Two years ago before he was even a glimmer in an HBO audience’s eye, Sacha Baron Cohen’s Da Ali G Show starred in his own movie. Ali G Indahouse opened in England but was never able to secure distribution here in the states. Now, it will debut on DVD tomorrow, because what other film could be as enormously successful on election day. Better yet, though, if you just can’t wait to watch it from the comfort of your own home, you can head to Ft. Greene today and tomorrow because BAM is screening it as an “Election Special.”
This is more the realm of discussion for H-Bomb and Nummer on Whatevs.org, but just how bad did SNL suck this weekend? I mean, I’m a big fan of Kate Winslet. Love and lurve her. But those sketches were just painful. I don’t remember any big laughs at all, even in the opening sketch which is usually pretty dependable. And while the whole Ashlee Simpson debacle the week before was funny/upsetting/unfortunate (take your pick or choose your own), I think they went a bit overboard making fun of her. Regardless of how much a musical hack she might be, the show still booked her. Making fun of the situation is one thing, but to repeatedly make fun of her for what she did on their show? That’s just lame. And to see Horatio Sanz who never met a line he didn’t have to noticeably read of a cue card do it at all was nearly vomit-inducing. And please, Lorne Michaels; to say in your interview with 60 Minutes that you weren’t aware of anybody lip synching previously on your show was just wrong. Everyone knows your a total control freak; the 60 Minutes piece said as much. So you must know because it happens all the time. In fact, was it just me, or what track was backing Eminem during “Mosh”? There was one definite minute where he stopped rapping at the end of a line, but the vocal didn’t. I’m sure that was just his harmony. (UPDATE: Scott Stereogum has a better idea: that Eminem was also using a backing track — for that slightly echoed sound — and he deliberately stopped at one point just to fuck with us. I’ll buy it.)
Last week it was announced that producer Scott Rudin is planning a remake of The Blob for Paramount. I’m not sure why anyone thinks this is a good idea. Rudin is a prolific producer who usually makes very good movies that are often both commercially and artistically successful. But his track record with remakes proves to be exactly the opposite. Sabrina, Shaft, The Stepford Wives and The Manchurian Candidate are not four films to exactly be proud of unless you’re talking about their four original counterparts. I’m really not trying to knock Rudin who has been the man responsible for some really great films, but four tries indicates to me that you can’t just blame the independent directors. Yeah, The Blob may not be some untouchable masterpiece anyway, but there’s already been one bad remake. Come on Scott: stick to films like the ones you’ve recently released or have on your slate, and don’t mess up another “classic,” even a deliberately schlocky one. And I’m not even going to bring up the fact that you just can’t replace Steve McQueen, nor should you.
Also from last week, Ving Rhames is the new Kojak. And not just for one or two TV movies either. Somehow, USA Network actually convinced him to sign-on to a weekly series. Can Rhames successfully replace Telly Savalas in one of the most iconic TV detective roles of the ’70s? Or more importantly, should he? Maybe. It might be interesting to see how Kojak and Kojak might look 30 years later, and if they’re going to do it with anyone, especially while attempting to give it a darker and grittier feel, Rhames seems like potentially perfect casting.
Did anyone else watch the new Comedy Central “animated reality show” Drawn Together? Maybe it was hurt by airing immediately after a pretty strong episode of South Park, but I found it nearly unwatchable. It wasn’t funny at all. I mean, every joke was pretty obvious. The problem with spoofing reality shows is that it’s harder to make something funnier or more appalling than that which is unintentionally funny or appalling. Obviously, an animated “reality” show isn’t a real “reality” show, so all you’re going to get are exagerrated examples of all the shit you’d otherwise see on The Real World. But Drawn Together is either trying too hard or is simply a flawed concept from the beginning.
And, oh yeah … one more thing: I finally actually watched the final Tanner on Tanner that premiered on Sundance Channel last week. What a disappointment. The first three episodes were relatively weak anyway, but this payoff of a finale wasn’t either. All it did was cement that the short series was about political documentary filmmaking rather than politics or campaigning. I was actually a bit saddened by how uninteresting it proved to be and what a waste of creative talent that simply must have been too lazy to figure out a way to do only 2 hours of television, revisiting a brilliant and groundbreaking series, in a way that wasn’t interesting whatsoever. Altman and Trudeau did a disservice to not just the fans of the original series, but to the series itself. If you’re masochistic and haven’t caught them yet but want to experience this disappointment in your own right, they’ll be reshowing all four episodes tomorrow night (election night, natch) starting at 9:30 PM and on Sunday 11/7 at 8 PM. For better Tanner-watching tomorrow, preceding the Tanner on Tanner series Sundance will show the entire original Tanner ’88, starting at 3:30 PM.
Out of Focus 