Book Review: Sleepless in Hollywood

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (June 11, 2013)

 Lynda Obst has been a producer in Hollywood for 30 years now.  Her first credit came as an associate producer for Flashdance.  Her most recent credits are as an executive producer for two TV Land sitcoms, Hot in Cleveland and The Soul Man.

In Sleepless in Hollywood, Obst combines her experiences with the insights from many contacts in the industry that she worked under or with.  She looks at how Hollywood evolved from the Old Abnormal to the New Abnormal...because Hollywood was never truly normal to begin with.

The question that Obst asks is why are studios making fewer movies and, when they do make them, why are they almost always sequels or big budgets.

Until James Cameron made Titanic, and later Avatar, the studios never really focused on the foreign markets.  Now that they do, the foreign markets want the 3D movies and action films.  They want the films that are considered tentpoles...the franchises that are based on comics, etc.  An American comedy, which appeals to American tastes in humor, is less likely to do well overseas than a 3D movie that features a lot of explosions!

Obst writes that China and Russia are the biggest foreign markets so the studio decisions must appeal to them.  Pre-awareness, Obst writes, is what helps to market a film overseas.  If foreign audiences are not familiar, they won't bother seeing it.  Because of the pre-awareness factor, it's harder to get original ideas on the big screen unless it comes from the classics or indie branch of the studio.  The studios focus on the tentpoles, franchises, reboots, and sequels because they are easier to market and for filmgoers like myself, it is a real shame.

Essentially, movies these days must have pre-awareness, be able to sell overseas, and generate a sequel or franchise.

Because of the attention on the big budget films, Obst writes about the battle that the indie movies face.  They have to get financing and attention from somewhere.  This is one venue where Video on Demand is helping make films money but it also means lesser time spent on a theatrical run.

When it comes to getting films made, Obst writes:

James Cameron can make anything he wants, ditto Christopher Nolan, and now Ben Affleck and George Clooney, as producer and director.  The same is true of many others whose mere participation in a movie makes it marketable tent-pole.

Obst also looks at how many of the feature film writers are turning their eyes to writing for television.  Her brother was the agent that packaged Homeland to Showtime.  Shows like Homeland, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and The Wire are some of the best series that have aired in years.  While movies have dumbed down, television has grown smarter.

This book is one that Obst has written with affection, regret, hope, and humor.  Because of her unique position as a producer at Twentieth Century Fox and Paramount, she has access to explore how Hollywood has changed in the past 30 years.

With Syria, President Obama could learn from FDR

As we see what is going on in Syria, President Barack Obama could learn something from the experiences of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

From a New York Times book review (by David Oshinsky) of Richard Breitman and Allan J. Lichtman's FDR and the Jews:

In their conclusion, the authors rightly note the squeamishness of America’s modern presidents in dealing with genocide. Woodrow Wilson, a true idealist, virtually ignored Turkey’s slaughter of a million or more Armenians, while Jimmy Carter, a human rights crusader, did nothing to prevent Pol Pot from exterminating 20 percent of Cambodia’s population. The Clinton administration took several years to respond militarily to the “ethnic cleansing” of Muslims in Bosnia, which required only air power, not soldiers on the ground, and it never confronted the mass killings in Rwanda. More recently, Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama employed little more than words to condemn the atrocities in Darfur. Historically speaking, Roosevelt comes off rather well.

Book Review: The Stench of Honolulu by Jack Handey

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (July 16, 2013)

Jack Handey recently wrote the hilarious fiction novel, The Stench of Honolulu.  Handey takes everything that tourists love about Hawaiian islands and turns it into a wretched piece of space on the map.

The Hawaii that filmgoers saw in the Oscar-nominated film, The Descendants, or the action drama series, Hawaii 5-0, is not the Hawaii depicted in Handey's novel.  It's the same Hawaii but through the warped mind of Handey.

The novel is a rather quick read due to Handey's signature short-form absurdist style.  He takes us on a far-flung adventure that is full of twists and turns when you least expect them.   The characters are unforgettable, too.

Don goes on a quest to find the Golden Monkey in Hawaii.  What happens there is all the hilarity that ensues.  Page after page will be turned quickly and you'll be finished in no time!

Handey's first novel leaves readers wanting more from the longtime humorist known for his "Deep Thoughts" on Saturday Night Live.

Readers of Lunatics by Alan Zweibel and Dave Barry will find this book just as funny.

Errors and Fouls: Inside Baseball's Ninety-Nine Most Popular Myths

Hardcover: 296 pages
Publisher: Potomac Books Inc. (May 2013)

In Errors and Fouls: Inside Baseball's Ninety-Nine Most Popular Myths, Peter Handrinos has compiled 99 popular baseball myths and using articles, books, and other research, he attempts to dispel such myths as just that:  myths.

Handrinos looks at all aspects of baseball, including whether football has overtaken baseball as America's pastime.  It hasn't.  Handrinos does a good job at debunking that one.  To those that argue ratings, just look at how many networks are offered these days and when football games are on compared to baseball games.  Baseball games have to battle with the closing weeks of the primetime television season in April and May, not to mention when it resumes in September and October.  Baseball has more fans walk through the gates than football does.  Most football games air on Sundays in the afternoon with nothing really trying to take away attention.

The book looks at whether steroids act as performance enhancers.  This is one that is big in the news right now given the Biogenesis scandal.  Handrinos looks to Jose Canseco, Ken Caminiti, and Jason Giambi for this one.  Not to mention several pages alone on Barry Bonds.

Handrinos looks at modern game tactics, playoff formats, and baseball economics.  Except in the case of Jeffrey Loria and his Miami Marlins, he examines whether cities have been ripped off with the building of new stadiums.  Baseball economics includes revenue sharing, competitive balance, and free agency, etc.

In writing about 99 myths, Handrinos uses contrarian analysis and witty writing in order to make his point come across.

I can go on and on talking about such myths and whether they are true or not but then I'd be writing a book longer than his!

Book Review: The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.

Hardcover: 256 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (July 16, 2013)

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. is a debut novel from Adelle Waldman.  She tells the story of Nate Piven, a rising star in Brooklyn's literary scene.  She also tells the story from his point of view.

Piven's had his share of magazine assignments and quite a few women.  But as he develops a serious relationship, he is forced to consider what he truly wants in life.

Waldman goes into the psyche of modern men.  At the heart, this book is an inside look at what a guy thinks about women, sex, and love.

Book Review: Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted

Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1St Edition edition (May 7, 2013)

Jennifer K. Armstrong takes us behind the scenes in her recently published book, Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic.  She goes behind the scenes with all the key players involved with the series, whether it's the creators, writers, or the talent.

MTM is one of the best sitcoms of all time.  All 7 seasons were nominated for an Emmy.  It has been off the air for 35 years and is still considered to be beloved and admired by many.

Without MTM, there's no Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, or Lena Dunham.

But the series, as Armstrong tells us, was not going to be about a woman coming off of a breakup.  Originally, she was going to be divorced but CBS said no.

Anything that could have gone wrong with the taping of the pilot did.  The air-conditioning did not work.  The jokes did not work.  The audience wasn't laughing.  Supported by producer Grant Tinker, producers James L. Brooks and Allan Burns persevered, and the writers helped pave the way.  The talented cast of Mary Tyler Moore, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Betty White, Gavin MacLeod, Ed Asner, Ted Knight, Georgia Engel brought the show to new heights.

When few shows employed many female comedy writers, Burns and Brooks were willing to hire them, most of whom wrote scripts based on their real-life experiences.  Many would go on to receive Emmy nominations and later to other sitcoms.

In the epilogue, Armstrong looks back at what happened to everyone after the ground-breaking sitcom went off the air.

What Armstrong writes is a must-read and must-own for anyone that is a fan of MTM, sitcoms, or comedy in general.

65th Annual Primetime Emmy Award Nominations

The 65th Annual Primetime Emmy Award Nominations were announced this morning.

The 2014 U.S. Senate Race for Kentucky

The 2014 U.S. Senate race in Kentucky is going to be huge.  It's a given.  The question right now is who will be running in the Democratic Party primary?

The race will start to play out over the next few weeks.

Joe Gerth did some digging at the Courier Journal.  In short, here is how the race looks right now.

Running

Alison Lundergan Grimes
Ed Marksberry

Not Running
Steve Beshear
Gill Holland
Adam Edelen--he would support Grimes for Senate
Ben Chandler
Jack Conway
Dan Mongiardo
John Y. Brown III
Ashley Judd
Jerry Abramson
Matthew Barzun

Book Review: Gettysburg: The Last Invasion

Hardcover: 656 pages
Publisher: Knopf (May 14, 2013)

Released last May and due out in paperback in Feburary, the acclaimed Civil War historian, Allen C. Guelzo, has given us a brilliant new history of the three-day battle of Gettysburg.  Of all accounts that have been told, Guelzo's is the most intimate and richly readable account by far.

Guelzo's book draws us into the heat, smoke, and grime of those three July days in 1863.  We're there fighting alongside soldiers.  Over the nearly 700 pages, Guelzo depicts the personalities and circumstances that gave us one of the greatest, and famous, battles in not only the Civil War but in the history of mankind.

There have been several full-length histories of what transpired at Gettysburg over the last 100 years but none have been able to do what Guelzo does.  He looks at how the indidvidual soldier experienced the battle.  He also looks at how politics played a role in the decisions made by the military.  He looks at the battle in terms of the context of the 19th Century practices.

Through his writing, we can imagine the lay of the land, where the fences and stone walls are, the clouds of gunpowder that hurt both movement and vision, to name a few.

Over 150 years after the battle of Gettysburg, it very much comes to life.

Book Review: Out of Range

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (June 4, 2013)

Out of Range comes from Without a Trace creator Hank Steinberg.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that, as soon as the characters are introduced, there is a mysterious disappearance.

Not only is this book a fast-paced action thriller, it is original but also feels as if it is taken right out of Homeland.  Steinberg comes from the screenwriting world of television and in his debut novel, he writes a hit.  He writes a thriller that feels as if it could also be a movie as well--which, it should come as no surprise that Paramount Studios owns the rights for the film.

The book starts 6 years ago in Andijan, Uzbekistan where there is a protest for democracy similar to what we have seen in the Middle East over the last few years.  The day ends with a massacre and both Charlie and Julie Davis decide to leave and would settle in Los Angeles.  Charlie is an idealistic war journalist.  He put himself in harm's way and on that day, he decides to bring up is son in a better environment.

Cut to present day and Julie Davis is taking her two young children to Disneyland after coming back from visiting her sister in New York.  She mysteriously vanishes after pulling off the interstate on the way back.

Julie has secrets that she is keeping from her husband, Charlie.  Does she still have feelings for her ex-boyfriend from college?  Is she missing the life she lived before they moved to California?

Steinberg combines the domestic suspense that one expects in a book from Harlan Coben and David Balacci with the international intrigue found in the Jason Bourne novels.  What we get is an entertaining story full of suspense, secrets, mystery, and marriage.  There are twists and turns along the way that will make this a breakout hit of the summer.

The Disneyland aspect is inspired by true events as he guided his own wife back from Disneyland and she had to pull over to calm their son down.  Steinberg takes that...to the extreme.

Steinberg admits that in writing the book, he was "trying to combine the domestic set-up that you will find in a great Coben novel with the expansiveness and morally ambiguous, gray universe that you find in [John] Le Carre's work."

Next up for Steinberg is a sequel to Out of Range.  One that will stay in the States.

John Adams on Independence Day

"The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to G-d Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in G-d We shall not."

-John Adams to his wife, Abigail, in a letter sent on July 3, 1776 about the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 2, 1776.

The Declaration of Independence

The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen Colonies
In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Independence Photos

G-d Bless the USA

G-d Bless the U.S.A
by Lee Greenwood

If tomorrow all the things were gone
I'd worked for all my life,
And I had to start again
with just my children and my wife,
I'd thank my lucky stars
to be living here today,
'Cause the flag still stands for freedom
and they can't take that away.

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
G-d Bless the U.S.A.

From the lakes of Minnesota
to the hills of Tennessee,
Across the plains of Texas
from sea to shining sea.
From Detroit down to Houston
and New York to L.A.,
There's pride in every American heart
and it's time we stand and say:

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
G-d Bless the U.S.A.

Book Review: The Heist

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Bantam; First Edition edition (June 18, 2013)

It's a good bet to say that I am not in Janet Evanovich's target audience for her usual books.  But this is not one of her usual books as she co-writes it with Lee Goldberg, author of the Monk and Diagnosis: Murder books.

There are very few books that I can sit down and read in a full day.  The last such book was Mockingjay in the summer of 2011.  However, yesterday, I started to read this one and I could not stop turning the page.  The pacing was so great that I was finished reading a tad bit after 9 PM.

Evanovich and Goldberg have created the start of what should be a thrilling but comedic series.  Kate O'Hare is a take-charge FBI agent and former Navy SEAL.  Nicholas Fox is an international con artist that she has pursued for the last 5 years.

What happens when O'Hare finally catches him?  He gets arrested and escapes his captors.  This is where the hilarity starts to ensue.  Her bosses at the FBI are somehow convinced that it would be a great idea to team her up with the con man to help bring down other wanted the criminals.  It comes with a catch.  She can't allow him to get caught or she goes down with him.

The action is non-stop and they take us to exotic locations as Mount Athos in Greece and the islands of Indonesia.  The dialogue is fast-paced and there are plenty of Toblerone chocholate bars involved.  There's also some sexual tension between the two of them.

Rich Hedenfels writes about how the two of them wrote The Heist.  It's funny that the article mentions the book being set up like a TV pilot because I felt the same way while reading it.  I've got a feeling that the Fox and O'Hare series will be around for some time to come.

Book Review: American Jewish Films: The Search for Identity

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: McFarland (April 22, 2013)

Larry Epstein, the author of The Haunted Smile, which tells the history of Jewish comedians in America, pens a book on searching for the Jewish identity in films.  As funny as it may sound, I had never heard of some of these movies that he writes about.

I did learn something new in the course of reading the book, the original founder of the Fox Film Corporation, William Fox, was a member of the tribe.  Due to bankruptcy, he had to sell the company in the late 1930s but of course, it lives on.  Darryl Zanuck's 20th Century Films would later aquire Fox and thus became 20th Century Fox.

In writing this book, Epstein explores various themes relating to Judaism.

In the introduction, Epstein discusses why American Jews were attracted to the movie industry be it as audience members, actors, or even the folks behind the scenes at the studios.

One of the big things that Epstein looks at is Jewish identity verses an American identity or a broader human identity.  This is one way to look at how the Jewish characters in film have evolved over time.

One cannot have a discussion about Jewish identity in films without talking about the Lower East Side or films relating to Jewish history.  Some of the topics that Epstein explores here are assimilation and acculturation, interfaith relations, Israel, marriage and family relations, the role of women, Jews and American politics, and anti-Semitism including the Holocaust.

In the end though, one cannot really define what the Jewish identity in film is but that doesn't make this book not worth its while.  There are a countless number of films mentioned.  Some might not be in print but the ones that are--there is a good bet that Netflix will have them as rentals.

Book Review: Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution

Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Viking Adult; 1 edition (April 30, 2013)

Due out in paperback this April,  Nathaniel Philbrick revisits the Battle of Bunker Hill--which was really at Breed's Hill.  Philbrick does not lack passion or insight either.  He really knows his craft here as he reconstructs the landscape in a mesmerizing narrative of the robust, messy, and blistering real origins of America.

We all know the names and events involved in the American Revolution: The Founding Fathers, Declaration of Independence, and George Washington's decade-long leadership.  What isn't told in most of the books and such on the American Revolution is just how merchants, farmers, sailers, and artisans were forced to take up arms against the Crown.

Travel back in time to a pre-Revolutionary Boston.  The city of 15,000 inhabitants are packed on an island of 1.2 square miles.  Tension quickly builds up to the climax of the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775.  It was the first major battle of the American Revolution.

When the battle went down, John Adams, Sam Adams, and John Hancock were not even close to the scene of events.  The big name here is Joseph Warren, a 33-year-old physician.  He was leading the events on the ground at the time.  It was Warren who told Paul Revere and William Dawes to sound the alarm that the British were going to Concord.

Philbrick tracks the 18 months that transpired between the Boston Tea Party and Bunker Hill.

Warner Brothers and Ben Affleck have optioned the film rights.  But a story this epic can't simply be told in two hours.  It deserves a mini-series treatment similar to that of John Adams.

Oklahoma Senators voted against Sandy relief package

It's one thing to offer thoughts and prayers after a natural disaster but apparently, that's all null and void when one doesn't follow that up with taking action.  Oklahoma was hit by a devastating tornado yesterday but their senators, Coburn and Inhofe, could care less about all those people that had their livelihood destroyed when Sandy hit the coast in October seeing as how they voted against the Sandy relief aid.

I'm sick and tired of hypocrites in Washington that vote against federal aid for other disasters but when it comes to their own home state or district, they want the money.  See Ted Cruz and Bill Flores for the Texas fertilizer plant.

Sorry to bring politics into what should be a time for mourning and cleanup but it's our system that is broken in Washington.

Book Review: TV on Strike

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Syracuse University Press (January 31, 2013)

It's hard to believe that it has been just over 5 years since the end of the WGA strike against the AMPTP.  What Cynthia Littleton has done in looking back at the events that transpired from November 2007 to February 2008 is nothing short of amazing.

It's fascinating to see just how much has changed in the environment since that happened from a new media perspective alone. Both Netflix and Amazon have really changed the game for content distribution. Heavily serialized shows make syndicated reruns a harder sell then just a simple sitcom or crime drama.  If you look at what the networks have to offer, there are more serialized programs now than ever before.

Also, reruns aren't what they used to be. A lot of this has to do with what kind of ratings they get. Sitcom reruns fare better than that have a serial drama. Just look at a few weeks ago--a rerun of Big Bang Theory did better than the first half hour of American Idol. That said, networks feel that they don't get as much from advertisers during reruns so during the summers--which used to be chock full of reruns--they air unscripted programming or other original programming. Until a few years ago, there hadn't been much offered in terms of scripted programming in the summer on the broadcast networks as far as a first-run episode goes. Then ABC aired Rookie Blue and they now have a summer show to compete with the cable networks.

Hulu started a month after the strike ended and even then, because of the way that the guild contracts were written, anything that is viewed online in the first 6 weeks or so of an episode airing is considered as "promotional." Nobody but the distributor (network) sees a dime of profits off of those episodes being viewed. Sure, it is a legal way to watch shows as opposed to piracy but now I feel just as guilty since none of the people that worked hard are getting paid! With Hulu Plus, they monetized Hulu to where they are able to make money from consumers.

I also learned a new phrase from reading the book: satellite show. Most of these shows air on Friday nights as they have to plug holes on the schedule but otherwise, the network doesn't make much off of these shows. Other times, they are shows that follow an anchor program and would be the sitcom placed between the 8 PM and 9 PM sitcom. Some of these satellite shows are the news magazines or news shows that find their way into a prime time slot.

In the epilogue of the book, Littleton examines whether the strike was worth it in the long term by showing the numbers earned in residuals from new media.  But given how Netflix and Amazon have changed the game with instant streaming compared to the classic reruns airing in syndication, it was bound to have happened sooner rather than later.

CW announces 2013-14 TV schedule

MONDAY
8/7c Hart of Dixie
9 pm Beauty and the Beast

TUESDAY
8 pm THE ORIGINALS
9 pm Supernatural

WEDNESDAY
8 pm Arrow
9 pm THE TOMORROW PEOPLE

THURSDAY
8 pm The Vampire Diaries
9 pm REIGN

FRIDAY
8 pm The Carrie Diaries
9 pm America’s Next Top Model