'Best of TBH Politoons'
Baron Dave Romm
The Projectionist
By Baron Dave Romm
Shockwave Radio Theater
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A movie about movies
The Projectionist is a brilliant movie without being a successful one.
The film is occasionally noted for being Rodney Dangerfield's first movie. Dangerfield gives a great performance as a thoroughly unlikable man who doesn't deserve respect. But the star of the show is Chuck McCann, who is marvelous. I suspect the movie didn't succeed because the funny parts (which are very funny) don't outweigh the bleak parts (which are very bleak). You need both the humor and the bleakness to balance the stiletto-sharp observations about American culture during a time when a president from Texas lied to get us into a war we had no right to be in. At least in the 70s, we still had a free press.
Chuck McCann was one of my favorites growing up near NYC in the early 60s. He would read the comics to the kids, and even before I could read he was an influence. The Moon Maid was a character in Dick Tracy, and he would always start off her dialog with falsetto "menneee menneee menneee" sounds (which weren't in the strip). A small thing, but I was small.
McCann has a Jonathan Winters-like ability to morph into improv combined with a Robin Williams-like ability to insert pop culture strokes. He never made it as big as either of them, but did have a successful career for several decades, mostly as host/creator of children's puppet shows.
McCann was also a friend of Hugh Hefner, which probably (I'm guessing) led to his introduction to Harry Hurwitz, who continues to make just-under-R-to-soft-X movies. The Projectionist is such a movie: Not much hard language (despite Dangerfield) and a few salacious breast shots. Not for the kiddies, but all the nudity is appropriate and mostly played for laughs. Still, the tittie shots are for adolescents; the montages of Nazis and the KKK and the references to Vietnam are for adults.
The Projectionist operates on three levels of reality. The basic storyline follows McCann's character (listed only as "The Projectionist" in the credits) as he works in the projection booth in a Times Square low-rent movie theater. The problems with the manager of the theater (Dangerfield), and friendship with the concession stand salesman (who had been in 60 movies in Czechoslovakia but had to leave when the Communists took over) become fodder for his overactive imagination. After his shift, he goes home to a single room decorated with movie posters and watches tv until the station goes off the air. (Remember when stations went off the air?) In the morning, he wanders around Times Square, then heads back to work. Bleak.
While The Projectionist is living his real life, he fills the boring parts with snippets from his vast encyclopedic knowledge of film and history. As he leaves the projection booth, McCann goes on a riff, looking at movie stills, combining impressions and favorite lines from several actors. This is a guy who knows 'em all, and loves 'em all. When the tv station goes off the air, he watches while it shows images to The Star Spangled Banner... and then replays The Star Spangled Banner with his own images of Nazis and the KKK and the Vietnam War. An astonishing sequence. As he goes around Times Square, he's the star, and the movie marquee has his name in lights and the paparazzi want to interview him. After spending his life behind the projector and in front of a screen, wish fulfillment places him in front of the camera.
Meanwhile... The weakest part is the Captain Flash/The Bat silent film playing in McCann's head. Too bad. McCann plays a lovable but bumbling superhero called Captain Flash who saves the scientist (the concession stand guy) with a beautiful daughter (Ina Balin) from The Bat (Dangerfield). It's moderately amusing, with many references to a wide array of movies. A scene at Rick's Cafe Americain (from Casablanca) vies with scenes from Flash Gordon. Since the character doesn't really have a life, the movie-within-a-movie doesn't really resolve well. The attempt is admirable, but not cartoonish enough to balance the bleakness of his life or the real evil in too much of Vietnam-era USA.
The war movie montages are great. The self-references to the movie bend it all inward. As a movie buff, I think I recognized quite a few of the obscure films that zip by (such as DW Griffith's short Man's Genesis, which is basically the first part of 2001: A Space Odyseey... done in 1912). I first saw this at college. Part of a conceptually juxtaposed double feature of The Projectionist ("the saddest funny movie ever made") and Sunset Boulevard ("the funniest sad movie ever made"). I eventually joined the film group and because the VP and Head Projectionist.I can relate.
I'm going to allow my own experiences to guid my recommendation. On the Shockwave Radio scale of 9 to 23, with 23 being high, I give The Projectionist about a 19. I would have loved for the DVD to have commentary or some other extras, but it doesn't. If you're not a film buff, let the images just wash over you and check out what Times Square looked like circa 1970. If you're a projectionist, you'll love the shots of the film being threaded through the projector and revel in the solitude of the job. Yes, it's like that.
Wine
2004 Amelie Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot. Mankas Hills Vineyards has a blog. By itself, not so terribly surprising. At least it's not a MySpace page. The surprise (at least to me) is how they dove into the blogosphere wine-stomping feet first. In June, they made an offer of a sample bottle of their award-winning wine to any blogger. I couldn't resist. Neither could many people, such as Blog Another blog and the offer is now closed. I got the wine, and will talk about it herein.
It's good. Full-bodied taste that might overpower some and took me a few sips to get into. High alcohol content (13.5%) which is a major plus for those of us who review wine one bottle at a time. I'm not enough of an oenologist to properly rate it against others of its type or say whether it's offered at a good price, but it complimented my Subway sandwich, even with the Jalapenos. Why a wine released in May 2006 is listed as 2004 vintage is beyond my marketing ken, but there you are.
I'm amused at the marketing campaign, and admire the name (one of my favorite movies) and the label art is good. None of which affects the wine, but all are plusses. I'm not going to give any wine a blanket recommendation, and I'm not going to order a case (sorry guys), but I'll keep an eye out for this in the stores during a sale.
Blogs
As long as I'm talking about blogs, let me mention two new ones.
My brother Joe is a scientist and policy maker in Renewable Energy. He worked in the Energy Department of the Clinton administration, started his own company and has written several books an energy and Shakespeare. He began to blog his thoughts and observations in Climate Progress, which is a must for anyone who wants to keep up with the current discussion on global warming and the Bush Administration's deadly right-wing stupidity toward climate change.
I get lots of requests to link to and/or review blogs, but timing is everything. Left Wing Nutjob sent me a request as I was writing this so what the heck. Two moving gifs almost take it out of readability, but my brief look at the content shows an appropriately snarky guy with a wide range of interests and a good sense of links.
Bob Tucker: A real projectionist
For the second time in two weeks, I'm sad to report the death of a friend. Wilson "Bob" Tucker was a fixture at many midwestern science fiction conventions in his prime. As a writer, he was Wilson Tucker, with more than 20 sf and mystery books to his credit. But his profession was as a movie projectionist, adding another layer to this review of the McCann movie. Unlike McCann's character, Tucker had A Life, and he lived it to the fullest. Universally known as Bob Tucker, he was active in the sf fan community for more than 60 years. His signature move at science fiction conventions was to pass around a bottle of Beam's Choice. He would take a sip (in later years, more of a touch of the lips) and raise one hand. He would pass the bottle for the next person to take a sip (checking to see that they were of age or didn't have a medical condition, in which case they could just hold the bottle for a second and pass it on, but they had to raise their hand). The bottle went around the circle. When it got back to Tucker, he would lead everyone in a chorus of "smoooooooth" while gently sliding the hand down in a smooth gesture.
"Smooth" comes from a Red Skeleton routine. Beam's Choice wasn't his favorite liquor. It comes from a running joke among fanzine fans in the late 30s/early 40s to put your favorite booze in the colophon (where your name and address were). His favorite was taken. That didn't affect the joke in any way. Generations of fans "smooothed" with Tucker.
Bob Tucker was loquacious, gentle, humorous and ribald. He was a friend to almost everyone. His contribution to the world goes waaaay beyond one ritual. He hadn't been active in many years, but even when he didn't show up at a convention, he was talked about and we "smooothed" in his honor. The tradition will continue.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia who produces Shockwave Radio Theater, writes in a Live Journal demi-blog, plays with a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. Dave Romm reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E. Podcasts of Shockwave Radio Theater. Permanent archive. More radio programs, interviews and science fiction humor plays can be accessed on the Shockwave Radio audio page.
Thanks to everyone who has sent me music to play on the air.
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Freshly Updated!
Dick Eats Bush
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
Kim Ficera: Don't Quote Me: Online Anonymity Fosters Prejudice (afterellen.com)
"Anna's biggest concern was that these kids, in a couple years, will be adults, and they will have been taught that they can humiliate someone like this and get away with it." - Murphy Klasing, lawyer for Anna Draker, a high school administrator who has filed suit against two students that created a MySpace.com profile in her name and posted false information indicating she was a lesbian.
Karel: Foley's pathetic blame game (advocate.com)
Hey, Mark Foley! Stop using sexuality to explain away why you're so screwed up. You're screwed up because you were a mess to start with, not because you drink too much (allegedly). You're a creep. Live with it.
Matthew Link: Rep. Barney Frank talks about the Foley scandal (advocate.com)
One of the few out politicians on Capitol Hill, Democratic congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts (who survived his own scandal involving a male prostitute in 1989) gives us his take on Foley and on being a gay politician in Washington.
Greg Hernandez: Martina Navratilova Retires on a High Note (afterellen.com)
Less than two weeks after ending her tennis career with a mixed doubles win at the U.S. Open, Martina Navratilova is back home in Sarasota, Fla., trying to catch up on things as she prepares to get on with the rest of her life.
Diane Anderson-Minshall: Lesbians Behind the Lens (curvemag.com)
Lesbian films are always feast or famine, with a new batch of fresh originals hitting the festival circuit (and sometimes DVD shelves) each summer. This past season a few must-see flicks may have been overlooked even though a lesbian auteur was behind the lens.
Armond White: POLYAMOROUS SOCIAL SATIRE (nypress.com)
John Cameron Mitchell makes history with Shortbus-a bright, impudent new chapter in New York bohemian cinema. A comical S&M scene in front of a penthouse view of Ground Zero says more about the Big Apple mood than the 9/11 Commission Report.
Robert Urban: Review of John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus (afterelton.com)
Shortbus is a film made by and about bohemian, nonconformist libertines for an audience of the same. Beneath its simple tale of sexually unsatisfied people lies its deeper message: Current conservative trends in American society are stifling to artistic, intellectual and sexual creativity.
Rabbi Susan Grossman: Why Sukkot Trumps Yom Kippur (beliefnet.com)
I don't mean to sound heretical, but if given my druthers, I would rather Jews observe the seven days of Sukkot than the 25 hours of Yom Kippur. (Of course, I would prefer they do both, but this is one of those hypothetical conundrums.)
Signe Wilkinson: One Nation, Under Surveillance (lulu.com)
"A timely book by the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartoons." Bruce says to check out the free pdf preview.!
The Funniest People in Sports...
Bruce's Books
Reader Comment
Re: Robert Anton Wilson
Dear Marty,
Thanks for the updates about Robert Anton Wilson - my favorite author.
I was twenty three when I started reading Cosmic Trigger. Wilson was
writing about this weird "23 enigma". I was working at a radio
station, back before the internet. We had an old A.P. machine
spitting out news. At 23 past the hour (the stories are time stamped)
there came a report about a car wreck on a highway 23. I kept that
little news blurb with me for a long time to remind me that life is
sometimes unfathomable. And magickal.
Jayson
Thanks, Jayson!
Hubert's Poetry Corner
MY WRY EYE
WHY DO W'S SUPPORTERS CONTINUALLY 'HACK AND PURGE' THIS AND MY OTHER 'POETIC DEEDS'?
Reader Comment
Sienna Miller
Marty
It seems that actress Sienna Miller is not too thrilled with Pittsburgh.
Article about her remarks about the city while she was here to film
Michael Chabon's novel "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh."
MAM
Thanks, Marianne!
Here's her apology - Sienna Actually Thinks Pittsburgh is "Beautiful".
Heh - and her dad is from Meadville.
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny and what passes for brisk in these parts.
Ratings Up
Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann's tipping point came on a tarmac in Los Angeles six weeks ago. While waiting for his plane to take off he read an account of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's speech before the American Legion equating Iraq War opponents to pre-World War II appeasers.
The next night, on Aug. 30, Olbermann ended his MSNBC "Countdown" show with a blistering retort, questioning both the interpretation of history and Rumsfeld's very understanding of what it means to be an American.
It was the first of now five extraordinarily harsh anti-Bush commentaries that have made Olbermann the latest media point-person in the nation's political divide.
Since that first commentary, Olbermann's nightly audience has increased 69 percent, according to Nielsen Media Research. This past Monday 834,000 people tuned in, virtually double his season average and more than CNN competitors Paula Zahn and Nancy Grace. Cable kingpin and Olbermann nemesis Bill O'Reilly (two million viewers that night) stands in his way.
Keith Olbermann
Headlines McCaskill Fundraiser
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox headlined a campaign fundraiser for Democratic Senate candidate Claire McCaskill, but his message was broader than one Senate race.
"Contrary to what (former House Speaker) Tip O'Neil said, politics is not local," Fox told McCaskill supporters Thursday at a restaurant in this St. Louis suburb. "What happens here does affect my three girls, my son, my wife and me, and the 100 million Americans living with a disease that could be helped by stem cell research."
The actor, who has Parkinson's disease, is a strong advocate of embryonic stem cell research. McCaskill has made support for the research a key part of her campaign to unseat Republican Sen. Jim Talent.
Michael J. Fox
LennonOno Grant For Peace
Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono, the widow of Beatle John Lennon, promoted world peace from a hotel room in Iceland on Sunday -- fully clothed this time -- and revealed plans to award two $50,000 peace grants on Lennon's birthday on Monday.
Ono, who famously held a "bed-in" for peace in a Montreal hotel room with Lennon in 1969, said she will give the LennonOno Grant For Peace to the global medical group Doctors Without Borders and the non-profit Center for Constitutional Rights.
The LennonOno Grant was established in 2002 and Ono said she moved the award ceremony to Reykjavik from the United Nations headquarters in New York after discovering the unique beauty of the North Atlantic island.
Yoko Ono
$7 Million Take
Star Trek Auction
The first auction of official "Star Trek" memorabilia hit warp speed on Saturday when a determined bidder paid $576,000 for a model of the legendary science fiction franchise's starship Enterprise, helping drive the total for the three-day sale above $7 million.
All of the 1,000 lots of props, costumes, models and miniatures and other ephemera from the five "Star Trek" television series and 10 feature films on offer at Christie's auction house found buyers.
Virtually all sold for more than their pre-sale estimates. The total taking of $7,107,040, including commission, was far more than double what had been expected.
Star Trek Auction
In Trouble For Praising Drugs
Graham Norton
Graham Norton, one of BBC television's top presenters, was in hot water after he revealed he had taken "loads of drugs" and hailed ecstasy as "just fantastic".
The openly gay Irishman had told Marie Claire: "The only time I took ecstasy was years and years ago. It was absolutely amazing. It was just fantastic -- really, really fun.
"I've tried loads of drugs, but it would really bug me if I got busted in the tabloids because I take them so rarely."
Asked about cocaine, he said: "I think that coke is middle-aged stuff. It's quite a slow drug that involves coffee tables. To me, it's a middle-class choice of drug."
Graham Norton
Haunted Set
'Ghost Whisperer'
Jennifer Love Hewitt plays a woman who can communicate with the recently deceased in Ghost Whisperer, and the cast and crew are spooked in real life too.
She tells US chat show host Megan Mullally, "We've had lights move, literally three and a half inches to the left, as you're sitting there the lights move.
"We've had lights burst over actors' heads when they're playing people who don't believe in ghosts. A light will burst into a million pieces right over them.
"People are like, 'We're not guest-starring on that show!'
'Ghost Whisperer'
Old Fashioned Bunnies
Vegas Playboy Club
Flaunting bunnies, booze and blackjack, the first Playboy Club in nearly two decades opened in Las Vegas on Saturday night with high hopes that its time-tested combination of sex and celebrity will attract a new generation of high rollers.
With a distinctly vintage feel, Playboy bunnies wearing the distinctive ears and cottontail delivered drinks and dealt cards to a mostly male crowd at the Palms Casino Resort.
"There's a new generation ready to come out and play," Playboy Enterprises founder Hugh Hefner told Reuters before the party, saying the Playboy brand was just as relevant today as it was when he started the men's magazine in 1953.
Vegas Playboy Club
Archaeologists Find 18th-Century Store
Sutler
This history-rich Hudson River community has yielded a museum's worth of 18th-century military artifacts over the decades, from musket balls to human skeletons. But a colonial soldier's daily lot wasn't all fighting and bloodshed. They had their share of down time, and that's where the sutler came in, offering for sale two of the few diversions from frontier duty: alcohol and tobacco.
A five-year-long archaeological project has unearthed the 250-year-old site of a merchant's establishment that sold wine, rum, tobacco and other goods to the thousands of soldiers who passed through this region during the French and Indian War, when Fort Edward was the largest British military post in North America.
Sutler, derived from the Dutch word for someone who performs dirty work, was the name given to the merchants who arrived on the heels of the British army and sold what the redcoats wouldn't - or couldn't - provide at a frontier outpost. With the permission of military officials, sutlers set up shop near a fort's gates, taking advantage of the isolated location to do a brisk trade with off-duty soldiers and officers.
Sutler
Take Aim At Muslim Youth
Islamic Superheroes
In Saudi Arabia, a gawky teenager is transformed into a hulking creature. In Paris, a historian chases legends about mystical gemstones. In South Africa, a boy discovers a sparkling rock with healing powers.
The characters are from a new genre of superheroes endowed with Muslim virtues and aimed at young Muslims in a comic book series called "The 99." Launched in July, it is being billed as the world's first superhero project drawn from Islamic culture.
Its creator, 35-year-old Naif Al-Mutawa, admits the series -- based on 99 heroes who embody the 99 attributes of God in Islam -- is tricky in a religion where attempts to personify God's power can spark protests and even death threats.
Islamic Superheroes
In Memory
Claude Luter
Clarinettist and band-leader Claude Luter, who was one of the stars of the post-war Paris jazz scene and accompanied Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong, died on Friday at the age of 83, his family has said.
The son of a musician, Luter discovered New Orleans jazz in his teens and began performing in Paris during the German occupation in World War II.
After the liberation he and his band became a fixture at the Lorientais, the first of the great Latin Quarter jazz clubs that were the centre of France's burgeoning musical and intellectual revival.
He met Armstrong at the Nice jazz festival in 1948, and the following year began a working relationship with Bechet which lasted until the American jazzman's death 10 years later.
Regarded as one of France's greatest exponents of traditional jazz, Luter was eclipsed by the emergence of a new generation playing be-bop and free jazz, but he continued performing until very recently.
Claude Luter
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