I’m thrilled with the wonderful new postage stamps saluting the early days of television. They bring back some very happy memories.
I love all those old shows, especially “Burns & Allen,” “The Twilight Zone,” “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and of course “I Love Lucy.” But my most precious memories are about “Kukla, Fran & Ollie,” which was broadcast from my then-home town of Chicago, Illinois. My father was the lawyer for Burr Tillstrom, the man behind the puppets, so when I was a little girl I was able to watch some of the broadcasts live from the studio audience. I wanted so much to be Fran, and to get to talk to Kukla, Ollie, Madame Oglepuss, and Beulah Witch. Still do! I miss our dear friend Burr, and I will use his stamp only on my most meaningful letters.
You want to be in movies? Here’s your chance! Yoostar is like movie karaoke. You remove the actors from famous scenes so you and your friends and family can take over. You can be Rocky! You can be the Blues Brothers! You can even be Elmo on Sesame Street. Are you ready for your close-up? (Yes, of course they have “Sunset Boulevard.”) Then you can be a star!
Thanks to Wired for the info.
This story about a retro performer itself has a very retro feeling, as though it is a recently rediscovered artifact. The likable Colin Hanks plays Troy Gabel, who drops out of law school with some vague thought that he would like to write. To support himself, he applies for a job as assistant to Buck Howard (John Malkovich), known professionally as The Great Buck Howard. He is also sometimes known as a magician, which he is not. He is a mentalist, someone who astounds the audience with feats of mind-reading and hypnotism. He was once popular and successful. He guested over 60 times on “The Tonight Show,” back when it was the real “Tonight Show,” the one with Johnny. But somehow, he lost his place on the A List and now performs in small, half-filled venues.
While he can be bitter about his lack of recognition and demanding of Troy, when he is on stage he seems perfectly happy and at home, always apparently genuine with his signature greeting, “I love this town!” And Troy, well aware of the cheesiness of an act that seems more suited to the days of Ed Sullivan than the era of YouTube, can’t help admiring Buck’s showmanship and resilience. A young pr executive (Emily Blunt) arrives in Cincinnati to coordinate the press for Buck’s dramatic new effect. And both Buck and Troy learn something about what really matters to them.
Hanks is a likeable onscreen presence with an easy affability, and he does as much as he can with a character that is written with only one dimension — if that. His best scenes are with his real-life father, Tom Hanks, playing his on-screen father, who disapproves of his decision to leave law school. Malkovich has a lot of fun with his role as Buck, enthusiastically pumping the hands of everyone he meets and showing the character’s mingled sense of entitlement and insecurity, acute awareness of how he comes across to an audience and lack of awareness of how he comes across one-to-one. Its old-fashioned structure and unpretentiousness give it some extra appeal. And even though it is all pretend, it is fun to see Buck’s act.
Some things are so inherently funny they transcend time, language, and culture. Slipping on a banana peel. A cream pie in the face. And now we must add to the list Kevin James in a uniform riding a Segway in a mall. The vision of the large man in the crisp white shirt with a shiny badge primly rolling along past Brookstone and Orange Julius is funny even if you’ve never seen a Segway — or a mall. And James, who co-wrote, endows the title character with such piercing sweetness that even his geeky pretensions are endearing. “Fun fact!” he likes to say before spouting off some arcane fact from science or history. And when he tries to persuade a pretty girl at a kiosk that there is a raging controversy about whether security personnel at the mall will be referred to as “officers,” we can’t help hoping that it is resolved in his favor.
Paul Blart (Kevin James, with not just Segway and badge but mustache and Hello Kitty band-aid) wants very much to be a state trouper but he keeps failing the program. He has the heart of a lion and is even pretty good on the obstacle course. But his hypoglycemia hits him at the wrong moments, causing him to pass out. And so he is still working at the mall and trying to persuade himself and those around him that it is a job with some actual authority. Without a weapon or the ability to cite or arrest anyone, he does not get very far.
He is dearly loved by his mother (the wonderful Shirley Knight) and daughter (Raini Rodriguez), who encourage him to use perfectmatch.com to find a date. But there is a sweet young woman named Amy in a synthetic wig at the hair weave kiosk (Jayma Mays) who somehow gives him a reason to try to reach out. And then the bad guys arrive, and it’s time for “Die Hard” on laughing gas.
Despite its origins as a Happy Madison production (Adam Sandler’s company), this film avoids most crude humor and all references to 80’s pop culture. It drags a bit on its way to the reindeer-named bad guys but once they arrive, zooming through the mall on skateboards and dirt bikes, with only security guard — I mean security officer — Blart and his Segway plus whatever he can find Sharper Image and the sporting goods store, it kicks into gear. Blart’s got you covered.
Thanks to my pal Kathy Deane for alerting me to this website from the actress who played Zuzu in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” She was the little girl who asked her dad, played by Jimmy Stewart, to fix the petals on her flower. That movie, so dear to the hearts of so many people, has inspired her to share her memories and to keep the movie’s message alive. Like the movie’s hero, George Bailey, she has had to struggle with some of life’s most difficult and painful challenges. But she has been sustained by her faith in the difference each of us can make in the lives of others. On her website, she invites fans of the movie and anyone who feels their lives have been touched by angels to write in with their stories.
