The secret of the stage

Tags

acting, Audience, Concerts, Lecturing, Performance, Speaking, Stage, Theater, Theatre

Where’s the crowd?

Has anyone ever studied how a performer or speaker can feel the spectators’ mood?

They’re in the dark while stage lights are shining in your eyes, so you can’t see them. You can’t hear them, either, especially if you’re doing something dramatic rather than funny (where you can hear their laughter) or musical (where they applaud when a song ends).

But you know. You can tell if they’re with you. You can sense if they’re leaning forward with sharp interest or sitting back in boredom.

Is it the air pressure as they hold their breath in a moment of suspense? Is it the heat when their skin temperature rises during a scene of high emotion?

I was never a full-time, professional performer, but even I knew when I was holding an audience and when I was losing them. How it happened, though, was a mystery to me and still is.

How do speakers and performers know?

Oscars for all!

Tags

Academy Awards, Awards, Movies, Oscars, Streaming, Television

Gently down the stream …

I love the movie academy’s decision to allow streaming movies into the Oscars.

For decades, the academy’s rules have hinged on something that has nothing to do with a movie’s quality, format, or content. To be eligible for Oscars, the Academy rules say, a movie must be publicly exhibited “for paid admission in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County … for a theatrical qualifying run of at least seven consecutive days in the same commercial motion picture theater.”

This rule strikes me as dumb. A movie’s a movie, whether it runs in theaters, on TV, or anywhere else.

A lot of movies made for TV or the straight-to-video market might have gotten Academy attention if they’d hit American theaters. For some reason, several of them focus on gay characters, like And the Band Played On (with Ian McKellen, Richard Gere, and Lily Tomlin), Behind the Candelabra (Michael Douglas and Matt Damon), The Normal Heart (Mark Ruffalo and Julia Roberts), and Gia (Angelina Jolie and Faye Dunaway). Toy Story 2 was originally a straight-to-video feature ineligible for Oscars; but when Disney put it into theaters, Academy members nominated it for an Oscar (best original song). Besides, I’ve heard that quite a few movies distributed on video or TV in the United States have had successful theatrical runs in foreign countries.

So yes, let streaming movies contend for Oscars. Let TV series episodes get nominations for Best Short Film. Let MSNBC and HBO documentaries win Academy Awards.

May the best work win, regardless of its distribution method.

Star Wars: The original strikes back

Tags

A New Hope, Darth Vader, George Lucas, Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, The Force

“Empire’s better!” “No, the original’s better!”

The Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie. Critics say so, according to Rotten Tomatoes. Viewers say so, according to polls by Ranker, FiveThirtyEight, IGN, and other sites. Movie experts at entertainment sites like CinemaBlend, The Wrap, Taste of Cinema, and Vulture say so. Even Popular Mechanics says so. So do USA Today, Esquire, GQ, Parade, Business Insider, and dozens of other news and opinion sources.

I don’t buy it. I vote for the original, 1977 Star Wars. I’m not entirely alone in this opinion –– Metacritic calls this film the best, as do a few other sources –– but my side is definitely in the minority.

Yes, Empire’s Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan were more accomplished screenwriters than the original’s George Lucas, and Irwin Kershner was a more polished director. And yet . . .

Unlike Empire, Star Wars told a complete story. It established the milieu and all of the major characters. And if you want a head-to-head comparison:

Villain:
Boba Fett and the Emperor are certainly mysterious and nasty, but no one’s as mysterious and nasty as Darth Vader, one of the great screen bad guys.

Charming rogue:
The original’s Han Solo is more dynamic, funny, and multi-layered than Empire’s Lando Calrissian.

Female characters:
The original gave us the wise and gutsy Princess Leia. Empire gave us –– well, no one.

Concepts:
The sequel had a great idea: Vader as Luke’s dad. But the original had the Force, the Empire, and much more.

Music:
Empire’s Imperial march is a classic. But the original had the famous opening fanfare and other memorable themes.

Supporting actors:
Billy Dee Williams is a fine and fun performer, but the thespian gravitas of Peter Cushing and Alec Guinness gave the original more strength and style.

Mentor:
I’ll give the edge to Empire on this one. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s a great old man, but Yoda outdoes him for wisdom, warmth, humor, and verve.

Machines and other objects:
Empire had AT-AT Imperial walkers, the cloud city, and Han Solo frozen in carbonite. But the original gave us more, including the Death Star, TIE fighters, X-wings, Luke’s landspeeder, star destroyers, light sabers, and the Millennium Falcon.

Memorable quotes:
Empire gave us these —
“Do or do not. There is no try.”
“I love you.” “I know.”
“Size matters not.”
“Impressive. Most impressive.”
“I am your father.”
“That boy is our last hope.” “No. There is another.”

Good stuff, to be sure. But the original gave us a larger number of great lines, some of which have become a piece of our culture.
“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. . . “
“If you strike me down, I will become more powerful than you could possibly imagine.”
“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”
“The Force is strong with this one.”
“Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”
“Aren’t you a little short for a stormtrooper?”
“Use the Force, Luke.”
“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”
“Let the Wookiee win.”
“May the Force be with you.”

I love Empire, but the winner for me is George Lucas’s original.

Some sort of Superman

Tags

Christopher Reeve, Clark Kent, George Reeves, Superman, Television, TV

The man of what again?

I’ve heard so many people whom I admire and respect praise the George Reeves Superman TV series that I was eager to see it –– and I’m sorry to say that it disappointed me.

I could accept the cheap-looking sets, costumes and visual effects. The show obviously labored under a low budget, and the craftspeople were doing the best that they could.

But the element that people liked most –– George Reeves as Superman –– was my biggest problem.

Part of it was age. I think of Superman as mature but young, somewhere in his late 20s or at most early 30s. But George Reeves was 37 when the show began (by contrast, Christopher Reeve was 25 or 26 when he filmed the first Superman movie), and his slicked-back widow’s peak gave the impression of a receding hairline. He looked more like a burly suburban dad than a dynamic action hero.

And part of the problem was Clark Kent. The show de-emphasized Clark as the meek, soft-spoken opposite of tough, forceful Superman, and thereby flattened the show’s dramatic potential.

I mean no disrespect to people who adore the Reeves version, but it’s not for me.

No, we don’t have horns

Tags

Bible, Horns, Ignorance, Jesus, Jews, Judaism, Torah

This is not a real Jew.

I’m a Jew, and Jews (like members of any well-known group) run into misconceptions about themselves even from people who aren’t anti-Jewish.

One mistake that’s surprised me: Jews see Jesus as an honored, respected part of our history. I can’t speak for all Jews –– we’re a contentious people who’ll argue with each other as easily as with Gentiles –– but mainstream Jewish tradition (as opposed to offshoots like Messianic Jews or Jews for Jesus) considers Jesus a false prophet. A lot of us like much of what he had to say about mercy and tolerance, but the idea that he was a messiah, the son of God, or God himself: Forget it. He’s an offshoot from Jewish tradition, not part of it.

Another whopper: The Torah’s not part of the Bible. The Torah –– the word means “teaching,” “instructions” or, more broadly, “law” –– is the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy. It’s the first part of what Christians call the Old Testament, which Jews sometimes call the Hebrew Bible. Jewish tradition splits the rest of the OT/HB into two parts: Nevi’im, or Prophets (Joshua through Malachi), and Ketuvim, or Writings (Psalms through Chronicles). Jews abbreviate Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim as Tanak or Tanakh, although sometimes they say “Torah” when they mean the Tanakh. But it’s all part of the Bible.

And we don’t have horns. That idea seems most common in areas without a lot of Jews. I’ve never run into it, but some of my fellow Jews have. It strikes me as especially dumb, because a quick glance at Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Jake Gyllenhaal, or Zac Efron (yes, they’re all Jewish by ancestry if not by practice) reveals them as hornless. But it’s hard to kill foolish ideas even with obvious evidence.

Happy Passover, everyone.

The cast of the decade?

Tags

acting, Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Ensemble, Michael Cera, movie stars, Scott Pilgrim

Guess who’s who.

When people talk about great ensemble movie casts, titles range from 1939’s The Women to Marvel’s Avengers films. But one gets overlooked, maybe because its stars weren’t very famous at the time: 2010’s Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World.

The cast is a game of “Isn’t that . . . ?” Isn’t that Brie Larson playing Scott’s ex? Isn’t that Chris Evans playing one of Scott’s rivals? Hey, and there’s Anna Kendrick! And Aubrey Plaza!

Even the performers who haven’t become famous have a lot to offer. I think of them as “Whatever happened to … ?” actors, as in “Whatever happened to that girl who played Scott’s teenage girlfriend? She was great!”

Like some other great ensembles, this one offers a range of acting styles: Plaza does the grumpy deadpan that made her famous, Evans is the king of swagger, Larson is all emotion, lead player Michael Cera is Mr. Mumbly Naturalism, and so on. The combinations and contrasts are fun to watch.

It’s not a great movie. The filmmakers structured it as the main character going through one battle after another. That kind of structure can invite boredom via repetition, even if the battlefields, weapons, and opponents vary.

But as a gathering of rising young talent, I’d put it up against The Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, and any number of other ensembles.

Should you meet your heroes?

Tags

Bob Kane, Fame, Heroes, Stan Lee

It may not work out well.

I’ve heard people say that meeting your heroes is inevitably disappointing. And some people who’ve met their heroes have reported awful experiences.

Now, I don’t have a lot of heroes other than my dad. But I’ve met people I’ve admired — dancer Fred Astaire, astronaut Pete Conrad (the third person to walk on the moon), writer-editor Stan Lee (I had lunch with him, and he offered helpful advice to this then-new comics editor), and cartoonists Charles Schulz, Carl Barks, and Jack Kirby. Each one was friendly and gracious.

I didn’t speak with them long, so I won’t claim to know them well. Maybe I’d despise them if I knew them better. Sure, they were nice to me — but anyone can be nice for a few minutes.

But not everyone is. I met Batman co-creator Bob Kane (not one of my heroes, but I still wanted to meet him), and he showed no interest in being kind, warm, or even polite.

Have you met your heroes, and how did it go?

Star Wars, starring James Dean (or James Stewart)

Tags

Burt Lancaster, Burt Reynolds, Claude Rains, Debbie Reynolds, George C. Scott, James Dean, James Stewart, John Travolta, John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, Lionel Barrymore, Orson Welles, Paul Robeson, Star Wars

The movie that could have been

What if Star Wars had been made in previous eras?

The 1930s: James Stewart as Luke, Katharine Hepburn as Leia, John Wayne as Han, Lionel Barrymore as Obi-Wan, and Paul Robeson as the voice of Darth Vader.

The 1950s: James Dean as Luke, Debbie Reynolds as Leia, Burt Lancaster as Han, Claude Rains as Obi-Wan, and Orson Welles as the voice of Vader.

Of course, the original Star Wars didn’t have major stars like James Stewart or James Dean. If Lucas had cast stars, we might have had John Travolta as Luke, Jane Fonda as Leia, Burt Reynolds as Han, John Wayne as Obi-Wan, and George C. Scott as the voice of Vader.

Actually, that’s a movie I might want to see . . .

Many Sides of The Other Side

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Orson Welles, The Other Side of the Wind

Saw Orson Welles’ The Other Side of the Wind last night. It’s his last film, uncompleted when he died.

Some top Hollywood professionals, including producer Frank Marshall and director-actor Peter Bogdanovich (who both worked with Welles on the movie), put in huge efforts to turn hundreds of reels in different formats into a single movie, according to a documentary featurette that screened with the film. Marshall and three of the film’s top post-production people attended the screening and talked about their struggles in bringing Welles’ last creation into a complete and living form.

Did their long, hard work yield a good movie? Well . . .

The Other Side of the Wind is a picturesque, scattershot mess about Jake Hannaford, a director who’s screening his newest and not yet complete movie, also called The Other Side of the Wind, at his 70th birthday party. While he hosts the party, he has to deal with biographers and documentarians intruding on the party, friends and assistants who try to help the director but sometimes only bother him, severe problems plaguing the movie, and so on.

It’s a jumble — an energetic and intriguing jumble, but a jumble.

And wildly sexist. The movie has very few women, almost all of whom are complainers or annoyances. Two exceptions: a clueless teenager whom the aged Hannaford seems to be grooming for seduction, and the film-within-the-film’s leading lady.

This woman is one of the most blatant fantasies ever put in a non-porno film. She’s exotically beautiful, sexually hungry (though a bit of a tease), completely wordless (she never speaks) and almost always nude. She doesn’t even have a name; the movie calls her The Actress. She’s all sexuality, no personality.

By the way, the woman who played her — Oja Kodar — was Welles’ lover and the movie’s co-writer. Make of that what you want.

The movie never bored me, but it rarely fascinated me. It’s a shame, too. Welles offered some characters with potential for richness and surprises, and he displayed some intriguing visuals, but they didn’t come together into anything focused and coherent.

 

“Be vewy quiet. I’m hunting Jimmy Stewart.”

Tags

Classic radio, Elmer Fudd, It's a Wonderful Life, James Stewart, Jimmy Stewart, Radio, Radio drama, Sirius XM

My fellow animation fans, you’ll like this.

Sirius XM’s Classic Radio channel is running a theme of “Christmas in July,” airing Christmas-themed shows. Today, they broadcast a 1949 version of It’s a Wonderful Life, starring Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, the role that he played in the movie.

For the guardian angel Clarence, the producers didn’t get Henry Travers, who played him in the movie. Instead, they hired . . .

Elmer Fudd.

I am not kidding. Arthur Q. Bryan, the voice of Elmer Fudd, played Clarence in the voice of Fudd. Maybe it was Bryan’s natural voice; I don’t know.

But it’s weird as hell to hear Elmer Fudd introduce himself, as Clawence, to George Baiwey of Bedford Fawws.

Listen.