Many months ago, HBO announced it was planning to make a movie based on the book, “Game Change” by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. After reading John Nolte’s article, which indicated that the movie would be focused primarily around Governor Palin, and it wouldn’t be portraying her in a very positive light, I decided to study up on it. I purchased a copy of the book, read the TWO chapters based on Gov. Palin, and took down some notes.

As Nicole recently noted, HBO decided to release a trailer to that movie late last year. The actual movie doesn’t air until March 10, or as John Nolte wrote in his follow-up piece:

The one dynamic HBO probably didn’t count on was Palin’s decision not to run for the 2012 nomination. The film’s promotion and the cable news chatter that’s sure to follow seems timed to hit on, before, and around March 6, which is Super Tuesday.

The one line from the notes I took back in March that stood out as I was reviewing them for this piece, was:

Even though this book is supposed to be a story about 2008, it’s really all about 2012.

This movie was orchestrated from start to finish as a way to damage Gov. Palin during an election year by people who are not merely “artists & entertainers.” Just look at the people involved in the making of the movie.

First you have the director, Jay Roach who donated $2,300 to Barack Obama in 2008. Danny Strong, the person who wrote the screenplay, gave Obama $2,500 in 2008. Julianne Moore, the woman who does a poor impression of the governor, only gave $250 to Obama in ’08 but shelled out $2,500 to the DNC in 2010. And then there’s the film’s producer, Tom Hanks, who has one of the most nauseating donation lists I have ever seen, including giving a staggering sum of $345,000 to Obama. It’s safe to say that these people only donate large sums of money to causes they believe in. By looking at their donations, it’s easy to see what it is that they believe in.

Danny “Obama Victory Fund” Strong, based his HBO screenplay on a book that came under significant scrutiny after it was published, even by MSM types. The thing that stood out amongst most of its critics was the fact that Heilemann and Halperin didn’t source any of the accusations they made. They claim to have interviewed more than 300 people during their research, but not one of those people are named. Heilemann and Halperin do, however, name the people who were present during each instance during the ’08 campaign that they claim happened.

I found it interesting that within the Palin chapters of the book, Nicolle Wallace, her husband Mark Wallace, Steve Schmidt, and/or the mysterious “famous GOP strategist” are always present. It’s no secret that Nicolle Wallace has been trashing and undermining Gov. Palin since the 2008 race. Most recently, she was caught in a lie by a former senior adviser to the McCain campaign, Charlie Black. From National Review Online:

Over at the Washington Examiner, Byron York reports that Wallace is claiming, in a new Time interview, that McCain’s team considered bumping Palin from the veep slot. “There certainly were discussions — not for long because of the arc the campaign took — but certainly there were discussions about whether, if McCain were to win, it would be appropriate for her to be sworn in,” Wallace tells the magazine.

“Look, I was with McCain 90 percent of the time. If I wasn’t around, I knew what was happening. And nothing like this happened.” Wallace, he says, “is one of the few dissidents,” one of the “disaffected” staffers who continues to criticize Palin, and “she is inaccurate in doing so.”

[Charlie] Black says that’s nonsense. “Nicolle, like any author, is trying to sell books. This comment to Time, like her book [It’s Classified], is a piece of fiction. There were never any such discussions. At no high level of the campaign was there ever such talk. She’s probably doing this to sell her book.

Steve Schmidt also has a long history of trashing Governor Palin. In a 2010 post, Dan Riehl pegged the source of Schmidt’s animosity (emphasis):

The only modest bit of news in all this is that the pathetic Steve Schmidt continues to lack the class and intelligence required to simply shut up. Look at the basic facts even Schmidt is forced to confess. He would make it seem as though Palin was the absolutely worst thing about the McCain campaign, then he turns around and admits that, without her, things would have been much worse. That makes no sense.

On top of that, the fools running the campaign, including Schmidt, continued to consider Sen. Joe Lieberman for VP up until the very last minute, absolutely without realizing what a disaster that would have been. It took reactions outside the campaign to finally give them a clue how foolish they were in formulating and managing the campaign. Now suddenly, Schmidt is the all wise and wonderful know it all with the reputation, intellect and credibility to dump on Palin yet once, again? That makes no sense, either.

In continuing to not take responsibility for what a colossal failure he, as much, if not more than anyone else, was – all Schmidt has managed to accomplish with all his blathering is to put every potential national Republican candidate on notice that hiring Schmidt for perhaps anything other than coffee and sandwich fetching would be an unmitigated disaster dooming them and their campaign to eternal hell across the Republican base.

It’s clear that McCain’s campaign failed on many levels. But former staffers who were responsible for that failure used the leftist media to shift blame from themselves on to Gov. Palin, and that is reprehensible. Both the left and these former staffers had a motive to run this trash against the governor. They simply made up anything they thought sounded really bad then leaked it to an eager, Obama-rooting media which was more than happy to take their word for it. So, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Wallaces and Schmidt are consistently present during Heilemann and Halperin’s tales. But what does that say about Heilemann and Halperin as journalists?

Can you really be a “respected journalist” if you never cite your sources? Sources are used so that readers can judge for themselves the credibility of each claim. Without them, “journalists” are doing nothing but repeating rumors, which usually earns one the title, “Gossip Columnist.” What about bloggers? Personally, I try not to write on important topics without listing my sources and posting links to back up claims. It’s one reason that I’ve never written a piece about all of the rumors regarding Mark Halperin sexually harassing and making inappropriate comments to female professional acquaintances. After all, they’re just rumors, right? (note: I have actually heard these rumors before, I didn’t just make them up for effect)

For years now, I’ve held to the notion that Gov. Palin’s foes will do whatever it takes to destroy perceptions of her in the eyes of Americans. From ex-staffers with an axe to grind, to smear merchants like Heilemann and Halperin, to the left-wing activists who “produce” all things Hollywood, this book and the movie that followed shows how folks with an agenda can work in concert to achieve their ends.

While each player may have a different overall agenda, the goal is the same. In the United States, 28.2 million households subscribe to HBO. That’s a lot of people who, by and large, are not familiar with the antics of the Wallaces, Schmidt, the rumors about Halperin, or how devoted Hanks is to pushing liberalism with campaign contributions and through the use popular culture. A fact not unnoticed by those responsible for this production.

The HBO movie version is all about McCain’s Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin. And, if this early peek is any indication, conservatives can expect a feature-length assault on the Tea Party darling.

The first full trailer for the movie, debuting March 10 on HBO, backloads the Palin bashing. We get a respectful treatment of Sen. McCain (ably reproduced by Ed Harris) and Woody Harrelson playing McCain’s campaign chair Steve Schmidt. Then we meet Sarah, and right away it’s clear that actress Julianne Moore hasn’t captured Palin’s charisma or personal pluck.

Heck, even Tina Fey’s excoriating impression of the self-described Hockey Mom had more clarity.

The media once loved McCain, but it turned on him in a hurry once he became the GOP’s standard bearer in 2008. Now, it’s safe to call him a war hero and seasoned politician as the film evidently does. As for Palin, the trailer patches her infamous moments together for maximum ridicule. It’s like the “Game Change” version of Palin sprang to life from a Paul Krugman op-ed.

“Game Change” is from the creative team behind “Recount,” an HBO feature which portrayed Democrats as the heroes in the 2000 election imbroglio. If this trailer is any indication, “Recount” might look all fair ‘n balanced in comparison to this hit piece.

It’s about horse racing and the characters the sport attracts. It’s filmed largely at California’s Santa Anita race track and tells the story of racing from so many potentially fascinating points of view: gamblers, owners, jockeys and trainers. It stars a cast that on paper can’t lose, including Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte, Dennis Farina and real-life Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Gary Stevens. The co-executive producer is Michael Mann, who understands light and sound and color as well as anyone in Hollywood.

But that’s on paper. As bettors know, the horse with the winningest record, the best times, the richest purses and the bloodline for the distance doesn’t always win. There’s no such thing as a sure thing.

Stumbling out of the gate, “Luck” turns out to be a one-trick pony. It hurts to write that, because this show has the pedigree of a champion.

“Luck” begins with a peek behind the daily workings at a busy track. There’s the Peruvian trainer Turo Escalante (John Ortiz) described in press materials as “brilliant but disreputable.” And there’s the hard-luck grinder Walter Smith (Nolte), a good horseman and a good man who deserves the big win.

There’s the clique of obsessive, desperate gamblers: Marcus (Kevin Dunn), Renzo (Ritchie Coster), Jerry (Jason Gedrick), and Lonnie (Ian Hart). And there’s the sad sack agent Joey (Richard Kind), the once-great jockey determined to pull his life back together (Stevens), and the eager young apprentice rider (Tom Payne).

What is supposed to carry this tale to the winner’s circle is the ominous appearance of Hoffman’s character, wealthy gangster fresh from prison Chester “Ace” Bernstein, and his loyal tough-guy driver Gus Demitriou (Farina), fronting as a horse owner for his felon boss. They have nefarious grand plans, and mayhem ensues.

Well, not really. It should, but it doesn’t. For long stretches, nothing ensues. Characters mope and horses go in circles while Milch indulges himself with his artistry.

Hoffman looks bored and wooden throughout, and Farina is never allowed to unleash the sparkling menace he’s capable of. As for Stevens’ acting, well, he’s a great jockey and deserves respect for a brilliant racing career.

Robotic may be the best way to describe “Luck.” There’s no conflict, no depth. In their own way, the characters single-mindedly pursue predictable goals. Ace wants to take over the track, and he drifts through every scene with that label pinned to his lapel. The trainers want the best horse. The jockeys want to ride. The gamblers want to win. Some of it’s logical, but with nine hours to dig deeper, viewers deserve more.

“Luck” isn’t without bright spots. The biggest surprise is Nolte. He delivers an outstanding performance and reminds viewers of the great work he is capable of, playing a world-weary trainer who missed his shot. Kind plays his role as the good-hearted but pathetic loser with heartbreaking enthusiasm, the quartet of frenzied gamblers lope along gamely with the storyline even when situations make little sense, and Kerry Condon is endearing as Rosie, the exercise rider who dreams big.

Where performances stumble may not entirely be the fault of the actors. They are, after all, reading lines. For a man who spent so much of his life at horse tracks and proclaims a love for the sport and the atmosphere, Milch writes a story that is a painful exercise in drudgery. Even when characters win, they lose. Like a horse that snaps a leg just short of victory, Milch is there to trip up anyone who gets close. The cumulative effect keeps viewers at arm’s length.

Anyone who has enjoyed a day at the track will be baffled by this theater of dread. “Luck” is on a long, narrow course without twists or turns, and there’s never a payoff.

Milch’s previous HBO tour de force, “John From Cincinnati,” landed with a thud. A subsequent effort for the premium outlet never made it to the screen. Now “Luck” may hint that Milch’s is running out. An HBO subscription adds a chunk to the cost of the average cable bill. How long can his triumphant creation “Deadwood” carry him?

To be fair, for viewers who stick around through all nine episodes (hat tip to HBO for allowing reviewers all nine), “Luck” rallies down the stretch. The last two episodes pick up the pace and hint at better things ahead. But there’s more than the final furlong to a horse race, and a series should engage and reward viewers throughout its run. “Luck” does not.

“Luck” premieres at 9 p.m. EST tonight on HBO

The star of those “Focker” films as well as the “Night at the Museum” franchise is a pretty safe bet in box office circles. So why did he just sign a deal with HBO to direct, produce and star in a new Jewish family comedy alongside Alan Alda?

A cynic might say it’s a sign Stiller feels insecure over the weak box office receipts for his last film, “Tower Heist.” Even mega-stars can be as paranoid as screen newbies. Why else would Will Smith sign up for “Men in Black III” after his drama “Seven Pounds” gave him a rare flop?

For Stiller, the chance to oversee his own HBO comedy offers the kind of creative outlet he can’t get with movies. And that’s a sad thing to say about an industry obsessed with remakes, sequels and other too safe bets.

HBO programs don’t consume an actor’s life like a broadcast sitcom or drama. The episode count can be roughly half of a network show commitment, leaving actors free to tackle other projects along the way. The bigger picture is the support HBO – and its cable competitor, Showtime – give to their programs. A new show isn’t yanked after two episodes if the initial ratings are poor. And the cable “suits” apparently don’t inundate the show’s cast and crew with notes on how to make the content better.

Just ask Dustin Hoffman, who signed on for his first HBO series “Luck” which debuts this Sunday. Here’s Hoffman describing why he turned to HBO after a career making one iconic film (“The Graduate”) after another (“Tootsie”).

You cannot do your best work in the (movie) studio system. They buck heads with people they shouldn’t buck heads with. At HBO, once they give a go, there is no committee, no meetings.

The next time a movie studio executive is bemoaning a plunge in ticket sales, he or she should remember Hoffman’s words as well as why Stiller may not be free for their next project.

The book painted a glowing portrait of Obama while McCain’s campaign was cast as chaotic at best. Turns out the film is worse – much worse – than any Red State denizen could imagine, according to a review based on an early screening of the film.

While the book covered both the Obama and McCain campaigns, the movie focuses like a laser on Palin. And none of it is pretty:

It is made crystal clear that Palin didn’t really understand why there was a North Korea and a South Korea. She clearly thought that Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 attacks. She needed to have Germany’s role in the Second World War explained to her. She thought “the Fed” referred to the federal government, not the Federal Reserve. The Governor of Alaska was as ignorant of the world as a four-year-old….

In one scene, she is catatonic, curled up, immobile in a fetal position because she’s been dieting. In another she screams at a McCain staffer on her cellphone and then smashes the phone against a wall. She is depicted as someone who could be taught to memorize generic replies to questions from journalists, but could not recognize her own ignorance. As the movie shows it, after every appearance before cheering crowds her ego swelled and she simply declined to listen to any advice about anything.

An interesting side note is how the assembled scribes reacted to the screening:

Watching it with the American journalists was an education. At first, as the movie opened with McCain (Ed Harris) and his advisers discussing potential running mates, there was a jaunty satirical tone. There was laughter in the room. Even as the Palin character (Julianne Moore plays her with aplomb) entered the picture, all gee-whiz enthusiasm, there was lots of laughter.

“Game Change” debuts on HBO March 10.

AP:

In a politically polarized country, the people behind HBO’s upcoming movie on Sarah Palin’s vice presidential campaign are being careful not to take one side or the other.

“There is no agenda here,” Danny Strong, writer of the film “Game Change,” said at a news conference Friday. Filmmakers said they sought historical accuracy.

The movie debuts March 10. It is based on John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s book about the 2008 presidential campaign, but focuses specifically on Palin. Director Jay Roach said he wrote a long letter to the former Alaska governor seeking an interview with her to help the film, “but I got a very quick email back from her attorney saying, `I checked, she declined.’”

Roach and Strong were the team behind HBO’s Emmy-winning “Recount” about the disputed 2000 presidential election.

“I don’t think this movie is going to change people’s minds one way or another,” Strong said. “People are very polarized. It’s not designed to change people’s minds.”

Of course, what HBO won’t tell you is that the source material chosen to tell this story is in and of itself agenda-driven. So egregious was “Game Change” in its lack of sourcing that even liberal news outlets were critical:

Critics questioned the lack of explicit sourcing in Game Change, which was done on “deep background” with no sources being identified in any way. This followed the approach made famous in many of Bob Woodward’s books. A Poynter Institute journalism ethics scholar said a danger of this method is that “both accuracy and fairness can be in jeopardy when anonymous sources are overused and misused” and that deep background sources “cannot be held easily accountable.” Michiko Kakutani of The New York Times wrote that the authors of Game Change “serve up a spicy smorgasbord of observations, revelations and allegations — some that are based on impressive legwork and access, some that simply crystallize rumors and whispers from the campaign trail, and some that it’s hard to verify independently as more than spin or speculation on the part of unnamed sources.” Kakutani and Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic both said that at times the book veered into gossip.

Finally, Danny Strong, the film’s writer who is doing the “too much protesting,” was also behind HBO’s “Recount,” the Republican-bashing and wildly unfair look at the 2000 presidential election that HBO broadcast right in the heart of the 2008 election.

If you want a look at how much money the film’s participants have donated to Democrats and Obama, click here.

Now, HBO’s main competitor Showtime is backing a new documentary on Vice President Dick Cheney. The channel hired R.J. Cutler, the producer behind the pro-Clinton documentary “The War Room,” to give us a new look at President George W. Bush’s vice president and confidante.

Tentatively titled, “The World According to Dick Cheney,” the film will take a look at one of the most powerful vice presidents in history. Here’s director R.J. Cutler’s take on the upcoming film from a Showtime press release:

Like it or not, we live in a world defined by the domestic and international vision of Dick Cheney — perhaps the single-most influential non-Presidential figure in American political history,” said Cutler. “But for all the debate that his re-emergence in the public eye has caused, the fact is that Cheney the man remains an enigma, and the  manner in which he utilized his power and experience to become such a dominating political figure, have been left largely unexplored. This documentary will shine a balanced and multi-dimensional light on this truly polarizing figure.

Will “The World According to Dick Cheney” be a fair representation of the veteran political figure?  We’ll have to wait and see, but consider this snippet from a piece Cutler wrote about how “The War Room” got such unfettered access to Clinton’s campaign.

Our final hurdle was going down to Little Rock to get James [Carville] on board. We sat with him and told him what we wanted to do, and he said, “I get it, I totally understand. But you have to understand that the only thing that matters in my life is getting Bill Clinton elected president. Anything else is a distraction. Why would I possibly want to do it?”

I thought I knew the answer to James’s question: You’ve got to do it for history; you’ve got to do it so that people can see how amazing you are; you’ve got to do it because you’re about the change the world.

No official air date has been announced, but if the film takes a decidedly anti-Cheney stance don’t be surprised if it hits small screens close to the Nov. 2012 elections.

Based on the real-life “Nucky” Thompson, a political and crime boss who controlled Atlantic City during prohibition, the first season’s thirteen episodes start off quite strong through the efficient introduction of numerous  characters, their multi-layered stories, and an impeccable production design and cinematography that’s as good as anything you’ll see in a big-budget theatrical film. A slightly brighter “Road to Perdition” springs to mind.

If nothing else, the producers did a superb job of not only meticulously recreating an era many of us are already familiar with through films and photographs but also casting a feast of outstanding actors who actually look as though they belong there. Let’s face it, there aren’t many actors today who don’t come off as Bugsy Malone-ish in a fedora. But creator Terence Winter and his team definitely chose well in the casting department.

As personified by the great Steve Buscemi, Nucky Thompson is a brutal, put upon, wise-ass willing to do anything to hold onto power — a power increased ten-fold with the passage of prohibition. Complicating his life is his dumber, ambitious brother Eli (She Whigham) and his ward Jimmy (beautifully played by Michael Pitt), who’s also ambitious, a little bloodthirsty, and a little nuts. Naturally, rival gangs regularly stick thorns in Nucky’s side, including what will someday be the Capone Gang out of Chicago and New York’s Lucky Luciano.

A widower still missing his beloved wife after many years, Nucky seems content playing boss, living the high life on the entire floor of a ritzy hotel right off the Boardwalk, and bedding his impossibly sexy, conniving mistress Lucy (Paz de la Huerta). But when the deceptively mousy Margaret (a perfectly cast Kelly MacDonald) arrives in his office, he sees something in her than he does not in the dozens of everyday types who regularly stop by for favors. Margaret is not only beautiful but also vulnerable, innocent, and in desperate need of protection from a violent husband.

On Nucky’s trail is Agent Nelson Van Alden (Michael Shannon), a typical HBO Christian: a psychotic, uncompromising hypocrite much less sympathetic than the criminals he’s after. This is a poorly crafted character with a number of over-the- top qualities that never fail to stop the story cold. This is the series’ greatest flaw, but not a tragic one.

Overall, the stories are very well written, densely plotted and layered like a novel, and the acting is letter perfect. But, unfortunately, something is missing, and that something is almost everything.

When I think of my favorite television shows that tell stories about protagonists who are criminals living outside the law, one thing they share in common is a potent and poignant theme that threads through everything,  and that theme, in part, takes a moral stand against what our characters are doing. This theme also allows you to hang onto the hope that redemption is possible, and the emotional rollercoaster that goes along with that hope is not only what invests you in the characters, it’s a crucial element in what addicts you to the series.

For example, floating above every “Sons of Anarchy” episode is the ghost (not literally) of the motorcycle club’s deceased, former leader urging his son (the club’s current VP) to reform the club or get out. In “The Sopranos,” the whole idea of the show revolved around Tony being stuck in a life he loves and loathes and the fact that he’s a mob boss grappling with a conscience. “Breaking Bad” is a brilliant study in how an everyday man turns to evil.

That’s what, at least to me, these shows are “about,” and it’s why I love them and why the darker moments never feel gratuitous. Therefore, the unceasing portrayal of violence and human depravity is, in fact, saying something big and important about the human soul. And this is what’s missing from “Boardwalk Empire.”

To be fair, throughout the series there are moments when this theme does poke its head out like a turtle and without spoiling anything, Kelly MacDonald’s character delivers most of them. But they never last and only feel like lip service, and without this element there’s a nihilistic tone to proceedings that wears on my soul over time.

Again, there’s a whole lot to like about “Boardwalk Empire,” but the resume of all those ultimately involved does not live up to the final product.

“Boardwalk Empire” is available at Amazon.com.

—–

In these trying times, this story of one man’s unrelenting efforts to succeed can serve as an inspiration to many. I know “His Way” inspired me. After learning how Jerry cold-called Elvis Presley’s Manager, Colonel Tom Parker, every day for an entire year for the right to take Elvis on tour (for the first time in nearly a decade), I decided to roll the dice and take my own film out on the road to build an audience. Concluding our interview with Douglas McGrath, director of the documentary “His Way,” we talked about more of the film, including the amazing segments on Weintraub’s experiences with Elvis Presley and Colonel Tom Parker and Frank Sinatra.

KW: How did you go about choosing which stories or chapters to cover or not cover from the book?

DM: Well, I didn’t do it that way. I didn’t think of them in terms of chapters. I just thought of them in terms of stories. But, I knew we’d have ninety minutes, an hour and forty-five maybe at most and I just thought, there’s no way to go through everything. I just thought “I’m going to ask about all the stuff I liked the best and the things that were really the big tent poles of his life.” So, I thought I’d better go with the things that really tell us, without repeating it, what his magic was. And the Elvis story is emblematic of his whole career, you know, that tells you how he started with nothing, he persisted. He won the contract, so to speak, the right to take him. He almost blew it. When you think of 20th Century entertainment, particularly musical entertainment and particularly male musical entertainment — you know, you have Elvis and you have Sinatra. Those guys are the big tent poles in that story.

KW: Jerry’s relationship with Frank Sinatra seemed much more direct than it did with Elvis. His relationship really was with the Colonel (Elvis’s Manager). Did you have to approach the Elvis segment any differently than you did from the Sinatra segment or in trying to work a connection between the two as a bridge?

DM: Oh no, that is a very good question. I don’t remember consciously doing that. You know, we came to the Elvis story first, because in my memory of his life, I worked through it in order so he could kind of work it in order. Sometimes if you’re telling a story about your childhood or some early part of your life, certain feelings come along with these stories that can then add to the overall feeling of what you are talking about. But [with] the Elvis stuff, he was a different guy. Meaning when he came into Elvis’s life, he was “aspiring” at that point. He had some clients, he was successful, meaning he could pay his bills and he was married and had a nice life. But, he was not by any means, what he became and he knew that this was his way out. But when we came to Sinatra… which I knew is the next big seismic event in his professional life… he [Jerry] was then a different person.

He had chased Elvis, but Sinatra came to him. Now nobody was confused about anything in that situation. Sinatra was still tough, extremely powerful and I’m sure a fairly terrifying person to work for, because he had a temper and knew what he wanted and had been a huge star and a big success for, by that point, 30 years or something . And while he wanted Jerry’s help, he was hardly a helpless and frail creative person looking for tough guidance from Jerry. And the Madison Square Garden Concert (“The Main Event,” 1974), Jerry really had to talk him into it. Really had to talk him into it. I think the reason Jerry flew to Las Vegas so quickly when Frank called and sounded so upset [and depressed] was I think he (Jerry) thought, “Oh. I could lose him.” A smart manager will hear something like any kind of qualm in a client’s voice. A smart manager gets on it. A lot of them don’t. Which is why people change managers. But, Jerry knew that was “his guy” at that point.

KW: Does that come from growing up as he did [in the Bronx and Brooklyn] and being able to shake a guy’s hand and knowing if he is a good guy or a bad guy?

DM: I think you’re right. I think you’re right. He does have a very good sense of people and I remember Matt Damon saying this to me and I felt it as well… when he first meets you and shakes your hand, you can feel it for one second, he looks at you very intensely and you think, “I think he just X-rayed me.”

KW: Do you have a favorite Jerry Weintraub story yourself?

DM: Every time I try to pick one, I think of another one. There are so many that are so good. But that Elvis story is just amazing. The persistence to call the Colonel for a year, the hilarious business when the seats aren’t sold (at a Miami FL matinee) and he has to get the convicts to come take the chairs out… but I also love when the Colonel takes him into that electrician’s booth and with the suitcases of money. When he tells the story about the Colonel pouring the money on the table and whacking it with his cane. That’s yours, that’s mine… are we good? It just tells you that that it is a whole different part of show business that doesn’t exist anymore. It’s still got a foot in the “Carnie” world. That’s probably my favorite.

KW: Do you think there are more “Jerry”s out there or there’s still room for them?

DM: There must be because there’s no reason there shouldn’t be but I will say the business used to be comprised of more people like Jerry and now it isn’t. You know, that kind of renegade, non-corporate, non-business school, non-film school, come to it out of passion, bootstraps, hard work, gift-of gab, full force personality. I don’t run across many people like that. Maybe to be fair, maybe there were never a lot of people like that. I don’t know. But, there sure aren’t a lot of people like that now. There certainly a lot of people who approach it in a more systematic way with their foreign sales estimates and all their numbers that they run.

KW: The spreadsheets.

DM: Yeah, the spreadsheets and all the things that don’t connect to the thing that makes him so winning. Which is to say, a genuine passion for movies or music or the artists that he’s working with. That you don’t feel so much anymore. And I think we’re the worse off for it too. Look what he did with that passion.

KW: And what are the upcoming projects, if you can talk about anything?

DM: I am making a TV pilot with Nathan Lane. He was in my film “Nicholas Nickleby.” We’re casting now and we’re going to shoot in December (2011). It’s a funny and kind of touching half-hour single-camera comedy.

NETFLIX SERIES ‘LILYHAMMER’ STREAMS FEBRUARY 6

Here’s part of the press release:

“Lilyhammer,” a gripping fish-out-of-water story set in Norway and starring “The Sopranos” mainstay and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt, is a new Original Series premiering on Netflix (Nasdaq: NFLX) to watch instantly on February 6, 2012 in the USA, Canada and Latin America.

“Lilyhammer,” follows New York mobster Frank “The Fixer” Tagliano as he enters the federal witness protection program after ratting on his boss. A sports fan, Frank wants to make his new life in Lillehammer, the Norwegian town that hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics – or as he calls it “Lilyhammer.” Frank has visions of a paradise of “clean air, fresh white snow and gorgeous broads” far away from the temptations of the Big Apple and from mob hit men. Reality, of course, turns out to be spectacularly different.

All eight first season episodes of “Lilyhammer” will be available on February 6 so Netflix members can enjoy the series by streaming over the Internet to connected TVs, tablets, game consoles, computers and mobile phones.

Netflix’ smartest move was not doling the first season’s episodes out one by one. Instead, if we like it, we get to feast on it.

I’m convinced this is the future of television and that nothing will ever be the same again.

Watch the “Lilyhammer” trailer here.

‘THE VANISHING PENULTIMATE MOMENT IN FILM’

Longish but worth it:

The Incredibles’ director Brad Bird and producer John Walker discuss how “movies don’t have people sneaking around anymore. I want some sneaking around in my movie! People are in such a rush to get the action sequences going fast that they forget there’s pleasure to be had in the sneaking around part, taking a look at where you are. So I have a few sneaking around sequences in here, and I don’t think they’re a waste of time” (Scene 9). Whether one artist refers to it as “the penultimate moment” or another calls it “sneaking around” is irrelevant; they are both discussing the same thing. The penultimate moment can be one of the most rewarding experiences for a cinema audience, and there are three elements – contrast, counterpoint, and time investment – that go into its creation. Unfortunately, the penultimate moment and its components are becoming a lost art in today’s world of instant gratification.

More and more actions films make the audience feel as though they’re watching someone else play a video game. This is part of the reason.

‘DRAGON TATTOO’ SEQUEL MOVING FORWARD

What a mess:

Costing around $90m to make, the film has currently taken $60m at the US box office, and only around $12m elsewhere on the planet. And that’s led to suggestions that Sony may abandon its plans to press ahead with the full Stieg Larsson Millennium trilogy.

However, it looks like the firm might just be playing the long game. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, a Sony representative insisted that that the film “continues to do strong business and nothing has changed with respect to development of the next book”.

The budget Sony allocates to part two will tell us a lot about the studio’s faith in the trilogy. Sony might also consider filming 2 and 3 together to save costs or simply combine the stories. Part three, at least in the original film trilogy, is mostly set in a courtroom and is also the least exciting of the three. If part two does worse than the first, Sony will be in a real bind when it comes time to produce the final chapter.

NOBODY CARES: HOW ‘30 ROCK’ WILL TACKLE KIM JONG IL’S DEATH

If you want to know how rigged the game is as to how the entertainment is able to artificially create a cultural phenomenon where none exists, below is, by season, the ranking and average number of viewers for NBC’s “30 Rock,” which returns this month for what will surely be a sixth failed season.

• 1. #102 — 5.8
• 2. #94 — 6.4
• 3. #69  — 7.5
• 4. #86 — 5.9
• 5. #106 — 5.3

The Tina Fey/Alec Baldwin sitcom isn’t a cable television show; it’s a broadcast television show. And even though it pulls in only a few more viewers than “Pawn Stars” and sits at 106 in the rankings, the media and the hype would have you believe it’s the “Seinfeld” of the new millennium.

What a racket.

MARTIN SCORSESE ‘CONSIDERING THE POSSIBILITY’ OF 3D FOR FRANK SINATRA BIOPIC

You have got to be kidding me.

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LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING

Chilly Scenes of Winter (1979) — One of my persona; favorite under-appreciated films (Robert Osbourne’s too) and one still not, for some inexplicable reason,  available on DVD. My personal copy is a DVD recording from a 1999 VHS recording. So you can imagine how lousy the picture looks, especially on a high-def television.

It was only after I suffered through that print last night  that someone pointed out the film is currently available on Netflix Streaming. So, if you like quiet little dramas with smart characters, an excellent sense of time and place, and an intelligent resolution, be sure to check it out.

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SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINKTACULAR

PARAMOUNT PICTURES CONFIRMS ‘PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4′

FOCUS FEATURES TO DISTRIBUTE ‘JUAN OF THE DEAD‘

R.I.P. SINGER KAYE STEVENS, PERFORMED WITH THE RAT PACK

R.I.P. SWORDMASTER BOB ANDERSON, WORKED ON ‘STAR WARS’ AND ‘LORD OF THE RINGS‘

12 NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS FOR 2012 MOVIEGOERS

‘THE DARK KNIGHT RISES’: BANE’S DIALOGUE PROBLEMS SORTED OUT?

WHY HOLLYWOOD’S TREATMENT OF ORSON WELLES SHOULDN’T BE A SURPRISE

THE 52 MOST ANTICIPATED MOVIES OF 2012

THE SOUND AND MUSIC OF ‘MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE’ AND ‘WAR HORSE‘

79 YEAR-OLD ROBERT VAUGHN MAKING BIG SCREEN RETURN

10 LESSONS LEARNED FROM UNEMPLOYED MOVIE CHARACTERS

MTV’S ‘PUNK’D’ REVAMP DEBUTS MARCH 19

5 CHARACTERS WHO MISSED THE MORAL OF THEIR OWN MOVIE

TEN YEARS LATER, GRISHAM’S ‘THE FIRM’ IS BACK ON THE CASE

EVOLUTION OF PINK FLOYD ALBUM COVERS: 1967 – 1994

PATRICK SWAYZE’S WIDOW WRITES MEMOIR, ‘WORTH FIGHTING FOR’

9 WRITERS CARRYING THE TORCH FOR MEN’S FICTION

20 FACTS ABOUT ‘JAWS‘

‘ONE LIFE TO LIVE’ HAS BUT 9 EPISODES LEFT STARTING TODAY

A LOOK BACK AT MOVIES AND TV SHOWS ABOUT VENTRILOQUISTS

PETER JACKSON TALKS ‘THE HOBBIT’: FAIRY TALE TONE, DWARVES, & DEL TORO

OUT OF PRINT ‘BLADE RUNNER’ SKETCHBOOK AVAILABLE ONLINE FOR FREE

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CLASSIC PICK FOR WEDNESDAY,  JANUARY 4

TCM:

10:00 PM  EST: National Velvet (1944) –  A British farm girl fights to train a difficult horse for the Grand National Steeplechase. Dir: Clarence Brown Cast:  Mickey Rooney, Donald Crisp, Elizabeth Taylor. C-124 mins, TV-G, CC.

Excellent classic film for adults and kids alike.

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