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Brave New Jersey-sp

Most people have heard about of Orson Welles’ famous 1938 radio broadcast which simulated an invasion of the Earth by hostile aliens from Mars. The invaders were supposed to have landed in New Jersey. The broadcast was perceived by many people as real and there were stories of people fleeing their homes in panic.

This movie imagines how the people in a peaceful town appropriately named “Lullaby” might have responded. Local people were convinced that they were facing a deadly enemy, which they had to deal with themselves before any soldiers might come to their aid. Each person had to face this or her potential end of life. The local reverend, Ray (Dan Bakkedahl) had to examine his faith in God and his strength to lead his flock at such a time. Paul Davison (Sam Jaeger), the rich benefactor of the town had to deal with his own instincts to flee and leave his family at the time of a crisis. His wife Lorraine (Heather Burns) must consider if she will acknowledge what she has always known about her husband and where her true love really lies. Perhaps the person who most rises to the occasion that he never knew was inside himself was the town mayor, Clark Hill (Tony Hale from Veep fame) who among other things had to decide if he was ready declare his romantic feelings to a married woman.

As you can see there are many subthemes and while they all don’t quite flow together, director and co-writer Jody Lambert with Michael Dowling have come up with an original twist on a classical piece of radio history. They have chosen excellent actors, many of whom will be instantly recognized by their previous work. There also were wonderful performances by some of the child actors in the movie. The music background suggests a hint of a science fiction atmosphere which seems appropriate. This movie is quite unique and it may very well capture the imagination of the viewing public. (2017)

Private Parts- nf-   Howard Stern who refers to himself as “ King of All Media,” in addition to this 1997 film and another one a few years later, has a best selling 1993 autobiography also called Private Parts, a ground breaking radio career which was topped off by a 2004 $500 million dollar contract with Sirius Radio on which he currently appears on several of their channels, has had various TV shows and is now a regular judge on the popular TV show America’s Got Talent. This movie is produced by Ivan Reitman and directed by Mary Thomas. It features Stern playing himself (except some of the brief scenes of him as a child) and it follows his life and career through college and his early radio jobs in Westchester, Hartford, Detroit, Washington and then WNBC in New York. It shows how after a few false starts, he eventually found his voice and modus operandi which was talking about himself and his private parts, his sexual fantasies and just about anything else that entered his mind. This was cutting edge at the time to the consternation of radio executives and the FCC. One of those executives was a program director at NBC, who Stern nicknamed Pig Vomit and is magnificently depicted by Paul Giamatti in this film. Today the forbidden language and the various bits that were deemed outrageous at the time would be old hat on satellite radio. The freshness of his frank language in the film seems quite dated and at times quite juvenile (it probably always was the latter) but in the story that is being told which includes some actual video clips, it is quite clear how he captured the imagination and enthusiasm of a very large numbers of listeners who became his fans and have given him ratings off the charts. This movie is a also a tender love story about Stern and his first wife Allison, played by Mary McCormack to whom he was married for 23 years with 3 children. They were separated two years after this film was made and Stern married Beth Ostrosky in 2008. Also played by themselves in the movie are Robin Quivers, Fred Norris and Jackie Martling who have been part of his radio team for many years. The now 60-year-old Stern has clearly not finished his run. This movie, which was made at a time that he was exploring how he could project his persona into still another media, now stands as a historical recounting of the beginning of a most remarkable career. It is well worth seeing as a poignant tale of a a “slightly misfit” creative and courageous man “ahead of his time.”(1997)