Sex and the City...Official movie preview!

Joe Dante & John Saxon appear at screenings. Futurism in film!

Whenever I need a "hoot", I am inclined to slip into the New Beverly Cinema because - after all - they have the most hilarious trailers hitting the silver screen 'round town.

A tad melodramatic - and sprinkled with a lot of stilted dialogue and tired old clichés - they impact the funny bone, nonetheless.

Last night, filmgoers were in stitches over vintage oddball previews from "The Gun Girls", "Gorilla Gang", "Bowery Boys", and "The Love Root".

For the most part, a keen audience was there to rub shoulders and pay homage to Director Joe Dante, who was hosting the event.

Joe Dante was one of the most distinctive mainstream filmmakers of the 1980's. His noticeable visual style, in-joke movie references, and satirical swipes at American institutions (principally suburban Middle America and the US military) make for a great movie experience.



The auteur - diminutive in physical size, but not in stature - is known chiefly for Gremlins (1984) and Innerspace (1987); two films he directed for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment.

Like Quentin Tarantino, Dante's penchant for quirky movies - in particular those in the B-movie vein — is obvious when one flashes up on the silver screen. Instinctively, you get a sense from the warm-hearted man in person, that there is a love for the diversity of the rich medium.

Such is the case with two films he chose to screen last night - "Wrong is Right" and "The Second Civil War" (which was billed outside as a Mystery Movie on the Marquee).

With little ado, he referred to the features on the double-bill as "futurist genres".

When the film - "Wrong is Right" - was first released in 1982, it was not well-received by critics or filmgoers alike, according to Dante.

"It was an impossible scenario. No one took it seriously. The Columbia release was thought to be too outlandish." But, with a bit of wicked glee, he noted that after catching "Wrong" on DVD recently, he was startled by the "timeliness" of the subject matter now.

Eerily, some of the wild imaginings depicted in the studio project, have come to pass on the world scene; for example, touchy topical bones of contention over the Nation's dependency on oil, a growing mistrust of the government, and a subsequent staunch stance against the military in recent days.

And, when "Wrong is Right" took a quirky foray into the world of terrorism (and the issue of suicide bombers holding Nations under siege) it appeared the fictionalized piece was traversing over very real territory, torn from the pages of the daily headlines.

Despite a great cast - Sean Connery and John Saxon in top form, for instance - the little stinker faded into oblivion. Saxon - with fiancé in tow last night - was inclined to put forth his own theories about its demise.

"It was too far out, so Columbia buried it," he conjectured to an attentive audience who received the respected actor with open arms in the Art Film house that specializes in classic revival festivals.

"Maybe it was hidden," he corrected himself later.

Too on-the-money, perhaps? Doubtful, in my opinion.

Although the performances were solid, the script was "loose" and "hairy"; flawed. There were a number of hilarious bits of dialogue to chew on, though. In one curious scene, out-of-the-blue, a secret agent blurts out that the head of a terrorist organization "masturbated" a lot. Huh?

I suppose the inference was that Hoover was at the helm in those heady days?

In other instances, the plot was surprisingly timely. By coincidence?

When characters worried about whether the President would survive an ordeal, the off-beat lady Vice President - who happened to be an African-American woman - suddenly comes to a startling realization,

"If anything happens to you Mr. President, I'll be the first black female President," she says, with a tinge of astonishment in her voice.

The audience felt like it was in on a private joke right about then.

For the most part - "Wrong is Right" - had all the appearance of a bad TV Movie of the week, with a B-movie feel to it.

Annoyingly, the producers treated the audience like they were stupid, on occasion. For instance, throughout the low-budget thriller, characters often mouthed into a walkie- talkie - like they were speaking into it - when they obviously weren't. Did they think they were foolin' us? Lame, alright!

And, the gizmos and gadgetry were noticeably fake; right out of the prop room of a low-budget fifties-style Sci-fi movie.

In contrast, a scene depicting a "nuclear blast" was pretty darn believable, though. Probably due to the fact Nuclear Scientists were on board as consultants, according to the end crawl credits.

"Wrong" was a novelty, but no cigar.


In contrast, the second feature - "The Second Civil War" - was well-crafted with solid production values. Of course, this was probably due to the fact Joe Dante was at the helm, directing.

As an aside, Dante noted that when they were actually shooting scenes - at La Cienega and Santa Monica Boulevard in the old roller derby house once part-owned by pop icon, Cher - material being pressed to celluloid each day for the HBO project, was coinciding with daily news events.

I believe it; after all, life's uncanny like that.

In a nutshell, the film is about a nuclear blast which renders a number of children in a foreign nation, homeless. When an altruistic children's organization makes a bid to transfer the orphans to shelters in Idaho, the Governor issues a directive to "close the borders".

Ultimately, there's a concerted effort by the State Officials to protect the "American Dream" - and in the process - terminate an "open door" policy which the Idaho residents and the National Guard claim is ruining the country.

On the heels of the decision, the Federal Government gets into a tussle with the Governor (a lovesick puppy, pining for a Latino woman, curiously) over the bold-faced action which is deemed "Unconstitutional" from the get-go.

A large part of the plot deals with the inadequacy of the government, which the film takes a poke at. And, there are clever reveals about the hypocrisy of people, in general.

The HBO project is satirical, very broad, and hilarious.

At one point, for instance, the President issues a demand that the "Idaho" Governor remove the barriers in 72 hours, but his advisors note that the deadline imposed may prove disastrous.

After all, if the Governor does not comply with the request, a conflict may erupt right smack dab in the middle of a storyline to unfold on "All My Children". If the soap is pre-empted - in the midst of Erica Kane's decision to run away with Antonio - there will be hell to pay.

Clearly, they'll lose the female vote!

So, taking a cue from Roosevelt - for image sake - the President moves up the deadline to sixty-and-some odd half-hours to avoid the crisis.

Yeah, black, very black.

In fact, some may find the material offensive.

There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek pap, poking at sacred cows, and the turning of respected institutions upside down on their ear.

But "Civil War" is slick, well-acted, and professionally executed.

In the final analysis - like artists themselves - a handful of film gems are often way ahead of their time.

Fortunately, due to reruns, cable, and DVD, fans of the medium have the rare opportunity to take a glance backward to take a second gander at what once passed 'em by.

Did the filmmakers hit the mark, or not?

Last night's screenings touched, opened up a dialogue, and provoked thought. And, in the process, the rapt audience bonded as a result.

In my books, that's a compelling film experience, wouldn't you agree?

Sopranos...big screen feature on horizon?

Seems like yesterday, the saga over the intriguing finale for the Sopranos dragged on; and, the reaction was mixed...

One viewer noted to the editor of the Los Angeles Times,

"I'm OK with how "The Sopranos" ended and here's why: David Chase is a writer. The writer is "the decider". He gets to decide how it ends, regardless of the usual television convention of wrapping things up in a neat package. David Chase didn't kill Tony, he killed the audience. By "pulling" the plug at the most pregnant moment, he forced us to look at our own anticipation of that moment, to fill in the blank for ourselves. The blank said two things to me: (1) Well, that's a wide avenue for the start of a great feature; (2) the bad guy does get away with it. Despite taking some hits, Tony is still king. Same as it ever was." Kelly L.C. Russell (Pasadena)

Another lamented,

"An over-hyped ending to an underwhelming and, frankly, uncreative ending . Now we can can all concentrate on those shows that respect their audiences enough by not leaving things up in the air and trying to call it "art". Ken Marcus (Los Angeles)

And, from a fan who approved of the ending,

"Why all the outcry to the ending of "The Sopranos"? It was a brilliant ending. The onion represents the multi-layers of Tony Soprano. The hole in the onion ring represents the hole that would be blasted into Tony Soprano by the man who went into the men's room to get the gun taped under the lid of the toilet, as was done in "Godfather", writer David Chase's tribute to that book and movie. The blackout at the end represents the dumbing down of Americans who just didn't get it and are unable to think for themselves."
Leon M. Salter (Los Angeles)

And last, but not least,

Michael Hickey , of Palm Springs remarked..."No, the TV didn't go dead; Tony Soprano did. Death is frustrating. It provides no resolution for any of the plot threads of life; it merely ends them, all at once."

The experts offered their two cents worth, as well...

Dr. Glen O. Gabbard, Professor of Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, in Texas, noted there are two kinds of people: "those who expect Television's typically black-and white characterizations and tidied up endings and those who love the rebellious attitude of Sopranos' creator, Chase."

For eight seasons the writer persisted with character plot lines that were cast from a different mold.

"Many people would argue that's what was brilliant about the show; things were not tied up in a bow," stressed Gabbard.

"We've been conditioned as a television audience to expect an operatic finale with blood and gore and tears and wailing and gnashing of the teeth," Gabbard said. "Instead we got life as usual, a humdrum routine, and some in the audience felt robbed."

On that note, a Senior research scientist in the Psychology Department of Yale University's TV Research Center, expressed her own concerns about the finale.

"Closure is good for mental health," she stressed, "Without closure, people are left feeling a little anxious."

"People identified with the characters. They felt like family, and viewers wanted to know what happened to them."

Undoubtedly, that is why fans have appeared in throngs the past few months at the restaurant where the last scene of the Sopranos was shot. The addiction to the show is as strong as it ever was; after all, fans cue up daily to plunk down at the table where Tony last stretched back.

Many trek by way of a bus tour, at $42.00 a pop (no pun intended).

At "Pizzaland", which was featured in the opening credits, there has been an unforeseen jump in business over the past few months, claim the owners.

Meanwhile, sales of the music single - "Don't Stop Believin'" - which aired in the last show have skyrocketed. An appropriate theme song for "Sopranos" fans who find it painful to let go?

Can't wait for the movie, can you?