A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

As the premiere of Walt Disney Pictures' live action remake of the beloved 1991 animated classic approaches, I thought it would be a good time to share my Examiner review of the Gary Trousdale/Kirk Wise original version.  Directed by Gary Trousdale (“Shrek the Halls,” “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”) and Kirk Wise (“Atlantis: The Lost Empire”) and written by Linda Woolverton (“The Lion King”) and 11 other co-writers, “Beauty and the Beast” is an enchanting and awe-inspiring love story centered on the beautiful Belle and the monstrous-looking Beast. The film's story is simple and straightforward, even being introduced with a traditional-sounding prologue (narrated by M*A*S*H alum David Ogden Stiers, who also plays Cogsworth) which sets up the characters and situations. “Once upon a time, in a faraway land, a young prince lived in a shining castle. Although he had everything his heart desired, the prince was spoiled, selfish, and unkind. But then, one winter's nig...

Die Hard 2 (1990) aka Die Hard 2: Die Harder Directed by Renny Harlin Written by Steven E. de Souza and Doug Richardson Based on the novel 58 Minutes by Walter Wager Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Sadler, John Amos, Dennis Franz, Fred Dalton Thompson, Franco Nero Rent-A-Car Girl: I close in about an hour. Maybe we can go get a drink? John McClane: [shows his wedding ring] Just the fax, ma'am. Just the fax. Finnish director Renny Harlin's Die Hard 2: Die Harder is a decent but derivative sequel to 1988's megahit Die Hard . This time around, John McClane (Bruce Willis), now a Los Angeles Police  Department lieutenant must match wits, fists, gunfire, and banter with a band of heavily armed bad guys that have taken over Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport. Based on Walter Wager's novel 58 Minutes , Steven E. de Souza and Doug Richardson's script closely follows the format of John McTiernan's Die Hard .  Once ...

The Trump Administration's continuing war with the American journalistic community escalated today when reporters from The New York Times, CNN,   Politico and other news organizations   were banned from the daily briefing at the White House. Per the Times .  this is an "unusual     breach of relations between the White House and its press corps." Reporters from The Times, CNN and Politico were not allowed to enter the West Wing office of the press secretary, Sean M. Spicer, for the scheduled briefing. Aides to Mr. Spicer allowed in reporters from only a handpicked group of news organizations that, the White House said, had been previously confirmed to attend. Predictably, Spicer allowed several organizations that are friendly to the Trump Administration's agenda to attend the press briefing, including Breitbart News, Fox, The Washington Times and the One America News Network. Reporters from the Associated Press and Time magazine were not barred fro...

In 1975, when I was a fifth-grade student at Tropical Elementary in Miami, Saturday Night Live's "Weekend Update" was anchored by the wonderfully funny Chevy Chase. Back then, the show was still known as NBC's Saturday Night, and the cast (known as The Not Ready For Prime Time Players) included Chase, John Belushi, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner, Dan Ackroyd, and Garrett Morris. Anyway, back in '75, SNL writers gave Chase one of the show's earliest catchphrases - "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead...." when they decided to spoof the seemingly endless reports on NBC Nightly News earlier that year about the Spanish dictator's long string of illnesses that culminated in his death on November 20, 1975. Apparently, the running gag (there would be many Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead updates over the next two seasons) was a comedic swipe aimed at Nightly News anchor John Chancellor, who insisted that the newscas...

In 1994, a year after ABC canceled George Lucas's ambitious but expensive  The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles , Lucasfilm Limited produced a two-hour TV movie which continued the adventures of a college-age Henry Walton Jones, Jr. (Sean Patrick Flanery) before he became a professor of archaeology and a globetrotting adventurer. Written by Jonathan Hales ( Star Wars - Episode II: Attack of the Clones, The Scorpion King ) and Matthew Jacobs (T he Emperor's New Groove ),  Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies  was the first of four follow-up stories that were shown on cable's The Family Channel after its original network pulled the plug on the critically-acclaimed but very pricy "edutainment" series. Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Hollywood Follies Also known as  Young Indiana Jones and the Hollywood Follies (VHS) Chapter 22: The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Hollywood Follies (Disc 9, Volume Three: Years of Change) Set in 1920 Hollywoo...