Movie review - "Looney Tunes Back in Action" (2003) **

 Joe Dante's last big budget studio feature (to date) - I wish he'd have the chance to do a few more but anyways... This has it charms, particularly some excellent animation, but doesn't quite work. Maybe too frantic or something. Maybe the real world is as cartoony as the cartoon world? Too noisy?

The human characters aren't that well defined. Brendan Fraser is an affable lunk and... that's it - a little more character wouldn't have hurt. (When he plays himself at the end, he has a real character... that had a lot of potential.) Ditto Jenna Elfman's exec... she's very undefined. Fraser is never believable as Timothy Dalton's son. Why not have an American actor play this part? There's no real core emotional relationship to anchor it.

 I think that's the issue - it lacks chaacter and relationships.

Steve Martin Top Ten

 1) The Man With Two Brains (1982) - can't believe it wasn't a bigger hit

2) Dead Man Don't Wear Plaid (1982) - also loved this

3) All of Me (1984) - fantastic physical comedy

4) Roxanne (1987) - terrific rom com

5) Only Murders in the Building - one of his best efforts

6) Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - small role he was terrific

7) Grand Canyon (1991) - Martin as Joel Silver

8) Parenthood (1989) - these roles are harder than they look

9) Bowfinger (1999) - magic

10) Pink Panther (2006) - you know something, I'm giving him this because it seemed such an impossible job to step into Sellars' shoes and he pulled it off

Chevy Chase Top Ten

 1) Community - brought him back and he repaid them by bad mouthing the show

2) Foul Play (1978) - terrific male lead to Goldie

3) Fletch (1985) - put it on the Underhills

4) Spies Like Us (1985) - great partner to Aykroyd

5) National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) - very solid family man stuff

6) Caddyshack (1980) - I think this is how he imagines himself

7) Funny Farm (1988) - a little stressful to watch at times but charming

8) Ellie Parker (2005) - look, I genuinely liked his role in this, he was very good

9) Three Amigos (1986) - atypical work but a lot of fun

10) Oh Heavenly Dog (1980) - I loved it as a kid, have not seen it since then, don't want to risk ruining the memory

Movie review - "Father of the Bride" (1991) **1/2

 Sweet. Very white. Lots of decor. Martin Short funny as is Kieran Culkin. Everyone charming. Maybe a little creepy viewed through a modern lens but Steve Martin is well cast. Diane Keaton doesn't do much I guess she was glad to be in a hit.

TV review - "The Only Murders in the Building" Season 3 (2023) ***

 Still fun, and Meryl Streep is always entertaining, though haven't we seen Paul Rudd play a mock version of himself before? Or just too many other actors do it? Selena Gomez seems bored. The mystery is fine. I love the Broadway stuff.

Book review - "Born Standing Up, a Comic's LIfe" by Steve Martin

 Wonderful book one of the best comic memoirs I've read. Martin is talented but that's a small part of it - he worked so, so hard, as a writer and then performer, travelling everywhere, doing several shows a night, trying new things, being smart, applying philosophy. He became a rock star comic but it's easy to see why he's sustained his career since. Very very impressive.

TV review - "Only Murders in the Building Season 2" (2022) ****

  Still great fun. Just the right amount of Martin Short. Selena Gomez doesn't seem that into kissing Cara. Loved Iran Contra riff. Lots of twists at the end. Maybe doesn't have the same heart with the trio becoming friends but still fun.

TV review - "The Only Murders in the Building" (2021) ****

 Splendid murder mystery with engaging stars, plenty of twists, a theme (finding friendship and love later in life). Still can't avoid the villain doing a convenient monologue at the end but how else to do it. The three stars are terrific together. I enjoyed the Broadway gags too.

Movie review - "The Three Amigos" (1986) **1/2

I didn't think much of this film when I first saw it at the movies, despite normally loving flicks from the Saturday Night Live crowd. However a lot of people love it so I thought I'd give it another go and... nope, still don't find it very funny. There are some great bits - the title tune, the concept, the dance, the setting - but all three amigos are annoyingly similar, the tone of the movie goes all over the shop (it's about movie stars in the real world but the real world features invisible swordsmen and singing bushes), and there weren't enough stand out gags. I found Patrice Martinez dull. Alfonso Arau was excellent - he has some great scenes.

Book review - "Musts, Maybes and Nevers" by David Picker (2013)

I was mostly familiar with David Picker as the smug, gruff, tightly-spoken figure who popped up in Bond docos, talking about his involvement in the series, but of course his name is well known for all those students of cinema in the 60s and 70s. Picker was head of production at United Artists in their hey day when they seemed to touch the zietgeist at will - among the films Picker greenlit were Tom Jones, the Bond series, A Hard Day's Night, Midnight Cowboy, Last Tango in Paris.

It's an incredible record, and yes while Picker mostly said "yes" and then stayed out of the way, what he said "yes" to was very impressive. This was Picker's great time in the sun - he became an independent producer with more mixed success, as well as short stints being head of Paramount and Columbia.

Picker puts up the impression of being down to earth but not really; some places in this book seems downright petty, slagging off on Robert Altman for calling him a prick and Mike Medavoy for not inviting him to a party, whingeing about inadequate press coverage of his achievements (he says the story of how the Bond series was started has never been told by a person who was there before... but Cubby Broccoli published his memoirs in the late 90s) and how UA execs got paid less than execs at other Hollywood studios and how Transamerica made them stay at a corporate camp rather than a nice hotel. If his films don't succeed its normally the fault of someone else eg Stella and Leap of Faith was because of the nasty and incompetent directors, The Greatest Story Ever Told was down to its megalomaniac George Stevens. It was Arthur Krim not him who turned down American Graffiti and Bonnie and Clyde, Bob Benjamin Planet of the Apes (to be fair he admits he turned down The Graduate because he didn't get it).

But some anecdotes are gold: Charles Bludhorn being determined to make a movie featuring Buffalo Bill and Hitler, Picker being talked into buying Grease purely on the basis of Allan Carr's enthusiasm, Harold Mirisch desperately trying to get Truman Capote over to his house as a guest, falling out with friend Herb Gardener, George Roy Hill's mistress inspired the native extras to come to his defense and save his job on Hawaii, Picker suggesting John Newcombe as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I liked that he actually praised some critics (Pauline Kael and Clive James) and took the fall for some things, and there are lively sketches about people such as Richard Lester and Harry Salztman. It's an important book by one of the most significant film execs of his time; I just wish he was a little less pompous on the page and that he had spoken about some of his works like Royal Flash.

Movie review – “Man with Two Brains” (1982) ***

Steve Martin is very entertaining and is magnificently matched by Kathleen Turner, sexy and funny as hell. It’s amazing to think this was still one of her first performances (also interesting that the way she looks at the end of the film is how she looks now). Sissy Spacek’s voice is also ideal. It motors along and remains bright; I don’t have the attachment to this that I do of Flying High but there are several classic moments: Martin talking to the girl at the scene of the accident, the drink driving test, David Warner’s apartment.

Book review – “Send Yourself Roses” by Kathleen Turner

Few female stars had a more rapid rise to fame than Kathleen Turner – out of drama school she quickly nabbed an agent, then scored a role in a Broadway hit (Gemini) and a soap, before landing the lead in Body Heat. This was an instant classic and she followed it up with two more excellent films, both very different – The Man With Two Brains and Romancing the Stone.

It wasn’t hard even at the time to see why she became so big so fast – that incredible voice, great sex appeal, confidence and genuine acting ability. She was on a hot streak for the entire 80s – Prizzi’s Honour, Accidental Tourist, War of the Roses. 

But in the 90s it went sour. Her husband had business troubles (he was involved in a building which suffered a fire; 87 people died); she developed arthritis which led to a drinking problem; steroids and other medicines helped wreck her looks and figure; she featured in a number of flops. But she kept working and eventually had a big comeback as a stage actor, with The Graduate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (although her marriage ended after 20-odd years).

Interesting trivia: Debra Winger was meant to play the lead in Stone but she bit Michael Douglas at a meeting; the role of Joan Wilder’s agent was originally shot with a male actor playing the role but the scenes were refilmed; Tony Perkins and Ken Russell had major problems with drugs and booze respectively on Crimes of Passion; she and Douglas had a fling on Stone; Nic Cage’s acting choices in Peggy Sue Got Married (the hair, the voice) were deliberately against the wishes of Coppola to show his independence of his uncle director; Burt Reynolds was a little bitch on Switching Channels.

To be honest I would have preferred more of this than her going on about Virginia Woolf and her guest role on Nip Tuck all the time; she also goes on a bit too much about her daughter, friends and general philosophy on life (I’m not saying it doesn’t have a place there’s just too much of it).

I did really like her tips on acting, including a discussion of a voice – Turner teaches acting and you can tell. She pats herself a bit too much on her back about her feminism and activism but I did find this interesting; I also enjoyed the biographical stuff: I had no idea she was a “diplomat brat” – she grew up the daughter of a US diplomat, living in Cuba, Venezuela and England (se was in Cuba when Castro came to power); her father died of coronary thrombosis when she was only 17; she has a brother who lives in New Zealand now. This goes on a bit too long but a decent enough read.

DVD review - "The First 5 Years of SNL" (2005) ***

Read this after the book on SNL - you have to, really, since reading about a TV show will only ever give you part of the story. It's a good look at the show 1975-80, with lots of clips and some grabs from people who worked on it (especially writers - writers never turn down a chance to chat), with some notable exceptions (no Bill Murray or Jane Curtin). Garrett Morris looks as though he's done a lot of living, but Laraine Newman looks in good shape. The most interesting thing is how much Lorne Michaels looks like Dr Evil (older Lorne more than younger Lorne). We also speak hear from John Belushi's widow, Steve Martin, Eric Idle and Candice Bergen. Some of the sketches stand up very well but admittedly we only see segments of them rather than the whole thing. Drugs and sex are touched on but not to the extent they are in books on the show. The DVD has another documentary - almost as long, which covers the story but with new details. Why not combine them into one long doco?

Movie review - "The Pink Panther" (2006) **1/2

OK remake with Steve Martin doing a decent Clouseau, ditto Kevin Kline as Dreyfus. Beyonce Knowles is pretty but can't really act. There are some funny moments, but I have trouble remembering any of the film now. Is Jean Reno required to play a Frenchman in every Hollywood film needing a Frenchman? Notice how in the second half Clouseau is actually a really good detective - is this cheating somehow?