The Longshots (2008, Dimension Films)
(Purchase at Amazon)

Let’s face it, I knew going into watching The Longshots that I wasn’t the intended audience. I could have watched it alone and written a snarky review about how Ice Cube’s transformation from Earth’s most pissed-off rapper to most cuddly family film star is nearly complete, but I chose to watch it with my family.

My daughter, Sophie, is a big fan of Keke Palmer, star of Akeelah and the Bee and the hit Disney channel movie about double dutch jump roping, Jump In. I, too, have been impressed with the young Miss Palmer, who was able to hold her own in Akeelah and the Bee opposite two mighty actors, Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne. I was also curious to see how well Fred Durst — yeah, that dude from Limp Bizkit — was able to direct a film. Throw in a supporting role by Garrett Morris, and people, I was ready to watch The Longshots.

The film is based on the true story of Jasmine Plummer, the first female quarterback ever to lead a team in the Pop Warner football tournament. In the film, Jasmine (Palmer) is a wallflower who keeps her nose buried in books and has no friends. Her divorced mother, Claire (Tasha Smith) implores her daughter to get involved in extracurricular activities, but Jasmine is happy keeping to herself. When Claire has to take on longer hours at the diner where she works, she reluctantly asks her brother-in-law, Curtis, to babysit his niece after school. Curtis (Ice Cube) is an out of work factory worker and former high school football star whose one shot out of the poor Louisiana town where they live was ruined when he screwed up his knee tripping on a street curb. Curtis wants nothing to do with his niece (partly from guilt, because her father is his deadbeat brother) and only agrees to watch Jasmine when Claire promises to pay him. It’s when Curtis and Jasmine come together that the film picks up the pace and become a little more interesting. Up until then, you have a lot of setup (and marginal direction from Durst). (more…)

Somewhere in the translation from script to screen, a really smart idea got lost when Anamorph was made. That’s not to say that the movie is entirely bad (and it certainly deserves better treatment than it received from its distributor), but Anamorph never quite reaches its full potential dramatically or as a thriller.

Willem Dafoe stars as a homicide detective haunted by a serial killer case that was supposedly solved when a man was shot and killed (unarmed and sitting in chair) in his home. Dafoe’s character carries around the guilt of one of the victims and has gone into teaching instead of continuing as an investigator. Five years later, a possible copycat, or perhaps the original killer (he called himself Uncle Teddy) is back on a killing spree. What makes this maniac unique is his method of murder: His victim’s bodies are used to construct elaborate, gruesome works of art. The killer/artist creates works in the concept of anamorphosis, a painting technique that manipulates the laws of perspective to create two competing images on a single canvas.

Sounds clever, huh? Unfortunately, that one idea gets lost amongst the attempts by Writer/director H.S. Miller and his co-writer Tom Phelan to create strong characters and a convincing plot. Shame, because so much of Anamorph is excellent, starting with the cast. (more…)

Spin City: The Complete Season 1 (Dreamworks/Shout! Factory) (Buy this DVD at Amazon)

The success of any workplace series comes down to casting. If we believe that every character in a show could be our co-worker or friend, then the show should be destined for success. Perhaps the greatest example isThe Mary Tyler Moore Show, which created a real sense of family with the oddballs that supported Moore during her historic show’s run. Since then, countless numbers of sitcoms have tried and failed to capture what Moore’s did so well.

However, Spin City came close in its seven-year run. With a certified television icon, Michael J. Fox, as the show’s center, the producers of Spin City had gold to work with. DreamWorks Television and Shout! Factory have just released the first season of Spin City in a sleek new DVD box set that reminds us of the comic genius of Michael J. Fox and how great network sitcoms used to be.

Created by Gary David Goldberg, who had discovered Fox and guided him to fame on Family Ties, and Bill Lawrence, who would go on to create the beloved Scrubs (which took the visual humor of Spin City a step further), Spin City showed the inner workings of the Mayor’s office in New York City. One of the luxuries of watching a complete season of a television show, especially one in its first season, is seeing it work out the kinks and find its true voice over the course of 13 or 22 episodes. In the case of Spin City, the producers had a bit of a dilemma. Was it a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of the mayor’s office, or was it a work place comedy with romantic inclinations?

As the cast portraying the mayor’s staff gradually revealed how talented they were, it didn’t matter how charming Fox and Carla Gugino (playing his reporter girlfriend Ashley) were together — the laughs came from the interaction of the mayor’s staff and the mayor himself. Listening to the commentary of Goldberg and Lawrence, they express regret that they couldn’t have had both facets of the show carry on. But as you can see by the end of the first season, it was just more interesting to watch the oddball characters in the office.

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Just in time for the holidays, the complete Speed Racer series has been re-released in a groovy collector’s set.  If you’re a fan of the popular anime cartoon that came to the U.S. in the ’60s, you’ll totally dig what Lionsgate has done: All 52 episodes come packaged in a metal tin shaped like the Mach 5 (Speed Racer’s car, in case you’re not hip) and are housed in a classy softcover book (colorful and environmentally thoughtful!).  As much as possible, the original filmed episodes have been cleaned up and the sound has been spruced up to make the show as fresh as possible

When we look back on entertainment from our childhood, whether it’s books, movies, or in this case, an animated series, you always run the risk of that beloved piece of entertainment losing its luster. That’s why some people warn about looking back on those visceral memories. Still, we can’t resist, can we?  We want to feel young again.  I’ll admit, the animation is still very limited, the pacing is a tad slow, and the lip assignment never matches the dialogue.  But it never did when we were kids! Speed Racer was always a limiting experience when it came to its animation.  But the stories were and remain fun and cool.  Furthermore, there is a sincerity to the trust and love these characters have for each other that manages to come thorough even though Speed Racer is a flatly drawn cartoon.  I think that’s why the show continues to delight kids despite the wildly outlandish Wachowski Brothers feature film and the highly inferior Speed Racer: Next Generation series (more on that later).

Speaking from experience, I also know that young kids still get into the show: my son watches with fascination each time it comes on. There’s enough action to keep him entertained, and enough humor to make him guffaw. As a parent, I’m glad that he likes Speed, Racer X, Spiddle and the rest of the gang.  So much children’s entertainment has an edge, either in its humor or in the level of action/violence, that I appreciate not having to worry when I walk away from the TV set when he’s watching Speed Racer.

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Garden Party (Lionsgate, 2008)
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Garden Party, just released on DVD after a brief theatrical run, is one of those indie films that kind of meanders through various scenes that don’t really go anywhere. The limited plot features a group of individuals living in Hollywood, trying to make sense of their lives and connect with other human beings on some level. If it sounds like you’ve heard this plot a thousand times before, you have. Only, it was done 100 times better in films like Grand Canyon and Crash. All of the characters bump into one another at various points throughout the film, as if these moments had some import to the overall plot, but they don’t. Instead, these chance encounters feel like devices to make us think how clever writer/director Jason Freeland is. Unfortunately, it comes off as contrived.

The central storyline involves Sally (Vinessa Shaw), a real estate agent who happens upon Todd (Richard Gunn), an artist who is supposedly a sex addict. The only indication we have that he’s some sort of an addict is that he looks at a lot of online porn. Of course, the only reason I’m calling him a sex addict is because the DVD box markets his character as that. It also markets a good-natured Nebraska boy (played by Alexander Candese) as the “dancer,” even though his character never indicates that he wants to dance, and he only actually dances in one scene in the film (one of the most ridiculously staged moments in a movie I have seen in a long time). Sally once posed for some nude pictures and those pictures have shown up on the Internet. When a chance encounter brings Sally and Todd together, he immediately recognizes her because he’s been infatuated with her for years (of course). She tries to get him to sell his house, he reveals he’s seen her naked, she promises sex acts in return for him tracking down the pictures and, man, you get where this is going.

Meanwhile, a group of twentysomethings wanders from scene to scene, hoping the film will end sometime soon so that they can get on with their careers. They include the aforementioned Candese as Nathan, who works for Sally and house sits her stash of dope, Willa Holland as April, a teenager on her own after leaving her home and a lecherous stepfather, and Erik Smith as Sammy, a talented singer pursuing the American dream by trying to become a pop star.

The production value is low-budget and the script is stretched to fill the required number of minutes to make it a feature film (88, in this case). In fact, the script doesn’t even provide enough material, so we’re stuck with long shots of cars driving, wine being poured, or people mingling at a party with no real purpose. It certainly seems that there wasn’t enough footage available to give Freeland any leeway to edit around the weaker performances in the film and tighten the lagging scenes. Either there were scenes shot that didn’t turn out, or Freeland didn’t think the whole thing through before going to into production. Whatever the case, you come away from Garden Party feeling like you’ve missed half of the story. (more…)

Last Saturday, as the latest round of California wild fires burned on in cities nearby our home, we waited anxiously to see whether the Pasadena Marathon would be canceled. For seven months I’d trained for a half marathon, enduring physical pain, spiritual drain and trying to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in a damaged economy. Halfway through the day, we learned that all direct routes to Pasadena from our house were shut down, blocked by the fires and the crews trying to contain and pt out the blazes. With the quality of the air in question, there was a good chance that the race would be postponed or even scrubbed altogether. One thing was for sure; we wouldn’t be driving to Pasadena and spending the night in that lovely city.

Sophie and Jacob were greatly disappointed, as they had looked forward to having a weekend getaway, even if it was just 20 miles south of our home. Yet, even if the half marathon was canceled, a sense of obligation told me that I would be running the next day, whether it was in Pasadena or in our own neck of the woods.

It wasn’t that I’d done all of the training; no, it was that I’d made a commitment to run for the CF Foundation and for all victims of the disease. I’d made a commitment to run for my son. Furthermore, the day the race fell on, November 16^th, was chosen because of its proximity to Jacob’s birthday. I felt it was a sign to be running for CF so close to his special day; it meant more to me. And the truth is I couldn’t go on training. My soul was tired and my shoes had literally broken down. They were on their last legs. So, I decided to map out my own 13.1 mile course, just in case there was no Pasadena Half Marathon the next day. (more…)

Beautiful Ohio (IFC, 2008)
purchase this DVD (Amazon

Chad Lowe has long suffered being the second banana to his brother and his ex-wife. Even though he won an Emmy for his work on ABC’s Life Goes On, (in which, let’s face it, he was second banana to Corky and Kellie Martin), he’s never gained the attention he deserves as an actor. Perhaps this is why he has stepped behind the camera to direct shorts and episodic television. With the confidence he gained from those endeavors, Lowe moved on to movies and his feature directorial debut, Beautiful Ohio, comes out on DVD November 25th. The coming-of-age drama is a strong effort in which Lowe handles both the big-name stars and the unknown actors who star in the film.

Indeed, with William Hurt as one of your central characters, any novice director would run the risk of losing control and having Hurt walk away with the movie. But that is not the case in Beautiful Ohio. Hurt slips into the ensemble seamlessly and actually betters the performances of everyone around him.

The film is set in Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1973. The protagonist is William (Brett Davern), a young boy lost in the shadow of his mathematical genius brother, Clive (David Call). As the film opens, Clive has drifted away from his family; the weight of being a genius has begun to bear down on him. For Clive, math is just something he sees does, he does not believe he is amazing. Meanwhile, his parents gloat over him and the neighbors are endlessly impressed. Still, William’s mother (Rita Wilson) does her best to place the spotlight on William as much as possible. I have never seen Wilson perform as nicely as she does in this movie. He face wears the pain she feels for her younger son and the anger she has toward her husband well. And when she speaks, it’s with a quiet reserve. In this film, the mother is the glue holding the family together and Wilson does an excellent job.

William Hurt is the patriarch of the family and in many ways, he’s as lost as Clive and William. A veteran of war (presumably Korea), he has settled on selling insurance for a living. As he sees the world changing around him and feels that his life is standing still, Simon is desperate to feel alive. Whether it’s listening to Clive’s MC5 records, flirting with his gorgeous, younger neighbor (an effective, albeit underutilized Julianna Margulies) or trying dope for the first time, Simon is like a character lifted from an Arthur Miller play and tossed into a 70’s counterculture movie. Despite the anger bubbling under the surface though, Simon still has a great deal of affection for his boys. In particular, the scenes between Simon and William are funny and moving. (more…)

Back in January, I wrote a special Basement Song column dedicated to my daughter, Sophie, on her birthday.  Tomorrow, November 14, is my son Jacob’s birthday, and I now I want to dedicate something to him.

When it came time to choose a song to focus on, I couldn’t help but return to a number that he and I bonded over recently.  Some of you loyal readers to Popdose may cry foul over using this Gaslight Anthem song twice in less than a month.  See, I reviewed their album in October and actually featured today’s song.  However, it was through my repeated listens to The ‘59 Sound, and the title track of the album, that Jacob became familiar with the song.  When I was contemplating what to say to Jacob for his birthday, this song’s melody kept coming back to me.  I took that as a sign to forgo the tearjerker I was going to write about and keep this post in the rocking spirit of my son.  Thanks for reading.

Jacob,

When thinking of what to write today I contemplated reflecting on your rugged journey into this world. The days you spent in the neonatal intensive care unit, the concern that you needed surgery, the sudden helicopter ride that flew you from peaceful Burbank to the noisy and crowded UCLA hospital,, and finally bringing you home with us just in time for Thanksgiving, yes, a lot happened during the week you were born, so much that much of it is a blur to your father. I spent so much time driving in my car going to and from home to the hospital to your aunt and uncle’s that you’d think I could recall some melody from that period in late 2001. But I can’t.

The more I think about it, though, the more I think this is a good thing. I don’t want to dwell on the heartache or the pain; I don’t want to dwell on cystic fibrosis, or breathing treatments or the number of pills you have to take each day. No, today I just want to say how blessed I am that you’re my son. (more…)

I’m hooked on Torchwood, the BBC’s latest sci-fi drama (a spinoff from their cult hit, Dr. Who). The entire second season has just been released on a five-disc DVD box set. If you’re a fan of shows like The X-Files, Lost, and Heroes, then you should be watching this well-produced show. With humor, grace, and some very emotional moments, the second season of Torchwood is addictive and outstanding television that deserves a larger audience in the U.S.

Created by Russell T. Davies (Queer as Folk, Dr. Who), Torchwood¸ derives its name from the fictional Torchwood Institute in Cardiff, Wales. Working outside the boundaries of the government, this mostly top secret agency’s job is to track down extraterrestrials roaming loose on Earth. See, there is an intergalactic rift in the universe, allowing alien creatures from the far reaches of the universe to slip through time and space and end up in Wales. While this set up may sound a bit preposterous (shades of the Sci Fi Channel came to mind), Davies and company wisely chose to have one of the show’s main characters serve as the eyes of the viewer. She is Gwen, played by Eve Myles (pictured). In season one she joined the Torchwood team and had her eyes opened to the craziness out there in space. In season two, she continues to have a few of those “this can’t be real” moments. However she is also engaged and eventually reveals the secrets of Torchwood to her fiancé, Rhys (Kai Owen). Rhys has taken over the role of the person who most often exclaims “what the hell is that?”

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Five years ago I began a mission running marathons and half marathons to raise money and awareness for cystic fibrosis. I felt helpless. I felt that I wasn’t doing enough for my son, Jacob, in trying to find a cure for CF, and I believed that if I punished my body enough, people would take pity on me and make donations. I soon found that that it didn’t matter so much how many miles I ran, or how many months I woke up at 6 AM to go running — people would make donations out of the goodness of their hearts, because they wanted to help.

I decided to document my journey on a blog. The idea was to keep family and friends informed of not only my training progress, but to keep them up to date on Jacob’s health and to help readers to understand what it is like raising a child with a deadly illness. A longtime Bruce Springsteen fan (Julie would call me a fanatic—I wouldn’t disagree), I chose to call the blog IF I SHOULD FALL BEHIND. The title comes from a 1992 Springsteen song of the same name. To me that song represented the idea that should I stumble or fall, someone would be there to boost me up and set me back on course.

“If I Should Fall Behind” originally appeared on Springsteen’s Lucky Town, an album recorded in a burst of creative energy soon after the birth of his first child. The studio version is a gentle love song with a country flavor: acoustic guitars and drums with minimal keyboards. For the accompanying tour, Springsteen transformed it from its basic roots and turned it into a hymn-like celebration. It was the first of many incarnations the song took until it was fully realized in 1999. In ’92, each time he performed the song, Springsteen began it alone, strumming his electric guitar, placing the focus on the opening verse.

We said we’d walk together baby come what may
That come the twilight should we lose our way
If as we’re walkin’ a hand should slip free
I’ll wait for you
And should I fall behind
Wait for me (more…)