Moviefone Copyright 2011, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. Moviefone Good old fashioned elbow grease.
Maybe that's why I abandoned Petty as soon as I began to find my way socially. He became a slightly embarrassing thing I did "when I was younger" (don't you love when kids say that?), like playing with G.I. Joe figures or beating "The Legend of Zelda." I moved on to music my parents were less likely to understand or endorse: Public Enemy, The Smiths, Jane's Addiction, Fugazi.

It was my younger brother who reintroduced me to Petty about 12 years ago. I was hosting a party at my apartment in Astoria, and he put "American Girl" on the stereo. At the time, my brother lived in Greenpoint and belonged to the original generation of hipsters, so even the uncool stuff he liked became cool, simply because he liked it. I remember standing in my kitchen, listening to the joyful sonic assault beaming out of the living room speakers and thinking, "Is this possible? Is it OK to like Tom Petty again?"

I know, I know -- that's ridiculous. People shouldn't like or dislike music just because it is or isn't cool. But we do, don't we? Especially when we're young. And it helps explain why I'd never seen Tom Petty before last night, when he kicked off a series of five concerts with his longtime band, The Heartbreakers, at the Beacon Theater on Manhattan's Upper West Side. (They play again tonight, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.) I mean, I'd watched Petty on the Super Bowl, like everyone else, but I'd never seen him in person. I wish I'd gotten the memo sooner.

Petty doesn't play a supercharged oldies revue like the Rolling Stones. Nor does he distort his catalogue into willfully eccentric renditions that separate "true" fans from mere pretenders, a la Bob Dylan. (Don't get me wrong: I love this about Dylan.) Petty doesn't perform for three and a half hours, like Bruce Springsteen, and he doesn't rely on expensive bells and whistles, like pretty much everyone else.

Monday night, at least, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers satisfied themselves with a tight, confident, two-hour set that featured a handful of hits, a few well-chosen covers and lots of deep album cuts. (You can check out the complete set list at the bottom of this post.) His band has been playing together for more than 30 years -- he was only half-kidding when he introduced drummer Steve Ferrone, who joined in 1994, as "the new guy" -- and they couldn't be more in sync. Lead guitarist Mike Campbell shreds aplenty, and keyboardist Benmont Tench unleashed a solo during "Melinda" (a staple of the band's live set that has never made its way onto an album) that ranged from Jerry Lee Lewis to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. But that was the extent of the fireworks.

Petty's voice has never been conventionally pretty, but it's well preserved, and he sounds great sneering over all those chiming Telecaster chords and squealing Les Paul riffs. He also looks better than ever, thanks to some bold but effective fashion choices (who woulda thunk a red tie, a black army jacket and brown velvet pants could jibe so well?) and a beard that nicely softens his beaky features.

Lyrically, Petty's the guy who's always shaking off his shackles and bee-lining for the open road. "Everybody's gotta fight to be free," he sings on "Refugee," a Top 40 rock anthem from 1980 that sounded absolutely gorgeous, and it's clear he means it. On 1985's "Rebels," he sings that he was born "with one foot in the grave and the other on the pedal." Even the covers fit the theme: "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" anyone?

It all added up to a coherent night of expertly performed rock music -- even if that's not precisely what some of the Type-A New Yorkers in attendance had in mind. At these prices, people expect to hear hit after hit. It's possible Petty is spreading out his most recognizable tunes over the course of the four shows, but I think it's just as likely he prefers to play less familiar material. Either way, "Free Fallin'," "Here Comes My Girl," "Breakdown" and "Don't Come Around Here No More" were just a few of the audience favorites that didn't turn up in the set list. (UPDATE: It seems Petty usually plays his greatest hits; this is a special run of shows highlighting lesser-known tunes.)

Having studied set lists from the last few shows, I at least felt confident he would end the night with "American Girl." But first, the band tore through one last cover -- "Carol," which Chuck Berry once released as the B-side to "Johnny B. Goode." You could tell they were having a blast -- only to sink back down to Earth for "American Girl," which felt vaguely workmanlike. I don't know if Petty can't hit the song's high notes anymore or just couldn't be bothered trying, but this wasn't the climax I'd been hoping for.

I was beginning to feel ever-so-slightly let down when Campbell began carving out the high-speed riff that kicks in just as the song is ending. Staring out into space, Petty suddenly smiled -- not in a showy way, in a way that showed he'd heard something he liked. A moment later, he was mugging for the audience, but it was that spontaneous expression of pleasure that stayed with me. Here he was, playing his greatest song for what had to be the 100,000th time, and he was still finding new joy in it.

If that's not cool, I don't know what is.

Set List for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Beacon Theatre, May 20, 2013

1. So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star (The Byrds cover)
2. Love Is a Long Road
3. I Won't Back Down
4. Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)
5. Cabin Down Below
6. Good Enough
7. I'm Not Your Stepping Stone
8. A Woman in Love (It's Not Me)
9. Billy The Kid
10. Tweeter and the Monkey Man (Originally recorded by the Traveling Wilburys)
11. Rebels
12. To Find A Friend
13. Angel Dream
14. Willin' (Little Feat cover)
15. Melinda
16. I Should Have Known It
17. Refugee
18. Runnin' Down a Dream

Encore:
19. You Wreck Me
20. Carol (Chuck Berry cover)
21. American Girl]]> Tue, 21 May 2013 08:55:59 EDT 3312186 Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 3, Episode 8 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "Second Sons."

"Game of Thrones" can be a relentlessly dark show, one where evil always seems to find a way to eke out a victory over good. Though this episode certainly served up plenty of doom and gloom, it also gave the optimists among us new reason to hope, as Tyrion, Sam and even Ser Davos notched some unlikely victories over the generally ascendant forces of destruction.

The opening interlude between Arya and the Hound set the tone. Arya, who never met an enemy she didn't want to kill, is ready to crush the Hound's head with a rock -- but she loses her nerve when he dares her to do it, warning that he'll break both her hands if the blow proves less than fatal. So it's back on his horse she goes. Only instead of King's Landing, they're off to the Twins, where Edmure Tully is about to wed Walder Frey's daughter -- and where the Hound plans to ransom Arya to Robb and Catelyn. "Quit trying to bash my skull in and we might just make it there in time for the wedding," he tells her, after sharing the charming tale of how he saved Sansa from a gang of murderous rapists.

Maybe the Hound is right: It could be a lot worse for Arya. We'll find out if she decides to see it that way.

Next we meet the so-called Second Sons -- after whom this episode is named. Mero of Braavos is exactly the kind of vulgar, misogynistic creep that Daenerys lives to punish, and it's fairly obvious from the outset that he's not going to make it out of this episode alive. More promising is Daario Naharis, who's handsome in that cover-of-a-romance-novel way Khaleesi seems to like. (Khal Drogo, anyone?) Emilia Clarke plays the tent scene gorgeously -- gamely laughing along with the repulsive Mero and then, once he leaves, instructing Ser Barristan to "kill that one first." I'm guessing every woman alive can relate.

Later, we learn that Daario believes the gods have blessed men with two great pleasures: "The thrill of fucking a woman who wants to be fucked and the thrill of killing a man who wants to kill you." I guess that's a long way of saying that he's not a whoring low-life like Mero, but the philosophy also fits reasonably well with Dany's anti-slavery thing. The scene where he interrupts her evening bath felt a bit contrived -- if he had already killed the other "Sons" and opted to serve the Mother of Dragons, why bother sneaking around and putting a knife to Missandei's throat? And yet, there was something grand and impressive about the way Dany climbed out of that (weirdly small) tub to face him, unabashedly naked. Clearly, she's attracted to him, and he to her, but the crucial point is that the Khaleesi blushes before no man.

So yes, what had been shaping up to be a very unpleasant battle turned into another cake walk for Daenerys, thanks to Daario's simple strategy of doing what he wants, whenever he wants. I do wonder, though, what will happen when Khaleesi gives him an order he doesn't like. And something tells me Jorah Mormont isn't going to like this dude one bit.

I was worried that Stannis would be jealous of Gendry, but then it seems I had misinterpreted Melisandre's plans for the boy. I thought she was going to make him impregnate her so she could produce another one of those murderous smoke monsters, but apparently, she just wants his blood.

I have never liked Stannis. If you ask me, he's a self-important prig who pursues his own gratification and aggrandizement under the guise of destiny and religion. So I was pleasantly surprised to see him free Ser Davos and even take his advice on the topic of Gendry. Sure, it's only Gendry's Baratheon blood that makes Stannis even remotely interested in whether he lives or dies, but we'll take what we can get with this guy. And it seems that, between them, Stannis and Davos persuaded Melisandre to extract Gendry's blood in small doses, at least for now -- hence the kinky S&M leech scenario that rather uncomfortably echoed Theon Greyjoy's last sexual hurrah.

Of course, only on "Game of Thrones" are you winning if you only have a leech full of your own blood ripped from your genitals.

I have one more thing to say about this, though: I despise Melisandre and suspect her Lord of Light is actually something closer to Lucifer (a name, after all, that can be translated "light-bringing"). But if a few drops of Gendry's genital blood can bring harm to Joffrey, then by God I say, "Slurp away, leeches!"

Speaking of Joffrey, how does he even come up with all these new ways of being an evil little shit? Like, where did he get the idea of giving Sansa away? And how would it even occur to him to remove Tyrion's little step ladder? (If Peter Dinklage wins an Emmy, it'll be for this episode.) The "bedding ceremony," on the other hand, is vintage Joffrey: It's an opportunity to humiliate and destroy just about everybody, all at once. How could he resist?

We'll come back to that in a moment, but first, attention must be paid to Cersei, who sets new records for bitchiness at this wedding. I hope Lena Headey enjoys playing these scenes because, in their own twisted way, they are a joy to watch. I loved the way Natalie Dormer's Margaery had to fake-smile her way around the room as Cersei told that terrifying story about the Rains of Castamere. And then, the threat at the end: This woman does not want to be called sister! And what about that little interlude with Loras? "Nobody cares what your father told you" -- and yet her entire life is dictated by what Tywin tells her. I believe they call that irony.

But back to Sansa, poor girl. I thought the nuptials in Lars Von Trier's "Melancholia" were nightmarish, but this wedding from hell might be worse -- except that, for all his drunkenness, Tyrion actually saves the day, twice. First, he foils Joffrey's wicked plan to strip Sansa naked in front of all the guests (and rape her later), and then he chooses decency over filial loyalty and elects not to consummate the marriage after all. This has the added benefit of scoring him points with Shae, who arrives in the morning to find Sansa's sheets pristine and unbloodied. Is it too much to hope that these three will work out an "arrangement"?

There was so much good acting in this episode, but I think Sophie Turner deserves a special mention for her portrayal of Sansa. In the first season, before her father was killed, Sansa seemed like just another vain, spoiled, rich girl. But she's been through hell, thanks to Joffrey, and has acquired a measure of character -- without ever quite losing the impatient-princess vibe that always set her apart from Arya. In a way, it wasn't surprising to learn that she's just 14. She's still naive and still arrogant, but she never stops growing. I wonder what she and Tyrion will achieve together.

Of all the achievements I might have imagined for Samwell Tarly, killing a White Walker was never one of them -- although, in retrospect, I probably should have guessed that this was coming. This whole sequence was brilliantly done, and I loved how the Hitchcockian cacophony of crows ratcheted up the suspense, only to go dead silent as the blue-eyed monster approached. Even the kitchen-sink drama inside the hut (OK, there's no kitchen sink, but you get my meaning) was engrossing. Gilly may not even know how first and last names work, but she's got an earthy appeal that definitely works for Sam. And she doesn't mind keeping warm with him under the furs, as long as he doesn't use too many fancy words.

I'm not clear what was going on with those crows, or why they wound up chasing Sam and Gilly through the night. But on the basis of this episode, I'm not going to assume the worst. Not yet, anyway.

"Game of Thrones" airs Sundays at 9 pm on HBO.

]]> Sun, 19 May 2013 11:50:51 EDT 3304400 Rush, Heart, Public Enemy, Donna Summer and Randy Newman, among others, will be seen joining those already enshrined in the Cleveland museum. But one group that won't be represented, yet again, is the self-proclaimed "hottest band in the world," KISS.

Longtime fans can't believe the group that taught America how to rock and roll all night and party every day still hasn't made the cut. The Huffington Post asked lead singer Paul Stanley if there's hope of a reprieve.

"Well, it depends on who lives longer, us or Jann Wenner," Stanley said, referring to the Rolling Stone editor-in-chief who co-founded the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame back in the mid-1980s.

Fans have a tendency to blame Wenner for the KISS snub. (One brave loyalist even confronted Wenner on the street to demand answers.) But the real obstacle may be journalist Dave Marsh, who plays a key role in the selection process and once told MTV, "Kiss is not a great band, Kiss was never a great band, Kiss never will be a great band, and I have done my share to keep them off the ballot."

Stanley, who has been making the media rounds to publicize the opening of a new branch of his Rock & Brews restaurant chain, questioned the legitimacy of the hall itself.

"Look, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is marketing," he said. "You've got a bunch of faceless people in a back room who trademark a name that sounds very official. Well, if you had thought of it first, you would have been the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Stanley, who turned 61 in January and has been playing with KISS for 40 years, also complained that artists who aren't generally considered rock 'n' rollers keep getting inducted, even as his group keeps getting overlooked.

"I am one of the biggest Laura Nyro fans. I still listen to that stuff incessantly. Laura Nyro does not belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Songwriter Hall of Fame? Absolutely," he said.

Some rock purists dismiss KISS as a "comic book rock band," to quote Steven Tyler, but their kid-friendly costumes and easy-to-learn riffs have arguably enhanced their influence over ensuing generations of musicians. Garth Brooks, Lenny Kravitz and Mike McCready of Pearl Jam have all expressed their indebtedness to the band.

"It's absurd for anybody to look around and hear the acts and artists who cite us as an inspiration, and then tell me that we're not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," Stanley said.

Not that he cares! "I'm not here to make converts, and I think that the people who choose not to see things, I'm not missing their adoration."

If anything, Stanley said, he'd like to see KISS recognized for the sake of the fans. "I would certainly accept on their behalf because it seems to be a major sore spot for them," he said. "But I don't need the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

The third Rock & Brews restaurant opened on the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles on May 8. According to a press release, Stanley and KISS co-founder Gene Simmons, who are partners in the franchise, plan to open "as many as 100 Rock & Brews restaurants over the next five years."

"I'm a real foodie," said Stanley, adding that he admires the chefs Thomas Keller and Julian Serrano. (KISS has deep roots in Brooklyn, but Stanley, who grew up in New York, admitted he hasn't yet sampled the borough's now-celebrated fare.)

It's tempting to assume that Stanley handles the food and Simmons, who once vied for the approval of Donald Trump on "Celebrity Apprentice," is the marketing whiz, but Stanley said that's not the case.

"I would say if somebody said to the two of us, 'You guys should make a cake,' Gene would tell me that it's gotta be six feet tall and what color it should be, and I'd say, 'Yeah, but there's gotta be a cake underneath it.' But we work great together," Stanley said. "Our track record together is far better than on our own."

The Rock & Brews restaurants promise to give rock fans a place to bring their kids and eat well. Asked if he and Simmons found the bring-the-whole-family angle awkward after four decades of selling themselves as skirt-chasing rock gods, Stanley said, "I am a rock god still, but I think the biggest change is what goes on when I'm not on stage."

Today, Stanley lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their three youngest children. Their oldest, a son, studies music at New York University.

"I look back with tremendous, tremendous fondness and great memories on a life of debauchery, but I sure as hell would find it sad to still be there," Stanley said. "There's nothing more pathetic than seeing the guy in the club who you think is a little past being there."

]]> Sat, 18 May 2013 08:47:34 EDT 3294224
Now that it's a hit, he has every right to take the credit.

Luhrmann and his wife, Catherine Martin, spent three years "living and breathing" F. Scott Fitzgerald's life and works in preparation for this film. "We are total and utter research nuts," Luhrmann told The Huffington Post on Friday. "We could research forever and never make the movie."

Case in point: Luhrmann read that Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda, had glimpsed the Statue of Liberty one morning from an ocean liner arriving in New York Harbor. "So we went to England and we came on an ocean liner to New York," he said.

Luhrmann's monumental research effort informed every aspect of the film -- and it helps explain why a collection of prominent Fitzgerald scholars and insiders have embraced the adaptation, even as some critics cry, "Sacrilege!"

The Atlantic film critic Christopher Orr, for instance, objected to the "odd and off-key additions" supplied by Luhrmann and his writing partner, Craig Pearce, singling out a line where Nick Carraway, played by Tobey Maguire, laments that "All of us drank too much back then … and none of us contributed anything new."

Scholars, however, recognized those lines -- or versions of them -- from Fitzgerald's posthumously published essay "My Lost City."

"Young people wore out early -- they were hard and languid at twenty-one, and save for [the New Yorker cartoonist] Peter Arno none of them contributed anything new," Fitzgerald wrote. A few sentences later, he added, "Most of my friends drank too much."

"I remember as I was watching the movie I kept thinking, 'That's not 'Gatsby,' but that's Fitzgerald," said the writer and lecturer Anne Margaret Daniel. "And indeed that was the case."

To Luhrmann, at least, something similar can be said for his controversial decisions to shoot the picture in 3D, commission a hip-hop-inflected soundtrack from Jay-Z, and ship the narrator, Nick Carraway, off to an insane asylum, where he produces the pages of "The Great Gatsby" as a way of recovering from "morbid alcoholism."

"I can say not a person on this film made a decision flippantly," Luhrmann, best known for "Moulin Rouge" and "Romeo + Juliet," said.

"It's Like Your Homework Is Coming Right At You"

Take the choice to shoot in 3D. Luhrmann knew it would be controversial. (In a special segment devoted to the movie, Stephen Colbert joked, "It's like your homework is coming right at you.") But the last thing he wanted to do, Luhrmann said, was adapt this conscientiously modern book "through a sort of sepia-toned lens. It's gotta feel modern, of the moment."

Inspired by James Cameron's vision of 3D as a medium destined to evolve beyond its "comin-atcha" origins, as well as by the intimacy of Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial 'M' For Murder," Luhrmann became fixated on the idea of shooting the climactic tug-of-war for Daisy's affections at the Plaza Hotel in 3D.

"The noise, the razzle dazzle, it's in the book. But [the whole novel] strips down to five people in a room going, 'You loved him? But I thought you loved me.' It's absolutely pure, simple five-handed drama. And I thought, seeing actors at top click in 3D, just acting, what would that be like?"

Luhrmann shot some tests, liked what he saw and opted to forge ahead. "I went, 'I know there's gonna be noise, eyeball-rolling, a whole lot of easy cheap shots. Go for it, my friends.' But the bottom line is, Fitzgerald wouldn't have looked away from that new step, embracing that modern technique."

As for the notion, floated in some quarters, that the film was shot in 3D to boost box office profits, especially overseas, Luhrmann dismisses it out of hand. "I had to convince the studio in the first place that it was a good idea," he said. (In the end, just 33 percent of domestic ticket-buyers paid extra to see "The Great Gatsby" in 3D during its opening weekend.)

Jay G. Meets Jay-Z

The hip-hop soundtrack, too, stemmed from Luhrmann's understanding of Fitzgerald as an unflinching modernist. "He took African-American street music, jazz, and he put it front and center in the novel," Luhrmann said. "He did that because he wanted the book to feel immediate and dangerous." But the jazz of the 1920s has long since matured into something "classical and quaint," so Luhrmann turned to a newer form: hip hop.

The resulting soundtrack, produced by Luhrmann, Jay-Z and executive music producer Anton Monsted, is already a hit, likely to debut at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200. Just as important, from Luhrmann's perspective, is the seal of approval the music has received from Fitzgerald's granddaughter, Eleanor "Bobby" Lanahan. "This really was Baz Luhrmann's take on 'Gatsby,'" she told The Huffington Post, "and I think he had every right to pump it up with music and make it very lively for our modern ears."

"We Were Like A Theater Company"

Lanahan saw the film at its world premiere in New York on May 1. She liked it considerably more than she'd expected to. "From the trailers, I thought it was going to be a movie on steroids," she said. "Everything was going to be pumped-up, the emotions were going to be exaggerated, they were going to be about as in-depth as Bruce Willis. But I was very happily surprised that the characters were moving. They were touching. I cared about Daisy, actually, and I cared about Gatsby and all of them."

Mulligan's Daisy is a touch more sympathetic than the careless heiress of Fitzgerald's novel, and once again the explanation can be found in the filmmaking team's extensive research. Because the novel is so short -- and so light on dialogue -- Luhrmann, Pearce and the actors drew liberally from Fitzgerald's other works, as well as his unpublished drafts and letters, to flesh out the story.

To play the elusive Gatsby, Leonardo DiCaprio steeped himself in an early draft of the novel, titled "Trimalchio." "When it was time to play a scene, he would read the script, then the passage in 'Gatsby' and then the passage from 'Trimalchio,'" says Dr. James West, who edited the edition of "Trimalchio" published in 2002.

And Carey Mulligan looked beyond the Daisy of the novel, poring over letters by Zelda as well as Fitzgerald's first love, Genevra King. "We were like a theater company, and we literally got all the actors to read and learn everything so that they could call on and invent themselves and collaborate," said Luhrmann.

Inside the Perkins Sanitarium

The biggest character transformation, however, is the one visited on Tobey Maguire's Nick Carraway. In the novel, it's never precisely clear how or why Carraway is telling us all this. And while that's perfectly fine for a book, a film demands greater specificity. If words are going to be said, or displayed on a screen, someone has to be saying them, and that person has to be in some concrete location for some concrete reason.

"We're not going to be able to use much of Fitzgerald's language unless we're actually able to see him writing the book," Luhrmann said he remembered thinking. "Who could he be writing the book with?"

Luhrmann and Pearce toyed with the idea of showing Fitzgerald and his editor, Max Perkins, working together on a manuscript. But they concluded that Perkins would become "too big a character," giving notes and generally interfering, as editors do.

Then they came around to the notion, supported by academic thinking, that Nick is a stand-in for Fitzgerald himself. Both were Ivy League-educated Midwesterners, even if Nick, who turns 30 at the end of the summer of 1922, was a few years older than Fitzgerald.

The notion of Nick as author got a boost when the filmmakers spotted a phrase from Chapter 3 of the novel, where Nick begins a sentence with the words "Reading over what I have written so far … "

"I'd forgotten that," admits Charles Scribner III, the art historian and grandson of Fitzgerald's publisher. "So Nick clearly is writing it out. He's not just a narrator. He's the author."

It was Luhrmann's script assistant, Sam Bromell, who discovered the key to Nick's back story in a draft of Fitzgerald's unfinished novel, "The Last Tycoon." In that early version, the narrator, Cecilia Brady, told her story from inside a sanitarium.

The setting wouldn't have been unfamiliar to Fitzgerald, given Zelda's agonizing struggles with mental illness. "Fitzgerald and Zelda were not strangers to sanitariums," Luhrmann said. "Fitzgerald was not a stranger to being destroyed and decimated by alcoholism."

But the fanatical research team wasn't going to institutionalize Nick Carraway without establishing a historical precedent. Luhrmann located a sanitarium that opened in Topeka, Kansas, in 1925 and met with its former director, Dr. Walter Menninger. Menninger's grandfather and uncle had founded the institution, and Luhrmann asked how patients in those days were treated.

"He said, 'Well, we used to get them to express themselves,'" Luhrmann recalls. "And I'm thinking, Anything else, Walter? I'm thinking, Please say writing. Please say writing!"

As it turned out, "automatic writing" was indeed a favorite technique for encouraging patients to express themselves. And so it was resolved: Baz Luhrmann's Nick Carraway would write the manuscript of "The Great Gatsby" under the supervision of a kindly doctor, based on Walter Menninger, at the Perkins Sanitarium, named for Fitzgerald's famous editor. Luhrmann even shot video of Menninger psychoanalyzing Tobey Maguire, in character as Nick. "That whole thing in the beginning is basically a reproduction of that moment, using an actor instead of Walter," Lurhmann said.

Not everyone in Fitzgerald Land loves the framing device. "That was maybe my least favorite thing," said Bobbie Lanahan, the granddaughter of Fitzgerald and Zelda. "I would have left it open-ended, probably, the way Fitzgerald did."

But Charles Scribner III, who spent part of the 70s correcting the Scribner edition of the novel, considers it "a sheer stroke of brilliance." Luhrmann, he said, "solved the question mark as to 'Why are we hearing this voice?'"

The Buck Stops With Baz

The scholars and insiders quoted here are those who advised the filmmakers or reached out to them after seeing the film to express their approval. There's no question many others will look less kindly on the framing device, the soundtrack, the 3D, the added dialogue and who knows what else.

But one thing they can all agree on is that the credit -- or blame, as the case may be -- belongs to Baz Luhrmann.

"I make all the decisions," he said. "So all those terrible negative reviews? That's my fault. I am responsible for everything in it."

But he's also responsible for a film that, despite profound skepticism and a distinct lack of men in capes and tights, grossed a whopping $51.1 million in its opening weekend during the height of superhero season. It's also scheduled to open the Cannes Film Festival this Wednesday.

"We've been in profound lockstep from Day 1 to try and claim the 'Summer of Gatsby' and to be under the skin of the culture," Luhrmann said. "Is it a battle plan? Yes. But what's so funny is how quickly it goes from 'Oh, they'll get slammed' to 'But of course.'"

"And there's no 'but of course' about it."

]]> Mon, 13 May 2013 09:13:08 EDT 3265327 Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 3, Episode 7 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "The Bear and the Maiden Fair."

We have to start with the bear, right?

That claw mark on Brienne's neck looked pretty fierce. She's gonna feel that in the morning. But I suspect the scar will always remind Jaime and Brienne of the ties that bind them. Clearly, these two are more than just friends at this point, though I'm still not bullish on their romantic prospects.

We know Jaime went back because he realized Brienne was going to be the "entertainment" for Locke and his gang of cretins, but I think something else clicked inside him during that talk with the Josef Mengele of Westeros, don't you? Maybe it was the reminder of his better self -- the self that saved half a million people in King's Landing. Or maybe he just remembered the moment of vulnerability when he told Brienne that story. She's his secret sharer. How could he abandon her to her fate? Of course the news that Locke had turned down her father's ransom of gold because of a lie Jaime had told certainly played a part, too. Maybe knowing he was responsible for her predicament helped him see that he wasn't as powerless as he thought to save her from it.

In any event, the bear fight was good TV, not least because I was entirely prepared to see Brienne get the life knocked out of her right then and there. That's what the beheading of Ned Stark has done to all "Game of Thrones" fans, I suppose. In the end, though, I was glad Jaime rescued her, and I only wish Locke had suffered a more painful comeuppance (though "Sorry about the sapphires" was a pretty good line). Maybe next episode.

You know whose comeuppance has gone far enough? Theon Greyjoy's! Not even the excitement of a threesome followed by a forcible castration can rescue this subplot from Boredomtown. What exactly are we learning here? We still don't know who this anonymous sadist is (I know, I know, read the book!), and it's not as if anyone watching thought to themselves, "Oh, what's this? Two random women just showed up and started having sex with Theon? Everything must be fine now." It was obviously a setup from the beginning, and even though I didn't guess that it was going to end with the emancipation of Little Theon, I probably should have.

I suppose Theon never shared any of his famous sexy-time tips with Jon Snow, since he's now being forced to listen to the Wildling equivalent of Tencious D's "Fuck Her Gently," courtesy of his northern marching partners. He also has to laugh along as Ygritte ruthlessly ridicules his people's namby-pamby military customs -- never mind that his people have successfully driven her people back across The Wall and into a snowy wasteland six out of six times over the past 1,000 years. And never mind the fact that she's so country, she thinks a windmill is some kind of architectural marvel. I felt for Snow when he finally called her out on her naive arrogance. But I loved her romantic response: "You're mine, as I'm yours. If we die, we die. But first, we'll live." Amen, sister!

Poor Bran is the only Stark boy who isn't getting at least some action in this episode. "King" Robb is so eager to get it on with Talisa that he doesn't even pretend to care about making Edmure late to his wedding with the Frey girl. There's a lot of caressing and preening and ass wiggling, and then Talisa informs Robb that she's pregnant. It takes a while since Robb isn't exactly the sharpest sword in the armory, but eventually, he gets the picture and tells her he loves her. Do you hear him? He loves her! But on this show, good news generally presages dire misfortune, so I wouldn't get too attached to these two.

What is Tyrion to do about Sansa and Shae? To Bronn, the answer is simple: "Wed one, bed the other." But Tyrion's a romantic at heart, and at the end of the day, he can't bear to make two women unhappy. Margaery is working on Sansa, explaining to her why an experienced fellow like Tyrion can be a blessing. "We're very complicated, you know. Pleasing us takes practice." (How great is the moment where she decides to lie and say, yeah, she learned everything she knows about sex from her mother?) But it's up to Tyrion to sort things out with Shae, and so far, that's not going too well. Since he doesn't intend to become a juggler on the other side of the Narrow Sea, he has no choice but to do his duty and marry Sansa. "While I empty her chamber pot and lick your cock when you're bored?" Uh, that's not what he meant, but ... kind of? Can't really blame her for storming off, can you?

Elsewhere, Tywin has put Joffrey in his place by climbing the steps and talking down to him. "Oh, yes, Your Grace, we'll be sure to consult you whenever it's necessary, you insolent little shit." Arya has run away from the Brotherhood Without Banners -- and right into the arms of the Hound. And Melisandre has informed Gendry of his royal origins as the bastard son of Robert Baratheon. I think we can safely move on, folks. Nothing to see here but exposition (though I did enjoy that aerial shot of Stannis's sunken fleet in Blackwater Bay).

Instead, let's end with Daenerys and her dragons. Tywin may think (or at least say) there's nothing to fear from this crew, but methinks otherwise -- that is, unless Khaleesi's staunch abolitionism winds up clouding her judgment. I certainly hope she doesn't pay a price for her ideals, because I frankly find it really exciting to think of her as an avenging angel leading an army of liberated slaves to victory over these inbred families with their castles and crests or whatever they have. Maybe the world really will bend to her vision.

And if not, well, remind me: What happens to things that don't bend?

"Game of Thrones" airs Sundays at 9 pm on HBO.

]]> Sun, 12 May 2013 23:39:34 EDT 3264311

"You look around this room and ask, 'What binds the people in this room together?'" New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at Casa Lever on Park Avenue Thursday night. "It's that they're all creators, they're all doers."

Those words certainly applied to the high-powered collection of about 100 artists, developers, moguls and, yes, movie stars (Leonardo DiCaprio! Anna Paquin!) who convened to celebrate a bold new effort to bridge the worlds of art and technology.

The event was co-hosted by Bloomberg and Dasha Zhukova, the 31-year-old art impresario and former magazine editor who has two children with the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovic. Less than a month after giving birth to a baby girl, Zhukova was introducing her next bundle of joy: Circle, a three-day art-and-tech symposium ("I don't like the word 'conference' for it," she said) to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia.

"What Dasha and Roman are doing is bringing the arts and technology together, and that's the wave of the future and they're really making a difference," Bloomberg said.

Circle will take place in July 2014 on New Holland, a 16-acre island in the heart of the city that Peter the Great built and Dasha Zhukova has turned into a vast and bustling art center.

"I think St. Petersburg is an incredibly important city in many respects, obviously," Zhukova told The Huffington Post, "but it hasn't necessarily crossed the bridge to the now. In many ways, it's asleep, and it needs an infusion of young energy. I hope that by bringing this initiative there we can help stir something up."

As any visitor to the Winter Garden galleries in St. Petersburg can attest, Russians have long forged connections with faraway cultures through art, and Zhukova hopes to achieve something similar again. "There are so many creative young people in St. Petersburg that are so hungry and thirsty to learn and to be part of what's going on in the world, and I think art can do that," she said.

Zhukova originally hoped to have the first event this year, but she opted to devote more time to planning. The delayed launch also gives her more time to hand-pick attendees and persuade them to make the trip -- though, judging from the turnout last night, it's hard to imagine who would turn her down.

In addition to DiCaprio, who acknowledged handing out a few catalogues to his upcoming charity auction at Christie's, attendees included IAC chairman Barry Diller and his wife, the fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg; the artist Taryn Simon; "CBS This Morning" co-hosts Charlie Rose and Gayle King; NewMuseum curator Lauren Cornell; Ivanka Trump and her husband, "New York Observer" owner Jared Kushner; Wendi Deng Murdoch; VICE CEO Shane Smith; mysterious investors Jean Pigozzi and Vivi Nevo; and Tumblr founder David Karp.

During his pre-dinner remarks, Bloomberg announced that he was making Zhukova and Abramovic honorary citizens of New York, then joked, "We need a translator. Roman's going to have a heart attack thinking he has to pay taxes." (He also pointed out that Zhukova, who spent much of her childhood in Los Angeles, is already a US citizen.)

That moment of political humor aside, it was an evening of lofty ideals and grand ambitions. Bloomberg, whose term as mayor ends next year, is expected to attend Circle and help recruit talent. And he made his admiration for Abramovic and Zhukova plain in his pre-dinner remarks: "The two of them are great collectors, they are great entrepreneurs, they are changing the arts scene in Russia, and we are thrilled to have them doing the same thing here in New York."]]> Fri, 10 May 2013 14:31:08 EDT 3252456
"The Wikileaks organization and its followers are very much part of a propaganda machine," Gibney says. "Anything you say critically, you'll get slammed. It's not, like, we dispute a few issues here. It's hashtag #FuckAlexGibney."

It's unlikely that many Wikileaks supporters, who unveiled the #FuckAlexGibney meme during this year's Sundance Film Festival, have seen Gibney's film, "We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks." But they know its depiction of the organization's founder, Julian Assange, isn't 100 percent complimentary, and that's apparently enough.

"What I find remarkable, and this is why it becomes sort of a propaganda organization, is that Assange hasn't seen the film, even though he's denounced it," says Gibney, whose 2007 film "Taxi to the Dark Side" won the Oscar for Best Documentary. "Oliver Stone denounced the film and me on Twitter, even though he hasn't seen the film. It's kind of pathetic. Think about it: 'Oh, it's got to be bad because it's critical of Julian.'"

It's not as if the film's depiction of Assange is 100 percent negative. "He had brass balls to do what he did, and I think it's important," Gibney says of Assange. "But in the course of making the film, I was dismayed by the kind of self-regard and narcissism that seemed to overcome him."

Under Assange's leadership, Wikileaks joined forces with The New York Times, the Guardian and other news organizations to expose some of the world's most carefully kept secrets. A shocking video of U.S. forces calling down airstrikes on a group of misidentified Reuters journalists in the streets of Baghdad, released on April 5, 2010, was followed by huge dumps of Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, State Department cables and Guantánamo Bay prisoner files.

The leaks turned the lanky, prematurely gray Assange into a celebrity -- which may have led to his downfall. A pair of sexual encounters with female admirers in Sweden in 2010 led to a criminal investigation after the women compared notes and allegedly grew concerned that he may have exposed them both to HIV. (Gibney's film suggests a weirder possibility: that Assange, who reportedly has fathered four children with various women, may have a thing for spreading his seed around the world.)

Assange and his supporters have suggested that the accusations are part of a conspiracy to lure him to U.S. soil, where he may face charges under the Espionage Act. Going into filming, Gibney, who had previously made a documentary about the Eliot Spitzer prostitution scandal, was inclined to agree.

"From the outside, it seemed like there was some kind of CIA dirty trick because of the timing and everything else," Gibney says. "But I came to the conclusion that this was not at all a 'honey trap.' This was bad behavior. For a long time, I wasn't even sure I should deal with Sweden. It's like, why is that relevant to the transparency agenda? But he made it relevant. He was the one who purposely conflated it."

Gibney generally admires that transparency agenda -- the belief that secrets are anti-democratic and should be exposed when possible. That's why he finds it especially confounding that Assange and his followers seem to be discouraging people from seeing his film and making up their own minds.

"It's funny to me that they often make a big deal out of 'This is not sanctioned by Wikileaks' -- as if being sanctioned by Wikileaks is a prerequisite to seeing the film. I just did a film about the Vatican ['Mea Maxima Culpa']. Who would say, 'This isn't sanctioned by the Vatican, so don't see it?' How ridiculous is that?"

To Gibney, the criticism smacks of hypocrisy. "Wikileaks was supposed to be about the truth -- about the objective truth. It's not supposed to be about slamming people you don't like or slamming people who say you are wrong. That's what the CIA does."

Eventually, Gibney persuaded one of Assange's accusers to appear in the film. Her identity disguised, she describes being smeared by Wikileaks supporters and expresses her frustration with Assange's refusal to appear in Sweden to answer the charges against him. (Assange and his followers have a litany of justifications for his decision to hole up in the Ecuadorian embassy in Britain rather than face those charges, and a lively debate about their merits continues.)

One person Gibney never managed to interview on-camera was Assange himself. They met several times, but Gibney has said Assange demanded to be paid for a formal interview. Gibney refused, and began focusing more on Pfc. Bradley Manning, the soldier who has confessed to transferring the biggest troves of secrets to Wikileaks in the first place.

"He had been vilified early on as a flake … who wasn't thinking about what he did and just dumped everything," says Gibney, who came to believe that Manning had instead acted out of "political conviction."

Gibney's irritation with the Wikileaks attacks on his film pale in comparison to the righteous indignation he feels toward the Obama administration, which has charged Manning with "aiding the enemy," punishable by death. "I find it frankly despicable," he says. "I think they're scapegoating him for a lot of things that were failures inside the military, inside the chain of command."

Gibney points out that Manning, whose military trial is set to begin next month, has pleaded guilty to 10 lesser charges, effectively acknowledging that he was the source for Wikileaks' greatest hits. "I'm not saying that privates should be running out and leaking every bit of classified information they come across," Gibney says. "Manning took an oath not to do that, and he broke that oath and he pled guilty to it. There should be consequences, but not death."

Ultimately, says Gibney, the episode offers a disheartening look at the hypocrisies of another cherished liberal icon: President Barack Obama. "The Obama administration has been ruthless on the issue of secrets. They've gone after whistleblowers in a way that's unprecedented," Gibney says. "The Obama administration is supposed to be the grand experiment in full-on open democracy, and it's just not that way. They've taken the executive power that Bush and Cheney assumed and they've acceded more of that to themselves. They've gone further."

"We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks" opens May 24.

Correction: An earlier version of this story suggested that Assange asked Gibney for $1 million in exchange for an interview. Gibney mentioned that figure in the film, but did not specifically say that Assange asked for that amount. Rather, Gibney said it was the market rate for an interview with the Wikileaks founder.]]> Wed, 8 May 2013 08:00:00 EDT 3233007

Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 3, Episode 6 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "The Climb."

A look at the title of this episode tells you this week, it's all about climbing. Physical climbing, yes, as Jon Snow and Ygritte discover when they finally arrive at the Wall, but social climbing, too. And social climbing is all about relationships, which may explain why this episode is so focused on how well people do or don't get along.

We start with Samwell Tarly and Gilly, the young mother he rescued from Craster's Keep when all hell broke loose. It's obvious he's infatuated with her, though he probably assumes his celibacy vow is safe given the extreme unlikelihood that she would reciprocate. And yet, she's beginning to notice him back. True, he can't build a fire to save his life, but she's already figured out that he's "high born," and now she wants him to sing to her. Note to the fellas: When a girl asks you to sing, you're in the home stretch. Sure, she might just be bored, but something tells me she realizes that this kind young man could be her key to a brighter future.

Bran Stark's band of clairvoyant misfits is slowly approaching the Wall from the opposite direction, but if they're going to get there, they'll need to stop bickering. "You're both very good at skinning rabbits," Bran announces, sounding like a preschool teacher as he strives in vain to make peace between Osha and Meera Reed. Meanwhile, Jojen Reed's visions are literally giving him seizures, but everyone's freaked out by what he sees: Jon Snow "on the wrong side of the Wall, surrounded by enemies."

And now poor Jon Snow has to climb the damn Wall -- all 700 feet of it -- using the bootleg equipment scraped together by his Wildling hosts/captors. At least Ygritte has some crampons he can borrow, although it sounds as if she may have obtained them in exchange for sexual favors. But don't worry, Jon: "He didn't do that thing you do with your tongue." This awkward exchange segues into something more important -- namely that Ygritte totally knows that Jon isn't actually ready to betray the Night's Watch. She doesn't care, as long as he never betrays her. "I won't," he says, semi-convincingly, to which she replies, "Because I'll cut your pretty little cock off and wear it around me neck." I hope they play that line when Rose Leslie gets up to accept her Emmy.

Arya Stark is having less luck with the boy she doesn't seem to realize she likes, though it's obvious to everyone else. She's too busy fantasizing about all the people she wants to shoot in the "face, tits and balls." Unfortunately, Melisandre has plans for Gendry -- plans that, if I know the Red Priestess, probably involve kinky unprotected sex and the conception of some kind of homicidal wraith. I love the part where Arya says, "I don't like that woman," and the dope she's talking to is all, "That's cuz you're a girl, har har." Well, there's some truth to that: Arya does have a lot to learn about what birds and bees do, it seems. Still, she's got Melisandre's number: "You're a witch," she tells her angrily. In response, the Red Queen says this spooky thing: "I see a darkness in you. And in that darkness, eyes staring back at me. Brown eyes, blue eyes, green eyes. Eyes you'll shut forever." I can't remember what color Joffrey's eyes are, but I sure hope one of those pairs belongs to him!

You know who has a pretty twisted relationship? Theon Greyjoy and his tormentor. This guy is just plain sick -- one of those deformed creatures who can only find pleasure in someone else's pain. (Unfortunately for everyone on this show, there's another such fellow sitting on the Iron Throne in King's Landing.) He plays a warped game with Theon, daring him to guess his identity and motivations, but I'm not convinced that Theon's Karstark guess brings us any closer to the truth. If this creep were a Karstark loyal to Robb Stark, why would he say he wants to hunt down Bran? (Also, the Karstarks aren't loyal to Robb Stark anymore, so there would be no reason to keep punishing Theon.) I also genuinely have no idea what he's doing to Theon's little finger. Of all the things this monster says, the only thing I genuinely believe is this: "If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention."

Honestly, I think the same could be said for this whole series.

Could there be a better illustration of the ties that bind Brienne and Jaime Lannister than the image of her plunging a fork into his pork chop so he can cut a piece off with his one good hand? Unfortunately, Sir Roose Bolton plans to separate them. He wants to send Jaime to King's Landing to score points with Tywin Lannister, but he has no intention of sending Brienne along with him. She's kind of in trouble for following orders from Catelyn that were tantamount to treason.

Meanwhile, what would an episode about relationships be without a few marriages? This being "Game of Thrones," of course, they're all politically arranged and super depressing. First up is Catelyn's schmucky brother Edmure Tully, who has to marry one of Walder Frey's daughters to make up for the fact that Robb blew off his promise to do the same. He's bummed, but honestly -- who cares?

Much sadder is the situation at King's Landing, where Sansa is watching her ticket out of hell go up in smoke. She was ready to be an understanding wife to Sir Loras, even if his wedding fantasies only barely made room for a bride (her gown, on the other hand, he has ideas about), but now she has to marry Tyrion Lannister.

The scene in which Tywin and Olenna negotiate Cersei's marraige to Loras is amazing, as are all scenes involving Olenna and everybody. These two veteran operators set about throwing verbal bricks in each other's faces, all without losing their composure or even raising their voices. In an effort to force Olenna to accept the match, Tywin invokes Loras' homosexuality, implying that he finds the young man's "nocturnal activities" stomach-turning. Olenna replies that "two boys having a go at each other beneath the sheets" is far more "natural" than "brothers and sisters" doing the same. "Where I come from," she says, "that stain would be very difficult to wash out." On and on it goes until Tywin pulls out his trump card, threatening to appoint Loras to the Kingsguard, with its requisite oath of celibacy.

"It's a rare enough thing," Olenna replies with more than a hint of admiration, "a man who lives up to his reputation." And with that, she snaps Tywin's quill and accepts defeat.

Elsewhere, Tyrion and Cersei are bonding over their shared marital misfortunes. She even reveals that it was Joffrey, not her, who wanted Tyrion killed at the Battle of the Blackwater. My biggest gripe with this section, though, is that we don't see Tyrion break the news to Sansa and Shae that he'll be marrying the former and not the latter. Too much to hope that they'll come back to this in a flashback?

Finally, we have Varys and Littlefinger being as honest with each other as either of them has ever been. After effectively blaming Varys for his decision to sacrifice Ros to Joffrey's demented perversions (God, I can't wait for that little rat to die), Littlefinger shares the particulars of his worldview -- one so ruthless and bleak that it makes Social Darwinism look like Trotskyism. "Chaos isn't a pit," he says. "Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail, never get to try again. The fall breaks them. Some are given a chance to climb, but they refuse. They cling to the realm, or the gods, or love. Illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is."

Cue Jon Snow and Ygritte reaching the top of the wall. Here's the view Ygritte has been waiting for her whole life for. Having survived an avalanche, and their own climbing partner's decision to cut them loose, they are more sure than ever that they can trust only each other, no one else. Maybe some day, all of this will be theirs.

Or maybe it will belong to Daenerys Stormborn. Where the heck was she this episode?!

"Game of Thrones" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

]]> Mon, 6 May 2013 00:30:44 EDT 3220804

Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 3, Episode 5 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "Kissed by Fire."

You gotta serve somebody, as Bob Dylan sang, and that unpleasant fact of life is bringing misery to all our favorite intrigue artists on this week's "Game of Thrones."

The Brotherhood Without Banners serves the Lord of Light, so when "He" sees fit to let the Hound slice their leader nearly in half during his Trial by Combat, they let the big oaf go -- no matter how much the decision may boil Arya Stark's blood. I actually like the Hound, and I was proud of him for facing his fear of fire. I don't think we've seen the last of him.

You know who else serves the Lord of Light (or, as I like to call him, LOL)? Stannis Baratheon's weird wife, who is completely FINE with his decision to impregnate Melisandre with a homicidal smoke goblin. She's all, "You two kids have fun -- I'm just going to continue this one-sided chat I've been having with these three jars of formaldehyde. In fact, do whatever you want, as long as you don't look at my hideous daughter."

From the way they set up this scene, I was expecting the girl to look like a cross between Jabba the Hutt and the deformed guy from "The Goonies," but instead, her condition looks like the kind of thing that a competent dermatologist could clear up in a week or two.

Stannis is horrible in every way imaginable, so it's almost reassuring to know that he's a dreadful father, too. Who made you that toy boat, sweetheart? Ser Davos? The only sane, competent person in my orbit? Yeah, he's literally rotting in a dungeon. Welp, nice seeing you, honey. Sweet dreams.

So, yeah, Ser Davos is feeling the pain of being loyal to the wrong person in a big way. Even he has to admit that, technically speaking, he is a traitor. Not to mention illiterate. Suddenly, this storyline is veering into Lifetime-movie territory, but at least the kid has a friend now.

Arya's pal Gendry is sick of swearing loyalty to the wrong people, so he's accepted a blacksmithing position with the Brotherhood. Their leader may be a barking-mad religious fanatic who's been resurrected more times than Andy Pettitte's career, but at least he's democratically elected!

Nobody's quite sure who Jon Snow is serving, but Ygritte intends to find out. She steals his sword and lures him into her sex cave, wasting no time executing the nudity clause in actress Rose Leslie's contract. I loved the part where she asks him, "Why are you still dressed?" Ygritte, have you been watching this show? The girls are always naked and the guys are always in armor. That's how we roll around here! And how about Jon Snow proving that he's "that kind of guy" right off the bat? I heartily approve, but I do wonder if these two, having spent untold hours wandering through zombie killing fields, should have considered bathing before flagrantly violating Jon's oath to the Night's Watch.

Speaking of bathing, how about that scene with Brienne and Jaime in the hot tub? First of all, I don't know who Gwendoline Christie's agent is, but all the other actresses on this show need to give her or him a call, because that's probably the first time a character's breasts were visible to another character but not to the camera. Jaime and Brienne are growing ever more fond of each other, and it was great to finally hear his side of the "Kingslayer" story. Faced with the choice between loyalty to a sadistic mass murderer, on one hand, and regicide, on the other, Jaime chose Door No. 2, killing the mad king and earning the disapproval of Mr. Morality, Ned Stark. Will Jaime's unsentimental view of Ned rub off on Brienne and make her question her oath to Catelyn? Could be!

You know who is not having much luck on the loyalty front? Robb Stark. Things have been going down hill ever since he decided to break his pledge to marry Walder Frey's daughter and now, Richard Karstark has gone rogue and slaughtered Robb's underage Lannister hostages. Karstark's still mad that Catelyn sent Jaime away after he killed the old man's son, but now Robb is enraged that these two harmless boys have been whacked against his orders. Everyone warns him not to kill Karstark -- who, in fairness to Robb, is a total dick -- but he does it anyway, chopping the whiny old bastard's head off himself. As predicted, this decision alienates the entire Karstark contingent of Robb's army, leaving him weakened and vulnerable to Tywin Lannister's forces. His only chance is to take Casterly Rock, the seat of House Lannister, which he can only do by winning back Walder Frey. What a pain!

Over in Daenerys Targaryen's camp, Ser Jorah Mormont and Ser Barristan Selmy are already bickering. Selmy has served a bunch of terrible kings, and he just wants someone he can believe in, damn it. He thinks he's found it in Daenerys, and now he's telling Jorah to step aside to protect her reputation. That is just crazy talk, and I'm not just saying that because nobody sounds cooler uttering the word "Khaleesi" than my man Ser Jorah. Anyway, he isn't buying it. "You're no Lord Commander here," he tells Selmy."You're just another exile, and I take my orders from the queen." Whut!

As for Khaleesi, she's getting to know her new soldiers, starting with a handsome fellow named ... Grey Worm. Upon learning that all the Unsullied have been given degrading slave names on snipping day, she orders them all to come up with new ones -- only to have Grey Worm say he'll keep his, thanks, since it's the one he had when he was freed by the great Daenerys Stormborn. (I'll tell you one thing: I'd rather be called Grey Worm than Barristan Selmy.)

Anybody else think the Lannisters should have their own reality show? I mean, they're richer than the "Real Housewives" and five times as dysfunctional. Cersei thinks she's all slick by proving -- with assists from Littlefinger, a saucy rent boy and some very jumpy editing -- that Margaery is scheming to marry Sansa off to her gay brother, Loras. That gets Tywin's attention, and he starts by instructing Tyrion -- who's been busy trying to cover the costs of the impending royal wedding -- to marry Sansa. As always, Peter Dinklage is amazing. You can see that he's hiding his wounded feelings concerning Shae, but his pity for Sansa also feels genuine.

Then Tywin turns on Cersei. She's getting married, too, he informs her: to Margaery's gay brother, Loras! She won't do it, she says. She much prefers being the Queen Regent. And, one supposes, she'd like to keep her schedule open in case Jaime ever turns up. But Tywin will not be defied. "You'll do as I say and marry Loras Tyrell. And put an end to the disgusting rumors about you once and for all," he thunders, before adding, for good measure, "My children. You've disgraced the Lannister name for far too long."

Something tells me he ain't seen nothing yet.

And now, 10 lines we should all be looking for opportunities to use in daily conversation:

• "Just cause you want him inside you don't make him one of us."


• "I like you, boy, but if you lie to me, I'll pull your guts out through your throat."


• "You swore some vows. I want you to break 'em."


• "What good is the word 'extravagant' if it can't be used to describe a royal wedding?" (Once again, every line in Olenna's scene was pure gold. Here's to a satisfying bowel movement, milady!)


• "Kill me and be cursed. You are no king of mine."


• "Every time I come back I'm a bit less. Pieces of you get chipped away."


• "I don't intend to be the first Lannister to die in a bathtub."


• "Burn them all!"


• "It doesn't matter what we want. Once we get it, then we want something else."


• "This is a plot. Plots are not public knowledge."

"Game of Thrones" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.



]]> Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:29:01 EDT 3175830
That's what "Scandal" star Kerry Washington said when I asked if she thinks Washington is especially hot right now, given the convergence of buzz-worthy television shows set here now.

In addition to "Scandal," there's "House of Cards," "Homeland," "The Americans" and "VEEP," and their stars roamed the well-appointed rooms and terraces of the French Ambassador's Residence for the Vanity Fair-Bloomberg post-White House Correspondents Dinner party late Saturday night.

They mingled with a glittering crowd of fellow actors, media heavyweights and real-life power brokers, among them White House press secretary Jay Carney, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, former Rep. Jane Harman, Sen. Joe Manchin, Ambassador Susan Rice, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Sen. Mark Warner and HuffPost guest Gov. Chris Christie.

[See photos from the event at vanityfair.com]

Topic A among the Hollywood crowd was President Barack Obama's masterful speech at the dinner.

"He landed 100 percent of his jokes," actor and funny man Matthew Perry marveled. "One hundred percent!"

It's not as if Conan O'Brien's speech wasn't good. "You killed tonight," Kevin Spacey could be overheard telling O'Brien. "I laughed very, very hard, and so did the president."

The trouble for Conan was that he had to follow a president who absolutely slayed, leading some party goers to wonder if it might make sense to switch the order at future dinners to make things easier on whatever poor soul has to compete with Obama.

But actor Gerard Butler said he thought it would be disrespectful to ask the president to follow a professional comedian. What if the pro brought the house down? Then it would be the president of the United States who had to worry about looking bad.

Fox News White House correspondent Ed Henry, who chaired the event this year, said his association has no say in the order anyway. "The White House controls that," he said. "Usually, the president goes first, though I think Clinton liked to finish, because he liked to have the last word."

The Vanity Fair-Bloomberg affair, co-hosted by VF editor Graydon Carter and New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, is notoriously tough to get into -- so tough that Spacey's Frank Underwood joked about it in the "House of Cards" send-up that opened the dinner program. But those who do make the cut are generally eager to make new friends. The Hollywood people want to meet the D.C. people, and vice versa.

"Newt Gingrich told me his favorite movie is '300,'" Gerard Butler said, still incredulous. "At first, I was polite, like, 'Oh, thank you.' But then I said, 'Wait a minute. You're Newt Gingrich. That's amazing.'"

And O'Brien seized the chance to share his "Game of Thrones" love with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Natalie Dormer, who play Jaime Lannister and Margaery Tyrell, respectively. "I was so upset when that happened," O'Brien told Coster-Waldau, referring to a recent scene in which Jaime suffers a certain physical setback. "I'm telling my wife, 'That's his sword hand!'"

By 3 a.m., the party had thinned out. But a few hardy souls gathered around a baby grand piano, where "Glee" star Darren Criss was leading a singalong with a group of media types including Mother Jones co-editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery, Vanity Fair blogger Juli Weiner and CBS News executive assistant Jackie Alemany.

After burning through "Rehab" and "My Girl" with the group, Criss finished with a heartfelt solo rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star."

This being 2013, several guests shot video of the impromptu recital. Another high-powered guest, whose phone had died, had a simple request.

"If you don't email that video to me tomorrow," she said, "I will hunt you down."

]]> Sun, 28 Apr 2013 09:08:27 EDT 3172875
Director Tom Berninger came up with an instant classic for "Mistaken for Strangers," his new documentary about Brooklyn indie-rock band The National. He asks a member of The National -- whose lead singer, Matt Berninger, happens to be Tom's brother -- if he brings his wallet onstage with him when he performs.

After the film opened the Tribeca Film Festival on April 17, all the writers in the room were smacking themselves in the forehead. Why didn't we think of that?! we kept asking each other.

"He asked a lot of questions like that," Matt, 42, said with a rueful laugh during an interview at the Hilton Fashion District in New York City.

"It kinda came up on the spot," added Tom, who's 33. He got the idea from watching his brother go through his pre-show routine. He puts on a three-piece suit. He drinks "a shit-load of wine."

"You go into this zone," Tom said, addressing Matt directly. "And I just thought, Does he still keep his ID on him? And then I started wondering, Do actors have their Los Angeles drivers’ licenses on them while they’re playing a role?"

"And he had lunch the next day with Robert De Niro, and he didn’t ask Robert De Niro," said Matt.

For the record, Matt does not bring his wallet onstage, though most of the other band members do. "Part of it is that I go out in the crowd a lot, and people look for souvenirs," Matt said.

If these two sound like the kind of brothers who are so close they finish each other's sentences, well, it wasn't always that way. The National comprises five guys: two sets of brothers -- and Matt. He and Tom weren't that close. Tom never liked indie rock. He's a heavy metal guy. For a while, he planned to call the film "For Those About to Weep."

"It's a reference to AC/DC’s 'For Those About To Rock,'" Matt said, "making fun of us for being such a sad-sack band. We kinda thought that was funny."

The Tribeca Film Festival was about to issue a press release announcing that title when executive vice president Paula Weinstein asked Matt and Tom if they were sure they didn't want to change it. It's your last chance, she told them.

Matt's wife, Carin Besser, used to be fiction editor at The New Yorker, and it was her former colleague, editor Willing Davidson, who suggested the title that stuck.

"Mistaken for Strangers," which also happens to be the title of a National song, is a perfect fit for a film that shows how two guys who seem incredibly different on the surface are, when you get down to it, basically the same.

Matt is tall and thin and cosmopolitan; Tom is short and stocky and Midwestern. Matt is reserved and precise and moody; Tom is a sloppy but lovable open book. Matt is a rock star with thousands of adoring fans; Tom is, for most of the movie, a spectacularly inept roadie.

The audience gets to see Tom get fired after missing the tour bus, but some of his real-life misadventures didn't even make it into the final cut. On the very first day he joined the tour, he ripped off the awning of a building in Brooklyn with a U-Haul van.

"The awning that I ripped off was basically an awning store," said Tom.

"Not only did they lose their awning, but people would come up to the awning store and they’ve got this crumpled, shitty, broken awning," said Matt.

In the end, though, Tom and Matt are both artists who've found success by making their pain work for them. Matt had his breakthrough years ago, channeling his frustration over The National's poorly attended club shows into songs whose exquisite bitterness touched fans around the world.

Tom had his eureka moment while editing the film. He'd set out to make something closer to a traditional music documentary, but even he acknowledged that much of what he shot "was so bad." The story he needed to tell, he realized, was his own story: the one where he failed, chose not to give up and ultimately triumphed.

To tell that story, he needed to finish the movie.

He did it with critical assists from Besser and Oscar-nominated editor Marshall Curry, who knew Matt from his previous career in advertising. "Marshall helped us deepen the story a bit, from his bag of tricks," said Besser. "He was the one who told Tom to go interview his parents, which is now such an amazing part of the movie."

In the end, the biggest trick was not smoothing things out so completely that the film lost its rowdy charm. After one too many iterations, "we connected too many dots," Matt said, "and just before the end [Tribeca vice president of programming] Genna Terranova and Paula Weinstein came in and they helped us have faith in that precarious balance, the thing that wasn’t tied up like a bow. ... They were like, you guys, have faith in the blurry version, because that’s where the magic is."

Neither brother gets off easy in the film. They drink, they fight, they call each other names. Sharing all that with the public wasn't exactly comfortable for Matt.

"It’s probably bad for my -- whatever -- image or something like that," Matt said. "But when I saw Tom was actually putting himself way out there, and he was showing very unflattering moments and weak and vulnerable moments of himself … I knew I was in good hands. Especially because my wife was helping craft this thing, and I knew she wasn’t going to make me look like too much of an asshole."

So what advice do these two have for brothers who aren't as close as they'd like to be?

"Shove a camera in somebody’s face and see what happens," said Tom.

"Get two cheap cameras and live on a bus together," Matt added, "and you’ll either end up dead or better friends."]]> Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:00:20 EDT 3159870 His generation, CK brags, watched the president resign on live TV -- and had no idea what was going to happen next!

That piece of surrealist political theater was the climax of a sequence of extraordinary events put in motion by two young Washington Post reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Their investigation of two burglaries inside the Watergate Hotel and Office Building in 1972 forever changed the relationship between the press and the presidency. It also spawned one hit movie, "All the President's Men" (1976), starring Robert Redford as Woodward and Dustin Hoffman as Bernstein.

On Sunday, April 21, Discovery aired "All the President's Men Revisited," a new documentary that looks back on the whole crazy mess. (If you missed it, set your DVR for 10 am ET on Saturday, May 4.) Redford, an executive producer on the new special, spoke to The Huffington Post about what has changed -- and what has gotten even worse -- in the four decades since President Richard Nixon made his teary farewell.

HuffPost TV: What was the impetus for the documentary "All The President's Men"?

Well the impetus was, I was asked by Discovery. They came to me and said, "we'd like to look at this." And my first thought was "No, it's been done. Leave it." Then I thought, Wait a minute. So much time has passed. Maybe there's a difference between the way things were then and the way things are now.

["All the President's Men"] was a film about the hard work of journalists doing something that very few -- if anyone -- was doing at that time, and all the obstacles they had to wade through to get to the truth. To me that was a story worth telling.

Unlike the original film, the documentary really explores the Congressional hearings that were broadcast live on television.

There's a subtle point there that you would hope would have been and taken in by an audience. You saw both sides of the aisle, both parties working together. When you compare that with today and see how the atmosphere around Congress is more of a war zone, you hope that that makes a point by itself without us having to say anything.

One of the things I thought was excellent about the documentary was the diversity of voices. How did you get people like John Dean, who testified against Nixon but went to jail anyway, to cooperate?

I think because of conscience. I like Dean a lot is this film. He's extremely smart and articulate, but he also has a conscience. And that's what you get from the guy. He says "Look, I made a mistake." And when he says in the documentary -- and I think this is one of the most powerful moments -- when [he remembers being asked], "Well how do you expect us to take your word against the president's?" And he said, "I just believe one day the truth will come out." I find that heroic, and I think his ability to have a conscience and look back and say, "I did some things wrong, and I'm acknowledging it and I paid for it and I see it now in a perspective" -- I just feel that's really powerful.

Watergate was a defining event for modern journalism, and "All the President's Men" is said to have launched a million journalism careers. What are your thoughts on the changes that have happened to the profession?

Well first of all, Marcus Brauchli, the man who was for a short time the new editor of The Washington Post, says it very clearly [in the documentary]. He says, "If you compare things today with the way that situation was then, you couldn't have the same thing. You can't have two journalists breaking the story because you've got Twitter." When I was at The Washington Post, it was noisy as hell! People were talking to each other and yelling and smoking. Now you go in there and it's like a morgue in terms of noise. With all the positive effects of the democratization, it's also got some negative sides. Where do you find the truth with so many voices out there telling you what the truth is?

You recently directed a film called "The Company You Keep," in which Shia LaBeouf plays a journalist who is not altogether admirable. You're such an icon for journalists because of "All The President's Men." I can't help but wonder: have you changed your mind about us?

In terms of the personality of journalists, there's a lot of similarities between Shia's character at the beginning and Carl [Bernstein] and Bob [Woodward] in the beginning. They were dogged. They were just going after that story in a very fierce way. They would play off of each other. Bob would be the good guy, Carl would be the guy who would go a little too hard. They had kind of a teamwork thing. Shia is a lone journalist who is out to get the story in a very powerful and talented way, but then you wonder, what is this doing to him? What does he think about what he's doing? He's so driven to get the story. Is it for his own benefit? His own glory? The glory of journalism? In the end you hope that he's evolved to at least think about what he's doing. That's probably going to get a lot of criticism from journalists, because I've found over the years that sometimes journalism has a thin skin. If you're doing "All The President's Men" you're glorifying something, so you're in pretty good shape there. When you start to look hard and say "Well has anything changed? What about today?," you at least raise the question. You leave it to the audience to think about it. And then you get hammered pretty good, because people think, Oh, you're showing journalism in a bad way. Who are you to be talking about us?

We are a loud minority.

Well, I'm glad you're there. Let me just say something. Whatever this is about, my focus on journalism has had an underpinning of its value. I feel that journalism is so important. I think as a citizen I don't take it personally if it seems to go off the mark a little bit here and there, but it's all about respecting the profession.

Speaking of the profession, Roger Ebert's death has prompted a lot of soul-searching about the state of film criticism today. What is your view of his legacy?

I consider him not only an important character, but a friend. I think Roger's big skill was that he was a very good writer, but he wrote in a language that wasn't above anybody's head. It wasn't precious, it wasn't trying to be intellectually impressive. He wrote so that people could hear it. I just found that of tremendous value.

]]> Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:06:39 EDT 3131705 Note: Do not read on if you have not yet seen Season 3, Episode 4 of HBO's "Game of Thrones," titled "And Now His Watch Has Ended."

Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind."

But Muhammad Ali spoke for the characters of "Game of Thrones" when he said, "You kill my dog, you better hide your cat."

Yes, revenge is the theme of this week's episode. Everybody wants some.

The very first image was Jaime Lannister's severed hand, hanging from his own neck. After his left-handed escape attempt fails, he's ready to give up, but Brienne tells him, "You can't die. You need to live. To take revenge." She's right: cutting off the guy's hand for no reason is one thing, but making him drink horse piss -- that's entirely uncalled-for! When Jaime moans that he's got nothing left to live for, she reminds him that he's spent his whole life sucking on a silver spoon: "You have a taste -- one taste of the real world, where people have important things taken from them, and you whine and cry and quit." I may have jumped out of my seat at this moment and applauded.

Tyrion Lannister wants revenge on whoever tried to have him killed. He wants Varys to give him proof that it was Cersei, then complains that he doesn't have enough "influence" to do anything about it anyway. Varys responds by telling the utterly spooky story of how, as a boy, he was neutered by a kinky sorcerer. (I sincerely hope never to hear the phrase "he burned my parts in a brazier" again.) Then, he reveals that the giant wooden box he's been busy prying open contains the old monster. "I have no doubt the revenge you want will be yours in time," he concludes, "if you have the stomach for it."

Some people's appetite for vengeance is more ravenous than others. The Brotherhood Without Banners doesn't feel right executing Sandor "The Hound" Clegane without solid proof that he's at least killed some children or something, so they sentence him to trial by combat. This strikes me as unwise, but maybe the Brotherhood's chieftain Beric Dondarrion has some special fighting skill that will make up for what appears to be a 16-inch height disadvantage.

The rangers of the Night's Watch, by contrast, are starving for retribution -- and the fact that there's sawdust in the bread isn't helping. They're so hungry that the funeral pyre for their fallen comrade smells like Thanksgiving, and the insane ravings of their host (honestly, incest may be the least annoying thing about this guy) finally spark a mutiny. Lord Jeor Mormont seemed like a decent enough fellow, but his willingness to look the other way as Craster impregnated his countless daughters and sacrificed his 99 sons to the Others will probably help the guy who rammed a sword through his back sleep at night. I'm just glad Samwell Tarly had the presence of mind to find his lady friend and her newborn son and spirit them away from the mayhem. Here's hoping they make it to the Wall before the White Walkers find them.

I'm afraid I wasn't too surprised when Theon Greyjoy found himself back on the X-shaped cross, mainly since a bunch of you hinted in the comments last week that something like this would happen. Turns out his mysterious companion practices a very pro-active form of sadism, which I can only imagine is revenge for something or other. Maybe he's a Stark loyalist? If so, I wonder if he'll share the news that Bran and Rickon are alive with Robb and Catelyn. I did feel a speck of sympathy for Theon when he said, "My real father lost his head at King's Landing. I made a choice, and I chose wrong." You really, truly did, you stupid jerk. And now you're paying the price.

And then there was the very best reprisal of all: the one where Daenerys Targaryen sicced her dragon on the foul-mouthed slaver Krasnys and ordered her army of eunuchs to kill their erstwhile overseers. Krasnys seemed to know the jig was up when Khaleesi revealed that she not only comprehends Valyrian, but grew up speaking it. At that point, he had to figure his French waiter routine was going to have serious consequences. Sorry, sucker: Dragons aren't slaves, and this one just torched your ass.

I spent about five seconds wondering how the Unsullied managed to distinguish between the people they were supposed to kill and Daenerys' friends, and another five asking myself how it's possible that not one of these 8,000 men was like, "You guys have fun -- I'm gonna spend the rest of my life doing watercolors and working on my suntan." But then I decided it was much more fun to watch the pretty pictures of justified bedlam. As the three dragons soared above the plain where Daenerys' army marched, one thing was clear: these Starks, Lannisters and Baratheons have no idea what's about to hit them.

And now for some stray observations:

• "I don't think I've ever seen a man drink horse piss that fast." T-shirt, please!


• "Prodigies appear in the oddest of places." Varys' line about Podrick, coupled with this show's persistent fascination with gender-role reversals, made me think King's Landing could soon play host to its own Magic Mike.


• "There aren't more than 700 people of any importance." This reminds me of Mark Halperin's old theory about how a Gang of 500 influencers actually drives the national political conversation. The precise number may change, but I think there are a lot of people in the world's power centers -- D.C., New York and beyond -- who really believe this to be true, and they're all as sickeningly out of touch as Cersei is.


• Speaking of gender-role reversals, I liked the way Olenna Tyrell got Cersei thinking about what a "ridiculous arrangement" patriarchy is. And I loved the way Tywin slapped down her newfound feminism by remarking, "I don't distrust you because you're a woman. I distrust you because you're not as smart as you think you are." Also: He more or less promised to cut Joffrey down to size, which is something I think we'd all like to see.


• I enjoy watching Margaery play Joffrey like a warped violin, and I enjoy the pain it causes Cersei. That said, I expect Cersei ("you mean the Queen Regent?") to put her anti-Margaery campaign into overdrive. I also expect the ensuing battle to be highly enjoyable.


• This was a great episode all around for Varys, who is growing on me (like a non-existent ... never mind). A few weeks back, I was wondering what Littlefinger wanted with Sansa Stark, and now we have the answer: a queen who could make him King of the North. The solution is obvious to Varys and Olenna both: Sansa must marry Margaery's brother, Loras. Sansa seems to like the idea, but I suspect she'll be a bit less enthusiastic when she finds out the dude likes boys.


• Plot points aside, has there ever been a better-written scene of dialogue than the one between Varys and Olenna? It started with "a spider in the garden" and got better from there. "What happens when the nonexistent bumps into the decrepit?" "Actually, I rather enjoy him. But he would see this country burn if he could be king of the ashes." Somebody give these two a spinoff!


• "You're a bastard. A daughter-fucking, wildling bastard." I wouldn't wear this on a shirt, but I might put it on my refrigerator.


• For the record, I still think The Hound and Arya will team up.

"Game of Thrones" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO.

]]> Sun, 21 Apr 2013 21:55:03 EDT 3128861
Last month, Friedkin, who is married to former Paramount Pictures chief Sherry Lansing, visited HuffPost Live and talked about the complicated legacies of his gay-themed films "The Boys in the Band" and "Cruisin'." Last week, I had the chance to ask him about his classic films "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist," which turns 40 this year. As you'll see, he didn't exactly pull any punches.

Michael Hogan: "The Exorcist" is one of my favorite films ever, and I think it's fascinating that you say you never set out to make a horror film.

William Friedkin: We knew it would be disturbing. Demonic possession and exorcism -- that's not your average Adam Sandler movie. But ["The Exorcist" novelist and screenwriter William Peter] Blatty and I never spoke about it being a horror film. We talked about it being a film about the mystery of faith. When it first started to come out that critics and viewers saw it as a horror film, and a great horror film, we both went through a rationalization, which was that it's one way of dealing with it. Just dismiss it as a horror film.

But if you examine what it's really about -- while it is disturbing -- so is the whole idea of Christianity! Beginning with the immaculate birth and then the crucifixion, all of those are beyond most people's ability to comprehend. And then the resurrection -- that's the basis for a horror film! But Blatty and I accept that people view it as a horror film. OK, it runs every Halloween somewhere. And on October 30, there's going to be a new version of it that will premiere at the Smithsonian.

For its 40th anniversary, right?

Yeah. You know, there aren't that many films -- or horror films -- that get re-released like that. So there's clearly more to it than just a horror film. It reaches people on very profound levels.

Does horror to you have B-movie connotation?

I don't think in those terms, for the most part. But there are some horror films that I think are legitimate horror films that I think are quite good. "Alien," "Rosemary's Baby," there's a Japanese film called "Onibaba" -- and "Psycho," of course.

What about "Halloween"?

It's OK. I'm not gonna knock it. I mean, I really enjoyed it. That's probably not the right word. I thought "Halloween" was engrossing. But then what tends to happen is all these sequels and rip-offs where they just diminish the value of the original. And that's happened to "The Exorcist." John Nance Garner, the vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt, famously said, "The Vice Presidency isn't worth a bucket of warm spit." Well, there isn't one sequel to "The Exorcist" that's worth a bucket of warm spit. "The Exorcist 2" is one of the worst films I've ever seen. It's terrible. I find it worse than terrible; I find it disgusting.

It must upset you that a film you put so much care and pride in would have its legacy tarnished that way.

No, it didn't upset me. I basically regard the films I make as very close to relatives or children. But I don't equate those films with what somebody else ripped off. I had nothing to do with them. If I had, I would be ashamed.

Didn't Blatty direct "The Exorcist 3"?

It was originally titled "The Legion," and it was based on a book Blatty wrote. But the studio, Morgan Creek, decided to call it "Exorcist 3." Blatty had sold them the rights, and that was one of their rights. They called it "Exorcist 3," and what can I say? I love Blatty, and I owe a great deal to Blatty, as I say in the book. But to me all the sequels are unwatchable.

You're one of the inventors of the modern car chase. Can you talk to me a little bit about that?

Yes. I can tell you that if I had seen any of the chases in Buster Keaton's films before I set out to do chase in "French Connection," I never would have attempted to do it. Those scenes are works of art. I don't know how he did most of them, but they actually had to go out and do all that stuff. There were no special effects that you could employ, other than in the camera. I tried to avoid all of that. I tried never to even to change the camera speed, with the exception of one shot in the "French Connection" chase, which is a backward-motion shot pulling away from the rear of a stationary train. The only way I could get the oncoming train to crash into it was to do it as a backward-motion, high-speed shot. But that was all done in the camera and it wasn't dangerous. Virtually everything else in "The French Connection" and "To Live And Die In LA" and "Jade" chase scenes was dangerous. And I wouldn't go about them in the same way today. It was just by the grace of God that nobody was injured or killed.

Looking back on it, do you think it was too risky?

Yes. It was. But I have to admit that I didn't think about that at the time. But I also had enough confidence that it would work, that I could pull it off. And that people would not get hurt. We rehearsed everything before we shot it to make sure it was doable. But it was also made one shot at a time. I look at a chase scene like knitting. One stitch at a time. Knit one, purl two. I think the chase scenes I see today are spectacular, but most of them are done on a computer. If I were doing one today I would use the computer too. I wouldn't go out and do that stuff mechanically and put people's lives at risk.

Didn't you do the "French Connection" chase without permit?

Most of it. I don't remember getting a permit for anything, except we got permission from the guy who was representing the transit authority to film on an elevated train. He obviously wouldn't let us crash the train, but that was accomplished by an under-the-table payment.

]]> Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:50:52 EDT 3085477 Let's Face the Music and Dance" is heavy on covers from the the 1930s, the decade when Nelson was born. The singer-songwriter, actor and activist has composed some of the most indelible tunes of our times (did you know that he wrote "Crazy," popularized by Patsy Cline?), but it's a pleasure to hear him breathe new life into these sturdy old numbers, and a relief to know that his vocal and guitar stylings are aging like fine Kentucky bourbon. (Yes, he's from the Lone Star State, but who's ever heard of Texas bourbon?)

Nelson recently visited the South by Southwest festival in Austin, where he played a modern St. Nick in the indie film "When Angels Sing," and he told a reporter there that he supports gay marriage and finds the controversy over legalizing it "ridiculous," adding, "Let's get off that and talk about guns." Well, we took the opportunity to ask him about guns and a whole lot more. Read on to find out what Willie thinks of federal gun-control efforts, the prospects for legalized marijuana, the rising young boxer who shares his name and what really happened in Nashville to him and Paul.

Your birthday's coming up on April 26, and you're celebrating with a new album. What else do you have planned?

I haven't really thought about it that much. I think other people seem to have more plans than I do. So I'm really just waiting to see what everyone else plans, and then I'll do a little duckin' and dodgin', probably.

The album focuses on the 1930s. Is that because you were born in 1933?

No, but thanks for bringing that up. I didn't realize that. [Laughs.] It's Irving Berlin and the classic face of music and dance, and that was his era.

What's the biggest thing that has changed for you since you wrote "On The Road Again" back in 1979?

I think things have gotten better. We're traveling in new buses these days. The crowds are still good, everyone seems pretty healthy. I really believe that music brings people together. They come a long way to clap their hands and sing along, so it must be just as therapeutic for them as it is for me, because I send out a lot of energy and they send it back.

Are there ever songs you get tired of playing after all these years?

Not really. With this short-term memory, I forget what I did last night.

Do you have a favorite song that you just can't wait to get to every night?

Years ago I did an album called "The Great Divide." I really enjoyed singing the title song back then, and then I sort of got out of the habit of doing it after [guitarist] Jodi Payne retired. But I'm back doing it every night, because I like doing the song better than I thought I did.



I heard a rumor that you park the tour bus at your house and sleep in there. Is it true?

Well, it depends on if there's anybody waiting for me at the house. If my wife is there and she's sleeping, I just might sleep in the bus until she wakes up. Normally I go home. But the back of the bus has been home for a long time, too.

One of my favorite songs of yours is "Me & Paul," which chronicles your adventures with your drummer, Paul English. Have you two gotten in any trouble since you wrote it?

Well, the good news is that Paul is still back there and we still do the song every night. There were times along the way when I wasn't sure either one of us would still be there, but here we are.

In the song, you sing, "Nashville was the roughest, but I know I've said the same about them all." What exactly happened in Nashville?

If you're a young songwriter in Nashville and nobody knows you, you have problems to begin with. The odds are always stacked against you. By then I was doing well in the rest of the world, and by that I mean Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. I was doing all right there, but when I got to Nashville very few of those folks had been to my show or knew who I was. So I had all of those walls to break through. Waylon [Jennings] had the same problem. They didn't like our lifestyle, and they didn't like the fact that we'd let our hair grow, etc. There were many things back in those days that frankly I don't think exist to any great degree now in Nashville. I go back there all the time and have a lot of friends there, and enjoy doing it. It was rough at one time. It's not rough at all now. A few of those little guys are still around, but no so many.



You're from Texas where people are very protective of their right to bear arms. What's your view on gun control in the wake of the shootings in Newtown and elsewhere?

Well, my honest opinion is, I don't think we need to have any of those guns that will fire a hundred times a second. I don't think we need that. But the other side of that is, they do exist. And the old saying around Texas is: "If you got one, I want one." They used to kid Ray Price and Ernest Tubb because they were highly competitive, and they used to say that if Ernest Tubb got a battleship, Ray Price would want an aircraft carrier. It's kinda like, whatever you've got, I want too. I don't want you to have an advantage. But where does it stop? Are you gonna get a bazooka? Do I get a drone?

Do you think the federal government needs to do something?

I don't think the federal government needs to do anything but shut up for a while and let the people vote in and vote out who they like and don't like. I think the federal government has kinda got a negative image at this point because they tend to tell you what to do and me what to do. I don't like that. My old friend D.C. Cooper says, "It's my mouth, I'll haul coal in it if I want to." I think that should be the attitude everyone should think about -- that my rights and your rights are more important than what some old guy over in somewhere thinks we oughta be doing.

What about pot policy? I know you're active in that. Do you think there's hope? Do you think we're going to get to a place where marijuana will be legalized?

Oh, yeah, I think it's only a matter of time. The economy going off is going to help it a lot. There's money there, and anyone with any brains at all can say, Why do you want the criminals to make all the money off of this when it's proven that it won't kill you unless you let a bale of it fall on you?

Are you a boxing fan, by any chance?

Oh, yeah.

Have you heard about the boxer Willie Nelson? He's 25 years old and he had a first-round knockout last month.

Well that's great, I'm glad to hear it. I have never met him, but I'm obviously his biggest fan.

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