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The Carpetbaggers part two: Elizabeth Ashley makes her screen debut
Admittedly, the lion fight in "Samson and Delilah" is right up there with the "The Carpetbaggers," but Victor Mature was John Malkovich compared to Ladd. For that matter, the FAO Schwarz lion in S&D was a better actor than Ladd.Scott Marks
Sept. 24, 11:34 p.m.
The Carpetbaggers part two: Elizabeth Ashley makes her screen debut
For my money, the most overrated actor to emerge from the studio system. (Does Audie Murphy really count?) Ladd was his generation's answer to Harrison Ford. He was at his best as the background gunsel with little dialog in "This Gun for Hire." I cheer for Jack Palance in "Shane." And as you point out, ...Scott Marks
Sept. 24, 12:01 p.m.
Remembering Louis Procaccino
What I did not put in the article is that in 1981, when Louie was the production manager for Marc Berman Concerts, I met with him and convinced him to add the band I managed, Incognito, as the opener for Oingo Boingo at the Little Bavaria in Del Mar. If you remember Little Bavaria, you ...Ken Leighton
Sept. 23, 9:55 a.m.
John Travolta oozes seductiveness in Saturday Night Fever
From an interview with John Badham, director of "Saturday Night Fever": This is a movie very much of its time and its period but at the same time it’s become timeless. To what can you attribute that to? I give as much credit as is humanly possible to give to Norman Wexler, the screenwriter, who ...i-yip
Sept. 23, 6:29 a.m.
College-Rolando Library could end up with no parking
Why was the church demolished? Are they going to cut off the cul-de-sac that connects the library to Mowhawk Street (behind the Ralphs supermarket)? These dumb housing projects for SDSU will wind up being regular apartments after a while or mixed-population buildings, just watch. Covid-19 has done a number on the university.Strelnikov
Sept. 21, 9:32 p.m.
Waste and Covid-19 missteps plague CoreCivic's border lockup
Maybe Core Civic can fill its many expensive empty beds with the thousands of Haitians waiting under that Del Rio, Texas, bridge. At least they would be in the USA in the asylum system after having traveled across Central America to get here.monaghan
Sept. 20, 9:45 p.m.
UPDATED – Opposition remains for La Jolla Jewish center plan
Update September 19, 2021. The groundbreaking was finally held today, and that is wonderful news. Justice was done. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/hillel-of-san-diego-breaks-ground-on-jewish-center-at-uc-san-diego-after-20-year-battle/2722583/David Batterson
Sept. 19, 6:27 p.m.
Murder suspects hop fence near Carlsbad lagoon
Since they were arrested more than two years ago, in March of 2019, both defendants have seen their lead attorneys changed, and the judge who was assigned their trial has changed, and the prosecutor has changed. Also, District Attorney Summer Stephan made the decision that Ian Forrester Bushee, 39, will not face a possible Death ...Eva Knott
Sept. 17, 12:34 p.m.
Airport ’77 : the spirit is willing, but the script is weak
James Woods as the pilot, Scott Baio as the co-pilot, with Kirstie Alley & Rose McGowan as flying waitresses, The passenger list would include Ted Nugent, Jon Voight, Roseanne, Antonio Sabato, Gary Busey, Kristy Swanson, and making their acting debuts Eric Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Rudy Giuliani as "Joe Patroni." The problem is, when the ...Scott Marks
Sept. 15, 10:45 a.m.
Airport ’77 : the spirit is willing, but the script is weak
Perhaps Hollywood can dust off the tired Airport" series with today's flights, and do "AIRPORT '21." In this case there are no hijackings, no crashes, no bomb scares, etc. This time around it's really scary, as out-of-control anti-maskers attack flight attendants with a fury not seen since "Mommy Dearest." I can see Michael Douglas or ...David Batterson
Sept. 15, 7:38 a.m.
Lawsuit threat did not scare off Jensen recallers
Hope Nelson - The sentence you brought attention to was amended. By the the way, when Cori abruptly resigned because she was coincidentally accepted to college, why did she not disclose which college gave her this out-of-the-blue acceptance. Of course she was harassed by those creeps who lied about where she lived among other things. ...Ken Leighton
Sept. 14, 10:47 a.m.
Lawsuit threat did not scare off Jensen recallers
Good points. For far too long that city kept electing city council seat holders who immediately start favoring special interests, such as NRF, regardless of what the voters think they want. But then, what do those voters really want? That's never clear, and most of the voters seem detached from the process. Sometimes I just ...Visduh
Sept. 12, 7:47 p.m.
Lawsuit threat did not scare off Jensen recallers
Resigning is the honorable thing to do. That takes humility, and politicians aren't the most humble people. Pit bulls and gated communities aside, city council members shouldn't be wall to wall flakes. Oceanside deserves better. Otherwise, how do they get anything done?Socks3742
Sept. 12, 5:49 p.m.
Lawsuit threat did not scare off Jensen recallers
Cori Schumacher filed for restraining orders against a pair of Carlsbad residents who opposed her ideas and votes on the city council. A judge decided that she had no reason to fear any sort of harm from them, but rather that she was trying to silence them and ban them from attending city council sessions. ...Visduh
Sept. 12, 2:36 p.m.
The Carpetbaggers: Howard Hughes saga takes flight and conquers Hollywood!
I do. That's why I didn't call them out by name. ;) This is a sprawling good time at the movies. Winter's coming. It's a great way to fill 150 minutes on what passes for a chilly Sunday in San Diego.Scott Marks
Sept. 11, 3:06 p.m.
The Carpetbaggers: Howard Hughes saga takes flight and conquers Hollywood!
Wow, I never saw that piece of donkey doo. And I'm now so glad I didn't bother. There's that Martin Balsam again, looking lost in that crowd of non-real-actors. P.S. RE: "a man who splashes his name across more buildings than a Copley" hahaha, good one. But one has to admire generous rich folks in ...David Batterson
Sept. 11, 11:33 a.m.
Airport 1975: credits read like a Love Boat passenger manifest
The remake starred Denzel Washington, John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Luis Guzman, and John Turturro. According to your math, that should place it on par with the original, but instead, it sucks farts out of shirt tails. (I'm seated next to the phone awaiting a call from the Pulitzer people.) Actors don't make movies, directors do. ...Scott Marks
Sept. 9, 12:52 p.m.
Airport 1975: credits read like a Love Boat passenger manifest
"Jack Smight would go on to direct the most overlooked action film of the ‘70’s: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three." I definitely agree on that one. And here's a 1-2-3 that shows why: Walter Matthau Robert Shaw Martin Balsam BAFTA award: Best Supporting Actor: Martin Balsam I just voted it a 9 on ...David Batterson
Sept. 9, 9:47 a.m.
Maybe Ed Asner didn’t help Peter Navarro
Peter Navarro hasn't changed a bit over all the years he's been a political loser: as snide at Donald Trump's side as he was when Ed Asner did him a solid by publicly endorsing him long ago. Local voters knew what they were doing when they twice refused to elect Navarro to office.monaghan
Sept. 8, 11:08 p.m.
Mom carried him into Escondido's Learning Jungle
Terra Gene Brinkmeier, 36, made a plea deal at her last court appearance, on August 30 2021. She “pled guilty to the sheet,” as lawyers say, admitting all charges and allegations, that is felony child abuse and causing great bodily injury on her own 3 year old son. On the plea deal paperwork she admits, ...Eva Knott
Sept. 7, 3:22 p.m.
Parolee runs over motorcycle cop in Oceanside
Today, on the day of sentencing for his re-trial, Roberto Flores refused to come into the courtroom, instead he was in an adjoining room where he could hear, the judge said. Both the cop who survived, Brad Hunter, and his wife Vanessa spoke to the judge before sentence was pronounced. Mrs. Hunter said she let ...Eva Knott
Sept. 7, 1:46 p.m.
29 years in jail for failed attempt to kill O’side cop
Today, on the day of sentencing for his re-trial, Roberto Flores refused to come into the courtroom, instead he was in an adjoining room where he could hear, the judge said. Both the cop who survived, Brad Hunter, and his wife Vanessa spoke to the judge before sentence was pronounced. Mrs. Hunter said she let ...Eva Knott
Sept. 7, 1:41 p.m.
Roberto Flores' phone call behind his illegal weapon charge
Today, on the day of sentencing for his re-trial, Roberto Flores refused to come into the courtroom, instead he was in an adjoining room where he could hear, the judge said. Both the cop who survived, Brad Hunter, and his wife Vanessa spoke to the judge before sentence was pronounced. Mrs. Hunter said she let ...Eva Knott
Sept. 7, 1:38 p.m.
Middle-aged cops were alleged targets of rage
Today, on the day of his sentencing, Roberto Flores refused to come into the courtroom, instead he was in an adjoining room where he could hear, the judge said. Both the cop who survived, Brad Hunter, and his wife Vanessa spoke to the judge before sentence was pronounced. Mrs. Hunter said she let her guard ...Eva Knott
Sept. 7, 1:35 p.m.
The better Casino Royale
"...goliaths whose annual dental visits are paid to can-opener repairmen..." hahaha, who knew that can openers were ever repaired? Isn't that about like repairing on-the-fritz dildos? Or fixing one's entry-level Mr. Coffee you bought for 12 clams at Amazon Clearance? Or dropping off your rusty, left-handed monkey wrench at Tommy's Tool Repair in Ramona?David Batterson
Sept. 4, 8:38 a.m.
John Travolta oozes seductiveness in Saturday Night Fever
So after all this time and all these lengthy posts, even one on how an unconstitutional abortion law makes your "single most hated scene in Saturday Night Fever" immediately relevant virtually overnight after almost 45 years... and still NO response, Scott? "Now that's what I call classy" said no one ever. Seriously! Oh, well. At ...i-yip
Sept. 3, 12:51 a.m.
Murder charged on Nardo Street in Solana Beach
Jade Janks remains at liberty on bail already posted. She will turn 38 years old next month. Her new attorney agreed to January 12, 2022, as the date to hear evidence against his client at a preliminary hearing. This date is exactly one year since the death of Thomas Merriman. This public hearing will be ...Eva Knott
Sept. 2, 6:01 a.m.
Gloria barely escapes fine for donation reporting
Rather than dredge up the semi-illegal past when there is so little ink and time, I would rather know more about Mayor Gloria and Supervisor Fletcher's joint decision to hire two separate homeless czars to oversee "barrier-free" small-group housing for unsheltered people who are abusing alcohol and drugs. KPBS ran a midday interview last week ...monaghan
Sept. 1, 6:56 p.m.
Gloria barely escapes fine for donation reporting
> Brereton then went on to cite several so-called mitigating factors to justify why Gloria was getting no financial penalty. “The payment amounts were low, you filed the outstanding reports before the Enforcement Division contacted you, and **you have no prior Enforcement history**.” Anyone still doubt whether the FPPC is anything other than an incumbent ...RescueHillcrest
Sept. 1, 5:03 p.m.
Murder charged on Nardo Street in Solana Beach
Jade Janks has reportedly hired a private criminal defense attorney, Marc Carlos. This high-profile San Diego attorney was recently seen defending ex-pro-football player Kellen Winslow against multiple rape charges. http://www.sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2021/sep/01/145113/Eva Knott
Sept. 1, 2:05 p.m.
John Travolta oozes seductiveness in Saturday Night Fever
https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-law-begins-the-end-of-abortion-as-weve-known-it (Abortion is illegal in Texas as of September 2021, with $10,000 rewards to citizens to rout out and report for arrest any citizen or clinic who desires it or performs it.) Gee, Mr. Marks....does the "meaningless and ruinous" scene between Frank and Bobby suddenly deserve a reassessment of your refined aesthetic sensibilities?i-yip
Sept. 1, 8:16 a.m.
Santee townsfolk want Dirty Chris dealt with
this is unbelievable . I can not believe the reader published this story. I thought the focus was about the prop not hanging out one mans dirty laundry to see. Chris might have a mom ever think about that ? We all have made mistakes in life . No one deserves them to be dispayted ...breakneckmoto
Sept. 1, 7:37 a.m.
John Travolta oozes seductiveness in Saturday Night Fever
Where "Sex Marks the Scott": I have come to a certain revelation about why you perceive the Bobby C. character as so needless and so personally offensive. Travolta never regained deep respect as a truly great actor except for his performance in SNF, because the role of Tony was essentially the role of a weak ...i-yip
Aug. 30, 2:37 p.m.
Airport 1975: credits read like a Love Boat passenger manifest
There's very little I remember about "Airport" other than the priest finishing the sign of the cross with a right jab to the face passenger across the aisle and some rather janky split-screen work. When it comes to laughs, A75 is worth its weight in frequent flyer miles.Scott Marks
Aug. 29, 11:01 a.m.
Airport ’77 : the spirit is willing, but the script is weak
You're right about Lee's death scene, but I didn't single out his performance because it didn't contribute to the awfulness. I read somewhere that this was the longest amount of screen time he was afforded in an American feature.Scott Marks
Aug. 29, 9:57 a.m.
John Travolta oozes seductiveness in Saturday Night Fever
Or: There is a certain race of men that either imagine it their duty, or make it their amusement, to hinder the reception of every work of art or genius, who stand as sentinels in the avenues of fame, and value themselves upon giving Ignorance and Envy their first notice to find their prey. Or: ...i-yip
Aug. 28, 11:13 p.m.
In the Heights takes a hint from La La Land
"In The Heights" was awful: as plastic as a Puerto Rican flag-emblazoned Dixie cup stocked in McDonalds, barren of any real pain or struggle or truly compelling sociopolitical conflict, "Disney Ghetto" and ultimately arch-conservative with it's obnoxiously familial and sentimental reification of "The American Dream". The Latinos I know who saw it said they hated ...i-yip
Aug. 28, 7:18 p.m.
Goodbye, Columbus: this critic's first R rated film
How inane is it to admire a movie and then condemn it's director? "Zoom in on an engine overheating: cut to Neil’s Aunt Gladys lifting the lid off a steaming pot of peas. He later interrupts lovemaking in the attic by juxtaposing it with a slab of red meat." Maybe the cut from engine-to-peas represents ...i-yip
Aug. 28, 6:40 p.m.
Hitler, baby, one more time
You make no mention of "The White Rose" in terms of German civilian teenagers who defied the Nazi State and paid with their lives.. As far as Hollywood is concerned, the only film that ever managed to get near any verisimilitude of Holocaust experience, in my opinion, was Sidney Lumet's "The Pawnbroker" (1965) with a ...i-yip
Aug. 28, 5:38 p.m.
Oceanside comes down hard on plastic
Most Americans care about the environment. Most Americans (80%) are also moderate or conservative, and we're sick of liberals trying to micromanage and control the narrative by pushing their liberal views on the rest of us. If I want to use a straw, buy salad in a plastic container, etc. and they don't like it... ...Socks3742
Aug. 28, 5:12 p.m.
Oceanside comes down hard on plastic
Nothing said by anyone else --- as of SDR --- yet. This proves that no one of SD County cares about the environment, as of the older times. (add to relation of) ADD to the traffic of Increased Card/Motor Vehicle addicition of SD County residents, driving on its roads. (as this is only 1 of ...ised
Aug. 28, 2:18 p.m.
Airport ’77 : the spirit is willing, but the script is weak
Actual quote from Walter Wanger to a gaggle of studio executives: "You chaps just talk about agents. I’m the only one who ever did anything about them." And how, how, howwwww can you talk about this movie and NOT mention Christopher Lee? He's married to Lee Grant's boozy, bitchy character and he masterfully channels his ...Colonna
Aug. 28, 6:20 a.m.
Airport 1975: credits read like a Love Boat passenger manifest
If memory serves, we are introduced to George "Patroni" Kennedy in the original "Airport" movie sucking the tonsils of his wife only to be interrupted by a phone call from Burt Lancaster: "My four kids are away at my mother's, I'm home alone with Marie, and I'm not available.... SLURP SLURP". For this "Airport", we ...Colonna
Aug. 28, 6:10 a.m.
The disco roller-boogie film that introduced audiences to Patrick Swayze
"Roller Boogie" was the last film Linda Blair had clout; she was dating a Canadian actor named David Kennedy and insisted he play the lead opposite her. Several weeks into filming, she and he split up and to make their leading lady happy, the producers gave Kennedy's role to Jim Bray. And Marks... I bet ...Colonna
Aug. 28, 5:59 a.m.
John Travolta oozes seductiveness in Saturday Night Fever
You know, Scott, I must admit against my better nature that somehow you've gotten the upper hand in our little cinematic joust with SNF. I feel rather unfulfilled and even a bit sad that our contretemps had to come to such an abrupt end, by way of your (should I say rude?) snit-fit, and reluctance ...i-yip
Aug. 27, 6:17 p.m.
John Travolta oozes seductiveness in Saturday Night Fever
Seriously! You've left the building like Elvis? I guess your defense of "Saturday Night Fever" as an unmitigated classic of purely weightless and fluffy disco kitsch has somehow run it's course. How surprising. Has the seductive ooze of inspiration suddenly dried up from the dripping tip of your wilted pen? No more religious grammar lessons ...i-yip
Aug. 26, 2:13 p.m.
