Doctor Who: The Complete Specials My Review

This review was first published by me on BlogCritics.org on May 1st, 2010. 


Doctor Who has once again rebooted itself. There is now a new Doctor, played by Matt Smith. There is also Amy (Karen Gillan), the new companion, and a newly designed TARDIS. For those missing David Tennant as The Doctor, and for those wanting to complete their Doctor Who DVD collection, a five -disc set of the five special episodes, which aired in 2009 is available. Doctor Who: The Complete Specials is a must have for any fan of The Doctor.

In the first of the five specials, The Doctor finds himself in 1851 London at Christmas time. Upon hearing someone crying “Doctor,” he dashes off to find himself face to face with…The Doctor. This Doctor of the past (or perhaps future?) is played by David Morrisey. Unsure of what to make of this Doctor, Tennant’s Doctor keeps his identity a secret and tags along with the other Doctor and his companion Rosita. It’s apparent this other Doctor is suffering from amnesia, and The Doctor (Tennant) is determined to solve the mystery.

Memory loss, however, is not the real culprit in this story. It’s Cybermen (and one spooky Cybercreature). The Doctor is of course very familiar with Cybermen, having battled them many times during his life. “The Next Doctor” is a very clever episode. It’s fun to see the 1851 versions of the sonic screwdriver and the TARDIS. Morrisey is very good as a very confused Doctor, and the story itself is gripping. As far as Cybermen go, this episode doesn’t necessarily break any new ground, but it stands up with any other good episode of Doctor Who.

“Planet of the Dead” is the second most light-hearted of the five episode series (next to “The Next Doctor”). In the episode The Doctor meets up with jewel thief, Lady Christina de Souza, on a bus and not surprisingly the bus takes an unexpected turn. The Doctor, Lady Christina, the bus driver, and several passengers find themselves stranded on a planet that turns out to be infested with some very nasty bugs.

This episode is entertaining enough, though it is a bit forgettable. “Planet of the Dead” does little to expand on The Doctor’s storyline or character, though there is some suitable foreshadowing of the final two episodes. That aside, the story itself is enjoyable, and has fair amount of tension throughout. Michelle Ryan as Lady Christina does a good job of being both The Doctor’s foil and friend.

“Waters of Mars” is probably my favorite of the Series 5 specials. In this episode The Doctor finds himself on Mars with a group of astronauts who are attempting to establish a livable biosphere on the planet. It soon becomes apparent that the water may contain some kind of living organism that is not very happy about the human invaders. Already knowing the ultimate fate of the astronauts, The Doctor wrestles with his own moral code. Should he stay or should he go?

This episode provides emotional gravity to the usually lighthearted Doctor. Yes, The Doctor has been faced with challenging situations before, but he has always rested easy on doing the right thing. The Doctor can travel through time, but he can’t change it. When faced with the possibility of altering the future, he has always attempted to stay an observer. This time The Doctor grapples with what would happen if he did change history. The Doctor’s decision changes his life in ways he wasn’t expecting.

In the two-part “End of Time” season finale we see the return of The Master. He is a Timelord who has been a frequent nemesis for the Doctor, first appearing against the Third Doctor in "Terror of the Autons." John Simm played the character in the final three episodes of season 3 of the revived series. Having been thwarted before The Master is determined to get the best of The Doctor as well has the entire human race.

These episodes see the return of old friends Martha and Mickey (who appear to be married), along with Captain Jack, Donna, Jackie, Sara Jane, and Rose. Donna is the only one to play a significant role in the episode, which was slightly disappointing. I had hoped to see Captain Jack and The Doctor work side by side again, and I assumed Rose would figure more prominently than she did.

The story itself is pretty good. “Part Two” was much more exciting than “Part One,” which seemed like a very long buildup, and not much more. In “Part One,” The Master devises his plan for world domination – using his DNA to turn everyone on the planet into a version of himself. “Part Two” is The Doctor attempting to save everyone (or will he?). The best parts of “The End of Time” are the scenes with Donna’s grandfather. They are very emotional, and bring an extra weight to the storyline, and the character of The Doctor.

In addition to the specials, there is an array of special features, including audio commentaries, BBC Christmas indents, and “Doctor Who at the Proms.” The best features are David Tennant’s video diaries of his final days on the show, which provide a nice inside look; and the Doctor Who at Comic Con featurette.

Overall the five-special set is a nice capper to David Tennant’s run as the Tenth Doctor. Just like the rest of the series there is fun, emotional, morality lessons, and most of all adventure. Tennant may have passed on his Sonic Screwdriver, but he will not likely be soon forgotten.


In the two-part “End of Time” season finale we see the return of The Master. He is a Timelord who has been a frequent nemesis for the Doctor, first appearing against the Third Doctor in "Terror of the Autons." John Simm played the character in the final three episodes of season 3 of the revived series. Having been thwarted before The Master is determined to get the best of The Doctor as well has the entire human race.

In Memorium: Paul Newman

January 26th 1925 - September 26th 2008

Two of my fellow BlogCritics writers have written very nice articles about Paul Newman.

"In Memory Of Paul Newman" by Jen Johans

"Acting Legend Paul Newman Dead at 83" by Barbara Barnett

Paul Newman was a great actor and a great man. He will be missed.

Saturday Night Live Hosted by James Franco

Previously published by me for BlogCritics

Saturday Night Live is off to a bit of a rocky start this season. Last week's season premiere opened with the very well done Sarah Palin/Hillary Clinton sketch. Former cast-member, Tina Fey, returned to play Palin. The sketch was a bit of a media sensation, and its popularity overshadowed the mediocrity of the rest of the episode. That was not the case this week. There was no outstanding sketch to make viewers forget that the rest of show wasn't up to par. James Franco hosted, but the blame really lies with the writing. Frequently the sketches were lacking originality and imagination, making for a less than thrilling show.


Cold Open: "McCain Recording Session" (Grade: D)

A fairly obvious dig at John McCain's ad campaign. Basically McCain's approved any ad that showed Obama in a bad light regardless of whether there was any truth behind them or not. Bill Hader did the voice-overs in a super-sarcastic tone. Hammond has not yet come up with a character for McCain, and basically plays him the same way he played Dick Cheney. This is the kind of sketch I'm afraid I'll see as the cold open every single week. Apparently everyone involved with SNL is more concerned with their political agenda than coming up with something funny.

Opening Monologue: James Franco (Grade: B)

James Franco is taking a break from Hollywood and is enrolled in Columbia University's MFA Writing Program. The sketch revolved around Franco trying to be the normal college student but not being able to break away from his movie star status. Jason Sudeikis had a funny bit as the RA who was no longer the big man on campus after Franco's arrival.

"The Cougar Den" (Grade: D)

Once again SNL falls back on the tried and (sometimes) true talk show sketch. "The Cougar Den" is a cross between "Coffee Talk," "Pretty Living," and the short-lived "Bronx Beat." Three middle-middle aged society women sit around talking about their lives, while smoking and sipping cocktails. The main problem with this sketch is the over-acting. It seems like everyone thinks they are being a lot funnier than they actually are. Casey Wilson completely overdoes her "older lady" voice. Amy Poehler has done a variation of this character so many times, it doesn't seem fresh in any way. Cameron Diaz made a cameo as a "cougar" who scored a hot young boyfriend (Franco). I'm not sure why Diaz was there. Maybe they are so in need of female performers they have find anyone willing to come on the show.

"Agent 420" (Grade: F)

Agent 420, as in 4:20. Get it? That's the whole joke. James Bond as a pot-head. This is the kind of immature sketch they really shouldn't do. I suppose for some people pot humor never gets old (no matter how lame it is).

"O.J. Simpson Jury Selection" (Grade: B)

In the first funny sketch of the show, lawyers attempt to find an "impartial" jury in the new O.J. Simpson trial. Despite finding people who were not from earth, who had been in a coma for thirty years, who had lived in a cave, and who had been raised by wolves, everyone still had their opinion on Simpson (and it wasn't the opinion Simpson's lawyer was looking for). Wil Forte was particularly funny as the coma patient who remembered Simpson as the Heisman Trophy winning college student, and then was worried that he might actually be "O.J. Simpson that murderer."

SNL Digital Short: "Hey! (Murray Hill)" (Grade: C)

This had a somewhat funny beginning, with Franco playing a man who was worried his date didn't like him because he had a "small ding-dong." Unfortunately the film's only humor from that point on, was to have Franco say "small ding-dong" as many times as possible. Gossip Girl Blake Lively made a cameo as the girl who shared something in common with Franco's character.

"TNT Promo: The Looker" (Grade: C-)

Penny Marshall is The Looker. Fred Armisen did a great job with Marshall's facial expression. Other than that the concecpt was fairly lame. Marshall as a detective who gets criminals to confess by staring them down over he glasses. Jason Sudeikis was funny as one of the confessors.

Musical Performance: Kings Of Leon - "Sex On Fire"

"Weekend Update" (Grade: C)

"Weekend Update" has become the most stale part of SNL. It's always the same. The anchors (Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers) take tibits out of real news and make sarcastic comments about them. Usually they bring out a guest of some kind, this week it was Lehman employee and some guy who is getting sued for sexual harassment by his employees. "Weekend Update" is never that good, it's not horrible (occasionally there are a few good laughs), it's just that same old fake news sketch that marks the mid-point of the show.

"The New York Times Covers Alaska" (Grade B-)

The New York Times wants to find out everything about Sarah Palin's background and decides it must send its city slicker reporters on location. There are quite a few funny moments in this sketch with the reporters being worried about polar bear attacks and not being able to order Thai take-out. Franco, as the boss, tells anyone who thinks they won't be comfortable going to Alaska that "they will understand." Eventually only three reporters are up to the task. On the negative side, the bit about uncovering incest in Palin's family was not funny at all. It didn't really make sense, even in the context of the reporters ignorance about Palin and Alaska.

"George and Lennie" (Grade: D)

Throughout the show's history there have always been those high-concept sketches that probably sounded good in the pitch-session, but then flopped in the final execution. This was one of those. The concept was an "alternate ending" to the Steinback classic "Of Mice and Men." Personally I'm not sure if Of Mice and Men is a universal enough story for a wide audience to even get the joke. Nonetheless, if the concept were better it still could have worked. I have to wonder if they felt obligated to through in something literary because of James Franco's background in literature. In the alternate ending, Lennie's mental disabilities are a result of George's pandering rather than a physical problem. When Lennie discovers this, he turns the tables on George. It was an okay idea, but the end result didn't come across as particularly funny or clever.

"Yankee Stadium Stories: Scorsese and Perez" (Grade: C)

This was a filmed segment in which Fred Armisen did a fairly spot-on Martin Scorcese and Amy Poehler did a passable Rosie Perez. Scorsese remembered playing baseball as a kid using a loaf of french bread and meatballs. Perez remembered coming to the stadium in roller skates. Armisen is a good impressionist and he can almost always make mediocre material a little better when he nails an impression.

Musical Performance: Kings Of Leon - "Use Somebody"

"Dafoe's Revenge" (Grade: B-)

In this "meta" sketch, James Franco was in his dressing room and was visited by Willem Dafoe (Bill Hader), who appears as Franco's "reflection" in the mirror. Dafoe wants Franco to kill cast member Andy Samburg. Apparently Samburg had made fun of Dafoe at some point in the past. While Hader didn't exactly evoke Willem Dafoe, the sketch was well played by everyone and had some funny lines.

Overall this episode could have been a lot funnier. Most of the sketches, particularly in the first half of the show, were below average and even the better one's never rose above a level of mediocrity.

Saturday Night Live Season Premiere Review

Also published on BlogCritics.

Saturday Night Live kicked off its 34th season on Saturday night, with eight time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps as host. The cast remained pretty much the same as last year. In fact they have been using the same opening credits sequence for the past three seasons. The only significant change is the addition of Bobby Moynihan as a featured player. Casey Wilson, who was added (presumably as a replacement for the departed Maya Rudolph) when the show returned after the writers' strike last season, is also back as a featured player.

I have to wonder — is there no female talent out there? Surely there must be funny women out there. Currently the cast is comprised of nine guys and three women. Amy Poehler, who has already been on the show for seven seasons, is pregnant and will presumably be gone sometime in the near (very near from the looks of things) future. Fortunately Kristen Wiig, who joined the cast in 2005, has been a breath of fresh air. She is funny and has brought several good characters to the show, most notably the one-upping Penelope.

Sports figures who have hosted have always been a mixed bag for the show. Unfamiliar with the format they often come across as a bit stiff (though well-respected actors like Robert De Niro have come across the same way). Michael Phelps is no exception, though I would not say he was terrible. Phelps mostly stuck to lower-key parts, even playing himself in more than one sketch. Overall the episode was okay, but not great. I will give them some bonus points for not getting too political. Aside from the cold open and a few jokes during "Weekend Update" the show stayed away from the political scene. I'm fine with them covering politics. It wouldn't be SNL without some political commentary, but for a while the show seemed to revolve around it, and that was tiring.

The Cold Open - "A Non-Partisan Message From Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton" (Grade: A-)

As soon as Sarah Palin was announced as John McCain's running mate, I wondered if Tina Fey would be back. She was, and she turned out to be very good as Palin. She nailed the voice, the look, and Palin's facial expression. Amy Poehler has never gotten Hillary Clinton's voice quite right, but in this sketch she does convincingly convey Clinton's persona. The non-partisan message is about sexism towards female politicians by the media. The sketch is clever and funny, with the two ladies trading opposite takes on sexist comments. Palin complains that she is called beautiful, while Clinton doesn't want to called a wombat. This was definitely a high point of the show.

Michael Phelps' Opening Monologue (Grade: B-)

Phelps, understandably, lacks a little charisma, but he held his own in the monologue. This sketch gets bonus points for the funny cameo from William Shatner. Shatner coaches Phelps on maintaining integrity in product endorsements, while at the same time plugging Priceline. Phelps' mom also makes an appearance at the end, which was a nice touch.

"Quiz Bowl" (Grade: C+)

This sketch was a quiz show with public high school kids pitted against home-schooled, extremely religious kids. This was a good idea but the execution was only mediocre. The point was that both groups of kids were equally uneducated, but unfortunately the jokes were not all that funny. After a good start with the home-schooled kids not knowing anything about biology - they thought cells inside the body were made of magical spirits - the jokes became a little over the top and lost their zing.

Commercial - "The Jar Glove" (Grade: F)

We've all seen the commercial where they go a little overboard in saying how bad life is without their product - the person has to clean for hours and hours if they don't have the all-in-one kitchen gadget, or something like that. "The Jar Glove" spoofs that idea, but takes it so far out of relateability that anything humorous is lost. Basically if you don't have the jar opener, you kill your husband, go to prison, and then mastermind a great escape. Some subtlety might have made this a good idea.

"Big Kids" (Grade: C)

We first saw these characters in the Seth Rogen episode from last season. Basically the parents (Bill Hader and Amy Poehler) are hosting a party and their extremely strange kids are a constant interruption. It is funny that the parents heap praise all over their kids' weirdness, but the sketch grew pretty tiresome by the end. The kids were played by Kristen Wiig and Michael Phelps. At the very least Phelps looked funny in his enormous head-gear.

"Weekend Update" (Grade: C-)

With the competition of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, "Weekend Update" has lost a lot of its edge. Personally I'm not a fan of Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers as the anchors. Poehler seems to have a hard time letting someone else get a laugh without trying to get in on it. Meyers is okay, but hasn't left a big impression. The two managed to get in quite a few Sarah Palin jokes, and they brought out three commentators. Fred Armisen as the college student who thinks he has the world figured but isn't actually able to say anything, is a pretty good piece of observational humor. Will Forte's Alaska Pete, Sarah Palin's biggest supporter, was a fairly obvious send-up of mindless "rednecks" who only care about hunting and small town values. The low point was Andy Samberg doing Cathy from the comic strip. His bit was pointless and not funny in any way. He relied completely on doing a funny voice, and didn't actually say anything funny.

"The Charles Barkley Show" (Grade: D)

The talk show has been a long time standby for SNL. "Wayne's World," "Coffee Talk," "The Church Lady," "Black Perspective, "Pretty Living," " Jarret's Room," and "The Prince Show" are all just a few in a long line of SNL talk shows. This one just does not work all that well. The main problem is that there is not really any reason why a Charles Barkley talk show would be funny, and Kenan Thompson (as Barkley) gives the audience no reason to think otherwise. This is a fairly mundane sketch that completely relies on the strength of the guests. In this case Darrell Hammond did a decent Bela Karolyi. Michael Phelps appeared as himself.

"T-Mobile" (Grade: B-)

This sketch gives us a glimpse of what happens next in the already funny T-Mobile commercial where the sister is mad because her brother put all her friends in his cell phone "top five." When the girl complains to her parents, her dad replies "maybe you shouldn't have such hot friends." That is where the real commercial ends. In this sketch the wife is angry that the husband thinks the friends are hot, and long story short, the sketch ends with the husband moving out of the house. There is some funny dialogue between the husband and wife. This was a good sketch idea, it worked pretty well.

SNL Digital Short - "Space Olympics" (Grade: B-)

I have to admit that I've never been a huge fan of the digital shorts. Aside from the original "Lazy Sunday," I haven't found them to be all that funny. I do like that Andy Samberg (the primary force behind the shorts) tries to come up with absurd ideas and they do bring something different to the show. In this one it is the future and the Olympics apparently take place on some other planet. Samberg sings the Space Olympics theme song throughout the short film. The joke is that despite the elaborate theme song, nothing about the Olympics goes right. Everything is a complete disaster.

"Uno's" (Grade: F)

This sketch was pretty much a non-idea. Basically some people are ordering food and the waiter - played by newcomer Bobby Moynihan - keeps saying he smells peppers. That's it. Not much else happened.

"The Charles Barkley Show" (Grade: D)

The talk show has been a long time standby for SNL. "Wayne's World," "Coffee Talk," "The Church Lady," "Black Perspective, "Pretty Living," " Jarret's Room," and "The Prince Show" are all just a few in a long line of SNL talk shows. This one just does not work all that well. The main problem is that there is not really any reason why a Charles Barkley talk show would be funny, and Kenan Thompson (as Barkley) gives the audience no reason to think otherwise. This is a fairly mundane sketch that completely relies on the strength of the guests. In this case Darrell Hammond did a decent Bela Karolyi. Michael Phelps appeared as himself.

"T-Mobile" (Grade: B-)

This sketch gives us a glimpse of what happens next in the already funny T-Mobile commercial where the sister is mad because her brother put all her friends in his cell phone "top five." When the girl complains to her parents, her dad replies "maybe you shouldn't have such hot friends." That is where the real commercial ends. In this sketch the wife is angry that the husband thinks the friends are hot, and long story short, the sketch ends with the husband moving out of the house. There is some funny dialogue between the husband and wife. This was a good sketch idea, it worked pretty well.

SNL Digital Short - "Space Olympics" (Grade: B-)

I have to admit that I've never been a huge fan of the digital shorts. Aside from the original "Lazy Sunday," I haven't found them to be all that funny. I do like that Andy Samberg (the primary force behind the shorts) tries to come up with absurd ideas and they do bring something different to the show. In this one it is the future and the Olympics apparently take place on some other planet. Samberg sings the Space Olympics theme song throughout the short film. The joke is that despite the elaborate theme song, nothing about the Olympics goes right. Everything is a complete disaster.

"The Michael Phelps Diet" (Grade: C)

On the Michael Phelps diet you can eat 12,000 calories a day, and you won't look like Michael Phelps. Actually you'll die. There is a cameo from Jared Fogle of Subway diet fame at the end.


Overall this episode was okay, but I really think the show needs some changes. It just needs something to give it an extra spark. It's become too predictable and that is not what the show is supposed to be about.

Saturday Night Live season premiere tonight

The new season of SNL kicks off tonight with Michael Phelps as host. Musical guest is Lil Wayne.

Will Tina Fey return to play vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin?

Will there be any new cast members?

I will write up a review of the show tomorrow.

Next week the host is James Franco with musical guests Kings of Leon.

Doctor Who on the big screen?

First published on BlogCritics.

The popular British television series Doctor Who may be headed for the big screen. It is also rumored that show creator Russell T. Davies is interested in casting Catherine Zeta-Jones as the doctor’s companion. As for the doctor, Davies says current doctor David Tennant is his first choice. "To have anyone else would be inconceivable," says Davies.

No firm date has been set for release as the plans are still in the earliest of stages. Tennant is only signed on for five more episodes (to be shown as specials) of the show. He is eager to further his film career, so a Doctor Who movie could be the best of both worlds. Fans still get the Doctor Who and Tennant would have an instant leading role in a feature film.

As an American fan of Doctor Who it’s hard to gauge how popular the show really is. Fans of the show are practically a secret society, where there is a level of excitement in just finding someone else who actually watches it. I have found that people either love it or pretty much don’t know it exists outside of “you mean that show on PBS where the guy wears a celery stalk?” That is not the case in the UK, where Doctor Who is a popular family show. And not everyone loves it. “Doctor Who is children's stuff. It's baby-food for the brain,” Michael Deacon writes in a article for the Telegraph. He goes on to say that he doesn’t mind that the show is on but he minds “that's it's absolutely everywhere else, too – in magazines, on the front of cereal packets, in conversation.”

While it’s hard to imagine seeing the Doctor on the front of a cereal box here in America, it’s easy to see why the show is so popular. Far from “baby food for the brain,” Doctor Who is clever and imaginative. The show can be watched by the entire family, but in no way is it just a “kids show.” David Tennant is excellent and very likable as the show's tenth doctor (though I also liked Christopher Eccleston in his one season as the ninth doctor). The adventures are usually fun and interesting, and it’s one of the few science fiction programs to not limit its ideas. Basically anything you can think of can happen in the world of Doctor Who. That is where the success of the show lies. It never seems to wear out. Doctor Who was originally on the air for an astonishing 26 seasons, from 1963 through 1989, going through eight different doctors. In 2005 it was resurrected, slightly modernized, and brought back to British television.

A jump to the big screen could be very good thing for the franchise. It would be nice to see the show exposed to a wider audience. Bigger budgets and higher expectations could lead to even more interesting and exciting adventures. Doctor Who has already had a couple of big screen attempts in the past. In 1965 Peter Cushing took on the title role in Dr. Who and the Daleks and again in 1966’s Daleks’ Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. In these films the character of the doctor was changed to a completely different concept of the original – making him a human named “Dr. Who.” A new big-screen Doctor Who would more than likely stay true to the show in its current incarnation. Of course there is always the fear that a movie could ruin the whole thing. Maybe the story will be bad, maybe the essence of the show will be lost or for whatever reason it just not work. But in this case Doctor Who is certainly worth the chance.

There is a world of possibilities for a Doctor Who movie. The addition of a big name like Catherine Zeta-Jones would probably help get the project off the ground and fill more theater seats (not to mention getting distribution in the US). That being said, fans of the show are probably hoping that Rose, the Doctor’s companion of the first two seasons of the new series, would return. Billie Piper, who played Rose, has gained some attention and praise for her role on Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Piper also returned for the season finale episodes of this past season of Doctor Who. It would also be great to see John Barrowman as Captain Jack on the big screen. Barrowman is currently on Torchwood, a Doctor Who spin-off series, and a re-teaming of Captain Jack and The Doctor seems like a natural. There are a multitude of worlds to visit, time periods to see, and aliens to help or conquer (depending on the alien).

Only time will tell if the future holds a place for Doctor Who on the big screen.

DVD Review: Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney

Last week I wrote a review for a movie called Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney for BlogCritics. The movie is kind of a documentary and kind of a mockumentary. I didn't particularly like the movie. Many of the situations were obviously staged and I didn't really find them all that funny. The subject of the movie - Ruth Anson - was interesting and would have made a good subject for a documentary if the movie had stayed focused on her. Unfortunately Ruth pretty much drops out of the movie while the crew makes phones calls and argues about how bad their material is.

After I published my review, Ruth Anson herself left a comment. So did the director Mark Cushman and Ruth's sister. They all thought I was too focused on what was "made up" (all admitted to some staging by the way) and not on the heart of the movie.

I still stand by my review, because I agree that the heart of the movie should have been Ruth Anson and her self-discovery. That would have made a good film. But that was not the film they made.

While I'm not glad they didn't like my review, it's rewarding to me that they all took the time to write something. In particular I would like Ruth Anson to know that I did think she was an interesting person and my main problem with the movie is that it was not truly about her.

Below is my review and their comments:

There’s a lot of "desperation" in Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney, but unfortunately most of it doesn’t have anything to do with the former Beatle. The film is a mockumentary attempting to make something out of nothing. It fails on nearly every level.

In 1965 Ruth Anson was a spirited teen correspondent for ABC News. Through her charm and perseverance she was able to push her way to the front lines and interview the likes of Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Princess Margaret, Bob Hope, and Lana Turner. Vintage clips of these interviews are interspersed throughout Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney. And of course, there is the interview that eventually inspired this film – Paul McCartney. It seems that at the end of a Beatles press conference, Anson got in one last question to McCartney: “Do you have any plans to get married soon?”

“Only if you’ll marry me now,” McCartney quipped back to the stunned Anson.
Forty-one years later Anson can’t get the comment out of her mind. Anxious to reconnect with McCartney, Anson pitches her tale at an open call for story ideas. The panel of Hollywood “insiders” is somewhat intrigued, but tells her she doesn’t have enough material. “Come up with a good story, drop Paul, and make the main character in her thirties,” they tell her. “No Paul?” says a disenchanted Anson in what may be one of the few genuine scenes in this film.

Mark Cushman, a screenwriter, decides there may be something to Anson’s story. He rounds up a “crew” to document Anson’s quest to find Paul McCartney. It is at this point the movie goes from documentary to mockumentary. It’s hard to say whether the original intention of the film was to stage everything, but that is the end result. It seems entirely possible that this project found itself with unusable footage and resorted to staged situations to salvage what little material they had.

Unfortunately, instead of amusing and/or interesting scenes of Anson attempting to “find Paul,” there are endless scenes of Cushman and his crew – which consists of a couple of PAs and a cameraman - making telephone calls. Most of the calls are to unnamed people who supposedly may have some connection to McCartney or Anson. The crew, who were clearly rounded up from some local college’s drama department, do not seem to have ever been involved in a film production in their lives. One PA said that he signed on based on the fact that Cushman must be legit because he wrote an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (a quick search on the Internet reveals that Cushman only has a story credit for one episode of the show).

Most of film is done like a reality show complete with talking head video diaries and manufactured conflict. The obvious setups include crew members quitting in disgust, doors getting slammed in Ruth Anson’s face, and a therapy session for Anson. There is even a bizarre intervention in which Anson’s “friends and family” try to convince her to save some dignity and drop out of the project. That may have been good advice if it wasn’t clear that Anson was in on the whole thing.

An interesting aspect about Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney is that, despite the staging, there are a couple of situations that must be real because there would have been no way to fake them. The most notable is the production’s attempt to track down McCartney at the Grammys. In a Bowfinger-esque move, the crew attempts to capture whatever they can despite their lack of invitations to the event. Anson shouts to anyone walking by that McCartney once proposed to her. The segment is a reminder of what this movie could have and should have been — a realistic look at Anson’s willingness to do anything to reconnect with McCartney.

The most honest moment in the entire film comes from adult film star, Ron Jeremy. I would like to say Mr. Jeremy’s cameo was a surprise, but his name appears in the opening credits of the film. Mr. Jeremy, in what may have actually been an unplanned event, shows up in the background of the Grammy footage. “Is that Ron Jeremy?” says a surprised Mark Cushman. “He was saying hello to me,” the cameraman explains. Unfortunately the cameraman does not elaborate on how he happens to know Ron Jeremy.

For no other reason than to gain a little “star” power in the film, Cushman sends Anson to interview Mr. Jeremy. Anson, of course, wastes no time in telling Jeremy about McCartney’s “proposal,” and wonders what her next step should be. “Give up!” says Jeremy. “He didn’t [propose] and if you think he did, you're a fruit loop.” Anson actually isn’t a “fruit loop.” Like a lot of us, she is looking to reclaim a bit of her youth. If this film had been about that, it could have been good. In this case the filmmakers obviously didn’t trust their material, manipulating everything until almost every ounce of reality was drained out.

I also have to note that this DVD suffered from a major technical mistake. The titles were formatted incorrectly. The subtitles and credits are half off of the screen, making everything practically unreadable. There is not a lot in the way of features, but this DVD does have one that I have never seen before. The original songs written for the movie can be listened to on their own, accessible via a separate menu and accompanied by music-video style footage of a Beatles' tribute band. Since they could not afford the licensing to actual Beatles songs, twelve “Beatles type” songs were written for the film. One of the songs was written by Jeff Toczynski, a Paul McCartney inpersonator, who also makes a seeminly embarrassed appearance in the film.

Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney is nothing more than an attempt to capitalize on an obscure decades-old newsreel clip, and of course, the draw of McCartney's name.

(2 out of 5 stars)

Comments:

September 2, 2008 @ 23:29PM - Ruth Anson

I wasn't "in on the whole thing."

I'm Ruth Anson, the former KABC-TV reporter who interviewed Paul McCartney in 1965, and the subject of "Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney."

Our distributor may have done us a disservice by printing on the DVD cover that we won the "Audience Favorite" Award for Best Picture at Mockfest 2008. Doing this labels the movie as a mockumentary, even though it really is not. It is a documentary with a sense of humor.

You are correct that some aspects of the movie have been manipulated. Yes, the director did put me through the ringer. It is also true that the director did think I was a little crazy. He may still think this. I assume that every person who sees this movie will have their own opinion there, as you do. But nothing was faked. The psychology session is one such example. This was very real - and profoundly valuable for me. It was actually an hour and a half long, but, as you know, you can't put everything in. News is edited and therefore manipulated everyday. Most things are not what they seem and, unless you do your homework, you won't know the true facts.

You were also right that the director lost some faith in the project - but he does this on screen. He allows you to see him lose faith, and this is all very real. I think it was brave - and certainly unusual - that he allowed himself and his crew to be filmed so that viewers could see what goes on behind closed doors of reality type productions. He knew he wouldn't be seen in a positive light, but stayed honest with the camera.

I was open to all aspects of this journey and, even though my initial intention was to reconnect with Paul McCartney, I ended up discovering something very real about myself.

Whether you like the movie or not, at least let me set the record straight by telling you that this is a documentary. How the journey began, progresses, and ends is very real.

Truly yours, Ruth Anson.

September 6, 2008 @ 16:46PM — Marc Cushman

Ruth Anson sent me the link to this site so I could check out a very negative review. She must hate me.

Then I saw the note she posted and the reply from "The Other Chad."

I won't debate anyone's opinion on this movie, but, to set the record straight, I chose to list everyone who is seen in "Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney" as cast members because, whether they liked it or not, they became cast members. That does not necessarily make them actors.

Do a search at Internet Movie Data Base (imdb.com). I don't expect you will find acting credits for any of us prior to this movie, except for Ruth, who, besides doing the news way back when, appeared in episodes of "The Brady Bunch" and "My Three Sons."

It was certainly not my desire to be on camera - especially since I knew I would be coming off as a bit of an ass. The production just went that way (see the movie and you'll understand). I can tell you that Susan Osborn, our Production Coordinator, was not thrilled about being on camera - even though she is delightful. Even I have to admit that those cutting looks she gives me behind my back are priceless. And she still gives them to me.

As for the psychologist, he truly is a psychologist - and a very good one - not an actor. Ruth's family are who they say they are, not actors. The Paul McCartney impersonator is just that, not an actor. And that gay fashion expert wasn't putting on anything for the camera. That's him.

That wonderful older woman - Alice - seems very comfortable on camera, and very outrageous. I told her I thought she could become the next "Where's the beef" woman and should get an agent. She won't. She wouldn't even watch the movie we did. She's afraid she'll be embarrassed.

The shrink session is real, those tears at the intervention are real, and we really did crash the Grammys. And Ron Jeremy was not a plant. He spotted one of my cameramen, who, apparently, has photographed Ron in the past ... in the buff.

I do not deny that I manipulated portions of this movie. You see me doing it on screen. This is, after all, a movie within a movie. But the one thing I was never able to manipulate was Ruth. To the contrary, I have a suspicion that she may have been manipulating me.

Marc Cushman
Director, "Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney."

September 9, 2008 @ 16:02PM — April Anson Dammann

I have been close to the "Desperately" production since its inception, as my son Joe Dammann appears in the movie as Ruth's nephew (who he is)in an honest portrayal of his concern for his obsessed aunt. I find the reviewers to be paying inordinate attention to the story's genre--and not enough to the entertainment value of the piece. It is funny, surprising, poignant, musical and yes, even hard to believe, at times. But worrying about which scenes were set up or manipulated ignores the real emotions which are on display throughout Ruth's wacky journey. Enjoy "Desperately Seeking Paul" without all the scrutiny about what is "mock" and what is "doc." By any name, it's a hoot.

- Ruth's sister, April