Women We Love: Delta Burke

This is the fourth in a four-part salute to the Designing Women We Love, the first season of which finally makes its DVD debutMay 26:

Object of our affection: Delta Burke, actress.

- The former beauty queen-turned-actress landed the perfect role when she was cast as former beauty queen-turned-Designing Woman Suzanne Sugarbaker. Her performance of the outspoken, eccentric Southern diva earned her two Emmy Award nominations, the only leading actress from the show to be so honored. She also met her future husband, Gerald McRaney, while on the series; he played one of Suzanne's many ex-husbands.

- In a much-publicized falling out with the makers of Designing Women, she left the show after its fifth season and went on to star in the short-lived sitcoms Delta, DAG and Women of the House. In the latter, she reprised her role as Suzanne after reconciling with Women creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason.

- Prior to her time at Sugarbakers, she was also a regular on Filthy Rich and 1st & Ten. Her many television guest spots include appearances on Simon & Simon (opposite her husband McRaney), Popular, Boston Legal, Any Day Now and Family Law (the latter two with her Designing co-stars Annie Potts and Dixie Carter, respectively).

- Her stage performances have included Mrs. Meers in Thoroughly Modern Millie (a role also played by her Designing sister Carter) and Truvy in Steel Magnolias, both on Broadway.

- On the big screen, she has co-starred in such movies as What Women Want and Del Shores' Sordid Lives. Her next film will also be with Shores: an adaptation of his play Southern Baptist Sissies.

Anyone seen my Angel? Canadian, North American & UK Box Office May 15, 2009 Weekend

Angels & Demons tops all three charts with week on it's debut and that marks the third week running where one film has dominated the charts. Star Trek comes in a strong second on it's second week, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine stays at 3rd in Canada and North America but slips to 4th place in the UK. Race to Witch Mountain jumps back on the Canadian charts, perhaps it was the Victoria Day holiday movie of choice? One amazing feat is with Taken which is still on the charts 16 weeks into it's release and now is available on DVD with a regular version and an extended cut.

Top 20 Movies in Canada for the May 15, 2009 weekend
1. Angels & Demons *
2. Star Trek
3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
4. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
5. 17 Again
6. Monsters vs. Aliens
7. Obsessed
8. earth
9. Hannah Montana: The Movie
10. The Soloist
11. Munde UK De *
12. State of Play
13. Fighting
14. Under the Sea 3D
15. I Love You, Man
16. Fast & Furious
17. Taken
18. Knowing
19. Fired Up
20. Race to Witch Mountain

Top 20 Movies in North America for the May 15, 2009 weekend
1. Angels & Demons *
2. Star Trek
3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
4. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
5. Obsessed
6. 17 Again
7. Monsters vs. Aliens
8. The Soloist
9. Next Day Air
10. earth
11. Hannah Montana: The Movie
12. Fighting
13. State of Play
14. Fast & Furious
15. Rudo Y Cursi
16. I Love You, Man
17. Management *
18. Knowing
19. Under the Sea 3D
20. Taken

Top 10 Movies in the UK for the May 15, 2009 weekend
1. Angels & Demons *
2. Star Trek
3. Coraline
4. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
5. Hannah Montana: The Movie
6. Fighting *
7. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
8. State of Play
9. Monsters vs Aliens
10. 17 Again

* indicates opening weekend in noted location, red text indicates Canadian film release

Source: Canada & North America info, UK info

Wayne Allwine: 1947-2009

Sad news from the Magic Kingdom today: Wayne Allwine, the voice of Mickey Mouse, died Monday at the age of 62 following complications from diabetes.

Allwine, a former Walt Disney Studios sound effects editor and Foley artist, was only the third person to officially voice the Mouse (following Jimmy MacDonald and the original Mickey, Walt himself) and the one to do so the longest (over 30 years). He began his dream role in 1977, voicing the animated lead-ins for The New Mickey Mouse Club, and had voiced Mickey in everything from theatrical cartoons (Mickey's Christmas Carol), feature films (Who Framed Roger Rabbit), television series (Mickey's Mouse Works), video games (Kingdom Hearts), theme park attractions (Mickey's PhilharMagic) and merchandise ever since.

In a truly sweet instance of life imitating art, Allwine was married to fellow voice actor Russi Taylor, best known as the voice of Minnie Mouse. The two, who wed in 1991, were both named Disney Legends last year.

Poll Results: What May Release Are You Most Looking Forward To?

It's no contest, the clear release people are most looking forward to is Star Trek at 38%. I will have to say it's a great flick so you all have great taste! Action, adventure and colon trend continues with Terminator Salvation & X-Men Origins: Wolverine as they tie for second place. To be honest, May 09 on the whole seems to be one of the best line ups for film in a long while. I'm looking forward to almost all of the films listed below, and can highly recommend Star Trek, Adrift in Tokyo and Every Little Step.

38% - Star Trek
13% - Terminator Salvation & X-Men Origins: Wolverine
8% - Up
5% - Drag Me to Hell, Little Ashes and The Brothers Bloom
2% - Adoration, Adrift in Tokyo and Every Little Step

Thanks for voting!

Trivial Pursuits: Bug Facts

In recognition of today's Blu-ray debutof the Disney/Pixar favorite A Bug's Life, here are some fun facts about the movie:

• It’s Tough to Be a Bug, a 3-D animated attraction starring Flik and Hopper, made its official debut on the opening day of Disney’s Animal Kingdom on April 22, 1988, seven months prior to the release of A Bug’s Life in theaters on November 25.
• A second version of It’s Tough to Be a Bug opened at Disney’s California Adventure on that theme park’s opening day as well, February 8, 2001. Since, it has been joined by a whole Bug’s Land area, including Flik’s Fun Fair, which features such kiddie rides as Francis’ Ladybug Boogie and Heimlich’s Chew-Chew Train.
• Dave Foley (who originally auditioned for the role of Slim) returned to voice Flik in It’s Tough to Be a Bug, but Kevin Spacey declined to reprise his vocal performance of Hopper, so Bug’s Life co-director Andrew Stanton took over as the nasty grasshopper.
• Stanton can also be heard in the film itself, along with director John Lasseter; they voice the flies being zapped by the bug zapper.
• In that same scene, the Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story can be seen parked next to the mobile home.
• Randy Newman’s jolly score for A Bug’s Life won a Grammy Award and was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Newman’s end title song, “The Time of Your Life”, was also nominated for a Grammy.
• The film itself also won awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Casting Society of America, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Motion Picture Sound Editors Guild and the Golden Satellite Awards. It also received nominations from the Annie Awards, the British Academy of Film & Television Arts and the Saturn Awards.
• High School Musical diva Ashley Tisdale gave one of her first performances in A Bug’s Life, as the lead Blueberry Scout. She originally auditioned for the role of Dot.
• The film also marked Roddy McDowall’s last performance; he voiced the supervisor ant Mr. Soil.
• The plot of A Bug’s Life strongly resembles not only Seven Samurai and its American western remake The Magnificent Seven, but also the comedy Three Amigos! A line (“Boy, these folks are sure hard up for entertainment”) is even “borrowed” from the latter.

And be sure to "toon" later this week for my Toon Talk review of the new Bug's Life Blu-ray.

DIY Entertainment Club: May 2009

I was in sale heaven for my DIY Entertainment Club this month, on average I snag 3 DVDs with my monthly budget, on occasion I'll go for something more 'premium' (read: new and gotta have it) which lands me with 2 DVDs. But this month there were some crazy deals so I went for the 'filling in the gaps' of my collection, with a slant to epic films. In total: 4 DVDs and 1 Book. Would love to have more months like this!

Once Upon A Time in the West DVD
This is one western I'm looking to revisit as it made quite an impression on me at first viewing but it was pretty dark. The DVD is packed with extras, just packed. Plus it was on as a crazy deal for like $6.50.
amazon.ca link

Excalibur DVD
When I wrote my list of Un-traditional Valentine's Day Films I realized I do like Arthurian films, but I don't have a ton of them. That is now corrected!
amazon.ca link

Enter the Dragon DVD
Going completeist on Bruce Lee films, this was one of the titles not included in the Bruce Lee collection I got for Christmas.
amazon.ca link

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon DVD
At the crazy low price of under $7, this was a no-brainer to add to the collection. One of the most beutiful films ever, I could honestly just listen to it even though I wouldn't understand anything.
amazon.ca link

Twilight Directors Notebook by Catherine Hardwick
I *love* this book. Totally takes me back to art school & fashion school days seeing inspiration boards, shopping trips, concept art and the inevitable 'how we made it work' solutions.
amazon.ca link

Reverend’s Reviews: Bigger IS Better!

I have become addicted to the XM satellite radio station Cinemagic. This past Sunday night, they played a tribute to giant-monster movies, featuring selections from all three versions of King Kong, both versions of Godzilla, Gorgo and Cloverfield. While the programmers didn’t include the score of the new movie Big Man Japan (now playing in LA and NYC), what was played served as a perfect musical follow-up to this smart spoof of Japanese entries in the genre.

The brainchild of its talented director-producer-writer-star, Hitosi Matumoto, Big Man Japan is a faux documentary about the fabled ”protector of Japan,” who has more recently fallen on hard times. While he earns a respectable government salary of $5,000 a month (he bluntly states he’d prefer $8,000), the giant monsters that used to threaten Tokyo with regularity just aren’t as powerful or as numerous as they used to be.

We learn that this defender is actually Big Man Japan VI, the latest in a biological line of electrically-enhanced, corporate-sponsored supermen who can grow from normal-sized to 50-feet tall in a matter of minutes. He lives in the shadow of Big Man IV, who was a national hero and had board games, comic books and action figures named for him. It turns out that his once-mighty grandfather is still alive, though living with Alzheimer’s in a nursing home. Grandpa’s condition, however, doesn’t prevent him from occasionally enlarging himself and wreaking havoc on the city.


The reality-style interview sections of the film are broken up by amusing sequences of Big Man VI battling such low-rent beasts as the Strangling Monster, the quite sexually-ambiguous Stink Monster and his/her companion, and the one-legged Leaping Monster. But Big Man Japan may have met his match when a previously unknown, Satan-esque creature appears.

Big Man Japan gets a little long, especially during its ironic and rather bizarre finale, and the joke starts to wear thin, but there is much social commentary to appreciate along the way. Of note is the title hero’s feeling like “a stray,” and his subsequent identification with the homeless cats in his neighborhood. Even giant Japanese superheroes get the blues.

UPDATE: Big Man Japan is now available on DVDfrom Amazon.com.

Review by Rev. Chris Carpenter, resident film critic of Movie Dearest and the Orange County and Long Beach Blade.