Fresh Loaf

“Image is everything in Atlanta.”

“In Atlanta, money and class give you power.”

“Everybody wants to be in Atlanta. It’s hot!”

These are just a few of the tips I picked up watching the premier of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” last night. It was all news to me, and I’ve lived in Atlanta my whole life. (Marietta, technically, but if these women — in their 15,000-square-foot mansions in the gated communities of north Georgia — live in Atlanta, then so do I.) I’ve never had money or class or a cake in the shape of a Louis Vuitton bag, but I’ve still managed to scrape by. And it’s definitely true that Atlanta is hot. Sometimes very hot. (more…)

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Yesterday marked the release of Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*! by Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the Holocaust memoir Maus. Printed in large, 10-inch-by-14-inch format, Breakdowns is, for the most part, a re-release of a collection of strips printed in 1978 with an original run of 5,000. It’s a book within a book, with a facsimile of the original Breakdowns sandwiched between new material. It begins with an illustrated biographical introduction and ending with an afterword by Spiegelman himself — a kind of reflective essay about Breakdowns and how it came about.

From the afterword:

Although Breakdowns figures prominently in my life and my development as an artist, I was still startled when Pantheon expressed interest in re-issuing the book. I couldn’t help but worry that, once the scarcity factor was removed, Pantheon would be lucky to sell as many copies of this edition as I’d sold of the 1978 book. I didn’t want my editors to think they had some red-hot commodity on their hands — like, say, an Elvis Presley poster book — simply because of the success of Maus. In fact, it was the resounding lack of response to Breakdowns that led directly to the 300-page Maus. (more…)

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Here are some of the titles that come out on DVD today. For more, see Matt Brunson’s View from the Couch column tomorrow.

“30 Rock” Season 2

“‘Allo, ‘Allo!” Series 9 and the Complete Collection

Dare Not Walk Alone

“Grace Under Fire” the Complete First Season

Halloween Unrated Three-Disc Collector’s Edition

The Happening

“How I Met Your Mother” Season 3

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer

“Martin” the Complete 5th Season

“Mission Impossible” the 5th Season

“Robot Chicken” Season 3

“The Simpsons” the Complete 11th Season

Sleeping Beauty Two-Disc Platinum Edition

The Visitor

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan

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This week CL Charlotte’s Matt Brunson discusses the DVD releases of Ewan McGregor-Hugh Jackman movie Deception, Iron Man, the special Coppola Restoration of all three Godfather movies and more.

DECEPTION (2008). It’s hard to believe a movie starring Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor, two impossibly charismatic actors, could be so dull, but the evidence is right here. McGregor stars as Jonathan McQuarry, a meek accountant who has no fun until a lawyer named Wyatt Bose (Jackman) swoops down like a slumming deus ex machina and introduces his new pal to the pleasures of pot, nightclubs and mixed doubles tennis matches. Just before Wyatt leaves town for a business trip, he “accidentally” switches cell phones with Jonathan; soon, the virginal numbers cruncher is receiving calls during which sexy female voices merely whisper, “Are you free tonight?” Passing himself off as Wyatt, Jonathan soon discovers an anonymous sex club in which the members all turn out to be Wall Street movers and shakers. Read the rest here.

(Godfather photo courtesy Paramount Pictures)

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Here are some selected titles that arrive on DVD today. Keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View From the Couch,” posted tomorrow.

2008 Olympics – Beijing 2008 Complete Opening Ceremony

“Adam 12″ Second Season

An Autumn Afternoon

“B.L. Stryker” the Complete Series

“Beauty and the Best” the Complete Series

Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

Can’t Hardly Wait 10th Anniversary Edition

“Click & Clack’s As the Wrench Turns”

CSNY: Deja Vu

“Deadliest Catch” the Complete Fourth Season

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Iron Man

Jellyfish (more…)

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Kerry Howard, or “Big Daddy,” of Cumming, Ga.’s Howard House Interiors, was a much-loved contestant on the second season of Bravo’s “Top Design.” He was eliminated in episode three when his team’s design (he was paired with fellow contestant Wisit Prapong, who was not eliminated) failed to satisfy their client, Jeffrey Sebelia – winner of “Project Runway” season three – in the window display challenge. I spoke to him about the show, his business and the allure of Atlanta (and its housewives).

So, how was “Top Design?”
It was phenomenal. I had a great time. It was the experience of a lifetime.

What would you say your design style is? Do you have a specialty?
I’m very transitional, which, to me, is defined as a mixture of old and new. I love mixing old architectural elements with new modern pieces, such as a Barcelona chair or really high-end leather. I really just enjoy a challenge to mix old and new things to form an eclectic field.

You were very diplomatic when you got cut in episode three. Were you upset that you didn’t get another chance to prove yourself on an individual challenge?
Yeah, I would have loved to prove myself on an individual basis, but I think the end result was, you know, everything happens for a reason, and it was just my time to go. If I was to do it all over again, I would have loved to start the whole show with an individual challenge, so America could see our personal style, but that’s just the way the ball rolled for me, so I just have to go with the flow.

Have you watched Blade Runner yet [the film his client, Jeffrey Sebelia, wanted his space to be designed around, in Howard’s losing challenge]?
No, I have not. I’m not a real big sci-fi person, but I have gotten an overabundance of clips from people around the country. I have an idea of it, I’m just not a big sci-fi person. (more…)

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Mila Kunis and Jason Segel in Forgetting Sarah Marshall

This week CL Charlotte’s Matt Brunson discusses the DVD releases of Cool Hand Luke, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Leatherheads and more.

COOL HAND LUKE (1967). In a career filled with iconic anti-heroes – including what I deem the “4-H Club” from the 1960s (Hud, Harper, Hombre and The Hustler) – Lucas Jackson just might be the most popular of all the societal misfits played by Paul Newman. After drunkenly destroying parking meters in a small Southern town, Newman’s wisecracking loner is shipped off to a prison whose inmates break their backs working on a chain gang. Read the rest here.

(Photo by Glen Wilson)

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Here are some selected titles that come out on DVD today. For more, keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View from the Couch” column tomorrow.

“Alvin and the Chipmunks” Holiday Gift Set

“Boston Legal” Season Four

“Brothers and Sisters” Season Two

“CSI New York” The Fourth Season

“Caillou’s Winter Wonders”

“Cashmere Mafia” The Complete Series

Deception

The Foot Fist Way

“Friday the 13th” Season One (more…)

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This week CL Charlotte film critic Matt Brunson takes a look at 88 Minutes, An American in Paris and more, including that dizzying color-fest Speed Racer.

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS (1951) / GIGI (1958). The film industry has produced a substantial number of truly transcendent musical masterpieces – Singin’ in the Rain, Top Hat and A Hard Day’s Night are but three examples – yet rarely have these films won Best Picture Oscars. Instead, the Academy’s taste in musicals tends to run toward lavish, overproduced extravaganzas that often lumber rather than waltz across the screen. MGM’s two Best Picture musical winners in the 1950s are entertaining enough – and certainly superior to such victors as Oliver! and The Great Ziegfeld – but they represent neither the finest of their respective years nor the movie musical genre itself. Read the rest here.

(Photo courtesy Warner Bros.)

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A whole bunch of movie and TV titles come out on DVD today. For more, keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View from the Couch” column tomorrow.

88 Minutes

“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet — Christmas with the Nelsons”

“Alvin and the Chipmunks” The Alvinnnn!!! Edition

An American in Paris — Two-disc special edition

Another Cinderella Story

The Babysitters

Beetlejuice — 20th anniversary deluxe edition

Blood Simple

The Busby Collection — Volume two

Charlie Chan Collection — Volume five

“Chuck” Season one (more…)

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Buying car insurance is easy. Happiness is difficult.

It’s this idea that local author Chris Wilson discusses in his book Healing the Unhappy Caveman: Why the Human Mind Was Not Designed for Happiness and What YOU Can Do About It, out last April. Wilson will be speaking at the Atlanta Freethought Society meeting this Sun., Sept. 14. I asked him a few questions about the book and his human mind.

Your book blows those Geico commercials out of the water. Tell us a little about its premise.

The basic idea is that genetically speaking, our minds are the same as the minds of our cave-dwelling ancestors who lived tens of thousands of years ago. Yes, culturally speaking, we are vastly different. However, our genes are influencing our perceptions of the world and our reactions to it a lot more than we’d like to believe. The reality is that our minds, like every other part of us, were designed by natural selection to facilitate our survival — in an environment that bears almost no resemblance to the modern world. So here we have two problems that are illuminated and addressed directly by my book:

1. Survival and happiness are not related. The mind was designed to survive long enough for the body to reproduce. Happiness was not part of the equation. Therefore, if we’re to be happy, we have to deliberately take steps to get there.
2. Our minds are routinely misinterpreting our world, and are responding in ways that are contrary to our happiness. (more…)

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This week, CL Charlotte film critic Matt Brunson reviews the Tina Fey comedy (mom-edy, perhaps?) Baby Mama, director Vadim Perelman’s The Life Before Her Eyes, Snow Angels and Young@Heart — all on DVD for the first time — as well as the second collection of the Fox Horror Classics.

BABY MAMA (2008). With Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler and other man-children routinely hoarding the screens in our nation’s multiplexes and living rooms, here come Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to remind audiences that girls just want to have fun. Indeed, the Cyndi Lauper hit of that name is granted its own karaoke-set scene, and its inclusion is fitting in a movie that’s similarly pointed, joyous, and light on its feet. This stars Fey as Kate Holbrook, a successful businesswoman who, upon finding out that she only has a one-in-a-million chance of getting pregnant, turns to an agency to provide her with a surrogate mom; she ends up getting Angie Ostrowiski (Poehler), who clearly resides several rungs down the social ladder. Read the rest here.

(The Life Before Her Eyes photo by Phillip Caruso. Courtesy Magnolia Pictures.)

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Here are some selected titles that come out on DVD today. For more, keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View from the Couch” column tomorrow.

14 Women

“Alvin and the Chipmunks” — “Go to the Movies — Daytona Jones”

“Avril Lavigne: The Best Damn Tour — Live in Toronto”

Baby Einstein’s “Baby Beethoven” and “Baby Mozart”

Baby Mama

Barbie and the Diamond Castle

The Big Lebowski 10th Anniversary Edition

Brian Regan — The Epitome of Hyperbole

“CSI Miami” The Sixth Season

Child’s Play Chucky’s 20th Birthday Edition

Cool Hand Luke

Essential Art House, Vol. 1

The Fall

Fist of Legend

Foreign Exchange

Forbidden Kingdom

Fox Horror Classics Collection, Volume 2

“Grey’s Anatomy” The Complete Fourth Season

(more…)

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This week, CL Charlotte film critic Matt Brunson reviews the special edition release of the Coen brothers’ 1998 The Big Lebowski, as well as the French film Brotherhood of the Wolf, the two-disc edition of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas and more.

THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998). Joel and Ethan Coen’s The Big Lebowski may be sloppy, repetitious and occasionally abrasive, but it’s also imaginative, sharp-witted and ofttimes very, very funny. Jeff Bridges plays Jeff Lebowski, an unkempt pothead who calls himself “The Dude.” An avid bowler – he spends his days knocking down pins with his buddies (John Goodman and Steve Buscemi) – The Dude finds his life turned upside down when a couple of thugs mistake him for L.A.’s other Jeff Lebowski: the incapacitated millionaire (David Huddleston) whose sexpot wife Bunny (Tara Reid) ends up getting kidnapped. Read the rest here.

(Photo courtesy Walt Disney Home Entertainment)

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Here are some selected titles that come out on DVD today. For more, keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View from the Couch” column tomorrow.

Ballet Shoes

Before I Forget

“The Big Bang Theory” the Complete First Season

The Blue Elephant

Bratz Girlz Really Rock

“Cheers” Season 10

“Desperate Housewives” the Complete Fourth Season

“Eli Stone” the Complete First Season

Fist of Legend

Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea

“Ghost Whisperer” the Third Season

“Honey West” the Complete Series

How to Rob a Bank (more…)

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Some of us love ABBA more than we would like to admit. Some of us hum “Take a Chance on Me” to ourselves in the shower. Some of us got repeatedly “hushed” in the movie theater when we saw the ABBA musical Mamma Mia! because we were singing louder than Pierce Brosnan.

And if it’s true that you can dance, you can dance, having the the time of your life, then so, too, should we be able to sing.

Now’s the chance.

Mamma Mia!: the Sing-Along Edition is coming to Landmark Midtown Art Cinema Wed., Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m. Hosted by STAR 94 and the Atlanta Gay Men’s Chorus, this screening is a one-night special event coming to selected theaters nationwide, especially for the some of us who just can’t say no when someone asks, “Voulez-Vous?”

Song lyrics will appear on the big screen karaoke-style, and everyone is encouraged to sing along. For more information, visit www.mammamiamovie.com.

(Photo by Peter Mountain)

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Here are some selected titles that come out on DVD today. For more, keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View from the Couch” column tomorrow.

August

Brotherhood of the Wolf

Chicago 10

“Entourage” the Complete Fourth Season

“Everyone Hates Chris” Season 3

“Heroes” the Complete Second Season

The Little Mermaid 3: Ariel’s Beginning

The Nightmare Before Christmas Two-Disc Collector’s Edition

“NCIS” the Fifth Season

“One Tree Hill” the Complete Fifth Season

Postal

The Presidents Collection

Redbelt

“The Shield” Season 6

Walker Payne

What Happens in Vegas

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

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Here are some selected titles that come out on DVD today. For more, keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View from the Couch” column tomorrow.

Affinity

An American Crime

“Anthony Bourdain – No Reservations” Collection 3

Camp Rock

Chronicle of an Escape

Dana Carvey – “Squatting Monkeys Tell no Lies”

Deal

“Dexter” Season Two

Fletch Collection

A Four Letter Word

“George of the Jungle” Swinging First Season

“Gossip Girl” The Complete First Season

Hannah Montana/Mylie Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour

“House, M.D.” Season Four

John Oliver – “Terrifying Times”

The Life Before her Eyes

“Married…with Children” The Complete Ninth Season

(more…)

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TV hit-maker Steven Bochco (producer of “Hillstreet Blues,” “LA Law” and “NYPD Blue,” to name but a few) may be putting another show in his “win” pile this fall. In his grand cop-show/lawyer-show/cop-show tradition, his newest series is a (gasp!) lawyer show called “Raising the Bar.”

The series premiers Sept. 1 on TNT, and stars Mark-Paul Gosselaar — “Saved by the Bell’s” Zach Morris, to those who know him from his early years — as Jerry Kellerman, a moral-high-ground-holding, strategically unkempt public defender whose clients are always getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop (the short arm of the law? Justice puns are hard).

“Raising the Bar” marks the fourth time Morris Gosselaar and Bochco have worked together, and the show promises to be a runaway hit. Really. The press release pretty much promises it. I guess TNT, the network that claims to “know drama,” would know — their series “The Closer” is the most successful scripted series in the history of ad-supported cable, and “Saving Grace” isn’t too far off.

“Raising the Bar” also stars “ER’s” Gloria Reuben and “Malcolm in the Middle’s” Jane Kaczmarek as the hard-ass judge, with a bunch of other good-looking people filling the public defender and district attorney’s offices. We’ll find out on labor day which way the ratings scale will fall.

(Photos courtesy Turner Network Television)

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Here are some selected titles that come out on DVD today. For more, keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View from the Couch” column tomorrow.

“Anthony Bourdain – No Reservations” Collection 3

“Beastmaster” the Complete Collection

The Counterfeiters

“Doctor Who” Episode 17, “The Time Meddler,” and Episode 121, “Black Orchard”

“Family Ties” the Fourth Season

The First Olympics – Athens 1896 — The DVD version of this TV movie couldn’t have come out at a better time, with this year’s summer Games starting on Friday.

Fortress — A re-release of the 1993 Stuart Gordon sci-fi film, complete with new slipcover.

“Get Smart” Season 1 — The complete first season of the classic comedy series that inspired this summer’s hit movie starring Steve Carell.

(more…)

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Oops. Spoiler alert. Sorry.

Anyway, Atlanta comedian Louis Ramey was voted — by me and a few (million?) other members of the American viewing public — into the “Last Comic Standing” top five last night. Rounding out the rest of the season six finalists are Jeff Dye, Marcus, Iliza Shlesinger and Jim Tavare.

Ron G, also from Atlanta, wasn’t so lucky. He was one of three comics voted off, after totally kicking ass performing at last week’s showdown.

Here’s Ron G’s dream-snatchingly funny set from last Thursday’s top-eight showdown. It came as a surprise because he hadn’t wowed me in previous episodes, but by the end of this performance — if I had aisles in my living room, I would have been rolling in them.

Also eliminated last night were Adam Hunter and my personal favorite Sean Cullen, whose humorous (and Canadian!) song stylings were apparently no match for the cute face and sometimes-funniness of his mortal enemy Jeff Dye.

May Louis Ramey, the most experienced of the bunch and recognized as “the best” by eliminated contestant Esther Ku, strike the remaining four comics down in a (figurative) bloodbath of (actual) hilarity.

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Here are some selected titles that come out on DVD today. For more, keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View from the Couch” column tomorrow.

The Band’s Visit — The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra is stranded in a remote town in Israel and must find a place to stay the night and get acquainted with their neighbors.

“Beverly Hills 90210″ Season 5 — The DVD set comes out in just enough time to give you one last chance to scope out the old 90210 before the new version premiers on the CW Sept. 2.

“Centennial” the Complete Series

Dark City: Director’s Cut

Doomsday

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay — Also available on Blu-ray and two-disc special edition DVD.

“The Hills” Season 3 —More drama than you can shake a designer stick at.

Inglorious Bastards — Enzo G. Castellari’s original 1978 WWII film. Quentin Tarantino’s remake is set to come out June of next year.

Lost Boys: The Tribe — The direct-to-DVD sequel to 1987’s The Lost Boys.

Never Back Down — Djimon Hounsou stars in this Ultimate Fighting/martial arts movie.

Shine a Light — Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Stones rock doc
“Tiny Toon Adventures” Season 1, volume 1— Buster and Babs Bunny (no relation) are finally on DVD in the 1990s Steven Spielberg-produced cartoon series.

The Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection — With ten of the swashbuckling star’s best-loved films.

WarGames — The 25th anniversary release, nicely coinciding with last week’s one-night-only screening of the film in theaters nationwide.

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Local writer Richard Doster has just published his first novel, Safe at Home. Safe follows Jack Hall, a sportswriter in small-town Whitney, Miss., during the 1950s. Both Hall and the town are transformed when the 17-year-old black baseball player Percy Jackson is signed to Whitney’s minor-league Bobcats. Doster is also the editor of byFaith, the official magazine of the Presbyterian Church. He comes to the Decatur Library on Mon., July 28 at 7 p.m.

Safe at Home is your first book. Where did you get the idea to write it, and what kind of research did you do?
A few years ago major league baseball celebrated an anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s life. I don’t remember if it was his birth or death or signing with the Dodgers, but it piqued my interest, motivated me to explore what he’d gone through.

Second, every summer my wife Sally and I take a minor league baseball trip. We love the Atlanta Braves, but there’s something especially charming about minor league baseball. It’s more intimate, you’re close to the players, the people, the promotions, sometimes even the food is homier than you find in the big leagues. If you’re a baseball fan, you savor that kind of experience. (more…)

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One of the more popular features of last year’s Decatur Book Festival was the giant crossword puzzle hanging at the Decatur bandstand. People lined up around the block for the chance to fill in a few blanks. Because it was such a hit, and in an effort to keep lines down, this year’s DBF co-founder and director Tom Bell (and former CL contributor) has decided to have numerous crosswords hanging up at the book market street fair.

In order to keep each one different, he needs a lot of clues. That’s where you come in. If you think you might have a crossword clue (and, of course, an answer to go with it), put it in a comment at his blog (do not post it here on Fresh Loaf — much as I like crosswords — because it won’t be of any use to the festival).

You can provide as many clues and answers as you see fit regarding any literary-ish topic. Figurative bonus points if your clue has to do with a Georgia author or one of the authors featured at this year’s festival. I imagine it’d also be appreciated if your clues varied some in difficulty. If all the crossword clues are worthy of the Saturday New York Times, the DBF could have some ornery festival-goers on its hands. Bookworms don’t like feeling inferior.

The deadline to get your clues and answers in is Sun., July 27. Again, here’s the link for posting.

(Photo courtesy the Decatur Book Festival)

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Actress Estelle Getty, best known for playing Sophia, the wisecracking mother to Bea Arthur’s Dorothy in “The Golden Girls,” (and the less-known spin-off “The Golden Palace”) died yesterday at the age of 84. That she had seemingly been in her 80s since the ’80s — she was, in fact, the second-youngest of all four “Golden Girls” — makes her passing even sadder (and a little surreal).

Here’s a rather oddly scored tribute video to Getty I found on YouTube. The sheer number of similar tributes is evidence of how loved she was.

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