Larry Ratliff

R.I.P.: Peter Graves -- Capt. Oveur and out

Joey (Rossie Harris), Elaine (Julie Hagerty) and Capt. Oveur (Peter Graves) in "Airplane!" (Courtesy:  Paramount Pictures)

I never had the pleasure of meeting Peter Graves in person.

But TV's "Mission:  Impossible" star who died over the weekend just days short of his 84th birthday will always have a special place in my heart, my career as a film critic and my funny bone.

In the late 1970s, I got a wild idea.  I figured that If Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel (fiercely competitive Chicago newspaper film critics) could write about movies by day and talk about them on TV at night, why couldn't I?

I figured the TV part wouldn't be so difficult to land.  After all, I had several years TV news experience in the highly competitive Dallas-Fort Worth market.  Full disclosure:  By that time I had given up my TV news gig to find fame and fortune as a comedian, then a comedy writer and then -- perhaps finding my real station in life -- as a cab driver and bartender.

The newspaper connection would be the tough job to acquire, I thought.  I was correct.  Some patient (and, I suspect, amused) editor at the Dallas Morning News informed me that it would be nice (required, in fact) to have some newspaper experience before sharing my vast movie knowledge with Dallas Morning News readers.

After an extensive search, I landed a starvation wages job in the sports department of the Valley Morning Star newspaper in Harlingen, TX.  It was April Fools Day, 1980.

To say that I had an agenda is, without a doubt, the understatement of the last 30 years or so.  It only took three months of constant badgering to convince Valley Morning Star editors that what the paper needed was a film critic.  They reluctantly agreed, although I would have to maintain my sports department duties as well.

The first movie I reviewed as a paid professional was "Airplane!," which co-starred Peter Graves and opened over the July 4 weekend 1980.

There was no such thing as an advance screening for movie critic(s) at the time in the Rio Grande Valley.  So I took my seat at the first public screening on Friday afternoon with pencil and pad; ready to launch my movie critic career and my ultimate run on New York (which I figured would be sooner rather than later).

I don't remember the exact moment the pencil slipped from my hand in the dark and lodged in a wad of gum stuck to the floor, but it must have been about the time I realized that "Airplane!" was not like any movie I'd seen before.

In fact, it wasn't like any movie anyone had seen before.

It was a wild comic spoof; taking cheap and very funny potshots at the recent cheesy airline disaster flicks.  Graves deadpanned beautifully as the plane's captain, Clarence Oveur.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played co-pilot Roger Murdock and the great Leslie Nielsen was Dr. ("Don't call me Shirley") Rumack.

A young actor named Rossie Harris, who was 10 or 11 at the time, had the misfortune of being caught in the comic crossfire as Joey, a little boy on his first airplane flight brought into the cockpit to meet the captain:

Capt. Oveur (Graves):  "Joey, have you ever seen a grown man naked?"

And:  "Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"  

Walking back out into the piercing South Texas sunlight that afternoon, I knew I had a decision to make.  And I had to make it fast because the deadline for my first film review was looming.

"Airplane!" -- stupidity personified or bar-raising comic brilliance?

I made what turned out to be the right choice, going with brilliance.

Peter Graves had a major role in that decision and with launching this career.

So thanks, and rest in peace Mr. Graves/Capt. Oveur.

Over and out.

I never got a chance to call you Shirley.

Movies & shakers: 'Green Zone,' 'Prophet'

Prison crime boss César (Niels Arestrup), left, and budding kingpin Malik (Tahar Rahim) in "A Prophet."  (Sony Pictures Classics)

It's Friday night (OK afternoon, but close enough) and you just got paid.  What's the hot movie to see?

Well, that's two questions this weekend.

"Green Zone," starring recent Academy Award nominee Matt Damon ("Invictus") and directed by Damon's "Bourne" collaborator Paul Greengrass, ranks as the hottest entry at your local multiplex this weekend.

It wouldn't be my first choice, however.  Click here for the review and the reasons why.

I'd line up down at the end of the hall or head over to the art house to see "A Prophet," the scalding prison crime drama imported from France.  Click herefor the review of the foreign film Oscar nominee that took Grand Prix honors at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

If you're thinking mainstream, your choices include "Remember Me,"which features "Twilight's" Robert Pattinson in a romantic-drama with Emilie de Ravin, the romantic-comedy "She's Out of My League" and "Our Family Wedding,"a comedy starring Forest Whitaker and America Ferrera.

Let's just say, for a second, that you love offbeat foreign films.  I've got the quirky Romanian import for you.  Seek out "Police, Adjective" and experience a couple of days in the life of a conflicted undercover narcotics cop with a conscience.  Here's the review.

  

What price fame? 'Lost Boy' Corey Haim dead

(Courtesy:  20th Century Fox)

Corey Haim, a rising film star in the 1980s, apparently lost his long, ongoing battle with drugs around 5:30 a.m. Central Time this morning.

According to a story posted on the CNN.com Web site, the 38-year-old actor was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, CA, "where he was pronounced dead at about 3:30 a.m. local time."

The death appears to be accidental -- possibly a drug overdose -- according to what CNN could gather from police Sgt. Frank Albarran.

I first noticed the Canadian-born actor when he played the title role of a shy, bullied 14-year-old high school kid in "Lucas" in 1986.  Some of you might remember that a very young Charlie Sheen played Cappie (captain of the football team), the frail, sensitive kid's protector.

Haim's most famous role came a year later in "The Lost Boys."  Haim appeared with Corey Feldman, and their careers and subsequent drug-addition battles would follow them for years.  They joined forces for "The Two Coreys," a reality TV show on the A&E network in 2007, but it was short-lived.

I ran into the two Coreys in an elevator in what appeared to be happier times.  It was Oscar afternoon 1989 in Hollywood when the elevator door opened at my hotel.  Facing me, or actually sort of leaning (or slumping) against the elevator, were Haim and Feldman.

We were all decked out in tuxedos on our way to the Shrine Auditorium for the 61st Academy Awards.  I was nervous because of several fast-approaching newspaper deadlines I would face throughout the evening.

The two Coreys were relaxed.  Giddy even.

Maybe too giddy.  

Academy Awards -- The slow must go on

Steve Martin, left, and co-host Alec Baldwin go to the 3-D glasses to look for "Avatar" director James Cameron.  (Courtesy:  houmatoday.com/AP)

It's impossible to "fix" the Academy Awards, but the telecast doesn't have to be this listless.

Maybe it's time to quit tinkering with Hollywood's biggest night and just let Oscar be Oscar; staid and stuffy, yes, but packing the movie industry's most-coveted keepsakes.

Sunday night's ceremonies, as many of you know, were super-sized.  There were two producers instead of one, two hosts instead of one and 10 best picture nominees instead of the traditional five.

Unfortunately, Sunday night's "improvements" were super-sized off Hollywood's 99-cent menu.  None of the changes added to the excitement or kept the 82nd Academy Awards from crawling along at a snail's pace for the usual three and a-half hours.

From the Duh! department

What co-producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic know this morning and the rest of the world knew all along was that doubling down on Best Picture nominees must, by definition, prolong the evening.  You have 10 nominees instead of five, you must show 10 movie trailers (or film clips).

About Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin

Two funny guys.  Two clever guys.  Two gifted talents.  But one too many when it comes to hosting the Oscars.

Bob Hope, the perfect combination of Hollywood insider, star and royalty, did it best.  And he went it mostly alone for a record-breaking 18 times over three decades (1950s, '60s, '70s).

Like Hope, Billy Crystal (my modern-era favorite) knew how to come on with a bang, sling a few barbs at icons staring back at him in the front row and get on with the show.

Martin would have been fine alone, as he was in 2001 and 2003.  Thrown together with Baldwin, the timing (especially from Baldwin) was jerky at best.  Sorry boys, but you don't establish that flawless Hope/Crosby or Martin/Lewis rapport over a few rehearsals no matter how gifted you are.

Gutting Oscar tradition; to have not

I have no problem with movie star newbies like Jeremy Renner of "The Hurt Locker" or Carey Mulligan of "An Education" inching into the spotlight and edging out Hollywood's Old Guard.  These young actors are the real deal and are likely to be around for decades.

There's only so much screen time to spread around, even for a show that appears to hang around forever.  So you may have noticed the absence of Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood and even Steven Spielberg this year, just to name a few big names missing from the spotlight. 

I do have a problem, however, when Oscar's producers opt to delegate this year's honorary awards to a "let's do lunch" ceremony and a brief mention during the actual telecast.

From this recliner seat, the mood appeared to be, "Hurry up, Lauren Bacall ("To Have and Have Not," "The Big Sleep") and Roger Corman (B-movie directing god)(who were in the audience), "get your standing ovation over with so we can move on to a prolonged dance segment."

Ah yes, the dance segment

Someone, somewhere got the idea that the Academy Awards telecast, which is already seen by about a billion viewers around the world, must be re-tooled to appeal to a younger audience.

"I know, I know," co-producer Shankman may have said jumping up and down in his seat during production meetings.  (Or maybe not, I'm guessing here.)  "Why don't we toss out all those Best Song performances and replace them with a 20-minute (it seemed to me) dance montage celebrating the movie scores?"

So that's what they did.  Someone turned the Academy Awards over to a judge on "So You Think You Can Dance."

I could go on and on.  For instance, what was up with all the blatant gum-chewing?  Cameron Diaz wasn't the only one caught chomping away.  But please, at least pretend to have a little respect and class.

The moment that made me scream at our TV

First time Oscar ceremonies director Hamish Hamilton ("MTV Video Music Awards") should be banished from the booth forever for missing the key camera shot of the evening.

"Avatar" director James Cameron was sitting directly behind Kathryn Bigelow, director of "The Hurt Locker" and Cameron's ex-wife.

Hamilton blew one of the rare genuinely interesting moments of the evening when he abruptly switched to a wide shot of the Kodak Theater auditorium instead of sticking with Bigelow when she made history as the first woman ever to be named Best Director.

Come on, we all love a good soap opera.  What would happen as Bigelow rose from her chair?  Would she turn around and acknowledge her ex, give him a Bronx Cheer (or worse) or simply ignore Cameron altogether?

Thanks to a bonehead play by a rookie director, about a billion people will never know.

Sorry, Oscar.  You deserve better.

  

Earthly war to top outer-space battle at Oscars

Jeremy Renner is a long shot in the Best Actor's race, although it could be a big night for "The Hurt Locker."  (Courtesy:  Summit Entertainment)

Academy Award predictions often appear to be easy-as-pie slam-dunks.

That's certainly the case going in this year.  Four of the six major award categories seemed to be locked in months ago. 

I should remind you, though, that even though the front-runners have had numerous award-show nights to polish their Oscar acceptance speech, anything can happen when the envelopes are ripped open Sunday night (7 p.m. Central Time) on ABC.

So, let's get right to the predictions, shall we?

Sandra Bullock's first Oscar win could come for a dramatic performance.  (Courtesy:  Warner Bros.)

Best Actress:  Imagine what it must be like to be Meryl Streep these days.  The perennial Oscar nominee draws her 16th Oscar nomination as jovial Julia Child, the late cookbook author.  While Streep is certainly deserving (as she always is), I think the voting members of the Academy are going to reward Texas-based Sandra Bullock for her fine dramatic work as the suburban mom who takes in a homeless African-American teen in "The Blind Side."

Best Actor:  I've been a little too hard on Jeff Bridges this awards season.  The more I look at his nuanced performance as the broken down, alcoholic country singer in "Crazy Heart," however, the more I appreciate it.  I just think the movie itself is a reworked "Tender Mercies" (a much better film).  It'll be Bridges at the winner's podium, although I wouldn't mind seeing George Clooney sneak in a win as the loner frequent flier of "Up in the Air."

Supporting Actress:  If ever there was a slam dunk, it's coming in both supporting categories.  From this aisle seat, it's comedienne/actress Mo'Nique as the abusive mother in "Precious" (the most emotionally charged movie of 2009).

Supporting Actor:  Sometimes you just know.  From the moment "Inglourious Basterds" writer-director Quentin Tarantino focused his camera on Christoph Waltz as vile Nazi investigator Col. Hans Landa, my gut feeling was that I was watching the future supporting actor Oscar winner.  Woody Harrelson ("The Messenger") and Stanley Tucci ("The Lovely Bones") are equally deserving.  But it'll be Waltz.

Director:  This race and the Best Picture sweepstakes are where predicting the outcome becomes an educated guessing game.  You may be aware by now that the Director's race comes down to a standoff between James Cameron ("Avatar") and Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker"), who was once married to Cameron.  Bigelow took top honors at the Directors Guild Awards, becoming the first woman to ever win that award in its 62-year history.  I think she'll also become the first woman to walk away with Oscar's Best Director golden statuette.

Best Picture:  Never say never, of course.  But it's extremely rare for the DGA winner not to follow-up with an Oscar win in the biggest race of all.  So it looks like "The Hurt Locker," Bigelow's Iraqi war drama.

There's a caveat, however.  Nicolas Chartier, one of the "Hurt Locker" producers, has been banned from attending the Oscar ceremonies for "an ethical lapse," which means he fired off an e-mail to the voting members urging them to vote for "The Hurt Locker" over "the $500 million film."  

That's an obvious reference to Cameron's "Avatar." "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" enters Sunday night's ceremonies with nine nominations each. Frankly, that X-factor makes the Best Picture race impossible to call.  So, I stupidly will anyway.

It'll be "The Hurt Locker."  This is Bigelow's year to roar. 
 

Do Vegas odds favor a Bridges win? You bet!

Jeff Bridges, nominated for Oscar four times before, could pick up his first win Sunday night.

(Fox Searchlight Pictures)

What happens in Vegas regarding this weekend's Oscar ceremonies isn't staying in Vegas by a long shot.

Las Vegas oddsmakers are big on Bad.  That means Jeff Bridges could pick up his first Academy Award in five tries for playing Bad Blake, the way-down-on-his-luck country crooner in "Crazy Heart."

Bridges may be a safe bet, but he's hardly a smart one, according to an item posted on the Hollywood Reporter Web site.

"Those who are betting real cash on the Oscars have determined that 'Crazy Heart's' Jeff Bridges is a lock for best actor, so much so that most on-line bookies will require you to risk $6 just to win $1," the article states.

Click here to find out how the oddsmakers feel about "Hurt Locker" star Jeremy Renner's chances to grab the best actor spotlight away from Bridges and how the gamblers feel about the best picture showdown between "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker."

Also, don't forget to mark your own Oscar ballots.  The big show is Sunday night at 7 (Central Time) on ABC.

Will 'Hurt Locker' Oscar flap hurt 'Hurt Locker'?

"Hurt Locker" producers (from left) Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Greg Shapiro and Nicolas Chartier at the recent British Academy Awards.   (Courtesy:  smh.com.au/Reuters)

Big news from Hollywood:

Now that the polls have closed on Oscar voting (as of 7 p.m. Central Time Tuesday), the Academy Awards police have banned "Hurt Locker" producer Nicolas Chartier from Sunday night's awards ceremony for "an ethical lapse."

But that's not the big news:

There are ethics police in Hollywood?

Now we're talking something of stop-the-presses (or press releases) noteworthiness.

According to an item posted on the Hollywood Reporter Web site, even though Chartier (one of four "Hurt Locker" producers) can't take his seat at the Kodak Theater Sunday night, he would eventually get his golden statuette.

The producer's hand was slapped by the executive committee of the Producer's Branch during a special session on Tuesday.

"Chartier disseminated an e-mail to certain Academy voters and other film industry figures in which he solicited votes for his own picture and disparaged one of the other contending films. Academy rules prohibit 'casting a negative or derogatory light on a competing film.'

"In the e-mail, Chartier encouraged those who liked 'Hurt Locker' to vote for it as best picture over 'the $500 million film,' an obvious reference to 'Avatar,'" the Hollywood Reporter article stated.

With the outcome of most of the acting races listed as virtual shoo-ins going into the Oscars shindig on ABC Sunday night, the only real awards drama could come in the showdown between friendly exes James Cameron ("Avatar") and Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker") in the best picture category.

Time will tell if Chartier's actions shaded the voting in the big night's most important race.  Or maybe we'll never find out.

Maybe the Hollywood ethics police should check that out as well.

 

Things you need to do before Oscar night

(Courtesy:  Oscars.org)

Unlike the Olympics, which were fun but seemed to last about a month and a half on NBC (Another short track race, really?), the Academy Awards gala back-patting ceremony only has one evening on ABC.

In case you've been too busy looking for the closest curling club to you, please note that Oscar night this year hits TV screens at 7 p.m. on the aforementioned ABC television network. 

Those interested can cram their brains ahead of time with Oscar history at the official Web site and predict the winners at the ABC site.  Or, do as I like to do and just relax and enjoy the extended evening.

Frankly, by the time the Academy Awards actually roll around, I've had it up to my Oscar ballot in awards shows.  There are way too many of them.  And the fact that more and more of these kudo fests get TV screen time continues to dilute the process.

It should be more interesting than usual this year -- the super-sized year of two hosts and 10 best picture nominees -- if co-hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin can find a way to honor, amuse and poke a little fun at the industry without turning Hollywood's biggest night into a prolonged "Saturday Night Live" skit.

So what do we need to do before Sunday night to prepare?

SNACKS, WE NEED LOTS OF SNACKS

Go shopping, but know before you go.  This can get tricky.  First of all, it's going to be a long night (usually around four hours at least), so plan accordingly.  Spend the early hours nibbling on the light stuff; chips and veggies (if you must).

Save heavier items like pizza, lobster tails and back-yard grilled steak until the stretch run -- at least 9 p.m. in the Central Time zone.  If you're not wearing a watch, wait until the technical awards begin to drone on forever.

I hate to mention this.  But every year after Oscar night someone blames me for stains on clothing.  Come on people, think!  You've got a ballot to keep up with.  Certain comfort foods are out.  Hot wings dripping in greasy 3-alarm sauce, for one thing.

And several of you (You know who you are) tried without success to balance Oscar night with a rack of ribs last year.  Forget it.  It cannot be done. 

AN OSCAR BALLOT?  YES, YOU NEED ONE

I know it's a hassle, especially for you rib lovers.  But how else are you going to humiliate yourself in front of family and friends without making official predictions?  I like the ballot  that you can download by clicking here.  But you can find them all over the World Wide Web.

REMEMBER, IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD

Unless Mo'Nique ("Precious") and/or Christoph Waltz ("Inglourious Basterds") lose in the supporting actress/actor categories, which I doubt, the world will go on spinning no matter who or what wins.

So just kick back and let Oscar work for you as Hollywood's finest (and some catapulted by nomination campaigning) go for the gold.  A reminder for those still in a Winter Olympics daze:  There's no silver or bronze in the Academy Awards.

However, as several of the winners will no doubt gush from the podium, "It's an honor just to be nominated."

Uh, huh.  Actually, the outcome looks so predictable this year I might just skip the whole thing and go out for ribs.

  

New film choices: Polanski, cops & throbbers

Director-in-exile Roman Polanski, left, and Pierce Brosnan on the "Ghost Writer" set.

(Summit Entertainment)

Looking for a new movie to attend this weekend?

I've got some very good news, some extremely bad news and an escape to yet another zombie flick as cinematic choices.

Frankly, I don't care much for Roman Polanski, the person.  I'm not here to judge character, even when it comes to taking an international hike instead of facing justice for a late '70s charge of having sex with a minor.

I spend much of my time judging movies.  And, frankly, Polanski's "The Ghost Writer," starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, is the most accomplished suspense-thriller I've enjoyed in many years.

If you like suspense, intrigue and a cat-and-mouse game with stunning results, don't miss "The Ghost Writer."  Click here for my full review.

"Cop Out," an extremely lame buddy cop action-comedy pairing Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, amounts to the bad news, even with Kevin ("Clerks") Smith directing.  Be afraid, be very afraid.  Click here for my review.

And zombie fans can get their undead-in-action fix with "The Crazies."  Click here to view the trailer.

Have fun at the movies this weekend.

And if you spend your hard-earned money on "Cop Out" despite my advice, don't say I didn't warn you.

Arrr, McShane drifting to 'Pirates' sequel

Ian McShane as swearin' Al Swearengen in "Deadwood."  (Courtesy:  historyfanatic.today.com)

It's true what you've heard in this space about big-screen -- and in this case, little screen -- villains turning out to be the nicest guys in person.

That's why I'm happy to report that British actor Ian McShane, who groveled gloriously in the bad-guy mire as the near-barbaric brothel owner on HBO's "Deadwood," looks to be close to signing on to play the pirate Blackbeard in the next "Pirates of the Caribbean" adventure.

Subtitled "On Stranger Tides," this will be the fourth installment in the popular comic-adventures fronted by Johnny Depp, a modern-day pirate if ever there was one. 

If you're counting, especially if you're a Disney bean counter, three sequels ain't bad for a tent-pole franchise based on a theme park ride.

From this aisle seat, I'll be looking forward to what McShane, an actor that a Hollywood Reporter post reminds us has been acting since the '70s, will do with the swashbuckling role.

I had the pleasure of interviewing McShane in New York a few years back when he portrayed the journalist ghost in Woody Allen's "Scoop."

He talked about the movie a little, as actors facing the movie junket press must.  What I remember most, though, are highly entertaining stories McShane (one of the most personable actors I've ever met) volunteered about hanging out with Old Guard actors from across the pond; most notably, drinking excursions with the late, great Richard Burton.

The movie I'd really like to see is McShane, all alone on stage and sitting on a stool, telling stories about the glorious wild old days (or, more specifically, nights).

I'm not sure how the MPAA would rate such a thing, but I'd be the first in line to buy a ticket.