with historical accuracy is that sometimes its too accurate. This is the main criticism levied at Steven Spielberg’s soon to be released historical extravaganza, “Lincoln.” The film is an early bet to win a slew of Oscars because of the combination of the commercial master Spielberg, and Daniel Day-Lewis, the actor with the world’s greatest method. Lewis is known for throwing himself into roles with extremely methodical techniques and extensive research. Naturally, the excitement level for this flick was off the charts, and when the trailer hit, the general popcorn munching crowd were stunned when they heard the great Lincoln speak at last. Day-Lewis employed a high pitched, slightly whiny, Kentucky accent. By all recorded accounts, this is how Lincoln spoke. The public, used to seeing Lincoln sit majestically in the Lincoln Memorial, or gaze stoically off their pennies and 5 dollar bills, expected this man to speak with the voice of God. There was a palpable disappointment from the trailer debut because of this one minor point. For me, I loved that Daniel decided to give his Lincoln a historically accurate voicing. My problem with the trailer was the presence of too many familiar superstars dotting the canvas. I found it distracting to see Sally Fields, Tommy Lee Jones, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt inserting their famous mugs in the middle of 19th Century America. To me, this should be a movie where Day-Lewis is the most famous face, and all the rest should be brilliant but lesser known character actors like Jared Harris, who plays General US Grant, and Jackie Earle Haley, who plays Confederate Vice President Alexander Stevens. I’m not too upset though. Sometimes a trailer can’t do a great movie justice. Hopefully the film matches its hype and star power. Judge for yourself.

The next movie that I am absolutely seeing is “Hyde Park on Hudson.” The film is directed by Roger Mitchell, and stars Bill Murray as President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its set during a crucial visit of British Royalty to FDR’s palatial family estate in Hyde Park, New York right before the onset of World War II. For those wondering, yes, its the same King and Queen we all loved from “The King’s Speech,” though obviously played by different actors. A lot of “Lincoln’s” early hype came from the fact that Daniel Day-Lewis was able to physically embody the person of Abraham Lincoln so perfectly. The man transformed magically into that Honest Abe, even if his voice shocked people. When I see Bill Murray as FDR, I just see older Bill Murray with a cigarette holder and a fancy hat. He looks nothing like FDR, and frankly, doesn’t even really sound like him. Now, its actually not really important for an actor to look exactly like the historical figure he is portraying. If the movie and performance are great enough, you end up buying the whole thing no matter what people on the screen look and sound like. Bill gives Roosevelt a halting and mischievous voice, hinting at Bill’s expert comedy skills. There are hints of seriousness from Bill, and I hope there are more in the actual movie, because FDR was one of the country’s greatest and most brilliant Presidents, and it would be interesting to see Bill play a character of such historical gravitas. On the surface, this trailer looks sleight, as one of the biggest plot points seems to be the scandal at serving the King and Queen of England hot dogs and cocktails. Take that you poncy snobs! It also seems to be an awkward love story where we are supposed to be rooting for Franklin as he merrily cheats on his wife with Laura Linney, who plays FDR’s real life mistress. Could be great, could be a train wreck, either way, they have my money.

Now we’re going to end from where we began, with “42,” the story of Jackie Robinson. Ironically, of the three trailers, this was my favorite, even though I think this will be the worst film of the bunch. On top of being a huge fan of history, I’m even a bigger fan of baseball history. It was stunning to see the long destroyed monument to Brooklyn baseball, Ebbets Field, existing in full HD reality. Also, the vintage uniforms and realistic baseball choreography was like catnip to me. Jay-Z’s ode to Brooklyn, “Brooklyn (We Go Hard),” which bleats menacingly over the gorgeous imagery of late 40s era baseball is a great contrast. Harrison Ford plays Branch Rickey, the real life hero who had the good sense and courage to integrate baseball with the signing of Jackie Robinson in 1947. Having seen Ken Burns’s “Baseball” documentary a hundred times, I can tell you that Ford looks and sounds just like Rickey, and based on the trailer, I’m betting on a masterwork performance. The actor that plays Jackie Robinson, Chadwick Boseman, is a dead ringer for the man, however there is one crucial difference. Boseman gives Jackie a thunderously low and powerful voice, like a cross between Shaft and Howling Wolf, when in reality, Jackie had a high pitched, almost nerdy voice. Think Tony Gywnn. The voice Boseman uses sounds great, and it makes you wonder how much more excited people would have been for “Lincoln” if Daniel Day-Lewis employed a similarly powerful voice. Now, with all that said, why do I think this film will be the worst of the three highlighted? Well, first of all, I hope it isn’t. I have high hopes that the filmmakers will be focused and clever enough to give Jackie the story he is due. The problem is that this is being marketed as a sensationalistic movie. Jackie is being presented as the toughest, most hard loving, passionate, and heroic human beings ever, all in the span of 1:47. Now, obviously, Jackie was all those things, but being a hero in a movie is radically different then being a hero in real life. In movies, heroes tend to swerve from one adrenaline spiked moment to the next, carried on the wings of ceaseless action and drama. What’s left out is the sense of tedium, loneliness, awkwardness, and randomness that makes up the majority of anyone’s life, be they an average Joe or Niel Armstrong. Like I said, hopefully this movie lives up to its great trailer.

Well, lastly, I hope you are looking forward to these movies as much as I am. I plan to be providing extensive reviews of each one once they come out to let you know how well I think they held up to their hype, so stay tuned historical biopic junkies! First up is “Lincoln,” premiering right after election day in early November. “Hyde Park on the Hudson” is coming out December 7th, and we’ll have to wait to April 2013 for “42.”

I’m not tuned in to every detail of the Wes Anderson universe, but I loved being surprised by them.  I was surprised by how much I loved “Fantastic Mr. Fox” when I saw it, despite thinking for over a year it was probably some horrible 3D childrens movie, (its nothing of the sort, and you should see it if you haven’t.)  I was surprised by how much I loved “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou,” a film which I assumed sucked because that’s what everyone was saying at the time of its release.  I waited over 3 years before seeing it, and I thought it was wonderful.  I was surprised at how much I loved “Darjeeling Limited,” a movie I reluctantly watched on my computer one summer day with no intention of sitting through the whole thing, but I did, and I watched it again, the next day.  I was never a Wes Anderson fan, but I guess I’ve been surprised to discover that I love practically everything he’s done; all said love coming with a great degree of anti-hipster reluctance I suppose.  This pattern has now lead me to “Hotel Chevalier,” a 13 minute short film Anderson made with Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman.  The film serves as “Darjeeling Limited’s” prologue, and is essential watching for fans of the latter mentioned full motion picture.  What makes it essential?  Well, nothing of any substance in terms of plot or characterization, but like any good comic book, its good to just continuously inhabit the world of a universe you really love.  “Hotel Chevalier” allows that privilege.  The funny thing about the “Darjeeling Limited” universe, and the one explored further in “Hotel Chevalier,” is that they exist in the grander Wes Anderson universe.  It’s an imaginary and dreamy sort of world, stuffed with the precious sort of nostalgia that is both impossible not to adore, and desire with great jealously.  For those wondering, the song that appears both in the short and in the full picture is “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely),” by Peter Sarstedt.  It’s easy to see why Anderson would be attracted to that song, as it makes reference to a beautiful girl’s Rolling Stones record collection.  Anyway, I was just as surprised that this short film existed, and having become tired of being surprised by Anderson’s genius, I watched it right away upon hearing about it.  You can too if you’ve never seen it, or rewatch it.  Either way, enjoy.

So, its common knowledge that there are some gaping plot holes in the “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the first Indiana Jones movie.  One is, how did Indiana Jones know how to close his eyes when the Nazis opened the Ark?  Another is, how did he escape the island when all the Nazis died in the ensuing ghost melting party?  The most famous one is concerns how Indiana Jones got to that island in the first place.  We swim him swim to the submarine, climb on top of it, then the film wipes to the dock the Nazis land in, and Indiana Jones looks really wet.  How in hell did he manage this?  Wasn’t the submarine closed?  Wouldn’t someone notice if he climbed in?  Well, according to the original script, Indiana uses his whip to lash himself onto the periscope and sort of surfs along somehow.  Here is an image with a tiny Indiana Jones model mounted on top of the periscope of the submarine.

The sheer lunacy of this stunt was cut from the final movie, and most people never noticed how Indy made it to the secret Nazi island.  However, it was during the close examination of this scene last night, where I made a startling discovery.  When Indiana Jones swims to the submarine, he no longer has his trade marked fedora.  I made sure to rewind and fast forward a bunch of times, but sure enough, by the time Indiana gets to the secret island, he has no hat.  Then he jumps a Nazi guard, steals his uniform, and definitely has no hat.  Where is the hat?  It’s gone!  But wait, isn’t Indiana never supposed to lose his hat?  They make a point of it in each succeeding movie.  As you know, the opening of “The Last Crusade” is dedicated as the origin story of how young Indiana Jones got the hat in the first place.  Hold up, you’re saying, isn’t Indiana Jones wearing his hat at the end of Raiders?  Surely he must have retrieved it from that boat with all the Jamaican dudes, right?  Actually, if you look closely, that is a different hat, his gray fedora; the hat he uses to wear when he travels.

Holy shit.  There is very little discussion on this matter on the internet, but luckily I found one that attempts to explain what happened to his goddamned hat; his lucky iconic hat, the hat he is NEVER supposed to lose.  According to the “internets,” in the original script, it basically says, ‘when Indy boards the submarine, he “loses his hat once and for all.”‘  In the novelization of the movie, Indy even comments on the fact saying, “Finding the ark cost me my favorite hat.”  Then he laughs…!  Now obviously, after “Raiders” debuted as a smash success, iconography was created, sequels were lined up, and hat mania swept the world.  The conveniently missing hat would never be missing again, and like “Last Crusade” depicts, Indiana would never lose the hat his whole life.  According to further novelization, Indiana would have the hat repaired and reblocked countless times, as a simple felt fedora would never be able to survive the destruction and mayhem Indiana exposed it to.  So, is it a conspiracy?  Does Indiana have a closet full of replacement hats, but acts like he never lost the original to prove his hat keeping badassery?  No, there is a much more boring word for the case of Indiana’s missing hat, retcon.

You may be wondering why I’m putting up an old Cole Porter pop tune from 1928 up my website.  If you’ve seen Woody Allen’s glorious flick, “Midnight in Paris,” you know why, but if you haven’t, then a bit of explanation is needed.  In the film, a time traveling novelist played by Owen Wilson stumbles back in time somehow, ends up at a hot 20s jazz party in Paris, and finds Cole Porter himself performing the song in an intimate setting.  Not “intimate” like an orgy, though maybe one broke out later after Owen left, it’s hard to tell.  Anyway, it’s hilarious, but more importantly, the song is simply one of the best ever.  This version from Ella Fitzgerald is my favorite, which says something because this song was performed by everyone from Frank Sinatra and Louie Armstrong to Diana Ross and Joan Jett.  I’ve taken it upon myself to learn this song on guitar this past week, and its damn hard because of all the jazz chords that require real finger gymnastics.  However, with some real determination, and some real creative chord interpretation, I managed to plunk it down pretty well after a few days.  Here is the link I used to learn, and if you want to play along with Ella, put a capo on the 3rd fret.  Trust me, you’ll like this one guitar players….and uh…lovers of music.

My friend George Gross is a brilliant filmmaker, but as he continues to rise to new levels of fame, he’ll have to compete with the world’s other famous George Gross, the one who made trashy (yet awesome) crime/sex posters like the one above.  It’s actually not bad company, as I think the only other famous Willie Simpson is an Australian beer critic or something.  I’d love to interview him actually.  Anyway, George’s latest masterpiece is a short film entitled, “Senior Break.”   It’s actually a perfect film to put up as the leaves change, and people start thinking about autumn and Halloween.  It’s an incredibly sharp portrait of some of crafty seniors plotting a daring escape from the clutches of some well meaning nursing home attendants.  The project was shot for the Producer Guild of America’s “Produce This! Competition,” in which participants had only 51 hours to conceive, shoot, and edit a film with very narrow parameters.  George had recently won a similar contest, the New York wing of the “48 Hour Film Project” contest, and because this website is so cool, I’m gonna post that award winning video to go along with his latest.  “Nanny Cam” is another short film about a twisted psychopathic babysitter, that is actually a really cute baby film in disguise.  If that doesn’t make sense, pressing play will answer all your questions, and trust me, both films are masterpieces of suspense and film making ingenuity.  Remember, he made these things from start to finish in less than two days, concept, execution, everything.  It’s an unbelievable accomplishment, so check them out.

Senior Break from George Gross on Vimeo.

Nanny Cam from George Gross on Vimeo.

One of the most bizarre things to ever happen on Beverly Hills 90210 was when precocious and immature Scott Scanlon suddenly got really interested in guns and country music.  His last words were, “Check this out!”  What the entire nation ended up “checking out” was Scott’s accidental suicide caused by his poor gun twirling techniques.  It was at this heartbreaking moment in pop culture history where America learned for the first time that mixing guns and country music could cause accidental deaths in even our richest postal zones.  The sheer magnitude of this tragedy was of such a high volume, that America has been denial of its very existence for almost twenty years.  Fortunately, George Gross, the brilliant young filmmaker, never forgot and immortalized Scott’s death for us in an artfully twisted video montage set to Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me.)”  God bless Mr. Gross for refusing to look away from the grisly terror, and present us with reality at its most naked and cold.  With that, I ask you to brace yourselves, and enjoy George Gross’s “Beverly Hills Monster Mash.”

Beverly Hills Monster Mash from George Gross on Vimeo.

I’m not ready to say goodbye to Paul’s terrible movie, in fact watching this makes me want to see the whole thing.  I might have seen the whole thing laid out on youtube, and if it is, expect the entire film posted on my website soon with humorous remarks dashed about.  Anyway, despite the movie being supposedly being godawful, this is a gorgeous piece of film and music making.  It’s Paul, Ringo, and George Martin hanging out in the studio as Paul beautifully weaves through Yesterday, Here There and Everywhere, and Wanderlust.  The first two songs are classics of Zeus-like stature, but Wanderlust isn’t as great.  It’s a very nice song and from one of my personal favorite solo McCartney albums, Tug of War.  The problem is that it doesn’t hold a candle to the two songs he sings previously.  Perhaps in Paul’s mind it does, but he does sing it beautifully.  Speaking of which, I’d like to state also that this is one video where you will probably never hear Paul sing more perfectly, so enjoy the sonic loveliness while you can.  Until tomorrow…

I’ve never seen Give My Regards to Broad Street, but from what I’ve read, its pretty awful.  Apparently, it was Paul McCartney’s ego run amok, thinking he could replicate the success of “A Hard Day’s Night” with another movie about a “day in the life” of…Paul McCartney.  The movie was a huge waste of money, and critics hated it, however its soundtrack, which contained many redone Beatle songs, and Ringo, was #1 in the UK.  Anyway, the musical clips are pretty interesting, and today I’m gonna post his in studio performance of Eleanor Rigby.  Originally from Revolver, Eleanor Rigby was one of Paul’s undisputed masterpieces.  I personally think its one of the greatest pop songs ever written in E minor.  The work though, doesn’t entirely belong to Paul.  George wrote the “all the lonely people, where do they all come from” part, and John claims to have come up with half the lyrics which Paul insists isn’t true.  Ringo wrote the line “writing the words of a sermon that no one will here,” and old John Lennon pal Pete Shotton had Paul change Father McCartney to Father McKenzie.  It’s a great Beatle song, and its great to see it performed in any format, so its presence in Paul’s stupid movie is still incredibly interesting and worth seeing. Give it a spin.

How about that keyboard reflecting in Ray Charles’s sunglasses?  That’s rock and roll, or more specifically, the blues.  This legendary scene, from the “Blues Brothers” movie, is and irreplaceable document of blues rock awesomeness.  The Blues Brothers were a group formed by Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, two SNL geniuses who loved the blues and came up with this brilliant concept for a Chicago based blues group.  The dark suits, hats, and shades are icons of TV and movie magic.  It’s just another example of the insane role that the likes of Aykroyd and Belushi were on in the late 70s/early 80s when it came to dominating the coolest ideas of global comedy.  The original Blues Brothers band consists mostly of the first SNL band, and they really cook.  It’s a reminder of how huge SNL was in the late 70s that even the band members got starring roles in a blockbuster feature film.  The movie, directed by hot 80s director John Landis, is a crazy car crashing romp of great music and fantastic dance sequences, evidenced below.  Check it out.

Lets face it, since 1999, “Star Wars” has been a bag of shit.  I was 13 years old when the “Phantom Menace” came, old enough to have my “Star Wars” fantasy life crushed to smithereens by the atrocity that was George Lucas’s Death Star explosion of a movie.  It was sad because I had both the regular edition and special edition tapes, all the computer video games by Lucasarts, and even the collectable card game by Decipher.  Maybe “Star Wars” sucking was a blessing because it forced me to be less of a nerd, but it still was sad, because (to paraphrase Yoda, or old Jewish guys) an epic series it was.  I had read recently that Lucas is releasing the entire saga in theaters in 3D, which seems amazing, until you realize that people are gonna have to wait out the hideous prequels first before he finally gets around to fucking with the originals again.  Speaking of fucking with the originals, to keep this spirit alive, Lucas is including all the deleted scenes that no one has ever seen in the new Blu-Ray release coming out next September.  Will this be enough to get the hardcore fans to shell out another fifty bucks to own the trilogy that they already own in VHS, Special Edition VHS, Special Edition DVD, and non Special Edition DVD?  Probably, because this trailer looks so COOL!   Check it out!

The highlights look amazing!  Here are my favorites…

• Lando and Chewie trying to make it through that wicked sandstorm.  Is that after they escaped from Jabba the Hutt?  If so that seems amazing!
• The Ice Creature chasing R2-D2 in Hoth…scary!
• The best moment, Luke peeling the fake skin on his robot hand back on…GENIUS!  How was that cut??

All in all, my ancient nerd neurons began to fire just looking at this thing, and I hope people just post all the clips to youtube so I won’t have to buy them.  If they do, I’ll post them right here, so stay tuned…Oh! As a bonus, I’m including one of those scenes right now! It’s from “Return of the Jedi,” and it shows Vader trying to contact Luke with the Dark Side while Luke is building his new green lightsaber!