‘Dear John’ jilts ‘Avatar’ from b.o. top spot; who did likewise to ‘Titanic’?

And now for a quick-hit trivia bit, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood show biz blogger: Now that Dear John has ousted Avatar at the top of the box office heap, do you recall which film finally broke the No. 1 skein of Avatar director James Cameron’s previous huge hit, Titanic?

For context, Titanic was steaming toward a worldwide gross of more than $1.8 billion — in 1990s money — in early 1998, dominating the box office each week for 15 consecutive weeks. For the first 10 weeks of that time, Titanic garnered more than $20 million per week at the domestic box office, and its lowest total while still ranking No. 1 was just over $15 million at the end of March.

Then Titanic slipped — slightly. For films playing the weekend of April 3-5, 1998, Titanic fell to second place with an $11.5 million gross. And the film to dethrone the king of the heap at No. 1? Lost in Space, a remake of the silly ’60s sci-fi series sporting a solid cast in Bill Hurt, Gary Oldman, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert and Matt LeBlanc.

Hard to believe, right, especially since Lost in Space is no Titanic, by any shape or form. That said, I enjoyed the film as potboiler entertainment. In fact, I’m quoted on the cover of its DVD box.

This is not to diss Titanic, a film I also enjoyed. The fact is, somewhere down the line, some film was going to unseat Titanic at No. 1, and it just happened to be Lost in Space.

This week, a similar thing happened to Avatar, which had only been at No. 1 for seven straight weeks and had grabbed $2.2 billion worldwide in that time — in 2010 dollars — to top Titanic as all-time b.o. champion.

Avatar’s drop from No. 1 came courtesy of another unlikely box office leviathan: Dear John, a reportedly sappy romantic wallow which succeeded as Super Bowl weekend counterprogramming.

Again, every lion eventually loses its roar, while every dog has its day. I’m not calling Dear John (which I haven’t seen) or Lost in Space dogs, but I am saying they barely bark at the heels of Titanic and Avatar when you consider the big picture. But all this is just number-crunching. What makes a movie meaningful is how it affects you.

Glee spoiler tidbit: The Doors’ ‘Hello, I Love You’ for Episode 14?

When you must wait four months between episodes, you’ll take spoilers. At least that’s something. And for Glee, we’re hearing little bits and pieces about plots, casting and song choices.

But one thing we haven’t heard — at least from an official source — is this: 1960s rock band extraordinaire The Doors is contributing a song to Glee. At least, that’s what it seems from a fleeting (to use an old record store euphemism) “import” (translation: bootleg) clip from the spring season’s shooting set. It popped up ever so briefly on YouTube this week, then was taken down, and understandably so.

But you can’t copyright sheer information, and the info is this: In a scene set in the McKinley High School gym for a basketball game, with Puck and Finn in uniform and on the court, the playback music was for the 1968 Doors hit Hello, I Love You. This would be in keeping with the expected title of Episode 14, Hello.

The music didn’t sound like the Doors, but rather a cover of the song, though I could be wrong. What’s cool about this song, other than being incredibly catchy and sexually impudent, is that it was one of the most “pop” songs released by a band known for incredible extremes, via 10-plus minute opuses on drugs, death and general weirdness.

Perhaps no other ’60s band was so commercially popular and heavily played on radio while also being so “out there.” Hello, I Love You shows the commercial side. Now try listening to The End, When the Music’s Over and Been Down So Long for blues and psychedelic greatness.

Anyway, I look forward to possibly hearing a Glee spin on one of the most influential and lasting rock bands of their era. And to Glee’s producers: Hello, we love you, won’t you give us more from upcoming episodes? Perhaps by releasing a finished song track early? Just asking.

DVD Review: Shatner’s ‘Kingdom of the Spiders’ exploits, ’70s-style

Long before Snakes on a Plane — and just two years before 1979’s first Star Trek movie — William Shatner often went “slumming” as an actor. His TV Trek days were over, and even though its sensational syndication made him a star, he couldn’t get respectable movie roles, so he settled for exploitation flicks such as Kingdom of the Spiders.

Teeming with big, ugly, crawly, hairy tarantulas, the film is a horror flick kick, and it’s good to see Shatner again as a robust young man, even getting to ride horses, as he loves to do offscreen. The film isn’t art, but it gets the job done.

It also now arrives on an excellent DVD bulging with extras. Among them is a new 16-minute interview with Shatner, who agreeably recalls the experience and talks up ecology  (but it would have helped if he weren’t shot with distracting traffic whizzing by outside a window). There’s also a superb 12-minute featurette on the movie’s spider “wrangler,” Jim Brockett, who handled the multi-legged critters back then and, here, proceeds to drop them out of Tupperware containers and prod them gently with a stick.

We (and a brave but skittish interviewer) meet many different types of big spiders, some of whom (the ones used in the film) aren’t really that menacing. Literally thousands of the creatures were used for the movie, BTW.

The disc also has 17 minutes of rare home-movie style footage from behind the scenes on the set — not always that regaling. And there’s an audio commentary by Brockett and the film’s director, producer and cinematographer, as well as a trailer and poster gallery.

You don’t often get so many extras for a film released three-plus decades ago, but this should put fans of the MST-style fright flick in spider heaven.

An interesting note: This movie, while a horror flick, was rated PG. The same was true for another of my exploitation favorites from this era, Tourist Trap. It just goes to show that you don’t have to wallow in explicit gore to give a good scare.

Hey, what’s that crawling on your shoulder?!

With its Golden Globe, SAG wins, Glee is on an honors roll

Glee may not have won for its three acting nominations, but winning the Golden Globe as Best Television Series — Comedy or Musical was sweet Sunday night. That way, everybody won, including jilted acting nominees Matt Morrison, Lea Michele and — especially — Jane Lynch, whom I’d thought was a lock.

Coupled with its People’s Choice Award and its Screen Actors Guild award for best TV comedy series ensemble, Glee is on an honors roll. For its penmanship, Glee also is nominated as Best New Series and Best Comedy Series by the Writers Guild, whose awards will be bestowed Feb. 20. And it’s already won five Satellite awards.

The Emmy awards aren’t until September, but look out!

‘Fame’ remake stumbles where original dazzled

New on DVD Tuesday, Fame, sadly, deserves its blistering reviews and tepid box office. Compared to director Alan Parker’s gritty, galvanizing, inspired original of 1980, this remake is woefully weak, with bland characters, precious little plot, lousy songs and virtually no reason for audience involvement.

That said, the DVD does have one special feature: a lengthy and elaborate new music video for the original film’s title song, done for pre-release promotion. It’s executed much in the style of the first Fame’s Hot Lunch Jam number, where students from New York’s High School for the Performing Arts spill out onto the streets in a vibrant musical celebration.

If only the film as a whole were that good. But it’s not — nowhere close. Having Debbie Allen in the cast is about the only kinship it has with the original, a film with character involvement–via character struggles–and with  rousing music which even won an Oscar. Plus, Parker gave it miles of style without sacrificing veracity.

If the new Fame leads more people to check out the original Fame, then at least it will have achieved something. But beyond that, forget about it.

Fox renews ‘Glee’ for Season Two — already!

With more “Whee!” than “Whew!” let’s savor Fox’s no-brainer decision of renewing Glee for a second season right now — four months ahead of most seasonal re-ups. After all, this show has major momentum, including awards which are just starting to add up. It’s got solid ratings (8 million-plus viewers) and an avid fan base (counting me among ‘em). It’s got sensational buzz in the media and among critics. And it’s got a little ol’ show called American Idol as its lead-in when Glee returns after a too-long hiatus April 13.

Now creator Ryan Murphy and his staff have extra time to plot and plan ahead, and part of that involves a nationwide casting search for three new cast members for Glee: Season Two. (Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it?)

Meanwhile, Glee is taking over the world beyond our borders with international runs currently underway, including one in Italy. And Glee products are starting to hit store shelves. Yes, the patches and keychains and bookmarks are shamelessly commercial, but such commercialism is a natural byproduct of any successful show-biz enterprise. It doesn’t mean Glee is selling out. It just means that, like Quinn and Finn at season’s start, Glee is popular.

Besides, the products that really count deserve their high profile — and their high sales. Both of Glee’s soundtrack CDs are in amazon.com’s Top 10, and its Road to Sectionals DVD also is in the DVD Top 10.

Now, onward to Season Two — and beyond!

Glee wins People’s Choice Award for New Comedy? How about best comedy — period

It’s so cool that Glee won the award for Favorite New TV Comedy at the People’s Choice Awards show last night. (And even cooler since I voted for it.)  But what was uncool about it?

First, the shameless product placement/commercial which was stitched onto the end of the cast’s acceptance remarks. This was about Glee, not pushing pizzas. (And it reconfirmed that, obviously, all winners knew in advance they’d win.)

Second, it was uncool that Glee had no other nominations in other TV categories. The PCA’s are going to look pretty stupid when Glee cleans up at the Golden Globe Awards show Jan. 17 — and perhaps even the Emmys next September. And by clean up, I mean starting with winning as best TV comedy — period — not “new” comedy, as well as perhaps winning for some of its three Globes acting nods.

But still, I’ll take it. Whenever Glee wins anything, that’s all right by me. And it was good to see the core cast of eight New Directions members strut their stuff at an awards event. (Lea Michele tries too hard in the wardrobe department, but after wearing Rachel’s dud duds, can you blame her?) They deserve it, and so does their show.

Pizzas or not, you’ve gotta love these folks — and I do.

DVD review: ‘Spaceballs: The Animated Series’

Having just witnessed the President of the United States and other dignitaries honor Mel Brooks at the Kennedy Center (a December event recently delayed-telecast in part on CBS), it’s only fitting that we now return to regularly scheduled programming. In Brooks’ case, that means returning to the impishly tasteless humor which has marked his movies for so many years — only this time, it’s for a short-lived TV show, the G4 Network’s Spaceballs: The Animated Series.

Four of that series’ 13 episodes are new on DVD, reminding us why we love Brooks so much: He’s shameless. The man himself returns to voice President Skroob and Yogurt, with two other original voice actors from the 1987 film also back: Daphne Zuniga as Princess Vespa and Joan Rivers as the C-3PO-ish Dot Matrix.

Brooks’ Star Wars spoof in the late ’80s was ‘way past that saga’s prime for satiric stabs, seeming dated just six years after Return of the Jedi wound down the original trilogy. Here, it’s no longer a dated nature that deters, but the extremely limited animation. Star Wars was in great part about razzle dazzle. This has no razzle or dazzle, just meager animation with often simple, plain backgrounds.

But the story and the events are right up Brooks’ tacky alley, with loads of sexual humor and other adult elements which make this decidedly not for the kiddos. Teen boys, maybe, but that’s it.

Think of it as Heavy Metal meets Star Wars with the pedal to the medal for uncouth mirth. Bottom line: It’s funny, and with Brooks, that’s all we ask.

DVD review: ‘Glee Season 1, Volume 1: Road to Sectionals’–Extra! Extra!

Glee Season 1 Volume 1: Road to Sectionals

While the length of Glee’s fourth-month hiatus is a bitter pill, at least the interim brings its fall season on DVD, starting Tuesday with Fox’s release of Glee Season 1, Volume 1: Road to Sectionals. If you’re a Gleek like me, was there ever more of a no-brainer in terms of getting a DVD? I didn’t think so.

Plus, it’s got multi-marketing purposes. The four-disc set not only should keep Gleeks’ hearts warm and ready for more, but also should fan the flames of Glee’s momentum toward those who failed to catch it on telly in the fall.

Look at it this way: almost fourth months with only Glee DVDs (and some reruns, as with this week and the next) gives many unconverted people time to catch up and board the bandwagon when Glee returns with new shows April 13.

As for those discs, beyond their 13 superb episodes which I believe will carry Glee to multiple awards to go with its multiple nominations, what’s new? Well, beyond creative menu graphics (but monotonous menu music), there are lots of extras, all loaded onto Disc 4. You know the episodes, so this DVD review will focus on them.

First is an amusing five-minute Welcome to McKinley hosted by Principal Figgins and purportedly shot by the school’s AV Club. It’s for eighth-graders on the verge of attending high school. As Figgins points to a globe, we learn that students come to McKinley from as far away as Mexico — wow!  I love the actor, Iqbal Theba, and it’s great to see him get this showcase.

Next, and most entertaining, is an unnamed “Glee Music Video” which turns out to be Somebody to Love, whose audio plays against a montage of promo shots done early in the production process and clearly filmed at another location than what’s used in the show (with more stark looking high school hallways). All the characters promenade with various bits of business, ending with a triumphant group shot. Though I’ve glimpsed some of this footage before, this video is fun and fresh and the best bonus here for me.

Then there are two full-length audition pieces — meaning, characters‘ auditions. They’re expanded from the pilot, with Rachel singing On My Own and Mercedes singing Respect. Both get more footage than on the show, and Rachel is beautifully shot.

All the aforementioned extras sport new elements. Now we get to completely recycled extras, starting with a 12-minute featurette for the Fox Movie Channel called Casting Session.

This is great stuff, and crucial, since one of the key features of this highly creative show is the excellence of its casting. But many of us have seen this already. Ditto for Deconstructing Glee with Ryan Murphy and Dance Boot Camp, two featurettes already shown on the pilot’s DVD released last September, as well as circulated online. Even so, it’s good stuff.

That also holds true for a series of segments telling us things we didn’t know about Chris, Amber, Corey, Jayma and Jane Lynch, as well as Flip cam video diaries from eight cast members when they visited New York last May for Glee “Up Fronts” (selling the show to potential advertisers) and publicity rounds. Again, it’s fine material, and enjoyably candid, but it’s recycled. That said, though you may have seen these two- and three-minute clips online, did you have them on pristine DVD? I didn’t think so.

Look, if there’s one thing my mama taught me, it’s to be a grateful boy, and believe me, I am. I’m grateful for the best TV series I’ve ever beheld in Glee. I’m grateful for its quick release to the home video market. And I’m grateful for all the extras provided here, from the fresh to the recycled.

But while I’m grateful, I’m also greedy, and I’m thinking there’s a wealth of more Glee material for DVD, such as more making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, bloopers, outtakes, interviews with the cast and crew, commentaries by the cast and the show’s creators, collections of Glee’s artful promos and — oh yes — deleted scenes. For instance, didn’t they actually shoot footage of Will’s 1993 performance that Emma displayed (and we didn’t see) on her laptop screen? And where’s the footage with those tacky bell-bottomed disco outfits the glee kids wear, of which I’ve seen photos?

While we’re at it, a “Songs Only” feature would greatly enhance Glee DVDs. That way you could choose to watch just musical numbers instead of entire episodes. (The Monkees’ DVDs offer this feature.) At the least, offer chapter-stop menus for each episode, with songs always starting a chapter.

Any and all of these things could have been added to this release, though maybe some will turn up when the full season is issued on DVD after the back nine episodes air. I’m hearing conflicting reports: that the back nine will emerge as a stand-alone set designed to bookend this one, or that the entire first season will be issued in a DVD set, and those who bought the first 13 shows already may get a price break. We’ll see.

Either way, and extras aside, it’s the show itself which truly entertains and enthralls, and believe me, I’m stoked to have it on DVD for savoring until spring. The best bonus of all is simply having Glee on DVD so quickly after its fall season aired. Kudos to Ryan Murphy and Fox for marketing this show so boldly and astutely.

Sure, I’d like more — or fresher — extras, but there are ample tasty tidbits here for die-hard Gleeks, and lots of new material for the uninitiated. What did you expect — a Lord of the Rings-sized Special Edition?

Bottom line: Glee is gone for four months, but thanks to DVD, Glee is back. Get it, savor it, and don’t stop believing. If any show is worth preserving on digital discs, this is it.

DVD review: ‘500 Days of Summer’ shows guy-romance graduating

It’s been said that (500) Days of Summer is a guy’s romantic comedy, which is to say, it’s not that romantic. But I would beg to differ.

Fact is, guys can be romantic, too — or did you never see The Graduate? That film’s obsessiveness for soulmates, in fact, forms the inspiration for Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Brick in Summer, a greetings card writer who falls for Zooey Deschanel’s Summer, a retro beauty out of the Katie Perry school. She says up-front she’s not into serious relationships, but he can’t help it: He loves her. That’s not romantic?

The film is a fragmented (by counting various days in the 500-day relationship) yet without being uneven, because its characters steadily ring true. There’s wit and humor, along with fanciful flourishes, such as animation and an elaborate musical number out of the blue. It’s also creatively staged, using the outskirts of downtown LA as a setting and a backdrop–and when has that been done? It’s another side of LA which befits Brick’s architect wannabe character — especially in the final scene, shot in LA’s Bradbury Building, the gloriously wrought-iron site of shoots ranging from Blade Runner to the ’60s Outer Limits. (I’ve visited that building, which — while not on the nicest street in LA — is a classy architectural marvel.)

The music — a mix of old and new pop and rock — is astutely chosen, and the actors shine — even those in the thankless “friend” roles. (Brick has them, though Summer doesn’t–see, it IS a guy movie.)

Brick even takes Summer to a retrospective of The Graduate, whose ending seems to throw her off. After all, there’s a world of uncertainty in the reckless liberation of Ben and Elaine boarding a bus in flight from her wedding. But behind that scene in the sense that what matters in life isn’t ceremonies or materialism or status or “plastics,” but love, true love. That’s what Brick believes he has found, and his sheer resolve to find it forms this film’s triumph, and makes it a romance, indeed.