#nancy kanter

[sesiondemadrugada]

The Loveless (Kathryn Bigelow, 1981).

[what-eats-owls]

I don't always drop news late on a Friday night, but when I do, I make it worth your while. ✨

[fly-pow-bye]

Available Light Productions, a production company headed by Nancy Kanter, announced four projects.

Wayward Girls, a live action movie.

Penny Phantom, absolutely no relation to Danny and absolutely every relation to Margaret Owen's Little Thieves series of novels. Daron Nefcy, creator of Star Vs. The Forces of Evil, is attached to direct.

The Circus Ship, based on the picture book of the same name. The screenplay will be written by Lauren Faust, developer of Friendship is Magic, and Craig McCracken, creator of the Powerpuff Girls.

Alexander the Post Fox, a preschool animated series created and written by Amy Higgins, who worked on many teleplays and stories for Wander Over Yonder.

They are all still in the very early development stage, and it is too early to tell where any of these shows are going as of yet.

[gracie-bird]

Judith Balaban Wedding Attended by Celebrities By NANCY RANDOLPH

A brilliant wedding here yesterday united Judith Rose Balaban, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Barney Balaban of New York and Rye, to Jay Ira Kanter. The ceremony in the Terrace Room of the Plaza Hotel was attended by many celebrities on stage, screen and president of Paramount Pictures At the 6:30 rites, the bride wore a dress of white organza over Italian satin and embroidered in seed pearls. She wore a crown of pearls holding a long tulle veil.

Her bouquet was of white orchids with streamers of lilies of the valley. Notable Attendants. Six attendants - among them singer Rosemary Clooney and screen actress Peggy Ann Garner -wore bouffant dresses of champagne-colored organza, with matching hats and carried orchids in the same hue. Famed actor Marion Brando was best man. After the ceremony, performed by the Rev.

Dr. Norman Gertstenfeld of the Washington Hebrew Congregation of Washington, D. C., a reception, followed by a dinner, took place in the grand ballroom of the Plaza. Ted Straeter's orchestra played for dancing. The bride, a graduate of Rye Country Day School, studied at Bradford Junior College in Haverhill, Mass.

The bridegroom, the son of Mrs. Sidney Genser of Beverly Hills, Calif., and the late Harry H. Kanter, went to the University of Southern California and served with the U.S. Naval Air Arm. He is now with Music Corporation of America Artists, Ltd.

The couple radio. The bride's father is Corp. (By Bradford Bachrach) Mrs Jay Ira Kanter She's the former Judith Rose Balaban. will live in New York following a honeymoon in Mexico and California.

[popculturebuffet]

Now we've got word on what Daron Nefcy's next project is. It's confirmed she is directing a movie for Available Light Productions called Penny Phantom (based on the novel Little Theives).

Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust are also writing a movie called The Circus Ship (based on the book of the same name) in addition to working on the Foster's Home and Powerpuff Girls reboots/revivals.

Thoughts on the news?

Link is here: https://deadline.com/2024/02/nancy-kanter-kevin-jonas-animated-series-development-available-light-wayward-girls-penny-phantom-alexander-the-post-fox-1235816587/

The former sounds intresting and the book solid and while Daron wiffed it bad on star's ending, it's easy to forget thanks to that the show WAS good for some time. And good, i'm glad their getting into film. I also genuinely forgot a fosters revivial was in production.

[genevieveetguy]

I ain't never seen nothin' like it before in my life. They're animals. Hell, I'd love to trade places with 'em for a day or two.

The Loveless, Kathryn Bigelow and Monty Montgomery (1981)

[disneytva]

Disney Channels EVP Nancy Kanter To Depart Company In 2021 After 20 Years

The Woman behind the greenlight of The 7D, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe, The Proud Family Louder And Prouder, Elena Of Avalor,Sofia The First & Doc McStuffins leaves her 20 year legacy in January 2021

Nancy Kanter, EVP, Content and Creative Strategy, Disney Channels Worldwide, who launched and built Disney’s preschool TV channel Disney Junior, will leave the company at the end of January 2021 after two decades.

Gary Marsh, President and Chief Creative Officer for Disney Channels Worldwide, with whom Kanter has worked side by side for her entire tenure, just announced Kanter’s pending departure in a company email (You can read it below the post.)

The two agreed on a long transition to allow Marsh time to put together a comprehensive plan for the future at Disney Channels. Kanter is not expected to retire. After two decades at Disney Channels, shepherding content for kids and families, the well regarded executive felt she was ready for something new.

In his memo to staff, Marsh highlighted some of Kanter’s biggest accomplishments.

“Without a doubt, paramount among her many achievements is building one of the most culturally relevant channels and brands in the global kids’ television business, Disney Junior,” he wrote. “At every turn, Disney Junior is a reflection of what matters most to Nancy – entertaining narratives driven by original characters who bring the magic and heart of classic Disney into entirely new stories.”

He also acknowledged Kanter’s role in leading the creation of the CG-animated series Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, “which went on to become one of our most important franchises…ever.” Other signature Disney kids series whose development Kanter spearheaded included Disney Junior’s Doc McStuffins, the Emmy Award-winning Sofia the First and its groundbreaking spinoff Elena of Avalor, as well as High School Musical: The Musical: The Series for Disney+; and Secret Society of Second Born Royals, Disney Channel’s first original movie for Disney+.  She also championed Disney Channel’s Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur and the animated fantasy-comedy The Owl House as well as Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder for Disney+.

Kanter joined Disney in 2001 as VP Original Programming, Playhouse Disney. She was promoted to SVP in 2004 and expanded role to SVP, Playhouse Disney Worldwide in 2008.

In 2012, Kanter was named EVP, Original Programming and General Manager, Disney Junior Worldwide. In 2017, her role expanded to all content for kids age 2-14 and she was promoted to EVP, Content and Creative Strategy, Disney Channels Worldwide

“There’s no question that the 19+ years I have spent at Disney Channel have been among the most productive and rewarding of my career,” Kanter said in response to Marsh’s email. “I could not be more proud of the content I’ve had a hand in creating and the teams I’ve been fortunate enough to lead. I will leave next year looking forward to continuing to create content that will have a lasting impact on the lives of kids and families around the world via today’s expansive entertainment landscape.  I thank the leaders across the company for having given me the opportunity to not only grow as an executive but also as a contributor to the enduring legacy of great Disney storytelling that will live on for generations to come.

Here is Marsh’s memo in full:

I wanted to share some news with you.

Nancy Kanter, our trusted partner and creative leader for nearly 20 years, has decided to leave Disney Channel at the end of January 2021.

With her extraordinary talent and passion for storytelling, she helped us create stories for audiences who are just beginning to understand the power of stories. Without a doubt, paramount among her many achievements is building one of the most culturally relevant channels and brands in the global kids’ television business, Disney Junior. At every turn, Disney Junior is a reflection of what matters most to Nancy – entertaining narratives driven by original characters who bring the magic and heart of classic Disney into entirely new stories.

Another of Nancy’s remarkable and enduring accomplishments is leading the creation of a new way to showcase the most beloved character in the entire Disney universe, Mickey Mouse, to preschoolers and their parents — with the CG-animated series “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” which went on to become one of our  most important franchises…ever.

Nancy also shepherded the development of another remarkable series for Disney Junior, “Doc McStuffins.”  And it was Nancy who, early in the development of the series, called for the lead character to be visualized as a young Black girl, and we proudly celebrated Doc as she became a role model for all kids, and especially girls of color. The series won the prestigious Peabody Award, and was cited by critics as “one of the most important shows in the history of television.”

Her legacy also includes the Emmy Award-winning “Sofia the First” and its groundbreaking spinoff “Elena of Avalor,” and the recently launched “Mira, Royal Detective.”  Each of these series is a testament to Nancy’s stewardship of culturally accurate and universally appealing stories with themes that are resonant and authentic to our diverse audiences.

In her expanded role as the head of creative content and strategy for DCWW, Nancy drove the successful development of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” for Disney+, delivered Disney Channel’s first original movie, “Secret Society of Second Born Royals” to Disney+, and expanded upon the success of the Disney Channel Original Movie “Zombies” and “Descendants” franchises with the most recent movies that delivered even more viewers than their predecessors.

At our TV Animation studio, Nancy championed Disney Channel’s “Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” and the animated fantasy-comedy “The Owl House” and “Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe” and “The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder” for Disney+.

In her Disney tenure, it’s clear that the content Nancy has championed is world-class and vast – far too extensive to list here. But beyond the specific content, her enduring legacies are the people she’s mentored, and the culture she’s helped nurture – both of which embody and embrace Nancy’s commitment to honesty, integrity and excellence in every aspect of work.

I have no doubt she will continue to explore her passion for great stories in the next chapter of her impressive career. She’s not leaving us for many months, so we’ll have plenty of time to celebrate her before she departs. For now, though, please join me in wishing her a magical journey ahead.

-Gary

[the7dwiki]

If you all haven’t heard, the person responsible for giving The 7D the greenlight while she was at Disney Junior, Nancy Kanter, is leaving the Disney company. Her last day will be in January 2021. I reblogged the news from the Disney TVA fan account before this post. 

I do feel that Kanter is among the very few Disney executives who really cared about The 7D. By the time she leaves the company, she will have a 20-year-long successful tenure there. She has had a lot of success with Playhouse Disney and later Disney Junior, overseeing so many hit series. When Disney Junior replaced Playhouse Disney in 2012, it became so successful that Kanter was being promoted to the newly created position of Executive Vice President, Content and Creative Strategy, Disney Channels Worldwide, bringing Disney Channel and Disney XD to her purview. It’s hard to believe that she has held the job for only four years by the time she leaves. Kanter was also behind the scenes in getting The Proud Family revived as well as a new movie based on Phineas and Ferb -- all for Disney+. 

I still believe that The 7D would have been more successful if it would have stayed on Disney Junior, I mean, if all the success Kanter had with Disney Junior had meant anything to the Disney higher-ups, maybe they would just be more confident in it and just leave it alone -- it could have been lasted longer. 

Still, we always thank everyone who worked on The 7D for bringing us a show that always made us happy, but we all should give a very special thanks to Nancy Kanter -- the one who made it all happen. 

[adscinema]

Blue Hawaii - Norman Taurog (1961)

Poster

[siao-jiak-kueh]

Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (1982) // Lou Adler

Screenplay by Nancy Dowd

[cadpig101]

10 years ago (1 full decade🥲), former Disney Junior Vice President Nancy Kanter announced that a new animated series starring Snow White's 7 dwarves had begun production. Along with that announcement, our first look at what is now The 7D was released. I remember this like it was yesterday... I can’t believe we’re approaching the big 10 real soon.

[theoriginalmarke]

FRIDAY FUNDAMENTALS

The neighbor’s daughter is on Celebrity Big Brother. I’ve seen her driving past us a time or two. BTW, the sale of the house is pending after after a $750,000 price drop. They still made over a million bucks after owning it less than a year. Putting the name “Mellencamp” on it brings prestige, I guess.

I’m not really a fan of Big Brother or any of those reality shows and their manufactured drama. They celebrate backstabbing and asshattery. BB is a guilty pleasure for a certain member of our household, not to mention any names. I will say don’t let your cats get hooked on TV, like our Lily.

Personally I prefer Battlebots and Resident Alien. 

I hear there’s some kind of international sporting event going on in China, too. Will I be watching? Not a single second. Nancy Pelosi just told all of the athletes to shut up so they don’t anger the Chinese government. That’s really sad. 

Most of the time I wish athletes (and other celebrities) would shut up. I cheer Enes Kanter Freedom, though. There’s a man who puts his money where his mouth is. Much respect.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a Friday to do.

I love you, Kitten. No matter what you watch on TV. MWAH!

Y’all have a great day.

[seeinganewlight]

2020 books read

1) Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Jan 1-Jan 1) 2) Since You’ve Been Gone - Morgan Matson (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Jan 1-Jan 7) 3) Little Women - Louisa May Alcott (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Jan 2-Jan 3) 4) Sounds Like Me: My Life (So Far In Song) - Sara Bareilles (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Jan 8-Jan 8) 5) I Woke Up Dead at the Mall - Judy Sheehan (Audiobook) / (Jan 10-Jan 12) 6) A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder - Holly Jackson (Goodreads Giveaway Advanced Reader Copy) / (Jan 14-Jan 17 ) 7) The Cheerleaders - Kara Thomas / (Jan 18-Jan 19) 8) When I Was You - Minka Kent / (Jan 19-Jan 21) 9) Always Never Yours - Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka (Audiobook) / (Jan 21-Jan 27) 10) The Hand on the Wall - Maureen Johnson / (Jan 26-Feb 22) 11) The Haunting of Ashburn House - Darcy Coates / (Feb 23-Mar 2) 12) One of Us is Next - Karen M. McManus / (Mar 2-Mar 13) 13) The Carrow Haunt - Darcy Coates / (Mar 14-Mar 15) 14) American Royals - Katherine McGee / (Mar 20-Mar 22) 15) Tweet Cute - Emma Lord / (Mar 23-Mar 24) 16) The Unexpected Everything - Morgan Matson (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Mar 26-Mar 27) 17) Burn for Burn - Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian / (Mar 28) 18) Fire with Fire - Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian / (Mar 28) 19) Ashes to Ashes - Jenny Han & Siobhan Vivian / (Mar 28-Mar 29) 20) Love & Luck - Jenna Evans Welsh / (Mar 29-April 1) 21) The Summer I Turned Pretty - Jenny Han / (April 1-April 3) 22) It’s Not Summer Without You - Jenny Han / (April 3-April 4) 23) We’ll Always Have Summer - Jenny Han / (April 4) 24) Love & Gelato - Jenna Evans Welsh / (April 5-April 6) 25) As Kismit Would Have It - Sandhya Menon / (April 6-April 7) 26) All Eyes on Us - Kit Frick / (April 9-April 12) 27) The Babysitters Coven - Kate Williams / (April 18-April 27) 28) What I Like About You - Marisa Kanter / (April 27-April 29) 29) Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (April 29-April 29) 30) Nancy Drew: The Curse - Micol Ostow / (April 30-May 1) 31) Out of Left Field - Kris Hui Lee / (May 1-May 2) 32) The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyne Hardcastle - Stuart Turton (Audiobook) / (April 20-May 5) 33) The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater / (May 2-May 6) 34) If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (May 6-May 8) 35) The Dream Thieves - Maggie Stiefvater / (May 7-May 12) 36) Blue Lily, Lily Blue - Maggie Stiefvater / (May 12-May 18) 37) The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar / (May 16-May 24) 38) The Raven King - Maggie Stiefvater / (May 18-May 25) 39) Break the Fall - Jennifer Iacopelli / (May 25-May 26) 40) The Foxhole Court - Nora Sakavic / (May 26-May 27) 41) The Raven King - Nora Sakavic / (May 29-May 30) 42) The King’s Men - Nora Sakavic / (May 30-May 31) 43) The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (June 1-June 1) 44) Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (June 1-June 2) 45) Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (June 2-June 3) 46) On the Come Up - Angie Thomas (Audiobook) / (June 4-June 5) 47) The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern / (June 7-June 12) 48) The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid / (June 12-June 13) 49) The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan / (June 13-June 15) 50) The Folcroft Ghosts - Darcy Coates / (June 19-June 20) 51) The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan / (June 20-June 23) 52) If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio (Re-Read, Physical + Audiobook) / (June 29-July 2) 53) The Titan’s Curse - Rick Riordan / (June 23-July 2) 54) The Battle of the Labyrinth - Rick Riordan / (July 2-July 4) 55) The Last Olympian - Rick Riordan / (July 4-July 5) 56) Beach Read - Emily Henry / (July 5-July 6) 57) Anna K - Jenny Lee / (July 7-July 7) 58) Circe - Madeline Miller / (July 9-July 10) 59) Emma - Jane Austen (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (July 12-July 15) 60) You Should See Me In a Crown - Leah Johnson (Audiobook) / (July 17-July 19) 61) The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller / (July 21-July 23) 62) Second Chance Summer - Morgan Matson (Re-Read) / (July 25-July 28) 63) Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You - Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi / (July 3-July 31) 64) Clique Bait - Ann Valett / (July 29-Aug 1) 65) Meet Me at Midnight - Jessica Pennington / (Aug 2-Aug 3) 66) By the Book - Amanda Sellet / (July 6-Aug 9) 67) The Black Kids - Christina Hammonds Reed (Audiobook) / (Aug 9-Aug 10) 68) She’s the Worst - Lauran Spieller / (Aug 10-Aug 10) 69) Love and Other Train Wrecks - Leah Konen / (Aug 10-Aug 12) 70) The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Aug 6-Aug 15) 71) The Poet X - Elizabeth Acevedo (Audiobook) / (Aug 16-Aug 16) 72) Fractured - Shay Siegel (NetGalley ARC) / (Aug 18-Aug 19) 73) These Witches Don’t Burn - Isabel Sterling (Re-Read) / (Aug 21-Aug 24) 74) This Coven Won’t Break - Isabel Sterling / (Aug 24-Aug 24) 75) This Spell Can’t Last - Isabel Sterling (Novella) / (Aug 24-Aug 24) 76) Save the Date - Morgan Matson (Re-Read) / (Aug 25-Aug 27) 77) I Hope You’re Listening - Tom Ryan (NetGalley ARC) / (Aug 27-Aug 28) 78) Twelfth Night - William Shakespeare (ReRead) / (Aug 12-Aug 31) 79) Boyfriend Material - Alexis Hall (Audiobook) / (Aug 31-Aug 31) 80) Only Mostly Devastated - Sophie Gonzales (Audiobook) / (Sep 1-Sep 1) 81) Where Dreams Descend - Janella Angeles / (Aug 30-Sep 5) 82) Majesty - Katherine McGee / (Sep 7-Sep 9) 83) I Killed Zoe Spanos - Kit Frick (Audiobook) / (Sep 10-Sep 11) 84) Nobody Knows But You - Anica Mrose Rissi (NetGalley ARC) / (Sep 12-Sep 12) 85) If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Sep 14-Sep 14) 86) Macbeth - William Shakespeare (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Sep 15-Sep 15) 87) The Year Shakespeare Ruined My Life - Dani Jansen (NetGalley ARC) / (Sep 16-Sep 19) 88) Kisses and Croissants - Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau (NetGalley ARC) / (Sep 24-Sep 25) 89) The Lakehouse - Joe Clifford (NetGalley ARC) / (Sep 30-Oct 1) 90) The Poppy and the Rose - Ashlee Cowles (NetGalley ARC) / (Oct 1-Oct 7) 91) We Were Restless Things - Cole Nagamatsu (NetGalley ARC) / (Oct 8-Oct 10) 92) When Life Gives You Lemons Instead of Lattes - Rayna York (NetGalley ARC) / (Oct 11- Oct 12) 93) Where Dreams Descend - Janella Angeles (ReRead) / (Oct 17-Oct 21) 94) The Royal We - Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan (Audibook) / (Oct 21-Oct 23) 95) The Heir Affair - Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan (Audiiobook) / (Oct 23-Oct 24) 96) The Hollywood Jim Crow - Maryann Erigha / (Sep 30 - Oct 29) 97) Lies Like Poison - Chelsea Pitcher (NetGalley ARC) / (Oct 26 - Nov 1) 98) In Tune - Yeyet Soriano (ARC) / (Nov 2 - Nov 4) 99) Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Nov 2 - Nov 5) 100) These Violent Delights - Chloe Gong / (Nov 6 - Nov 10) 101) Influence - Sara Shepard (NetGalley ARC) / (Nov 4 - Nov 11) 102) Ten Rules for Fakiing it - Sophie Sullivan (NetGalley ARC) / (Nov 11 - Nov 13) 103) The Worst Best Man - Mia Sosa (Audiobook) / (Nov 13 - Nov 14) 104) Sixteen Scandals - Sophie Jordan (Edelweiss+ ARC) / (Nov 15 - Nov 16) 105) The Life and (Medieval) Tiimes of Kit Sweetly - Jamie Pacton (Audiobook) / (Nov 17 - Nov 17) 106) You Have a Match - Emma Lord (NetGalley ARC) / (Nov 19 - Nov 21) 107) Be More Chill - Ned Vizzini (Audiobook) / (Nov 21 - Nov 21) 108) Dear Evan Hansen - Val Emmich (Re-Read, Audiobook) / (Nov 22 - Nov 23) 109) The Bitterwine Oath - Hannah West (ARC) / (Nov 24 - Nov 25) 110) The Gilded Wolves - Roshani Chokshi / (Nov 18 - Nov 25) 111) Rent a Boyfriend - Gloria Chao (Audiobook) / (Nov 26 - Nov 26) 112) I Love You So Mochi - Sarah Kuhn (Audiobook) / (Nov 27 - Nov 27) 113) The Twelve Dates of Christmas - Jenny Bayliss / (Nov 26 - Nov 28) 114) Wiith the Fire on High - Elizabeth Acevedo (Audiobook) / (Nov 28 - Nov 29) 115) Not Our Summer - Casie Bazay (NetGalley ARC) / (Nov 29 - Nov 30) 116) Meg & Jo - Virgina Kantra (Audiobook) / (Dec 2 - Dec 2) 117) The Honey Don’t List - Christina Lauren (Audiiobook) / (Dec 3 - Dec 3) 118) Clap When You Land - Elizabeth Acevedo (Audiobook) / (Dec 3 - Dec 3) 119) The Wedding Date - Jasmine Guillory (Audiobook) / (Dec 3 - Dec 3) 120) Perfect on Paper - Sophie Gonzales (NetGalley ARC) / (Dec 1 - Dec 4) 121) The Wedding Partty - Jasmine Guillory (Audiobook) / (Dec 6 - Dec 6) 122) If We Were Villains - M.L. Rio (Reread) / (Dec 5 - Dec 6) 123) We Are Okay - Nina LaCour (Audiiobook) / (Dec 6 - Dec 7) 124) Royal Holiday - Jasmine Guillory (Audiiobook) / (Dec 7 - Dec 7) 125) Party of Two - Jasmine Guillory (Audiobook) / (Dec 7 - Dec 7) 126) The Silvered Serpents - Roshani Chokshi (Audiobook) / (Dec 7- Dec 8) 127) Pride and Premediitation - Tirzah Price (Audiobook, NetGalley ARC) / (Dec 8 - Dec 9) 128) Faking Under the Mistletoe - Ashley Shepherd / (Dec 9 - Dec 10) 129) We Met in December - Rosie Curtis (Audobook) / (Dec 10 - Dec 11) 130) The Insomniacs - Marit Wesenbeerg (Audiobook) / (Dec 11 - Dec 11) 131) Rebecca - Daphne de Maurier (Audiobook) / (Dec 12 - Dec 13) 132) A Midsummer Night’s Scream - R.L. Stein (Audiobook) / (Dec 14 - Dec 15) 133) Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare (Audiobook) / (Dec 15 - Dec 15) 134) Maggie Finds Her Muse - Dee Ernst (NetGalley ARC) / (Dec 15 - Dec 15) 135) Don’t Tell a Soul - Kristen Miller (NetGalley ARC) / (Dec 16 - Dec 17) 136) Yesterday is History - Kosoko Jackson (NetGalley ARC) (Dec 17 - Dec 18) 137) Admission - Juliie Buxbaum (Audiobook) / (Dec 20 - Dec 20) 138) A Princess for Christmas - Jenny Holiday (Audiobook) / (Dec 20 - Dec 20) 139) I Love You So Mochi - Sarah Kuhn (Re-Read) / (Dec 19 - Dec 21) 140) RomaJuliette Christmas Short (These Violent Delights Universe) - Chloe Gong / (Dec 22 - Dec 22) 141) Roman and Jewel - Dana L. Davis (NetGalley ARC) / (Dec 22 - Dec 22) 142) That Way Madness Lies - Various Authors (NetGalley ARC) / (Dec 22 - Dec 24) 143) The Love Curse of Melody McIntyre - Robin Talley (Audiobook) / (Dec 26 - Dec 26) 144) Turning Pointe: How a New Generaton of Dancers Is Saving Ballet from Itself - Chlooe Angyal (NettGalley ARC) / (Dec 24 - Dec 26) 145) Written in the Stars - Alexandriia Bellefleur (Audiobook) / (Dec 27 - Dec 28) 146) A Midsummer Night’s Dream - William Shakespeare (ReRead, Audiobook) / (Dec 28 - Dec 28) 147) Cemetery Boys - Aiden Thomas / (Dec 27 - Dec 30) 148) Keep My Heart in San Francisco - Amelia Diane Coombs / (Dec 30 - Dec 30) 149) Felix Ever After - Kacen Callender (Audiobook) / (Dec 30 - Dec 31) 150) The Falling in Love Montage - Ciara Smyth / (Dec 31 - Dec 31)

[disappointingyet]

Ladies And Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains

Director Lou Adler Stars Diane Lane, Ray Winstone, Marin Kanter, Barry Ford, Laura Dern USA 1982 Language English 1hr 27mins Colour

Fascinating pop culture relic that’s both dated and prophetic

What a curious film this is. Is it a punk film made too late (and released even later) or a riot grrl movie made a decade too soon? Is it stuck with a rather ’60s fear of mass-media-driven manias or is it a startling preview of web-era viral fame? Or maybe all of these things are true because this it would be wrong to try to pin any one attitude or set point of view on this movie. For instance, the film never settles on deciding how canny or naive (or both) the lead character is. 

That – confusion? uncertainty? rich ambiguity – is most likely a product of its origins. This is a film written by a female writer (Nancy Dowd) guided by female journalist (Caroline Coon) who had a good idea what she was talking about… but then directed by a very rich man (Lou Adler) who by profession was a major player in the music biz rather than a filmmaker – his only other directorial credit is Cheech and Chong’s Up In Smoke. Dowd and Adler, by all accounts, didn’t agree on what the point to the story was – and I could tell that from watching the film before I’d read anything about its troubled production.

Laura Dern!

Here’s how it goes: Corinne ‘Third Degree’ Burns (Diane Lane) becomes briefly notorious when her mouthy attitude as a teen waitress in a rustbelt town  happens to be captured by a TV news crew. And while she’s being interviewed on camera about her tough life, she takes the opportunity to announce that she’s in a band, even though they’ve only had a couple of rehearsals. That’s enough to get them hired as third-on-the-bill for a very bleak tour with grizzled hard rockers The Metal Corpses and British punks The Looters. At the start, The Stains – Corinne’s sister Tracy (Marin Kanter) is on bass and her cousin Peg (Laura Dern) on guitar – can’t play at all, but the singer’s rage  at how the world treats her (and young women like her) at least captivates some members of the crowd.*

As the tour continues, they pick up confidence as well as the support of Alice Meeker (Cynthia Sykes), a local TV news anchor. (She is saddled with a moustachioed male colleague who seems like the prototype for many similar doofuses in film and TV to come.) 

The grimy rustbelt setting and bleary life-on-a-bus tales made me think of the Paul Newman classic Slap Shot. Which makes sense, it turns out, because both movies were written by Dowd (credited here as Rob Morton after she removed her name from the film). That’s all good – it’s easy to sympathise with the Stains and even the sulky Looters as they endure the discomfort of the bus and the grim venues. But the film fluctuates wildly in how it treats the girls and young women who start identifying with the Stains – is this a finger-wagging satire about fleeting fandom and exploitation or is it a celebration? I guess you can take your pick…

I’m not convinced that Lane – 15 or 16 at the time and looking younger – is ideal casting here. Stroppiness has not been a key ingredient in her very long and successful acting career. She’s not a Tatum O’Neal or Christina Ricci – which was less good for this particular film but which put her in a better place as she hit her thirties, forties, fifties…

The other Stains don’t get much in the way of lines or stuff to do, although Kanter and Dern feel right in their roles. 

As for their male counterparts… this film invites a great pub pop quiz question: if the Sex Pistols’ Paul Cook and Steve Jones are on guitar and drums and The Clash’s Paul Simonon is on bass, who’s on vocals? The slightly surprising answer is a very fresh-faced Ray Winstone, who looks bewildered a lot of the time – appropriate for the character but very possibly how the actor was feeling too. 

What I’m trying to say is that L&G, TFS is definitely a mess in places, but the good kind of mess, the swirl of conflicting ideas mess, the weird and interesting and real-one-off kind of mess. Would it have been a better film if Dowd had been able to pick a director who understood what she was trying to say better than Lou Adler did? Very likely. But there’s still lots to enjoy. If – like me – you watch far too many movies about bands, this should definitely be on your list of things to see.

[This feels like a long-lost and therefore hard to find movie, but actually it’s on Google Play]

*At this point, sounding like assorted wilfully primitive bands I saw play at the White Horse in Hampstead or the Camden Falcon in 1993.

This is part of my ‘Every girl should be given an electric guitar on her 16th birthday’ series of reviews about early/mid 1980s movies

[dweemeister]

Blue Hawaii (1961)

Elvis Presley’s ascent to stardom struck the United States (and the world) like a lightning bolt. Hounded from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry due to the country music establishment taking offense to his genre-blending musicianship, Elvis grew from being a regional phenomenon to a national sensation as he helped innovate rockabilly, a form of rock and roll. Movie producers, sensing an opportunity to cash in on Elvis’ skyrocketing popularity, gave Elvis star vehicles such as Love Me Tender (1956) and Jailhouse Rock (1957). Critics shrugged at these films – low-budget affairs where most of the budget went to Elvis’ salary – but his fans made them critic-proof, turning out in droves to scream and swoon at their slick-looking dreamboat. Grappling with television’s advent and the dissolution of the Old Hollywood Studio System, Hollywood’s major studios shifted their efforts towards more bombastic, showman-like films. Such was the situation in the early 1960s that longtime Warner Bros. producer Hal B. Wallis (1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood, 1942’s Casablanca), now at Paramount, joked that, “a Presley picture is the only sure thing in Hollywood.”

To the horror of Elvis’ fans and movie studio executives but to the delight of those fans’ parental figures and teachers, the U.S. Army drafted him in March 1958. Elvis served twenty-four months before his discharge with the rank of Sergeant. During his service, Elvis nevertheless had plenty of singles in the can, many ranking high on the charts while he was at basic training and later his posting in West Germany. Looking forward to restarting his musical and acting careers, Elvis soon returned to the recording studio and shot G. I. Blues (1960) – he had discussed the film with Wallis months prior to his discharge – in short order. For the eighth film of his career and his fourth after his discharge, Elvis starred in Blue Hawaii, directed by Norman Taurog (1938’s Boys Town, nine Elvis films) and produced by Wallis. The film stars Elvis as an Army veteran recently discharged from the service, returning to his home state. I wonder where did they get that idea from? It also marks the unlikely beginning of Elvis’ association with the Aloha State – which shed its territorial status in 1959 and was ready for a Hollywood treatment that had nothing to do with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

Chadwick “Chad” Gates (Presley) returns home to Hawai’i from his military service, greeted by girlfriend Maile Duval (Joan Blackman: “MY-lee”) and a flower seller named Waihila (Hilo Hattie in a cameo). Instead of immediately seeing his parents – mother Sarah Lee (Angela Lansbury, only ten years Elvis’ senior) and father Fred (Roland Winters) – he escapes to a secluded oceanside shack with Maile and his Hawaiian surf buddies. Chad is the son of pineapple plantation owners, and Sarah Lee wants him to succeed Fred when the time comes. But Chad is not interested in those plans, electing instead to work as a tour guide for Mr. Chapman’s (Howard McNear) travel agency – among other things, Maile works at the agency. The first tour he gives serves schoolteacher Abigail Prentice (Nancy Walters) and her four teenage students, all girls. One of those girls, Ellie Corbett (Jenny Maxwell), appears standoffish at first but then begins to flirt shamelessly with Chad.

If by that point in Blue Hawaii you are still concentrating on the plot, just note that your approach to watching Elvis movies is not advisable. Watching Elvis movies for a sensible plot is to invite frustration; accept the narrative drivel and enjoy.

Shot mostly on location on the Hawaiian Islands of O’ahu and Kaua’i, Hawai’i offers splendid backdrops to even the most mundane scenes of this film. Charles Lang’s (1947’s The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, 1959’s Some Like It Hot) camera allows characters to be dwarfed by the green mountains in the distance, the crystal blue waters extending to the horizon, and palm tree fronds wafting amid a gentle breeze. Scenes of breathtaking natural beauty abound in Blue Hawaii. In conjunction with the production (Hal Pereira and Walter H. Tyler) and set design (Sam Comer and Frank R. McKelvy), Blue Hawaii becomes, by default, the most colorful Elvis movie to date. The film, by design, partly becomes a tourism advertisement for the new state. Its white characters and filmmakers exotify and romanticize Native Hawaiian culture to fit their own expectations and perspectives – these sorts of depictions have endured across the last century, figuring heavily in cinema (1935’s Honolulu: The Paradise of the Pacific as part of [James A.] Fitzpatrick’s Traveltalks for MGM) and tourism advertising. This is the first live-action feature film from a major Hollywood studio to make even a minimal attempt to depict native Hawaiian culture since Waikiki Wedding (1937), another Paramount film.

Here are some more connections between Waikiki Wedding and Blue Hawaii: both share one song (“Blue Hawaii”) in both their soundtracks and both films are musicals. The Hawaiian musical sound is just as integral to popular conceptions of Hawai’i, and it is used liberally here in orchestrations, if not melodic structure. Blue Hawaii’s soundtrack contains the greatest amount of songs (fourteen) for an Elvis film. For those who enjoy their breathless musicals with a song at every turn, Blue Hawaii does just that. The musical numbers arrive in the most innocuous situations – from forming a melody from a tune heard on the radio, an impromptu jam session with a guitar conveniently within arm’s length of Elvis, or starting from nothing. The worst of the soundtrack avoids many of the novelty songs that plague Elvis films, especially the later entries. Given how nonsensical the plots to Elvis movies are, the lower-tier songs in Blue Hawaii are preferable compared to more stilted acting and fraternizing shenanigans. Thus, the bar is raised, and the inclusion of two non-original songs – “Blue Hawaii” (music by Ralph Rainger, lyrics by Leo Robin) and “Aloha ‘Oe” (Queen Lili’uokalani) – are arranged in such a way that beautifully complements Elvis’ velvety singing voice. Among the original songs, “Moonlight Swim” (music by Ben Weisman, lyrics by Sylvia Dee) is a sensuous, laid back song that perfectly serves Chad’s characterization: an unabashed Casanova, effortless in romance, a hint of masculine arrogance.

The runaway hit of the Blue Hawaii soundtrack is among Elvis’ most popular songs. “Can’t Help Falling in Love” – music and lyrics by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss – appears approximately midway through the film as Chad says hello to Maile’s grandmother (Flora Kaai Hayes, a former Hawaiian Territorial Representative to the U.S. House of Representatives) for the first time since before his military service. It, like so many other musical entries in Blue Hawaii, arrives without much warning, backed by a constantly harmonizing music box and a steel guitar played in a Hawaiian style. One might take issue with the song’s use in context, but it is a crooners’ standard that has crossed linguistic barriers worldwide. Its simplicity is self-evident: a memorable melody, chorus, and a minor key bridge aching for resolution as it modulates to major key. Perhaps “Can’t Help Falling in Love” is not considered one of the greatest original songs in movie history because of the questionable quality of the film it appears in. More likely, Elvis’ gravitational pull as a crossover music and movie star writes its own legends that defy a critic’s or a historian’s corrections.

Somehow, I have written all the above without remarking on the acting. Other than Elvis himself, everyone else is a passing interest at best. Joan Blackman’s chemistry with Elvis is apparent, but she does not distinguish herself from every other female lead in an Elvis movie. Angela Lansbury’s exaggerated Southern accent displays her considerable range, even if there are better examples in other films. As much as some may deride Elvis’ performances for being unchallenging, one could not imagine an Elvis movie without the star attraction. His persona is effervescent; his charisma incontestable. According to Weiss, Elvis’ comedic instincts manifested themselves in subtle ways. If Elvis requested a joke to be explained in discussions about the screenplay, it was his roundabout, maybe overly polite, way to warn Weiss, Taurog, and screenwriter Hal Kanter (1952’s Road to Bali, at least twenty-two Academy Award ceremonies) that the joke was not funny. During test screenings of Blue Hawaii, every joke kept in the film that Elvis questioned elicited nothing from the audience. On- and off-screen, an Elvis movie with Elvis removed would collapse from the void of hilarity and charm such an absence would create.

Blue Hawaii, like all other Elvis movies prior, succeeded at the box office in comparison to its budget. Adding to this bounty for Elvis, the film’s soundtrack album sold millions of copies, sitting atop of the Billboard charts for twenty weeks, and garnering a Grammy nomination. The soundtrack profits from Blue Hawaii and the preceding G.I. Blues led Presley’s obstinate manager, Colonel Tom Parker, to have his client concentrate on film soundtrack albums at the expense of non-soundtrack albums – setting the groundwork for the remainder of the 1960s (Elvis released 16 soundtrack albums versus six non-soundtrack albums during this decade), with diminishing returns. Parker reasoned to Elvis that his fans demanded to see him in these musical romantic comedies, rejecting any roles that did not fit this mold. Elvis, believing his manager, continued to make films until well past the point an Elvis Presley picture was a guaranteed hit in theaters.

In its visual splendor and Pacific appeal, Blue Hawaii sealed the fate of Elvis’ post-Army career. No other subsequent Elvis film would match the commercial heights of Blue Hawaii, although one could argue several of those movies surpass this one in terms of acting, aesthetics, and musical interest (like 1964’s Viva Las Vegas and two concert documentaries in 1970 and 1972). Elvis returned to Hawai’i several more times during his career for concerts and two films – Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962) and Paradise, Hawaiian Style (1966). As much as Elvis is associated with Tupelo, Mississippi (his birthplace) and Graceland in Memphis, there is also a special relationship between Elvis and Hawai’i. That relationship – one that touches Elvis’ personal life and the musical traditions of Native Hawaiians – begins with Blue Hawaii, an archetypal Elvis film and one of his best.

My rating: 6/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. Half-points are always rounded down. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog (as of July 1, 2020, tumblr is not permitting certain posts with links to appear on tag pages, so I cannot provide the URL).

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.