One of his TV gigs was as the off-camera announcer in the two-part pilot episode of The Adventures of Superman. Narz was paid $150 for saying “Join us every week for the adventures of Superman!”, and then received a royalty check for $1.98 for the rest of his life any time that episode was aired.Did you know that Wink Martindale was in at the ground floor of Elvis' career? And Bob Eubanks had a similar position for the Beatles? Terrifying.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Survey SAYS!
Mental Floss here posts few odd but delicious facts about game show hosts. My favorite concerned Jack Narz, whose very name is an odd but delicious fact.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Weekend Box Office
Hope you got nice Numbers! for Christmas.
It's all downhill from here, the big Xmas weekend. The holiday drives people into the theatres in a big way, perhaps because it's an acceptable way to escape your visiting relatives. And more people escaped to Pandora, the world depicted in Avatar, than anywhere else: $75 million and change, only down 2% from opening weekend. Joel Silver's Sherlock Holmes (okay, Silver had nothing to do with it, but the gratuitous action has his grubby fingerprints all over it) did almost as well, opening with a very solid $62 million in #2 place.
#3 goes to Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. It made $48 million, which means that there must be a lot of very, very dedicated parents out there. #4 new movie is the "comedy" It's Complicated, which pulled down $22 million on the strength of sheer star power.
Sadly, plucky little From Mexico With Love drops down to the bottom of the chart again. At #71 it earned $10. Yes, for the whole holiday weekend. Feliz Navidad!
It's all downhill from here, the big Xmas weekend. The holiday drives people into the theatres in a big way, perhaps because it's an acceptable way to escape your visiting relatives. And more people escaped to Pandora, the world depicted in Avatar, than anywhere else: $75 million and change, only down 2% from opening weekend. Joel Silver's Sherlock Holmes (okay, Silver had nothing to do with it, but the gratuitous action has his grubby fingerprints all over it) did almost as well, opening with a very solid $62 million in #2 place.
#3 goes to Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. It made $48 million, which means that there must be a lot of very, very dedicated parents out there. #4 new movie is the "comedy" It's Complicated, which pulled down $22 million on the strength of sheer star power.
Sadly, plucky little From Mexico With Love drops down to the bottom of the chart again. At #71 it earned $10. Yes, for the whole holiday weekend. Feliz Navidad!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Weekend Box Office
Numbers can be seen here.
Wow! Sony newcomer comedy Did You Hear About The Morgans premieres in the top ten, no doubt aided by the presence of Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker, plus a savvy ad campaign based largely in busses and internet banner ads. The excitement, palpable; the take for the weekend, over $6 million!
Oh yeah there was another newcomer this week that did okay also. Broke a few records - biggest non-sequel opening, biggest 3D opening, best use of Smurfs. Can't recall the name. It's like I 'ave a tar ball in my brain or something.
Meanwhile, things are looking up for From Mexico With Love. The perpetual loser is up 150% from last weekend! It made $140 at TWO theatres and has climbed to third from last place. That's a per screen of $70, versus $22,000 for a certain other picture, but me I always root for the under perro.
Monday, December 21, 2009
The Spirit of Xmas
So last night I'm at the Karaoke Bar (there's a sentence that will shave off a few readers) at the table with the books and the sign-up slips. This woman with an impossible figure and a cute knit-wool cap walks up, takes the pen out of my hand and starts writing on her own slip. "Hope you don't mind," she says. I joke, "It's okay, I'm a survivor. I like your hat." She ignores me, fills out her slip and hands it in, and we don't speak to each other for the rest of the evening.
For half the night, I'm thinking, what weird behavior! If she had been flirting she would have responded somehow to the hat remark. If she wasn't flirting, why not take one of the other 20 pens from that cup o' pens? I puzzled over that between my renditions of Fly Me To The Moon and Baby, It's Cold Outside.
Gradually, from glancing over at her and her friends at the table, I surmised that she and her friends were in the porn industry. I don't recognize individuals in the business, but as a tribe they all sport a certain look.... like rockstars as drawn by comic-book artists. Shoulda realized it immediately. I live in the West San Fernando Valley, near the epicenter of porn, Reseda. These people are as common as barristas in my neck of the woods.
They were pretty good singers too.
It's strange but this chance encounter and the realization that such larger-than-life types are always within reach finally gave me the Christmas Spirit that I've found so elusive this year. It's just heartwarming to be around people who can make a living out of entertainment, even in these recessionary times. It may not be entertainment that I endorse, but I put them higher than reality show producers.
When Christmas Day comes, I'll be in Las Vegas, probably talking to hookers about the economics of their business. In Las Vegas, there is almost no Christmas. It's like it doesn't exist there. So this little epiphany I had last night is almost certainly as close as I'll get to that Xmas Feeling. I suppose I'll start calling it NC-17mas.
For half the night, I'm thinking, what weird behavior! If she had been flirting she would have responded somehow to the hat remark. If she wasn't flirting, why not take one of the other 20 pens from that cup o' pens? I puzzled over that between my renditions of Fly Me To The Moon and Baby, It's Cold Outside.
Gradually, from glancing over at her and her friends at the table, I surmised that she and her friends were in the porn industry. I don't recognize individuals in the business, but as a tribe they all sport a certain look.... like rockstars as drawn by comic-book artists. Shoulda realized it immediately. I live in the West San Fernando Valley, near the epicenter of porn, Reseda. These people are as common as barristas in my neck of the woods.
They were pretty good singers too.
It's strange but this chance encounter and the realization that such larger-than-life types are always within reach finally gave me the Christmas Spirit that I've found so elusive this year. It's just heartwarming to be around people who can make a living out of entertainment, even in these recessionary times. It may not be entertainment that I endorse, but I put them higher than reality show producers.
When Christmas Day comes, I'll be in Las Vegas, probably talking to hookers about the economics of their business. In Las Vegas, there is almost no Christmas. It's like it doesn't exist there. So this little epiphany I had last night is almost certainly as close as I'll get to that Xmas Feeling. I suppose I'll start calling it NC-17mas.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Just Seen: Avatar
Hey, I'm back.
I was actually motivated to go see James Cameron's new film at it's midnight opening screening. This is where insomnia can be something of a benefit.
Hell of a good film. It's a must-see, because you've never seen anything like this before. Pandora, the world Cameron has created in this film, is a wonder to behold. There is visual invention in practically every scene, amazingly vivid landscapes, animals and plants, rendered in astounding detail. The 3-D is extraordinary, quite natural-looking and understated. It drew me into the world of the film so convincingly that when a speck of dust or falling leaf fell “close,” I flinched.
There are only a few scenes that betray the film's fully digital origins, some suspect surface mapping or impossible physics: Still, Avatar is as fully realized visually as Peter Jackson's Middle Earth. (and why not: he used WETA, the Kiwi effects house that did the Rings trilogy.) It's a big, epic movie, and you should definitely see it on a big, big screen.
Having said all that, I left the theatre (at 3 a.m.) feeling a bit hollow, mostly because the story was kinda flat. James Cameron is obviously betting that, like Titanic, expensive visuals and familiar, crowd-pleasing story will carry the film to success. He's going to win that bet-- but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed.
I'm not going to claim to be a “writing snob” because of the Austin thing: It's just that you can feel Avatar drag it's story along like so much dead weight. For instance, the first 25 minutes or so is pure exposition: Characters verbally setting the plot into motion. Sometimes you really need expo, but trusting the audience and using some shorthand would have carved 20 minutes out of it.
And I called the ending about an hour or so ahead of time. Man, that bugs me. Sigourney Weaver's character utters one line at about the two-thirds mark (I won't spoil it) and from there I know exactly how the last act was going to play out. It's a shame, because I know James Cameron is a director capable of creating amazing surprises in his storytelling: Terminator, T2, and Aliens all had nifty plot twists. Alright, we all knew how Titanic ended before we saw it, right?
The more I think about it, the more I realize the plot is a thematic mash-up of all of his previous films: A fascination with military stuff, tough women soldiers and Vietnam-era hardware; bioluminescence; doomed romance; Corporate bad guys; skinny aliens.
All that being said, it's still a must-see. Because even considering the predictability of the plot, it's not a sequel, a “reboot” or a comic book. Taken at that level, it's as original a story as there is.
I was actually motivated to go see James Cameron's new film at it's midnight opening screening. This is where insomnia can be something of a benefit.
Hell of a good film. It's a must-see, because you've never seen anything like this before. Pandora, the world Cameron has created in this film, is a wonder to behold. There is visual invention in practically every scene, amazingly vivid landscapes, animals and plants, rendered in astounding detail. The 3-D is extraordinary, quite natural-looking and understated. It drew me into the world of the film so convincingly that when a speck of dust or falling leaf fell “close,” I flinched.
There are only a few scenes that betray the film's fully digital origins, some suspect surface mapping or impossible physics: Still, Avatar is as fully realized visually as Peter Jackson's Middle Earth. (and why not: he used WETA, the Kiwi effects house that did the Rings trilogy.) It's a big, epic movie, and you should definitely see it on a big, big screen.
Having said all that, I left the theatre (at 3 a.m.) feeling a bit hollow, mostly because the story was kinda flat. James Cameron is obviously betting that, like Titanic, expensive visuals and familiar, crowd-pleasing story will carry the film to success. He's going to win that bet-- but I can't help but feel a bit disappointed.
I'm not going to claim to be a “writing snob” because of the Austin thing: It's just that you can feel Avatar drag it's story along like so much dead weight. For instance, the first 25 minutes or so is pure exposition: Characters verbally setting the plot into motion. Sometimes you really need expo, but trusting the audience and using some shorthand would have carved 20 minutes out of it.
And I called the ending about an hour or so ahead of time. Man, that bugs me. Sigourney Weaver's character utters one line at about the two-thirds mark (I won't spoil it) and from there I know exactly how the last act was going to play out. It's a shame, because I know James Cameron is a director capable of creating amazing surprises in his storytelling: Terminator, T2, and Aliens all had nifty plot twists. Alright, we all knew how Titanic ended before we saw it, right?
The more I think about it, the more I realize the plot is a thematic mash-up of all of his previous films: A fascination with military stuff, tough women soldiers and Vietnam-era hardware; bioluminescence; doomed romance; Corporate bad guys; skinny aliens.
All that being said, it's still a must-see. Because even considering the predictability of the plot, it's not a sequel, a “reboot” or a comic book. Taken at that level, it's as original a story as there is.
Odds, Ends
Will 'Avatar' Make Viewers Nauseous?
Depends on your tolerance for big eyes.
Michael Jackson tribute concert scrapped
Was to have featured a rare appearance by Michael's old nose.
'Mr. Lincoln' returns to Disneyland after 5-year absence
The audioanimatronic figure has been in rehab, and has never felt better. Also all lawsuits stemming from Lincoln's drunken attack of a little boy named Douglas in 2004 have been settled; Douglas has been given a complete set of Toy Story action figures, lifetime admission to Club 33 and 24-hour access to Ashley Tisdale.
Depends on your tolerance for big eyes.
Michael Jackson tribute concert scrapped
Was to have featured a rare appearance by Michael's old nose.
'Mr. Lincoln' returns to Disneyland after 5-year absence
The audioanimatronic figure has been in rehab, and has never felt better. Also all lawsuits stemming from Lincoln's drunken attack of a little boy named Douglas in 2004 have been settled; Douglas has been given a complete set of Toy Story action figures, lifetime admission to Club 33 and 24-hour access to Ashley Tisdale.
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