DID Tom Cruise have a good week…?

Tom Cruise had quite a dynamic week last week. Tropic Thunder is a hit movie, and his cameo performance in it is being called hilarious by just about everyone. And we all know Tom needed any kind of hit right now. Clearly stated, he needed great buzz about a performance of his, and that performance needed to be in a hit movie. Good Job!

Also, Valkyrie’s release date has been moved back up, right smack in the middle of Oscar Season! After the reshoots, people are having renewed confidence in this picture. Way to go!

Paula Wagner left United Artists. Ouch.

Wagner started out as his agent, then became his producing partner, and the two have been working together for the last 25 years! As you know, back in 2006 Cruise/Wagner’s deal was not renewed at Paramount (because Mission:Impossible III was “not a hit” when it made half a billion dollars) and three months later it was announced that the two of them would revive the defunct United Artists and run it themselves. Everyone in town was skeptical, but they announced their first movie would be directed by and would start Robert Redford, and also star Tom and Meryl Streep! What a coup! They gave themselves an instant pedigree, or so we all thought. Cruise and Wagner then had the ability to greeenlight movies that had budgets less than $60 million, they just had to greenlight movies to keep their financing. That was their job, pick movies and get them made. Take it from someone who has literally read thousands of scripts since arriving in the industry, it’s a harder job than it seems. And then it really isn’t. Just. Pick. Movies. Movies similar to the ones people seem to be enjoying, except smarter and funnier. Or dumber and funnier. Or just smarter. Something!

To be fair, It must be difficult to go from shepherding your one project from idea through development, to a final draft, through the production and on to distribution, and then also having to manage many projects at once all the while keeping your pulse on what audiences are paying attention to.

If I may, I would say that their big mistake was that the two pictures they actually got made were Tom Cruise movies. Hollywood secret: A studio can’t have its only two movies star the effing owner!

So, now, it is Tom’s turn to surprise all of you. This is the part of the movie where the chips are down and it looks for sure like the golden boy is in a real tight spot and is about to be blown to smithereens. But wait! All of a sudden, he somehow learns that he always knew what to do, he just never had a reason to use all of his talents at once. Things begin to look worse until he wins big, and is better than ever!

Here’s a hint: in Hollywood, sometimes you know you’re doing a good job simply based on the fact that you haven’t been FIRED. So yes, it may have been tough but Tom Cruise did in fact have a good week.



© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.

Vehicle/Bicycle

In California and especially in LA, there is a large focus on “being green.” You know, the movement regarding every person doing their part to reduce their carbon footprint to help ease the cause of global warming. It’s a good thing. There are hand-washing soap and dish washing detergent that don’t toxify our waters. You see more and more hybrid vehicles on the streets than ever. I’ve even seen a few fuel cell vehicles, those are the ones that run on hydrogen fuel cells and emit water! A Shell gas station nearby has started construction on additional pumps for hydrogen fuel cells! We are making progress. Though the most obvious difference is on the street. With the price of gas forcing people choose gasoline over their $4.50 Chocolate Ice-Blendeds, others are choosing to use bicycles as a source of transportation for shot trips. Yay!

Yay? So now there are more bicycles on the road. It would be cool if… Well for one thing motorcycles and scooters are fine. We are used to them, and most importantly, they always act like vehicles because you need driver’s licenses to drive them. Any thirteen year-old can go buy a bike. The problem is that cyclists don’t always act like vehicles. People want to take up a lane of traffic, which makes perfect sense when you are on the street. But then they also want to roll through stop signs without even slowing down as if it was their backyard with absolutely no regard for a car that may be turning right at said sign! When you want them to act like a bicycle they go and wait in the left turn lane like a vehicle and keep you from turning as the light goes red. The nerve! It makes me want to hit them. Not with my car, but with my fist!

Los Angeles is not like New York City, San Francisco and especially Portland, Oregon, where a relatively high percentage of vehicles on their streets every day are bicycles. LA is much more like an urban experience in a suburban setting, so we’re used to having our blood pressure raised by idiots in cars, not on bicycles. And it is beginning to get to us. Some cyclists are racing through red lights at rush hour! Some pedestrians have even been hit by cyclists themselves, to then only to have these cyclists use their attached horns and beep at them. Not surprisingly, there has been a rise in hostility towards cyclists this summer. Some doctor in Brentwood was charged with assault because he intentionally braked in front of two cyclists, causing one to crash into his rear window and the other to be knocked to the pavement. Dang, who ever said that Brentwood wasn’t The Hood just didn’t know. Another cyclist pulled up next to a car at a red light only to have the back window roll down, revealing a child no older than seven look into his eyes and give him the finger!

Yes, these events are strange and would be called isolated, except that the rate of “isolated incidents” has risen sharply since this spring. What can we do? Well the only idea I have so far is this hint for cyclists: Either ride on the sidewalk like a child and have all the fun you want, or ride in the street and act like a fucking vehicle! Crikey! Cyclists will probably say that we should all “share the road” the way cars do with motorcycles and scooters. That is true, but also misleading. Cars and motor driven cycles all respect the rules of the road first and foremost, the rules that govern our choices which gives off the appearance that we “share the road with each other.” We have to, we all took tests just to have the right to drive in the first place. As soon as cyclists begin to respect those rules first and foremost then they will be sharing the road with us. And that benefits them because when it comes down to it, if there’s some sort of accident between a vehicle and a bicycle, who do you think is going to win…?



© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.

Bachelor’s Paradise: Date Night

Date Night is one of my favorite traditions! Now that many of us are no longer eighteen, the time has come to step up our game. The traditional movie and dinner is still a great way to get to know someone a little better, but how do you get the evening started? Do you kick it old school and pick up your date? What if it’s your first date, do you meet at the theater in case you need to make the quick getaway? Assuming you’re past this point, I would highly suggest making an appetizer to share at one of your homes so you can talk before the movie. Yes, this is a little more labor intensive, but well worth the time and effort. Plus, you’ll get points for making a restaurant quality starter. Pomodori al Forno is a traditional Italian antipasto, the kind that you’d find at a traditional Trattoria. And it roughly translates as “Tomatoes in the oven.” It’s the kind of starter that you’d bring to a large family gathering while you’re waiting for the grilled lamb leg to get going. It’s disarmingly simple, basically slow roasted plum tomatoes with goat cheese and a sliced baguette. This can be served year round, thanks to the high quality of canned tomatoes that can be found in better grocery stores! Trust me, this works.




Pomodori al Forno

Ingredients:

½ cup (or more) olive oil, divided
1 pound plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeded
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/3 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh Italian parsley

Aged goat cheese (Bûcheron is rad)
1 baguette, thinly sliced crosswise, toasted

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 250°F. Pour 1/2 cup oil into 13x9x2-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Arrange tomatoes in dish, cut side up. Drizzle with remaining 1/2 cup oil. Sprinkle with oregano, sugar, and salt. Bake 1 hour. Using tongs, turn tomatoes over. Bake 1 hour longer. Turn tomatoes over again. Bake until deep red and very tender (time will vary, depending on ripeness of tomatoes) about 15 to 45 minutes longer. Transfer tomatoes to plate when soft.

Layer tomatoes in medium bowl, sprinkling garlic and parsley over each layer; reserve oil in baking dish. Drizzle tomatoes with reserved oil, adding more if necessary to cover. Let stand at room temperature 2 hours. Cover; chill up to 5 days. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Serve with aged goat cheese and toasted baguette slices.



© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.

Box-Office Round Up : 8.17.2008

Here’s this weekend’s box-office estimates!

1. Tropic Thunder $26 million
2. The Dark Knight $16.8 million
3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars $15.5 million
4. Mirrors $11.1 million
5. Pineapple Express $11.1 million

10. Vicky Cristina Barcelona $3.7 million

17. Henry Poole is Here $2.0 million

Before we get started properly, congratulations are in order! Today, The Dark Knight became the second highest grossing movie domestically, passing the original Star Wars. In fact, Warner Bros. has the number two and number three movie this week which is a cause celebré, if you ask me. But, back to business.

Tropic Thunder won the weekend! Yes, it did $26 mil over the weekend with a total cume of $37 for the first two days. It seems to be performing less than expected, but will have no problem earning back it’s entire budget plus prints/advertising over it’s theatrical release. That’s good news for all, especially for Tom Cruise. Even though he only appears as a cameo, it’s good for him to be associated with a hit no matter the size of the role.

At $15.5 million, The Clone Wars did well, especially when you consider that it’s an animated feature that started as a half hour cartoon on the Cartoon Network. It’s also interesting to note that this feature is a launching pad for the renewed Cartoon Network show that hasn’t been on the air since 2005. Apparently, they’ve got 100 episodes worth of story for that show, with 30 already finished! Talk about a good plan…

Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona earned $3.7 million on 692 screens, which puts it in the $5300/screen range. As usual for Woody’s pictures, it could use a little word of mouth to get it going. We’ll just have to see how this one grows. In the meantime, check it out and see for yourself what reviewers are calling The Return of Woody Allen. To remind everyone, Woody didn't go nowhere. Just like Prince told Justin Timberlake that Sexy never left.

Speaking of small movies, a little French thriller called Tell No One is playing on about 98 screens here in the States. I have not gotten a chance to see it, having been on holiday, but it looks great, and has earned fantastic reviews from the 100 people who have seen it. It’s difficult to use traditional box-office math/logic with subtitled films because most foreign films are seen by being rented, not necessarily by people going out to see it. That’s okay, I feel fortunate that we even get to see such good pictures at all. In fact, in the coming months, I am excited about many upcoming films for the first time in a long time. Some are foreign but many are American! It feels like an exciting time…

And that’s the weekend!



© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.

Christopher and Madonna Louise : Part II

I did it. I broke down and bought Christopher Ciccone’s book about his relationship with his sister Madonna. I bought it because I felt a need to know one person’s truth about this artist, and that person may have been the person closest with her for her whole life, including her career. It was everything I expected; revealing, scathing, funny, bitchy and sad. Ironically, what I did not expect was honesty. I had amassed enough respect for Mr. Ciccone over the years to know that every word would be true, but I never dreamed that he would put himself under the same lens.

He and his sister have an interesting relationship that many siblings do not. Most people, even if they are great confidants to their siblings do not also create great works of popular art together. To be fair, he had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of any of her music, books, movies, photos or the like. But he was her dresser for her first two tours (the closest position to the artist while on tour), the artistic designer for her third and the director for her fourth. He was the interior designer for all of her homes until 2001, and was her art curator, suggesting and finding art for her personal collection until then as well. He, like no other, has worked with her the longest over her entire career. An unusual relationship, to say the least. And, like most familial relationships, it was full of dysfunction from both parties. He could have written a bestseller without that important piece of honesty, but that book would have far less meaningful.

So why did he write it? A tell-all book would surely end his relationship with her. It is clear that he needed to let go of all of these emotions that were bottled up inside him. Not only is this his memoir, but for Mr. Ciccone, getting perspective on their story was a complete catharsis. And it served as a way of validating his reality by confronting his demons and acknowledging his own strengths and weaknesses.

It is beyond clear that Christopher Ciccone loves his sister dearly, and has the utmost respect for her artistic endeavors. At the end of the day, Life With My Sister Madonna is full of love.



© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.

Just To Reiterate

This internet series actually is the reason that these guys have their own Broadway show right this second. It's also nice to see real people be hilarious in an authenic way and use this crazy innerweb to create an audience and get to the next step. There aren't words for how proud I am of these peeps. Give it a chance, watch the first three episodes so you can get into their rhythm. What's 25 minutes of your life, especially if you're laughing your ass off the whole way through...?





© MD TOTAL all rights reserved.

Mind-Blowingly Inappropriate!

It’s gotten ridiculously ridiculous out in the marketplace right now, absolutely anything goes! With American culture reaching new heights of trashiness, the rules have changed. It used to be that a sex tape was a career ruiner (Rob Lowe) instead of a career starter (Paris Hilton). Campaigns and ideas were meant to be elegant, even if the product itself was, well… malt liquor. Remember Billy Dee Williams and Colt 45? You know, it still works every time. Back then you would avoid any possibility of your product being linked to something the public is at odds with. Just ask Pepsi and Madonna. Pepsi paid Madonna a truckload of cash to be in one of their commercials. They were more than proud, they even ran a commercial for the commercial at the Oscars that year! Then her Like a Prayer video (with the burning crosses, stigmata and images of a black saint) was released and they dropped her like a hot potato.

Today, not so much. The watchdog organization Parents Television Council reviewed Gossip Girl and had nothing but scandalous things to say about the show. They basically think and said that this show will ruin your children’s lives and their hope for a sane future. Usually, a network would do all it could to distance itself from those quotes and definitely not respond to them. But the CW marketing department decided to use direct quotes from the PTC over salacious shots of characters as the marketing campaign! Whoever came up with this idea deserves a promotion, a fat raise and a better parking space if you ask me because this is brilliant. This is exactly what it’s all about. And it would never have happened even five years ago. Progress!

We are now accustomed to celebrities having their own fragrances and clothing lines. Generally they are products that go along with the perception of that celebrity’s brand. Sarah Jessica Parker having a clothing line just makes sense. Who the hell knows if she can design, but we already associate her with style. Or the Michael Phelps branded bottled water I’d been seeing at Ralph’s since 2004. Hell, water is about the only thing I associate with Phelps, so good job! But I recently saw something that took me back. I was at the counter of my corner store (that’s a bodega, New Yorkers) where the lighters, lollipops, European candy, and those weird sesame seed bars reside when something caught my eye. It was a picture of the Notorious B.I.G. staring back at me. I was amazed that his estate has moved on from releasing posthumous albums and onto something more physical. So I took a closer look to see what it was. Notorious B.I.G. branded blunt rolling papers. I’m not going to lie, Biggie was well known for smoking some serious weed and I definitely associate that with his image, but dag! Blunt Papers?! That’s when I knew for sure that we’ve definitely crossed the line for good. Like I said, anything goes nowadays. It’s a Brave New World, and the adults just have to watch out. Here we come!




© 2008 MD TOTAL all rights reserved.