Kinng comes to Toronto

The folks at the Toronto Film Festival have announced the balance of the lineup at the prestigious exposition's 2008 edition. And one of the gala offerings will be: Singh is Kinng. Good choice.

Now THIS is a birthday present!

The first gift I've received for my 56th birthday -- coming Friday, whether I want to acknowledge it or not -- is a thoughtfully selected book: The autobiography of the late, great Hazel Court, for whom I continue to harbor a deep and abiding lust. Many thanks to a dear friend and colleague who knows what floats my boat.

And BTW: Speaking of cleavage...

The continuing demassification of mass media (or, Where have all the viewers gone?)

They're popping champagne corks and slapping high-fives over at NBC today, celebrating Nielsen reports that Day Nine of the network's Beijing Olympics overage -- featuring, of course, the amazing triumph of Michael Phelps -- was NBC's most-watched Saturday night prime-time broadcast in 18 years, averaging 31.1 million U.S. viewers.

All of which sounds pretty dang impressive, until you consider: The last time NBC drew so many people to a prime-time Saturday telecast, viewers tuned in to see nothing more phenomenal than Empty Nest. That's right: Back in 1990, a broadcast television network could count on drawing more than 30 million viewers -- 31.4 million, to be precise -- to a routine episode of a no-better-than-average sitcom on a Saturday night. Those were the days, my friend. They thought they'd never end. But...

Script Girl's greatest hits

Gone on vacation, but not forgotten by her fans, the curvaceous commentator offers a few blasts from her past.

Singh is Kinng

Maybe I have a pretty healthy ego -- actually, maybe an unhealthy ego -- but I can't help wondering whether the New York Times finally got around to reviewing Singh is King on Friday (even though it opened in NY on Aug. 8, the same day it opened here in Houston) only because my review of it appeared in Variety.

The funny thing is, the NY Times already had the scoop on the movie -- in its Media & Advertising section -- last month. But, obviously, the folks there over in Arts & Entertainment didn't think it was worth reviewing. Until a week later after it opened.

And I can't help wondering if, as more Bollywood movies transcend the niche-theater ghetto in the US and slip into mainstream megaplexes -- there will be more coverage of these movies in mainstream media.

BTW: True story: I saw Singh is Kinng last weekend at Houston's AMC Studio 30 -- where it played in one of the megaplex's larger auditoriums. And there was a more-than-respectable crowd there. As I left after the screening, a 40-something lady (there with her male significant other) noticed me -- yeah, I guess I kinda-sorta stood out because I was the only non-Indian in the house -- and asked: "Do you speak the language?" And I laughed, then replied: "No. But, hey, film is the universal language, right?" And she laughed. And nodded in agreement.

As Francois Truffaut once noted: "Cinema is king!"

Galloping soon to a theater near you

I viewed a rough cut of Appaloosa about a month ago, prior to interviewing Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris for the next issue of Cowboys & Indians magazine (on sale -- hint, hint! - Sept. 2 at fine newsstands everywhere). The Warners publicists asked me not to comment on the film itself until closer to its world premiere next month at the Toronto Film Festival, so I can't tell you how good it is, and how terrific Mortensen and Harris (and Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons) are in the lead roles, and how it's an even better Western than last year's 3:10 to Yuma remake. But, hey, I can direct you to a trailer, right here.

Tightrope

Filmmaker James Marsh celebrates obsession in Man on Wire, his award-winning documentary about Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the New York Trade Center. It's a gripping account of a real-life, stranger-than-fiction drama, an exhilarating story that's all the more fascinating because, even though we may know how it will end, Marsh still manages to spring several surprises.

And the biggest surprise, perhaps, is what he chooses not to tell us.

You can read my Houston Chronicle interview with Marsh here.

Well, there goes the election

Uh-oh. Wait until McCain's people get hold of this.

Now playing at a video store near you

Hey, look, more than most people, I can well appreciate what it's like to take a gig just to pay your IRS tab. But, geez, did Wesley Snipes -- a damn fine actor, especially in indie movies like The Waterdance and the under-appreciated ZigZag -- really need to do another direct-to-DVD movie like The Art of War II: Betrayal? You can read my Variety review here.

The big bugs are back

If you loved Starship Troopers -- well, I'm not so sure you should admit that. But chances are good that you will at least like Starship Troopers 3: Marauder. You can read my Variety review here.

Music. Drama. Dance. Romance. And Snoop Dogg.

Direct from Bollywood: Singh is Kinng has everything you could possibly want from a musical-romantic-comedy-drama-spectacle inspired by Frank Capra. Here is my Variety review. And check out the music video with Snoop Dogg (yes, that Snoop Dogg):

And when this failed, he tried to pass himself off as a film critic

Some people will try anything to avoid actually paying to see movies.

R.I.P.: Bernie Mac (1957-2008)

Oddly enough, I did not know Bernie Mac had ever been a stand-up comic when I first noticed him – and praised him -- as first-rate character actor in The Players Club. Imagine my surprise when I saw Spike Lee’s The Kings of Comedy -- and laughed my fool head off. He was a very funny man, and I suspect he would have given us even more cause to laugh had the Grim Reaper not intervened. To pay him the highest compliment I am capable of bestowing: He left this world a much better place than it would have been had he’d never been it.

Slight Beer

Country music star Toby Keith hit a few sour notes in his first star vehicle, 2006's Burning Bridges. Unfortunately, his second film, Beer for My Horses, is even worse. It's opening today in "limited" theatrical release. But, really, some releases can't be limited enough. You can read my Variety review here. (And by the way: I mean no disrespect to Wal-Mart, OK?)

Sorry, haters: Paris Hilton memorized her entire monologue

At least, that's what the Associated Press is reporting about her genius career move. Good for her. At this rate, she will so totally live down The Hottie and the Nottie.

Script Girl

She's witty and wacky, insightful and snarky. And, of course, she's smokin' hot, and she knows it. But be forewarned: She's also highly addictive.

The few. The proud. The chosen. The critics.

The 2009 edition of Leonard Maltin' s Movie Guide is now on sale at fine bookstores everywhere. And while it's always an invaluable resource, this year's edition is even better than usual because... because... well, hell, because I am one of the handpicked contributing editors who contributed mini-reviews (all of them, of course, personally approved by Mr. Maltin himself). You can order the book here. And remember: This book -- much like mine -- is the perfect present for any movie buff on your gift-giving list. And if you buy both of them? Well, it's like Peter Falk says in Wings of Desire: "If you do it together, it's fantastic."

Funniest. Political Ad. Parody. Ever.

Hey, who needs Werner Herzog when you have Richard Harris, a killer whale and huge hunks of Styrofoam?

As maverick moviemaker Werner Herzog braves the elements in Antarctica for Encounters at the End of the World, he adds to the accumulation of movies — comedies and dramas, cartoons and documentaries — that have sought intelligent life (and box-office success) at the North and South Poles. You can read my Houston Chronicle piece about some of those earlier efforts here.

Hey! Look what I got in response to my $25 donation!