Gloves off – Republican presidential hopefuls duke it out in Iowa. The Help. KPCC film critics Lael Lowenstein and Claudia Puig join Larry to review the week’s new film releases including The Help, 30 Minutes or Less, Final Destination 5, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie and more. TGI-FilmWeek! The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley.
Gloves off – Republican presidential hopefuls duke it out in Iowa
Eight of the candidates for the Republican presidential ticket faced off in a nationally televised debate last night. Notably absent was Texas governor Rick Perry – who neatly sidestepped the fray by not officially declaring his candidacy until tomorrow. But for those who made the scene -Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Ron Paul, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum – the stakes were high. Campaign watchers have predicted that it’s time for the gloves to come off in this fairly polite race, and last night they did, at least for a few contenders – Minnesotans Bachmann and Pawlenty went toe-to-toe for much of the first portion while the less scrappy watched from the sidelines. Gingrich spent more time sparring with moderators over the questions, while front-runner Romney emerged relatively unscathed. The candidates’ performances last night - and the results of the Ames Straw Poll to be held tomorrow - might finally shake some of the laggers out of the race for good. But once the dust has settled on this rodeo, will late-comer Perry gallop in and steal the show?
Guests:
Kyle Kondik, Communications for University of Virginia’s Center for Politics. Kondik is attending the Iowa debate
Ron Nehring, Former chairman of the California Republican Party and Republican strategist, commentator and lecturer.
Dan Schnur, Director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California
The Help
The release of the new movie “The Help” highlights the relationships between domestic workers and their employers. In the book by Kathryn Stockett that the movie is based on, these relationships are extremely complex, tinged with racial prejudice, and fraught with abuse - but also tender, rich, and multi-faceted. Whether your experience is that of an employer or an employee, the relationship between the two has the potential for being deep and close, especially if the employee spends great deal of time in the home. If you have had powerful relationships of this kind, share your experiences on the program. Have you been in an employee-employer relationship yourself? Did your parents or grandparents have help that you bonded with as a child? How have these relationships shaped and changed your life?
FilmWeek: The Help, 30 Minutes or Less, Final Destination 5, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie and more
KPCC film critics Lael Lowenstein and Claudia Puig join Larry to review the week’s new film releases including The Help, 30 Minutes or Less, Final Destination 5, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie and more. TGI-FilmWeek!
Guests:
Lael Loewenstein, film critic for KPCC and Variety
Claudia Puig, film critic for KPCC and USA Today
The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley
During the Depression Era, Hollywood’s grandiose productions brought infinite comfort to the American public. One of the greats of this era was Busby Berkely, the visionary choreographer, famous for creating very unique visually explosive musical numbers based on geometric kaleidoscopic patterns. Berkeley used as many showgirls as he could find and filled the screen with dazzling props. Though he had no formal dancing training, Berkeley’s genius earned him the nickname of “Dr. Buzz, the show fixer”. In his new book “Buzz: The Life and art of Busby Berkeley” author Jeffrey Spivak explores the artist’s great successes as the choreographer of movies like “Gold Diggers” (1933) or “42nd Street”(1933), as well as his battle with drugs and alcohol and his involvement in a gruesome car accident that killed three people.
Guest:
Jeffrey Spivak, author of Buzz: The Life and Art of Busby Berkeley; film and travel writer