BRAD WEISMANN

Review: "Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics," Fifth Edition

2013-05-20T20:56:00.002-06:00

Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics, Fifth Edition Michael Rabiger & Mick Hurbis-Cherrier 2013 Focal Press, Burlington, MA, USA 517 pgs. So you want to be a movie director? Read this book. That’s it, you’re ready! Comprehensive is too weak a word for the contents of the freshly updated “Directing.” In contrast to past tomes I’ve reviewed in the publisher’s FilmCraft series,

Review: "FilmCraft: Producing"

2013-05-09T17:23:00.000-06:00

FilmCraft: Producing By Geoffrey Macnab & Sharon Stewart Focal Press, 2013 By BRAD WEISMANN “The way I see it, my function is to be responsible for everything.” n David O. Selznick “What is a producer? An enabler.” Jeremy Thomas So what is a movie producer? A visionary who brings cinematic glory to

Eargasm: ‘Feelin’ Alright’ and the mechanics of the listenable

2013-03-06T09:35:00.002-07:00

There is a name for that song that gets stuck in your head. Scientifically, It’s termed involuntary musical imagery, and a surprising amount of research has been done on it. It happens to 99 percent of us, and quite frequently. They are still working on a cure. For me, it all started with Joe Cocker. I could not understand what the hell he was singing in his famous 1969 cover version of

Code of silence: Iversen’s “Full Body Burden” is a revelation

2012-11-04T11:42:00.002-07:00

Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats Kristen Iversen Crown Publishers 2012 It is very rarely that a complex, decades-long historical tragedy and an intensely personal narrative can be woven together artfully. In “Full Body Burden,” writer, editor, and educator Kristen Iversen does so with a combination of clarity, self-revelation, and readability. That she

Eargasm: "Gunsmoke"

2012-07-20T14:57:00.000-06:00

Producer-director Norman Macdonnell (left) confers with William Conrad during a rehearsal for "Gunsmoke." “Gunsmoke” Dramatic radio program; “adult Western” CBS 30 min. episodes Broadcast April 26, 1952 to June 18, 1961 Not all memorable sounds are musical. During the Golden Age of Radio, a number of programs and a subculture of talent entertained, informed and inspired the public.

Remembering El Chapultepec's Jerry Krantz

2012-05-30T09:03:00.000-06:00

I have gathered a lot of info about Denver's classic jazz haunt for decades, and have patronized it for 40-some years now. When I heard about the death of long-time owner Jerry Krantz (above), I just had to whip up a little tribute to him. The first thing Jerry Krantz ever said to me was, “Get the hell out of my bar!” I was 18; my friends and I were wandering around what was then the bad

From 5280 Magazine: "Sweet Sounds" -- jazz in Denver

2012-05-02T12:21:00.002-06:00

Benny Goodman and his 15-piece outfit worked at Denver's Elitch's Gardens from Friday, July 26 through Thursday, Aug. 15, 1935. They bombed -- the conservative Denver audiences wanted sweet jazz, waltzes and novelty numbers. Goodman, who had enjoyed success and national exposure via his "Let's Dance" radio band remotes from New York City on NBC, fell into despair here. He thought he would have

Eargasm: Zemlinsky's "The Dwarf"

2012-04-04T15:39:00.001-06:00

LA Opera's 2008 production of Zemlinsky's "The Dwarf" -- Mary Dunleavy as the Infanta greets the Dwarf (Rodrick Dixon). Most of my readers know how my work is studded with perverse subject matter. A year ago, I completed a long project on a peculiar obsession of mine – people with dwarfism and their roles in high and low culture throughout history (“Midget Wrestling: A Pilgrimage” can be

Eargasm: The Toscanini ‘Otello’

2012-03-14T17:34:00.002-06:00

Opera lovers don’t get a lot of second chances. The first time a performance of a particular work blows you away can never be repeated. A stereotypical opera lover’s fussiness regarding, encyclopedic knowledge of, and obsession with performers, productions, recordings and the various qualities thereof stem, I think, from that unslakeable thirst to repeat that sense of overwhelming consummation

From Boulder Magazine: I write on eTown and 'creating a third place'

2012-02-21T23:50:00.001-07:00

Story by me from the new issue of the regional quarterly on the fancy new digs for the popular, long-running music and social action show --

From EnCompass Magazine: I write about swing dancing in Denver

2011-12-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

Lovely! Thanks so much to the kind folks at EnCompass for commissioning and running this feature story from me on the swing-dance revival scene in Denver -- in their Jan./Feb. 2012 issue.

12 Daze: One dozen despicable Xmas entertainments (Part 3)

2011-12-25T13:12:00.002-07:00

Now you're saying: "OK, smartass. Is there ANY Christmas-themed cultural event that doesn't work your last nerve?" Yes. There are three. Not surprisingly, all three are funny. The humor not only lets in the welcome contrast of cynicism in, it leavens the deadly-serious sentiments encoded in their holiday DNA. You can play these over and over and over -- I will never tire of them! They are "A

12 Daze: A dozen or so despicable Xmas entertainments (Part 2)

2011-12-24T14:43:00.004-07:00

And our countdown continues . . . as we move into the heart of darkness. You know, it's not that I don't value love, kindness, faith, and redemption. I treasure them. But when you fetishize any values and work them and work them and work them, they ossify. They sour. They become shorthand for real feelings. Then they take their place entirely. That's when they become despicable. 8. "The Gift of

12 Daze: a (baker's) dozen despicable Xmas entertainments (Part 1)

2011-12-23T11:58:00.002-07:00

More traumatizing events happen during the Yuletide season than any other. In my family it’s referred to warily as the Holiday of Guilt and Shame. Still, the crushing rush of Christmas is so culturally pervasive that you can’t escape the traditional holiday entertainments that dragoon your children, force your attendance or attention, make your teeth grind and exhaust all remaining reserves of

Great opera villains, Part Two

2011-11-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

Edouard de Reszke as Mephistopheles in Gounod's "Faust" -- the Devil gets all the good tunes. With the chill in the air, opera season is here, and I’ve been looking at the juicy parts the typical operatic villain gets to sing. While it’s perceived as a pastime for the rich, most of its history saw opera as an opiate of the people. Yep, common folk would flock to see these larger-than-life

The sky’s the limit: new book offers penetrating look at air safety

2011-11-14T12:46:00.001-07:00

Why Planes Crash: An Accident Investigator’s Fight for Safe SkiesBy David Soucie with Ozzie Cheek221 pgs., Skyhorse Publishing Straight out, I need to make an admission – I went to high school with the author. No pressure, right? I have been reviewing books, and a vast variety of work in other media, for two decades now. When I found out that a former classmate had written a book, I requested a

Canon fire: the passions of Pauline Kael

2011-10-25T13:00:00.001-06:00

The Age of Movies: Selected Writings of Pauline KaelEdited by Sanford Schwartz828 pgs., Library of America Pauline Kael makes me so mad. Yes, in the present tense. The brilliant, renegade film critic still pisses me off, 20 years after she stopped writing and 10 years after death. I grew up reading her, frequently flinging my copy of The New Yorker across the room . . . then retrieving it and

Who was Norman Corwin? The beauty of radio drama

2011-10-19T11:48:00.002-06:00

I've been curating the obituaries of significant and interesting lives for more than a year now. I haven't been moved to hold one life up to the light until now. Norman Corwin died yesterday at the age of 101. Sixty years ago, he was one of the most celebrated voices in America. Ten years after that, the medium he made his name in was extinct. The world of radio as mainstream entertainment for

Badass bass/baritones: the lure of the great opera villains, Part One

2011-09-23T13:17:00.008-06:00

Tito Gobbi as Rigoletto: a jester with an agenda. I love to sing. Ask around; a lot of bystanders have been injured in the process. There’s something thrilling about carrying a tune, whether or not you’re particularly good at it. After high-school choir and a little musical theater, though, I was done as a singer. I still love to listen, though – especially opera. Why? Maybe it’s the fact that

Review: Alan Arkin’s “An Improvised Life”

2011-07-27T15:28:00.001-06:00

An Improvised LifeAlan ArkinDa Capo Press, 2011 This is not a critical review. This is not analysis. It’s excessive gushing followed by extensive quoting. Hope that works for you. I’ve idolized Alan Arkin all my life. First, he made me laugh until I hurt in “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming!” Then he scared the crap out of me in “Wait Until Dark.” Then he made me cry in “The

Life imitates comedy: Murdoch and ‘Pravda’

2011-07-19T09:10:00.001-06:00

“It always seemed strange to me that the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first, they love the produce of the second.”

Kicks and grins: CSF’s raucous ‘Comedy of Errors’

2011-07-15T14:25:00.000-06:00

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From Russia with laughs: ‘Inspector General’ shines at CSF

2011-07-13T16:23:00.001-06:00

Khlestakov (Stephen Wright) accepts a "loan" from the Mayor (Gary Alan Wright) in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival's production of "The Inspector General." [Photo by Patrick Campbell/CU Communications] Greed! Corruption! Lust! Lies! Stupidity! No, it’s not a new reality show. It’s an OLD reality show, and it’s still true to life. Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 comic play, “The Inspector General,” is

Wish upon a star: CSF’s ‘Little Prince’

2011-07-06T11:36:00.000-06:00

Back to basics works in CSF’s “Romeo and Juliet”

2011-07-01T08:29:00.001-06:00

Jamie Ann Romero and Ben Bonenfant in the Colorado Shakespeare Festival's production of "Romeo and Juliet." [Photo by Glen Asakawa for CU Communications] The Colorado Shakespeare Festival's troupe needs a hit. Like action heroes with their backs against the wall, they pull off a miracle – a straightforward, involving production of “Romeo and Juliet.” CSF’s production of “R & J” doesn’t mess