Talk about a media blitz. After years of work and months of screenings, Errol Morris‘ new documentary, Standard Operating Procedure, is now engaging in weeks of publicity. This harrowing film about the Abu Ghraib prison scandal just premiered in New York — it opens here on May 2 — but you’ve probably already heard about it by now through any number of magazines or newspapers.
While Morris has not been press-shy in the past, he’s hardly had this kind of blanket exposure with his previous films. But, with the controversial subject matter and the fact that this is his first feature film since he won the 2004 best documentary Oscar for The Fog of War, it’s no surprise that Morris and Sony Pictures Classics are doing the full marketing push.
I’m not kidding. Ever since he dropped his day job as a torture enabling evil genius, not only has he emerged as an ace TV analyst, but he just seems like a swell guy. A friend of mine still in college reported that when Rove was on campus giving a speech recently, he dropped by to sit in on her political journalism seminar—”and he couldn’t have been nicer!” I think that means he didn’t threaten to waterboard anybody.
It was apparently in that spirit that Krazy Karl agreed to sit down for an interview with On Harvard Time, a student-run online comedy news show. (Yes, it goes as badly as you’d expect.)
Earlier this month, Boston Daily got to see 21, the movie based on Ben Mezrich’s bestselling book, Bringing Down the House, which opens nationally tomorrow. We evaluated the film based on how accurately it captured Boston, but didn’t give away much of the plot.
If you’ve seen any of the previews, you probably know all there is to know about 21. The New Republic’sChristopher Orr suspected as much, and wrote a review based solely on the trailer and the cast list on IMDb, and it’s pretty freaking accurate.
Boston Common is one of our favorite outdoor places in the city. During the winter, it’s fun to watch college students sled on stolen cafeteria trays. We stroll through the park on the first warm days of spring, and watch the tourists feed the obese squirrels during the summer. Even the crinkling leaves that line the sidewalks during the fall make us happy.
Apparently, we aren’t alone in our love for the Common. City officials are considering ending large-scale events in the park because the huge number of visitors are ruining it.
Boston Daily has a lot of love for town newspapers. Not only do they pick up important stories that the big papers miss (Godspeed, Mr. Gobbles), but many of us got our start writing for local papers.
So you can understand our indignation when we heard that the creator of The Office was hurling insults at the Lowell Sun.
Last night’s special screening of On Broadway reminded us that despite its big-city status, Boston is a surprisingly small town. As we entered the lobby of the Regal Fenway Cinemas, we caught a glimpse of our first love, Joey McIntyre, as he mugged with writer-director Dave McLaughlin and fellow costar Mike O’Malley. And when we took our seats in the theater, we saw a woman who looked oddly familiar.
As it turns out, we’ve been close to Joey Mac for months and never even knew it.
It’s become a tradition for Bostonians to try and catch the Dropkick Murphys on St. Patrick’s Day. But much like trying to get Red Sox tickets the day of a game, it’s nearly impossible. You find yourself saddling up to the bar at the Cask, humbled and defeated.
But you have another option this St. Patrick’s Day. Don Imus is coming to town for his 9th Annual “Kiss Me I’m Imus” broadcast.
There’s a funny story making its way around the internet right now. The thrust involves Lindsay Lohan, everyone’s favorite Newton filmmakerEli Roth, and a chance encounter in Hollywood that didn’t end quite the way the tabloids (or Boston Daily) might have wanted.
Apparently, Lohan — and this will shock you — was checking out Roth the other night before ultimately concluding that he’s too old to defile her. (Lohan is 21, while Roth will turn 36 next month.)
Last night, several of your friends at Boston Daily and Boston magazine headed to the AMC Loews on the Common to catch the Boston premiere of 21, the movie based on Ben Mezrich’s book Bringing Down the House. (Read all about Mezrich in this month’s issue of Boston magazine.)
The film’s producers lauded local politicians for their tax breaks that allowed the movie to be shot on location in Boston and Cambridge. While we’re always happy to see our city representing on the big screen, we’re still cynical New Englanders. So we kept our eyes open for anything that wasn’t quite right.
We don’t reap the benefits of being a two-newspaper town only when it comes to the MBTA cutting bus trips or when a convicted murderer is upset her sex change hormoneshave been withheld. It also matters on stories that should be puff pieces.
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is in Maynard this week, building a handicapped-accessible home for a man who nearly died in a car accident and has been unable to live in his home since. The Globe tells us that everything is moving along swimmingly, while the Herald digs up some dirt on one of the project’s volunteers.