The Lives of Harry Lime, otherwise known as The Adventures of Harry Lime in the UK, was not a follow-up to the 1949 film, "The Third Man", in the traditional sense. Instead, it was actually a prequel to the film, enabling radio listeners to be better acquainted with Lime, portrayed as a con man in the movie, but had his character softened a bit as more of an anti-hero in the radio series. In both cases, the part was essayed by Orson Welles in what I believe was his last radio series.
As we've documented, "Third Man" spawned a TV series by the same name, with Michael Rennie as Lime, but now let's take a look at the radio show. Keeping with the theme du jour, here is the episode, "Voodoo":
Bear in mind that this was before Welles became a wine salesman and a regular at Dean Martin's Celebrity Roast specials.
Rating: A.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
On DVD: The Wrestler (2008)
Darren Arenofsky's "The Wrestler" is a case study on the life of one wrestler who tried to recapture past glories, despite a heart condition that could take him down for the final three count.
Robin Ramzinski, aka Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke), was a star in the 80's. As this film begins, Robinson is keeping his career going by working weekend independent shows in the Northeast, while working at a deli counter. Estranged from his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), the Ram soldiers on, even after a post-match heart attack in the locker room and subsequent surgery. In attempting to mend his fractured personal life, he tries to form a romantic bond with Pam, a single mom working nights as a stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei).
It all leads to the finale, a match recalling Robinson's greatest feud of the 80's, with The Ayatollah (former WCW & WWE wrestler Ernest Miller). Just when it looks like Robinson's about to win the match, despite his heart troubles, the screen fades to black, and we're left wondering.
Ring of Honor & Combat Zone Wrestling, two Northeast-based promotions, took part in the production of the movie. There are also some faces familiar to fans of WWE & TNA, such as Ron "The Truth" Killings, now operating under the name R-Truth, and Austin Aries, a recent TNA champion. The production came under fire from certain activist groups, particularly over the portrayal of The Ayatollah, failing to see that it was in fact just a character. A Middle Eastern heel played by an African-American. Couldn't they see that as plain as day?
Rourke & Tomei each earned Oscar nominations for their work. Bruce Springsteen recorded the title song, which made its way up the charts in 2009. Rourke, of course, has since made a couple of other hit films, "Iron Man 2" & "The Expendables", a sure sign that his career, like that of "Iron Man" star Robert Downey, Jr., is back on the upswing. Fox Searchlight's YouTube channel offers the trailer:
What I find amusing is Hulk Hogan, who recently left TNA---so we think---having claimed in an interview with Howard Stern that he was approached for the part. Aronofsky said no way, it was meant for Rourke all along. In the physical condition Hogan was in then and now, he's obviously dreaming.
Rating: A.
Robin Ramzinski, aka Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke), was a star in the 80's. As this film begins, Robinson is keeping his career going by working weekend independent shows in the Northeast, while working at a deli counter. Estranged from his daughter (Evan Rachel Wood), the Ram soldiers on, even after a post-match heart attack in the locker room and subsequent surgery. In attempting to mend his fractured personal life, he tries to form a romantic bond with Pam, a single mom working nights as a stripper named Cassidy (Marisa Tomei).
It all leads to the finale, a match recalling Robinson's greatest feud of the 80's, with The Ayatollah (former WCW & WWE wrestler Ernest Miller). Just when it looks like Robinson's about to win the match, despite his heart troubles, the screen fades to black, and we're left wondering.
Ring of Honor & Combat Zone Wrestling, two Northeast-based promotions, took part in the production of the movie. There are also some faces familiar to fans of WWE & TNA, such as Ron "The Truth" Killings, now operating under the name R-Truth, and Austin Aries, a recent TNA champion. The production came under fire from certain activist groups, particularly over the portrayal of The Ayatollah, failing to see that it was in fact just a character. A Middle Eastern heel played by an African-American. Couldn't they see that as plain as day?
Rourke & Tomei each earned Oscar nominations for their work. Bruce Springsteen recorded the title song, which made its way up the charts in 2009. Rourke, of course, has since made a couple of other hit films, "Iron Man 2" & "The Expendables", a sure sign that his career, like that of "Iron Man" star Robert Downey, Jr., is back on the upswing. Fox Searchlight's YouTube channel offers the trailer:
What I find amusing is Hulk Hogan, who recently left TNA---so we think---having claimed in an interview with Howard Stern that he was approached for the part. Aronofsky said no way, it was meant for Rourke all along. In the physical condition Hogan was in then and now, he's obviously dreaming.
Rating: A.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
What Might've Been: Struck By Lightning (1979)
CBS was looking for something to mine the fantasy-sitcom vein that ABC had found with Mork & Mindy. The "Tiffany of the Networks", which had fantasy-coms in the 60's that were hit or miss (i.e. My Favorite Martian, My Living Doll), discovered that while they had a good idea, it was on the wrong night. And it came from the same studio that produced Mork!
Struck By Lightning didn't even last a month here in the US, but all 11 episodes would air overseas. Jack Elam (ex-The Texas Wheelers) starred as the monster of Frankenstein, now working as a common handyman, but needing the formula that brought him to life renewed. It turns out that Dr. Frankenstein has a modern descendant, a science teacher (Jeffrey Kramer), who has just moved into the neighborhood.
Elam was better known as a character actor who played a lot of guest parts, usually in Westerns, but was never able to carry a show in a starring vehicle of his own. Too bad, because this could've helped change that culture. I never saw the show, so we'll forsake a rating, and close with the open and a sponsor tag, courtesy of Gilmore Box:
Struck By Lightning didn't even last a month here in the US, but all 11 episodes would air overseas. Jack Elam (ex-The Texas Wheelers) starred as the monster of Frankenstein, now working as a common handyman, but needing the formula that brought him to life renewed. It turns out that Dr. Frankenstein has a modern descendant, a science teacher (Jeffrey Kramer), who has just moved into the neighborhood.
Elam was better known as a character actor who played a lot of guest parts, usually in Westerns, but was never able to carry a show in a starring vehicle of his own. Too bad, because this could've helped change that culture. I never saw the show, so we'll forsake a rating, and close with the open and a sponsor tag, courtesy of Gilmore Box:
A Modern Classic: Charmed (1998)
Two years after Sabrina, the Teenage Witch had conquered primetime, the WB network decided to jump into the fire, if you will. However, their idea was to do a fantasy/crime drama, which served pretty well for 8 seasons.
Charmed, created by writer Constance Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling's production company, was bounced all over the dial during its 8 year run, and continues today on cable (WE-Women's Entertainment-is one of the rights holders), which would explain CBS' boneheaded decision last week to commission a new version of the series, cashing in on the success of current fantasy series, such as FX's American Horror Story: Coven. 7 years have passed since we said goodbye to the Halliwell sisters, as far as first-run episodes go, but that doesn't seem to matter, apparently, considering that Hollywood is almost totally bankrupt from a creative standpoint.
Charmed started with three very familiar stars: Holly Marie Combs (ex-Picket Fences) as Piper, Alyssa Milano (ex-Who's The Boss) as Phoebe, and Shannen Doherty (ex-Beverly Hills 90210) as Prue. The sisters possessed the "Power of Three", which they needed pretty often to turn back supernatural menaces. Prue was killed off at the end of season 3, leading to half-sister Paige (Rose McGowan) replacing Doherty, though she's included in the modified open we'll see shortly. The ladies owned a nightclub in San Francisco, and had ties to certain of the SFPD. The series did attract some interesting guest stars, including Robert Englund, who guest-starred in season 4. There was also a crossover of a sort with World Championship Wrestling, which sent grapplers Scott Steiner, Marcus Bagwell, & Booker T to make a guest appearance as villains in season 3. Of the three, Bagwell had the most acting experience, having made some low budget films while with WCW.
Love Spit Love recorded the show's theme song. Lead vocalist Richard Butler had previously been with the 80's band, the Psychadelic Furs:
One other note. After leaving the series, Doherty went on to be the first host of SyFy's Scare Tactics, and Julian McNamara (Cole/Balthazor) left to work on FX's Nip/Tuck, then got back into the fantasy business in the 2005 "Fantastic Four" movie.
Rating: B.
Charmed, created by writer Constance Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling's production company, was bounced all over the dial during its 8 year run, and continues today on cable (WE-Women's Entertainment-is one of the rights holders), which would explain CBS' boneheaded decision last week to commission a new version of the series, cashing in on the success of current fantasy series, such as FX's American Horror Story: Coven. 7 years have passed since we said goodbye to the Halliwell sisters, as far as first-run episodes go, but that doesn't seem to matter, apparently, considering that Hollywood is almost totally bankrupt from a creative standpoint.
Charmed started with three very familiar stars: Holly Marie Combs (ex-Picket Fences) as Piper, Alyssa Milano (ex-Who's The Boss) as Phoebe, and Shannen Doherty (ex-Beverly Hills 90210) as Prue. The sisters possessed the "Power of Three", which they needed pretty often to turn back supernatural menaces. Prue was killed off at the end of season 3, leading to half-sister Paige (Rose McGowan) replacing Doherty, though she's included in the modified open we'll see shortly. The ladies owned a nightclub in San Francisco, and had ties to certain of the SFPD. The series did attract some interesting guest stars, including Robert Englund, who guest-starred in season 4. There was also a crossover of a sort with World Championship Wrestling, which sent grapplers Scott Steiner, Marcus Bagwell, & Booker T to make a guest appearance as villains in season 3. Of the three, Bagwell had the most acting experience, having made some low budget films while with WCW.
Love Spit Love recorded the show's theme song. Lead vocalist Richard Butler had previously been with the 80's band, the Psychadelic Furs:
One other note. After leaving the series, Doherty went on to be the first host of SyFy's Scare Tactics, and Julian McNamara (Cole/Balthazor) left to work on FX's Nip/Tuck, then got back into the fantasy business in the 2005 "Fantastic Four" movie.
Rating: B.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Dunce Cap Award: Kanye West & Dez Bryant
Two Dunce Caps to hand out for the week ending yesterday.
Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant gets one for his sideline temper tantrum in the waning moments of Dallas' 31-30 loss to Detroit. According to Pardon The Interruption co-host Michael Wilbon, Bryant wanted to prove he was better than Detroit's Calvin Johnson. Sorry, but that wasn't happening. Johnson caught 14 passes from QB Matthew Stafford for a team record 329 yards. That Stafford pulled a Dan Marino trick with a fake spike to win the game isn't of consequence here. What is of consequence is Bryant behaving like a petulant child who didn't get his way.
Can't we just get rid of the "divas" in pro football? Divas are meant to be a feminine term, after all.
Meanwhile, rapper & tabloid magnet Kanye West has gotten himself in hot water at this desk, and it ain't for renting out a stadium to make an unnecessary spectacle out of proposing to Kim Kardashian, who should be working for a living instead of sponging off soon-to-be-ex-stepdad Bruce Jenner's fame (the sisters had a reunion with Bruce over the weekend) and anyone else more famous than she is, such as West, who has a history of doing stupid things, then tripping over himself trying to explain himself. His ego dwarfs his future wife pro tempore (because the tabloids are already claiming trouble in paradise, and, well.....), such that he felt there was no problem hiring an actor to play Jesus Christ on stage as part of his act. West is touring in support of his new CD, "Yeezus". Some people, especially in the South, might see it as blasphemy. I doubt West knows what it means. Remember, this is the same guy that crashed the party at the VMA's one year because Taylor Swift beat Beyonce for an award. Reading some of his interviews of late, I'd say the guy's crazier than a whole pack of pet raccoons. West had an earlier hit with "Jesus Walks", but I don't think he knows what it means to be humble, either. If he really follows the Bible, and had any sense, he'd give Kim one and make sure she reads from cover to cover. She might actually learn something.
Then again, I doubt that very seriously. Meanwhile, E! may be making plans to film the wedding, just like Kim's last one (to basketball player Kris Humphries, now with the Boston Celtics). That's all she knows. Nothing is private nor without a price tag. Yeah, let's give Kim a Cap, too.
Dallas Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant gets one for his sideline temper tantrum in the waning moments of Dallas' 31-30 loss to Detroit. According to Pardon The Interruption co-host Michael Wilbon, Bryant wanted to prove he was better than Detroit's Calvin Johnson. Sorry, but that wasn't happening. Johnson caught 14 passes from QB Matthew Stafford for a team record 329 yards. That Stafford pulled a Dan Marino trick with a fake spike to win the game isn't of consequence here. What is of consequence is Bryant behaving like a petulant child who didn't get his way.
Can't we just get rid of the "divas" in pro football? Divas are meant to be a feminine term, after all.
Meanwhile, rapper & tabloid magnet Kanye West has gotten himself in hot water at this desk, and it ain't for renting out a stadium to make an unnecessary spectacle out of proposing to Kim Kardashian, who should be working for a living instead of sponging off soon-to-be-ex-stepdad Bruce Jenner's fame (the sisters had a reunion with Bruce over the weekend) and anyone else more famous than she is, such as West, who has a history of doing stupid things, then tripping over himself trying to explain himself. His ego dwarfs his future wife pro tempore (because the tabloids are already claiming trouble in paradise, and, well.....), such that he felt there was no problem hiring an actor to play Jesus Christ on stage as part of his act. West is touring in support of his new CD, "Yeezus". Some people, especially in the South, might see it as blasphemy. I doubt West knows what it means. Remember, this is the same guy that crashed the party at the VMA's one year because Taylor Swift beat Beyonce for an award. Reading some of his interviews of late, I'd say the guy's crazier than a whole pack of pet raccoons. West had an earlier hit with "Jesus Walks", but I don't think he knows what it means to be humble, either. If he really follows the Bible, and had any sense, he'd give Kim one and make sure she reads from cover to cover. She might actually learn something.
Then again, I doubt that very seriously. Meanwhile, E! may be making plans to film the wedding, just like Kim's last one (to basketball player Kris Humphries, now with the Boston Celtics). That's all she knows. Nothing is private nor without a price tag. Yeah, let's give Kim a Cap, too.
Creepy TV: Swamp Thing (1990)
DC Comics' track record with adaptations of their properties on TV hasn't been very good. Unless it has to do with Superman, it's not going to last.
One such case was the first series based on a DC property sold to a cable network. That would be Swamp Thing, which spent three seasons on USA, but hasn't been seen since reruns had aired on Sci-Fi (now SyFy) & Chiller in recent years.
Dick Durock reprised his role from the 2 feature films in the 80's, enabling Swamp Thing to be a little more eloquent than he'd been presented in the comics to that point. His nemesis, Anton Arcane, would be a regular on the show, played by Mark Lindsay Chapman (Louis Jourdan played Arcane in the first film). The series blended together the original origin, as written by Len Wein and illustrated by Berni Wrightson, with a mid-80's revamp by Alan Moore that made Swamp Thing an elemental, giving fans the best of both worlds. Ex-MTV personality Kari Wuhrer (Remote Control) joined the show in season 2 as a synthetic woman created by Arcane, but now with an independent personality.
As you'll see in the intro, DIC co-founder Andy Heyward served as a co-executive producer as well, as DIC would produce an animated miniseries a year later.
MTE Entertainment, which co-produced the series with Michael Uslan's Batfilms company, was an arm of Universal, marking this the only time DC & Universal did any business together.
Rating: B+.
One such case was the first series based on a DC property sold to a cable network. That would be Swamp Thing, which spent three seasons on USA, but hasn't been seen since reruns had aired on Sci-Fi (now SyFy) & Chiller in recent years.
Dick Durock reprised his role from the 2 feature films in the 80's, enabling Swamp Thing to be a little more eloquent than he'd been presented in the comics to that point. His nemesis, Anton Arcane, would be a regular on the show, played by Mark Lindsay Chapman (Louis Jourdan played Arcane in the first film). The series blended together the original origin, as written by Len Wein and illustrated by Berni Wrightson, with a mid-80's revamp by Alan Moore that made Swamp Thing an elemental, giving fans the best of both worlds. Ex-MTV personality Kari Wuhrer (Remote Control) joined the show in season 2 as a synthetic woman created by Arcane, but now with an independent personality.
As you'll see in the intro, DIC co-founder Andy Heyward served as a co-executive producer as well, as DIC would produce an animated miniseries a year later.
MTE Entertainment, which co-produced the series with Michael Uslan's Batfilms company, was an arm of Universal, marking this the only time DC & Universal did any business together.
Rating: B+.
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Weasel of the Week: Stephen A. Smith
ESPN radio & television personality Stephen A. Smith gets the Weasel ears this week, and it's long overdue.
Smith got in hot water earlier this week for using the N-word on the air on First Take during his daily debate with Skip Bayless, formerly of the Dallas Morning News. Three times in as many years, Smith, who was among the voices critical of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper for using the N-word earlier this summer, has dropped an N-bomb on the air in the course of his commentary. In each case, ESPN suits have blindly covered for him by denying anything actually happened. Media columnists, such as Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News, called out Smith for his obvious hypocrisy and ESPN for protecting him for the sake of popping a rating.
I call BS. African-Americans use the N-word in common conversation among themselves on the streets. I know. I've heard it. Rappers use it in their lyrics, and people wonder why they don't get put under the moral microscope. Smith, because he's on national television, gets grilled by the press, largely because he already has a reputation of being a blowhard on the air.
I listen to him talk, and I picture an African-American reincarnation of the late Howard Cosell. Is he loud & obnoxious? Yes. Overbearing? Definitely. He doesn't know when to shut up sometimes. Controversial? You betcha. Here's an idea, Stephen. If you need an N-word to use with "please" in a sentence, let me recommend "Number", as in, your number may soon be up if ESPN's corporate parent, Disney, decides they've had enough of your antics. They say controversy creates cash---and ratings---but in this case, ignorance isn't bliss.
Smith got in hot water earlier this week for using the N-word on the air on First Take during his daily debate with Skip Bayless, formerly of the Dallas Morning News. Three times in as many years, Smith, who was among the voices critical of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper for using the N-word earlier this summer, has dropped an N-bomb on the air in the course of his commentary. In each case, ESPN suits have blindly covered for him by denying anything actually happened. Media columnists, such as Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News, called out Smith for his obvious hypocrisy and ESPN for protecting him for the sake of popping a rating.
I call BS. African-Americans use the N-word in common conversation among themselves on the streets. I know. I've heard it. Rappers use it in their lyrics, and people wonder why they don't get put under the moral microscope. Smith, because he's on national television, gets grilled by the press, largely because he already has a reputation of being a blowhard on the air.
I listen to him talk, and I picture an African-American reincarnation of the late Howard Cosell. Is he loud & obnoxious? Yes. Overbearing? Definitely. He doesn't know when to shut up sometimes. Controversial? You betcha. Here's an idea, Stephen. If you need an N-word to use with "please" in a sentence, let me recommend "Number", as in, your number may soon be up if ESPN's corporate parent, Disney, decides they've had enough of your antics. They say controversy creates cash---and ratings---but in this case, ignorance isn't bliss.
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