THE BEST INTERVIEWS OF 2008

Here’s a list of the interviews I enjoyed the most during the past year. I only included interviews that were live and in person, which leaves out some memorable phone interviews by the likes of Nelly Furtado and Katy Perry. Oh, and I think it will be more interesting if we countdown to number one. Shall we?

10. Kate Hudson & Matthew McConaughey, “Fool’s Gold”:

For once, I didn’t mind it when two stars were paired up. They had an easy chemistry together that made for a fun interview.

9.  Ashton Kutcher & Rod Corddry, “What Happens In Vegas”:

Ashton was very funny, especially when telling a story about how he was watching an old episode of  “That 70’s Show” at a hotel, making the maid think he was a bit conceited.

8.  Paris Hilton & Christine Lakin, “The Hottie And The Nottie”:

Notable because I sat next to Paris, who I had never seen in person. Turns out co-star Christine did most of the talking. When the interview was over, there was a moment when Paris stood up but didn’t leave the room. I think she was waiting to see if anyone wanted an autograph, which I thought was thoughtful of her.

7.  Matthew Fox, “Speed Racer”:

The “Speed Racer” interviews took place in the Long Beach Convention Center, while time trials for the Long Beach Grand Prix went on outside. So every minute or so, there was a loud vroom noise. But I didn’t mind because not only did I get to ask Matthew a question about his work on “Lost,” he became the second “Lost” star to sign my Season One “Lost” DVD set.

6.  Sarah Michelle Gellar, “The Air That I Breathe”:

Totally charming in person, plus she gave a memorable defense of her decisions to appear in unusual roles in small indie projects.

5.  Sir Ben Kingsley, “The Wackness”:

One of the world’s greatest actors gives a 20 minute class on being a great actor.

4.  Jason Castro, “American Idol”:

I sat in on Fred Bronson’s interviews with all of this year’s “Idol” finalists and I enjoyed listening to Jason the most. Yes, David Cook’s thoughtfulness and smarts explained why he was doing so well choosing songs and David Archuleta’s sweetness and love of music shone through, but Jason’s laidback persona was the most enjoyable of all. Plus it was amazing to hear first hand the story of how little he had performed before he reached the “Idol” stage and even more amazing to hear his hints that he was ready to go home.

3.  David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson, “The X-Files”

Mulder & Scully, together again…. even if they did disagree with the basis of my question about how after all the times Mulder saved Scully on the show, it was nice to see the tables turned in the movie (David insisted Scully was always coming to Mulder’s rescue during the series’ run).

2.  Kristin Bell, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”:

My first chance ever to interview Kristin, who was as lovely and funny as, well, Veronica Mars. Plus she signed my Season One DVD set of “Mars,” making up for the fact I had nothing to get autographed when I found out Kristin was doing a signing at the San Diego Comic-Con a few years back.

1.  Russell Brand, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”:

Like many Americans, I had never heard of British comedian Russell Brand before I saw “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” which was one of my favorite movies of the year,  in no small part due to Brand’s hilarious performance. But I assumed that the outrageous rock star persona in the film was an excellent acting job, never thinking for one second that what was on the screen was actually close to the real Russell Brand. But Russell walked in the room in all his leather panted glory and proceeded to give one of the funniest interviews ever. In the radio room, we try not to laugh when the interview subject is talking but this was one day when we had no chance not to!

MY FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2008

As my loyal readers know, my job covering movie junkets  lets me see many movies for free every year. In fact, the only movie I paid to see this year was “Iron Man.” Fortunately, most of the movies I wanted to see (the big summer extravaganzas), I got to cover. Unfortunately, I also had to see a lot of very bad movies for the job, making it a lot easier to come up with a “Worst Of 2008″ list. You ‘ll see that list in an upcoming post.  I’m still haven’t seen many of this year’s Oscar hopefuls, so there aren’t many of those in my top ten. Not that I like many of the Oscar hopefuls each year anyway…

Without further ado…

1.  “THE DARK KNIGHT” – I loved how director Chris Nolan set this in the real world, full of breathtaking shots of Gotham City. Exciting action and a lot to think about to boot. Plus if you think a movie is only as good as its villain, this was the best movie ever!

2.  “FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL” – “Tropic Thunder” may be funnier overall, but this gets the nod because of the well done romantic arc  (even I would have picked Mila Kunis over my beloved Kristin Bell in these circumstances) and the use of Hawaiian locations.

3.  “IRON MAN” – I have friends who enjoyed this more than “The Dark Knight” because of the comedic scenes. I think the comedy and Robert Downey’s gleeful performance has obscured the fact that this too was an example that superheroes done seriously are superheroes done right! You will believe a man can fly…

4.  “TROPIC THUNDER” – Loved the Hollywood jokes as well as the well directed action scenes. And yes, it’s just comedy but Ben Stiller got some of the year’s most daring performances from Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise…

5.  “FROST/NIXON” – I was fascinated by the give and take between the characters. A true thriller without a punch thrown or gun shot…

6.  “THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM” – An exciting stew of everything I like about martial arts movies featuring a great fight between the masters Jackie Chan and Jet Li…

7.  “GET SMART” – The surprise of the year. I thought this was going to be terrible, and it turned out that everything taken from the TV series didn’t work. Steve Carrell played a smarter Maxwell Smart, but that didn’t stop him from getting into hilarious trouble. And like “Tropic Thunder,” the actions scenes worked well.

8.  “RAMBO” – And speaking of action scenes, I have to admit I enjoyed seeing Sly mowing down the bad guys in the violent finale. A true trip back in time to the 80’s moviewise…

9.  “QUANTUM OF SOLACE” – A bit of a disappointment when compared to “Casino Royale,” thanks to jittery editing in the early action scenes and a villain who really shouldn’t be able to go toe to toe with Bond in the final fight. But hey, I love action movies and the sheer immense rediculousness of the action and Daniel Craig’s emotionally closed-in portrayal of Bond made it enjoyable…

10.  “HANCOCK” – Yes, this movie was not as good as it could have been. But I still enjoyed the idea of a homeless, lost superhero and the centerpiece fight between Will Smith and Charlize Theron was a knockout…

MY FAVORITE SONGS OF 2008

I’m currently working as a researcher on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.” As part of my work, I’m scanning the internet for “Best of 2008″ lists, and that reminded me to put together my own. First up, my favorite songs of 2008.

What fascinates me about this list is that in recent years, most of my faves have been songs I’ve heard on country radio. This year, just two of the songs have been country hits, and one of those was also a smash on the pop and rock charts (you’ll also notice that the only song among the ten that wasn’t a hit single is a country album cut). So 2008 goes down as the year when pop music came back!

Here’s the list:

1.  “Love Song” – Sara Bareilles

I think my first exposure to this song came when I saw the clever video late at night on VH-1, but it was hearing it on the radio that made me a fan. This wasn’t the only catchy song on her album either.

2.  “Tattoo” – Jordan Sparks

Love her vocal on this. Her duet with Chris Brown on “No Air” just missed out on making my top ten.

3.  “Bleeding Love” – Leona Lewis

I admit it… I didn’t think much of this song when I first heard it (which was before it started getting airplay in the U.S.). I thought the song was too simple. But it grew on me after I heard it a few times on the radio and after that, I never once grew bored with it even after months of saturation airplay.

4.  “Love Don’t Live Here” – Lady Antebellum

With Keith Urban’s new album yet to be released, I didn’t have one of his patented love ballads make it into my top ten this year. So this was my favorite country song of the year, a great rocker that’s perfect to sing along to in the car.

5.  “Better In Time” – Leona Lewis

Did I mention that Leona Lewis’ album “Spirit” was my favorite of the year? This is what Mariah and Whitney used to do: put out albums where every song is a killer, there’s plenty of diversity among the music and you can sing along to every one. Oh, and in a brief meeting with Leona at the American Music Awards, you could tell she was a real sweetheart.

6.  “Hot N Cold” – Katy Perry

Speaking of great female pop music, this artist is the closest thing we have to the glory days of Cyndi Lauper and the Bangles. Fun stuff!

7.  “The Time Of My Life” – David Cook

I liked this song the very first time I heard it, which was live at the Nokia Theater during the “American Idol” finale. But it was always a joy to hear it whenever it came on the radio.

8.  “Love Story” – Taylor Swift

While I enjoyed every single off of her debut album, I think she topped it with her new one. The sky’s the limit for her!

9.  “Very Last Country Song” – Sugarland

After Sugarland’s amazing release, “Stay,” last year, I had high hopes for their new album but found it to be a disappointment… until I heard this song at the end of their album. An ingenious lyric and a great vocal!

10. “All Summer Long” – Kid Rock

I might not have heard this song much here in L.A., but I heard it plenty on my annual visit to my hometown this summer. Perfect music for tooling down the country roads!

LIVETIME

Back when I was in high school, while my friends were heading off to see Peter Frampton or the Rolling Stones at stadium concerts in Philadelphia, I stayed home. In fact, the only times I went to concerts back then were the two times I won tickets in a radio station contest to see Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Chicago.

During college, I went to my first stadium concerts and often attended summer concerts at amphitheaters near Baltimore and Philadelphia.  But after I moved out to Los Angeles and started working for dick clark productions, I really upped my concert going because I was often given free tickets, enabling me to see just about every act I ever wanted to see. So here now is a list of my all-time favorite concerts, followed by my top ten favorite concert moments.

1.  Neil Diamond – The Greek Theater – 1987

In addition to  an amazing list of songs (which you can hear for yourself on the live album, “Hot August Night II”), the thing that impressed me most about Neil’s show was how he gave every single song a special added touch, whether it was a string quartet rising up from under the stage on one song or a laser show to illustrate his “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” medley.

2.  Eagles – The Rose Bowl – 1995

I first saw the Eagles perform back during my college years at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, but this concert beat it, thanks to the inclusion of one of my favorite songs, “One Of These Nights,” in addition to every other hit they ever had.

3.  Bryan Adams – The Forum – 1987

A man, a guitar and one hit after another. Sometimes simple is better.

4.  Bruce Springsteen – L.A. Sports Arena – 2007

There was a time when the closest I got to a Bruce Springsteen concert was a review in Rolling Stone. This was the epic three hour concert I always heard about and towards the end, I was ready to say enough already… until he turned on the lights and brought out the big guns of “Born To Run” and “Rosalita.”

5.  Paul McCartney – The Forum – 1989

An actual Beatle doing Beatles songs, plus the best of Wings. Unforgettable!

6.  Barry Manilow – Astor Theater (Reading, PA) – 1976

My first Barry show, with the set list from “Barry Manilow Live.”

7.  Rick Springfield – Universal Amphitheater – 2004

I saw Rick a few times in his eighties heyday, but the fact he still plays every one of his hits and puts his all into every single one made this more recent concert especially memorable.

8.  The Doobie Brothers – Maui Hawaii – 1981

I went on a post-graduation trip after college to Hawaii. While in Maui, the Doobie Brothers were playing a concert on the neighboring hotel’s tennis court. I don’t think I’ve ever been closer to the stage.

9.  Chicago – Universal Amphitheater – 1986

Bouncing back from the loss of Peter Cetera, Chicago went out on the concert trail without an opening act, doing a three hour “Evening With Chicago” that was terrific.

10.  Simon & Garfunkel – MGM Grand Garden -2003

Perhaps the last chance to see a classic duo reunited doing all their great songs.

THE GREATEST CONCERT MOMENTS:

1.  Maria McKee and Lone Justice singing “Wheels” – The Palace – 1986

Back in the eighties, the alternative papers in L.A. praised the work of cowpunk band Lone Justice. I got on the bandwagon early, catching the band at a local club before they even had a record out and immediately falling in love with the voice and charisma of singer Maria McKee. I’ve never seen an artist give as passionate a performance as Maria, and she was never more emotional than when she sang the ballad “Wheels.” In fact, the only way she could have showed any more emotion is if she had actually ripped her heart out on the stage.

2.  Paul McCartney singing “Hey Jude” – The Forum – 1989

The closest I’ll ever get to seeing The Beatles. I can still hear the entire Forum singing “La la la la la la la”…

3.  The men’s restroom during intermission at a Gloria Estefan concert – The Greek Theater – 1988

So I walk into the men’s room to do my business when a guy inside one of the stalls sings, “Oh eh oh eh” and every guy in the place answered with “Oh eh oh eh ah!”

4.  Paul Young singing “Everything Must Change” – The Wiltern – 1985

A great concert by Paul Young, fresh off “Every Time You Go Away.” The highlight came when Paul climbed up into the lighting equipment. No harness, no ladder, no net.

5.  Utopia’s encore – Merriweather Post Pavilion – 1977

I’ve been a big Todd Rundgren fan since high school, so I attended this concert based around the “Ra” album. The stage set was overwhelming, featuring a huge sphinx and laser lights, but what I’ll always remember is after the last song, the lights came on and some janitors came out to sweep up the stage. Then the janitors peeled off their uniforms and revealed themselves to be the band ready to rock out on the encore! What a great surprise!

6.  Collin Raye singing “Love, Me” – Orange County Fair – 2002

My first chance to see one of my all-time favorite singers. Naturally this was his last song of the evening, and he let the audience do most of the work. A very beautiful moment.

7.  Elton John singing “Empty Garden” – Merriweather Post Pavilion (Columbia, MD) – 1982

The lyrics to this tribute to John Lennon include the words, “Now we pray for rain and with every drop that falls, we hear your name.” Wouldn’t you know that just at the moment Elton sang those words, it started raining?

8.  Lisa Tucker singing “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” at “American Idols Live” – Staples Center – 2006

Every time I’ve attended one of the “American Idols” concerts, I always come away impressed by a singer or two who wasn’t all that good on the show but somehow shines on the concert stage. Lisa’s performance of this Elton John classic is the best example. She left the audience stunned by her talent.

9.  Billy Joel’s introduction to “The Entertainer” – Lehigh University (Allentown, PA) – 1974

I’ll always remember that the audience brought back Billy for so many encores, he was forced to play the instrumental “Root Beer Rag” a second time. But the most memorable moment came when Billy played the intro to Elton John’s “Bennie And The Jets,” muttered how he’d never turn into that kind of star and then played “The Entertainer.” Little did Billy know that someday he’d be just as big as Elton…

10.  Vince Gill – Irvine Meadows Amphitheater – 1994

Both opener Trisha Yearwood and Vince gave great performances, but the highlight was when Vince brought a fan out of the audience to propose to his girlfriend. She said yes, and was rewarded with Vince serenading them.

THE TOP TEN WORKING VACATIONS

Back in the nineties, I used to fly to New York for junkets once or twice a month. But eventually the major studios decided it wasn’t worth their money to fly radio journalists across the country. It was a big perk while it lasted, especially since I often took the train down to Pennsylvania to visit my folks after a junket weekend.

Since going to New York was such a common occurrence, it wasn’t all that exciting (even if I did enjoy expensive hotel meals on my per diem). But every so often, we were flown to some other exciting destination. Perhaps a star was filming a movie in a certain city and couldn’t take the time to fly to New York or L.A. to do press or the movie we were covering took place in an exotic locale the movie company wanted to show off. It meant that I got to go to some places that I’d never been but had always wanted to visit. So here are my Top Ten Flyaway Junkets (and keep in mind, if I was a TV reporter, I’m sure I would have Jamaica on this list for “Pirates of The Caribbean 2″!):

1. “50 First Dates/”The Big Bounce”: Four nights at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki, complete with a big per diem to pay for meals and many, many pina coladas.

2. “Skeleton Key”: Over the years, I’ve read a lot of books that took place in New Orleans, so many that it became the one place in the world I wanted to see most. Well, Universal made my wish come true, complete with meals at some of the city’s most famous restaurants and a room at the Ritz Carlton just two blocks away from legendary Bourbon Street. As it turned out, we were there just a few weeks before Hurricane Katrina, and I’m thankful I got to see the city in a way it may never be again.

3. “Legally Blonde 2″: MGM took us to Jolly Ol’ England for this junket. The only problem was we had to see the movie right after we landed in London, still dead tired from the trip. But why complain when I found the time to visit such landmarks as Buckingham Palace, Abbey Road, Notting Hill and Harrods, which is truly the most amazing store I have ever seen.

4. “Bad Boys II”: Off to Miami for this Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer spectacular, where we stayed at the beautiful waterfront Mandarin Oriental Hotel ($ 700 a room!) and hit some famous Miami Beach nightclubs. I knew we were at a good club when one of the Bad Boys, Martin Lawrence, showed up…

5. “Brother Bear”: Another trip to Florida, this time to Walt Disney World in Orlando. Spent a day exploring Epcot and the Disney/MGM Studios, plus had a fun night at Pleasure Island. All that and the chance to interview Phil Collins and get him to sign a few of his CD’s!

6. “Marvin’s Room”/”Mother”: I once visited Rush Street when I was in Chicago for the junket for John Travolta’s “Phenomena” and was unimpressed at what was supposed to be a wild place. Well, it turns out 6th Street in Austin, Texas was everything I imagined Rush Street would be. With 10 or more clubs on every block, I was amazed by the quantity and quality of live music that was available. All that and the best barbeque I’ve ever tasted!

7 . “The Alamo”: Speaking of barbeque, San Antonio is no slouch in that department. Oh yes, I’ll remember “The Alamo” since it gave me the chance to explore the amazing River Walk, full of restaurants and cool clubs. Plus it was pretty cool to see the movie and then walk over to the actual Alamo!

8. “Finding Nemo”: Yes, I’d been to San Francisco before (although I certainly hadn’t been staying at the Four Seasons!). But what made this trip memorable wasn’t the time spent in the city, but a tour of Pixar Studios in nearby Emeryville.

9. “Hart’s War”: I love going to Las Vegas, but this trip was special because the junket was on Super Bowl weekend. Plus I went a day early and got to enjoy a performance by Bruce Willis and his band at Studio 54. Honorable mention in this category goes to “Rugrats In Paris,” which was the first time I stayed at Paris Las Vegas…

10. “Sideways”: True, I had a bad cold during this junket, but that didn’t stop me from appreciating the beautiful beachside Bacara resort in Santa Barbara. Wow! So classy I felt like Oprah (or at least her friend Gayle…)!

HELLO OUT THERE!

Well, in keeping with my tendency to be a late adapter of technology (I still don’t have a cell phone and my beloved Ipod is years out of date), I’m starting a blog about ten years after the dawn of blogging. If previous years have been any guide though, I should have plenty to write about! And if my first entries bore you to death, check in about a month from now when I’ll have “American Idol” to kick around (yes, you read that right… I don’t plan to start commenting until Hollywood week because searching for greatness during the auditions is a lost cause. Of course, sometimes searching for greatness in the finale can also be tough!)…

In the next few weeks, I can promise you reports on my encounters with such stars as Eva Longoria and Sylvester Stallone, but first off I thought I’d start with a look back… all the way back to 2007! Why, it seems like only yesterday…

Anyway, here’s my lists of my favorite movies and music of the past year:

In 2007, I had a job that took a lot of my time for a good half of the year, so I didn’t see nearly as many movies as I usually would. And since I see so many movies for free, anything I miss, I usually wait to see on DVD, so while the likes of “Live Free Or Die Hard” might have made the list, I haven’t seen it yet.

Here we go…

1. No Country For Old Men

Perhaps the most intense movie I’ve ever seen. In the theater, the audience was so into it, I was sure I was seeing this year’s Best Picture, at least until the cerebral ending left the audience hanging and unsure whether to clap. But as time goes on, the ending fades and the emotions and excitement remain with you.

2. Shoot ‘Em Up

Well, “The Matrix” is my favorite movie of all time for its blend of great sci-fi ideas and John Woo style gunplay. This one just had the gunplay, but was still loads of fun. Plus I saw it at Comic-Con knowing nothing about it, which just added to the surprise.

3. Spiderman 3

The only movie I paid to see all year, and I saw it after it had been out a while, which meant I had heard it was awful… and it wasn’t! Lots of great superhero action.

4. Alvin And The Chipmunks

This was a shoo-in for my list, as I worked on the movie, visited every set and even got to see my name in the credits of a film for the first time ever! But the movie was plenty of fun and most importantly, they (well, animation director Chris Bailey and special effects house Rhythm & Hues) made the munks look cute.

5. Beowulf

The first thing my friend Bret said when the movie started was, “They look like the characters in ‘Shrek.’” Not an auspicious beginning, but the movie sure did improve from there. Thrilling action sequences made even more exciting by 3-D.

6. Bee Movie

Ray Liotta Private Select Honey… now that’s comedy!

7. I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry

Yes, the critics hated it, but it was definitely the funniest movie I saw all year.

8. Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Normally I’m not too excited by costume dramas, but Clive Owen’s turn as Sir Walter Raleigh was very entertaining and it was easy to follow the twists and turns of a plot filled with palace intrigue.

9. Eastern Promises

Seeing this and “No Country For Old Men” right in a row added up to more throat slashings than “Sweeney Todd.” But Viggo Mortensen is terrific.

10. The Bucket List

Exactly what you’d expect from the previews, but it’s always a joy to see Jack being Jack.

And how could we forget the worst movies of ‘07?

1. The Amateurs

Amateur is the word, all right!

2. Southland Tales

A perfectly good science fiction idea ruined by bad satire.

3. El Cantante

I always have trouble feeling sorry for drug addicted heroes, especially when they’re the center of a boring movie.

4. Evan Almighty

Once again, comedy and big special effects are a hard mix to get right.

5. The first 20 minutes of Juno

I couldn’t stand this movie at first. The nonstop cleverness of the dialogue coming out of the mouths of high schoolers bothered the hell of me. But once Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman turn up, the emotions take center stage and the film ends up a winner.

And finally my Top Ten favorite songs of 2007:

1. Big Girls Don’t Cry – Fergie

I always say the greatest songs are ones that manage to say something new about love, and this one does. Who knew Fergie had it in her?

2. One Chance – America

Yes, America put out a new album (“Here And Now”) this year. This was one of those situations when I heard the right song when I needed it. And it’s darn catchy too…

3. Wonderful World – James Morrison

A song to dance through your tears, as well as my pick for the perfect goodbye song on “American Idol,” at least until I heard “Home.”

4. Forward – Ayla Brown

And speaking of “American Idol,” here’s someone who should have lasted longer than she did (and if she had sung “Unwritten” a few months later after the world fell in love with it, she would have). Nevertheless, this is a great love song.

5. “I Think We’re Alone Now” – Girls Aloud

A great danceable version of the Tommy James & The Shondells classic. Puts Tiffany to shame…

6. Everybody – Keith Urban

Every album Mr. Urban comes up with a classic ballad, and this is the latest.

7. Love Story – Katherine McPhee

Even though I liked this song in 2006, it was released as a single in ‘07 and I still couldn’t get enough…

8. Chasing Cars – Snow Patrol

It took me a long time to start liking this song, but fortunately it stayed on the radio long enough for that to happen…

9. Lisa – Ernie Halter

A local L.A. artist whose songs are full of soul.

10. Radio Nowhere – Bruce Springsteen

The return of the rocker!

Maybe I should have saved the music list for tomorrow, so I would have something to write about then! Thanks for joining me on this adventure in blogging. I’ll talk to you soon…