'The Jet Set' is not one of my favorite 'Mad Men' episodes - it looks a little too much like it was written to take advantage of the ready-made midcentury ambiance of Palm Springs. And a good thing, too, because on this one episode, the video quality on the DVD is very bad, a problem I have verified as being present on three different copies of Disc Four of Season Two. There is horrible "combing" evident from first frame to last on this one episode - as bad as anything I've ever seen on a public-domain, dollar-store DVD of forgotten TV shows of the '50s. The rest of Disc Four's episodes are fully up to the impeccable image quality of the rest of the DVD releases for this series; the problem exists only for this episode.
Reviews
11 Reviews
Julie & Julia
(2009)
A Little Uneven, But Ultimately Worthwhile
29 March 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I can't really improve on Danusha Goska's excellent, perceptive review, but I have an observation for all the reviewers who found the "Julie" sequences a bit weak: They're less interesting than the "Julia" sequences for a reason: Today's self-absorbed people are simply less interesting than the more outwardly-oriented people of yesteryear. Nora Ephron did what she could with what she had to work with, but 2003 and 1949 are really different planets - and one is inherently more fascinating than the other.
I was extremely impressed by the end of the movie, where Julie Powell visits the Julia Child exhibit at the Smithsonian (actually a very convincing set, even to those familiar with Child's kitchen). After Powell says farewell to "her" Julia, seen on one of the exhibit's photographs, the camera dollies forward past the guard rope fencing the exhibit off, and a simple lighting change takes the set from museum exhibit back to 1960's Cambridge, Massachusetts. Julia and Paul Child appear, and bring their part of the story to a close. Very, very seldom do today's filmmakers use their bag of tricks as effectively as this; it's a moment that's theatrical and cinematic at the same time. It brings a terrific little movie to a graceful close - and if you're the right kind of moviegoer in the right kind of mood, a little lump to the throat.
I was extremely impressed by the end of the movie, where Julie Powell visits the Julia Child exhibit at the Smithsonian (actually a very convincing set, even to those familiar with Child's kitchen). After Powell says farewell to "her" Julia, seen on one of the exhibit's photographs, the camera dollies forward past the guard rope fencing the exhibit off, and a simple lighting change takes the set from museum exhibit back to 1960's Cambridge, Massachusetts. Julia and Paul Child appear, and bring their part of the story to a close. Very, very seldom do today's filmmakers use their bag of tricks as effectively as this; it's a moment that's theatrical and cinematic at the same time. It brings a terrific little movie to a graceful close - and if you're the right kind of moviegoer in the right kind of mood, a little lump to the throat.
Tongue-In-Cheek Episode
4 April 2014
Warning: Spoilers
If I had to guess, I'd say this was one of the most fun 'Emergency!' episodes for the writers to write, because of one storyline involving a soap-opera idol, an actor who plays a doctor. The actor, played by veteran star Leon Ames, is taken ill, and he's full of self-diagnoses he cooks up from half-remembered reading and old scripts. His illness turns out to be mononucleosis, and it's going to keep him off the air for a bit, so the frantic soap-opera production team tries to turn Rampart General into a studio so that they can broadcast their star's performance from his sickbed. Of course, they reckon without Dr. Kelly Brackett, Nurse Dixie McCall and Dr. Joe Early, who kick the production people out of Rampart and - nicely - take the pompous actor down a peg or two. The send-up of 'Emergency!' itself is fun to watch, and I could swear that Robert Fuller has trouble keeping a straight face while playing Dr. Brackett giving the crazy TV crew a piece of his mind. Recommended.
What Were They THINKING?
5 June 2012
Warning: Spoilers
Mel Blanc's hilarious performance in this Christmas-themed show is justly famous; he was so good as a beleaguered wallet salesman driven mad by Benny's constant and ever-changing demands that he cracked Benny up on-camera. But the classic comedy performance is ruined by the way it ends - Blanc's character is finally so overwhelmed he takes out a gun and shoots himself, though it must be said the deed occurs off-camera. Of all the ways to end a Christmas show, this must be the un-funniest example ever, though everyone concerned plays it for laughs all the way through. It's perhaps the ultimate case of writers painting themselves into a corner, and it may be the most wince-inducing episode of a sitcom ever. This one is more palatable if you stop it right after Benny cracks up.
Titanic II
(2010 Video)
'Birdemic' On Ice
3 October 2010
I think my title says it all - this alleged movie is so inept, so cheaply made and so poorly written and acted that I'm not sure anyone could find nice things to say about it. I could almost understand this blatant rip-off of James Cameron's film if it had been made in 1997 or 1998; at that time, all you had to do was to say "Titanic" and people automatically reached for their wallets. But this is thirteen years later, and there's just no excuse for what is on the screen here. Horrendous CG (the birds in 'Birdemic' are masterpieces compared to some of what's in 'Titanic II'), goshawful acting (the guy who played Maine should have been billed as Ed Wooden), and a general contempt for the audience make this one a must-miss. On the evidence of this film, inmates are definitely running The Asylum.
He Who Gets Slapped
(1924)
A Masterpiece In Need of Some Help
9 December 2007
There are plenty of comments here about what a masterpiece "He Who Gets Slapped" is, and I won't bore anyone with more. But as the film currently stands, it's a masterpiece that needs some help, specifically in its music track. The print currently shown by TCM has a patched-together track that sounds like a mishmash of whatever public-domain music could be found. Some of it sounds like a Sixties spy movie, and some of it sounds like an Ed Wood flick, though some of it is actually appropriate, particularly when Tricaud's clowns march into the circus ring. There is obnoxious and jarring use of canned laughter that spoils the "silent" mood completely, too. What needs to be done here is to commission a score from someone specialising in silent scores, like Carl Davis or Jon Mirsalis, bringing this classic's standard of presentation up to other TCM silent movies'. The movie that is considered the first M-G-M film deserves better than it's getting.
Opulent Production Spoiled by Poor Sound Mix
29 July 2007
While this is one of the most visually atmospheric and beautiful Marples ever, it is almost incredibly difficult to follow, particularly in its early, expository stretches. The reason is the booming, obtrusive scoring, so loud that the dialogue is very difficult to hear at all, much less make sense of. This has become a common fault of Granada productions. I do wish someone would have a few words with the sound mixer- something along the lines of, "People have to be able to hear the ruddy actors!" Things improve a bit towards the end, but in the earlier part of the film, prior knowledge of Christie's original novel is essential to an understanding of what's going on underneath all that booming, blasting, blaring music.
America's Got Talent
(2006– )
BZZZT! Thank You For Playing, NBC
22 June 2006
Based on the fact that "American Idol" judge (and media mogul) Simon Cowell was behind this show, I watched its premiere episode. I was absolutely flabbergasted by the unprofessional behaviour of one of its judges, Piers Morgan. He kept pressing other judges' elimination buzzers for them, and was so quick to judge that he instantly misjudged a ventriloquist and had to change his vote to avoid looking foolish; the ventriloquist turned out to be terrific. On "American Idol", you may agree or disagree with the judges, but it's clear that they bring their own professional standards with them to the judging process, and apply them consistently. On "America's Got Talent", David Hasselhoff clearly withholds his vote (he's third in the rotation) for a time when an act is bombing,, so as to prolong whatever unintentional comedy is going on. Piers Morgan has Simon Cowell's flamboyantly sharp tongue without having established any credibility with audiences (I mean, who IS this guy, anyway?), and his reaching for other judges' buzzers is the most shameless exhibition of ego I've ever witnessed on entertainment television. Oddly enough, it's Brandy who reveals the chops, the consistency, and the empathy to make a good judge, though she's the youngest of the three. Regis Philbin emcees, and why NBC is paying that kind of money for a job that a lot of lesser lights could do just as well is beyond me; Philbin's presence adds nothing to the show's entertainment value.
The talent is fine- at least the good acts are- and the idea is fine. But the execution is awful, with Piers Morgan's antics so off-putting I'm not sure if I'll watch again. If NBC wants this show to last, I suggest they get Morgan under control, and impose time standards during auditions, requiring judges to give every contestant some guaranteed minimum of time, to avoid another misfire such as the one that occurred with the ventriloquist. The main thing is to get the judges looking more impartial and professional; once the voting and elimination processes begin, the home audience is not going to take kindly to things that appear to skew a contestant's chances.
The talent is fine- at least the good acts are- and the idea is fine. But the execution is awful, with Piers Morgan's antics so off-putting I'm not sure if I'll watch again. If NBC wants this show to last, I suggest they get Morgan under control, and impose time standards during auditions, requiring judges to give every contestant some guaranteed minimum of time, to avoid another misfire such as the one that occurred with the ventriloquist. The main thing is to get the judges looking more impartial and professional; once the voting and elimination processes begin, the home audience is not going to take kindly to things that appear to skew a contestant's chances.
The Reason To Watch Is Burnett
18 December 2005
After far, far too long, Carol Burnett returns to television in a remake of the musical that made her a star- "Once Upon a Mattress". It is a pleasure and a relief to see that the lady still has a handle on hilarity; her performance as control-freak Queen Aggravaine is one for the ages, with all her comedic powers still honed to a razor edge.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the cast, and they do try. Tracey Ullman tries on Burnett's star-making role of Princess Winifred the Woebegone on for size, and promptly gets swamped, mainly because she doesn't have Burnett's lightning timing and relies on her winsomeness instead. She's competent, but that's not what you want from a Winifred- you need comic magic. She's also a bit old for the role, a problem that someone tried to tackle by scaling up the ages of other players. Denis O'Hare is more or less okay as Prince Dauntless, but the "birds and bees" song that is charmingly innocent when sung by a 21-year-old actor is a bit grating when it comes from a man in his forties. And as Lady Larkin and Prince Harry, Zooey Deschanel and Matthew Morrison are in way over their heads, unable to sing with the personality and energy required. Their song together, "Normandy", was musical mush that cried out for Barbara Cook to straighten them out in a master class at Juilliard.
Edward Hibbert was fine as the Wizard, more than able to stand up to Burnett's energy and panache, and Michael Boatman managed to make the Jester interesting, even though the role had been stripped of its show-stopping soft-shoe number, "Very Soft Shoes". Tom Smothers is perfect as the henpecked and mute King Sextimus; we don't see half enough of him nowadays, so it's great to have him on hand here.
The most disappointing part of the proceeding was the limp, leaden direction, design and cutting; it's as if no one involved in the project had ever seen a musical comedy on film before. The pace was too stately, the sets too underlit, the gags too rehearsed- and with the magnificent exception of Queen Aggravaine's costumes, the show is underdesigned, with a sepia look that is supposed to evoke the Middle Ages, and just looks murkily depressing and uncomedic.
No matter. Even for all these flaws- and they're pretty glaring- Carol Burnett saves the day, with a Queen Aggravaine every bit as fine, inventive and funny as her Princess Winifred turn of yore. It's too bad that Burnett's 1964 or 1972 versions couldn't be electronically combined with her performance here; it would be a hoot to see Burnett-as-Winifred up against Burnett-as-Aggravaine. Whatever the faults of this "Mattress", it's well worth watching for Burnett; TV has been the poorer ever since she left prime-time.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the rest of the cast, and they do try. Tracey Ullman tries on Burnett's star-making role of Princess Winifred the Woebegone on for size, and promptly gets swamped, mainly because she doesn't have Burnett's lightning timing and relies on her winsomeness instead. She's competent, but that's not what you want from a Winifred- you need comic magic. She's also a bit old for the role, a problem that someone tried to tackle by scaling up the ages of other players. Denis O'Hare is more or less okay as Prince Dauntless, but the "birds and bees" song that is charmingly innocent when sung by a 21-year-old actor is a bit grating when it comes from a man in his forties. And as Lady Larkin and Prince Harry, Zooey Deschanel and Matthew Morrison are in way over their heads, unable to sing with the personality and energy required. Their song together, "Normandy", was musical mush that cried out for Barbara Cook to straighten them out in a master class at Juilliard.
Edward Hibbert was fine as the Wizard, more than able to stand up to Burnett's energy and panache, and Michael Boatman managed to make the Jester interesting, even though the role had been stripped of its show-stopping soft-shoe number, "Very Soft Shoes". Tom Smothers is perfect as the henpecked and mute King Sextimus; we don't see half enough of him nowadays, so it's great to have him on hand here.
The most disappointing part of the proceeding was the limp, leaden direction, design and cutting; it's as if no one involved in the project had ever seen a musical comedy on film before. The pace was too stately, the sets too underlit, the gags too rehearsed- and with the magnificent exception of Queen Aggravaine's costumes, the show is underdesigned, with a sepia look that is supposed to evoke the Middle Ages, and just looks murkily depressing and uncomedic.
No matter. Even for all these flaws- and they're pretty glaring- Carol Burnett saves the day, with a Queen Aggravaine every bit as fine, inventive and funny as her Princess Winifred turn of yore. It's too bad that Burnett's 1964 or 1972 versions couldn't be electronically combined with her performance here; it would be a hoot to see Burnett-as-Winifred up against Burnett-as-Aggravaine. Whatever the faults of this "Mattress", it's well worth watching for Burnett; TV has been the poorer ever since she left prime-time.
The Mystery of Natalie Wood
(2004)
Absolutely Dreadful, Offensively Bad
1 March 2004
This is as amateurish a production as I've ever seen; it strains credulity that Peter Bogdanovich ('What's Up, Doc?', 'Nickelodeon', and the exquisite 'Paper Moon') directed it.
Someone made the decision that clips of the real Natalie Wood were to set the scene for the newly filmed screenplay. The result is that any willing suspension of disbelief goes right out the window- one spends an entire viewing noticing how little the actors resemble their real-life counterparts, instead of being drawn into their performances.
That might have been excusable if the acting was top-notch, but it isn't. While Justine Waddell acquits herself decently well as Natalie Wood, the male performers aren't up to her level. I won't name names, but one male actor who has to do a lot of crying turns in a performance that would disgrace an old episode of 'The Lucy Show'- stock sobbing with hands over the face, to conceal the inept histrionics.
If you want to enjoy a movie that tells you all about Natalie Wood, watch 'Gypsy', not this. 'Gypsy' is as much the story of Wood's life as it is Gypsy Rose Lee's, and it's much better acted than this thing, even with steamroller Roz Russell in it.
If you want to enjoy something by Peter Bogdanovich, try anything else, even 'At Long Last Love'. In 1975, we thought that was a pretty bad movie. We didn't have a clue what bad was.
Someone made the decision that clips of the real Natalie Wood were to set the scene for the newly filmed screenplay. The result is that any willing suspension of disbelief goes right out the window- one spends an entire viewing noticing how little the actors resemble their real-life counterparts, instead of being drawn into their performances.
That might have been excusable if the acting was top-notch, but it isn't. While Justine Waddell acquits herself decently well as Natalie Wood, the male performers aren't up to her level. I won't name names, but one male actor who has to do a lot of crying turns in a performance that would disgrace an old episode of 'The Lucy Show'- stock sobbing with hands over the face, to conceal the inept histrionics.
If you want to enjoy a movie that tells you all about Natalie Wood, watch 'Gypsy', not this. 'Gypsy' is as much the story of Wood's life as it is Gypsy Rose Lee's, and it's much better acted than this thing, even with steamroller Roz Russell in it.
If you want to enjoy something by Peter Bogdanovich, try anything else, even 'At Long Last Love'. In 1975, we thought that was a pretty bad movie. We didn't have a clue what bad was.
That's More Entertainment!
(1995 Video)
A Few Nice Moments, But the Vein Is Thinning
29 November 2003
This is the least-known of all the 'That's Entertainment!' series, because it's a direct-to-video production from Turner. While it's not completely a waste of time, the first three movies seem to have skimmed off most of MGM's real riches.
High spots include Nancy Walker performing 'Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet!'from 1944's 'Broadway Rhythm', and Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse doing 'In Our United State' from 1953's 'Give a Girl a Break'. There's also the little-known 'Dynamite' from 1951's 'Texas Carnival', with Ann Miller tapping up her usual storm; Miller re-appears in one of the screen's all-time frolics- 'Prehistoric Man' from 1949's revered 'On The Town'. A real rarity is Van Johnson singing 'You Can't Do Wrong Doin' Right' from 1950's 'Duchess of Idaho'; Connie Haines is one of the singers in the number, and it's a little gem.
But there's a bog of stuff that wasn't much when it was new, and isn't any great shakes in revival, like Lena Horne's lugubrious and interminable 'Love' from 1946's 'Ziegfeld Follies', where Lena also looks less than her usual luscious self. The same film yields a clip of Kathryn Grayson trilling 'There's Beauty Everywhere', while a bunch of 1940's starlets strike haughty, static poses against a Dali-ish backdrop before the setting is filled with soap bubbles (I am NOT making this up). There are also two minor numbers from 1950's 'Summer Stock', which have Judy Garland in not-so-great voice, and she's twenty pounds heavier in one than she is in the other.
For sheer, mesmerising AWFULNESS, it's impossible to beat Mickey Rooney and Garland in the sequence from 1940's 'Strike Up the Band'. It's called 'Do the La Conga', and it goes on for what seems like months, with Mickey and Judy clearly exhausted and spastic from the number's extraordinary length, and what must have been multitudinous takes demanded by director Busby Berkeley. His legendary cries of 'EYES! I wanna see your EYES!' are obviously being heeded by Judy, who keeps snapping hers open to Groucho Marx proportions, even as she staggers through the choreography. This number may have passed for entertainment in a more innocent era, but in light of what we now know about Garland's experiences at Berkeley's hands, it's highly discomfiting to watch today.
Still, this compilation is worth at least one viewing; some of the numbers are seldom-seen, and shouldn't be, like the clip of the DeMarco Sisters singing, 'What Good Is a Girl Without a Guy?' from 1952's 'Skirts Ahoy'. Their infectious, lusty harmonies and their special brand of Brooklyn hip brought a breath of fresh air to that Esther Williams programmer, and all these years later, the song does the same thing for this slightly tired movie.
Rent it before buying, and be grateful for the fast-forward on your video machine, but this one will still fill a pleasant hour or so.
High spots include Nancy Walker performing 'Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet!'from 1944's 'Broadway Rhythm', and Debbie Reynolds and Bob Fosse doing 'In Our United State' from 1953's 'Give a Girl a Break'. There's also the little-known 'Dynamite' from 1951's 'Texas Carnival', with Ann Miller tapping up her usual storm; Miller re-appears in one of the screen's all-time frolics- 'Prehistoric Man' from 1949's revered 'On The Town'. A real rarity is Van Johnson singing 'You Can't Do Wrong Doin' Right' from 1950's 'Duchess of Idaho'; Connie Haines is one of the singers in the number, and it's a little gem.
But there's a bog of stuff that wasn't much when it was new, and isn't any great shakes in revival, like Lena Horne's lugubrious and interminable 'Love' from 1946's 'Ziegfeld Follies', where Lena also looks less than her usual luscious self. The same film yields a clip of Kathryn Grayson trilling 'There's Beauty Everywhere', while a bunch of 1940's starlets strike haughty, static poses against a Dali-ish backdrop before the setting is filled with soap bubbles (I am NOT making this up). There are also two minor numbers from 1950's 'Summer Stock', which have Judy Garland in not-so-great voice, and she's twenty pounds heavier in one than she is in the other.
For sheer, mesmerising AWFULNESS, it's impossible to beat Mickey Rooney and Garland in the sequence from 1940's 'Strike Up the Band'. It's called 'Do the La Conga', and it goes on for what seems like months, with Mickey and Judy clearly exhausted and spastic from the number's extraordinary length, and what must have been multitudinous takes demanded by director Busby Berkeley. His legendary cries of 'EYES! I wanna see your EYES!' are obviously being heeded by Judy, who keeps snapping hers open to Groucho Marx proportions, even as she staggers through the choreography. This number may have passed for entertainment in a more innocent era, but in light of what we now know about Garland's experiences at Berkeley's hands, it's highly discomfiting to watch today.
Still, this compilation is worth at least one viewing; some of the numbers are seldom-seen, and shouldn't be, like the clip of the DeMarco Sisters singing, 'What Good Is a Girl Without a Guy?' from 1952's 'Skirts Ahoy'. Their infectious, lusty harmonies and their special brand of Brooklyn hip brought a breath of fresh air to that Esther Williams programmer, and all these years later, the song does the same thing for this slightly tired movie.
Rent it before buying, and be grateful for the fast-forward on your video machine, but this one will still fill a pleasant hour or so.
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