Richard Roeper Blog

Here’s the esteemed Jonathan Rosenbaum on the Roman Polanski arrest:

“American lynch mobs never die; they only become more self-righteous about their savagery.”

Um, what?

I guess I missed the reports about American lynch mobs going after Polanski, dragging him through the streets and meting out a violent punishment. I just thought he was arrested in Zurich for giving a 13-year-old quaaludes and champagne and sexually assaulting her when he was 44 years old.

Silly me. I shouldn’t be so literal in interpreting Rosenbaum’s comments.

All right. It was more than 30 years ago. Polanski’s victim says she does not want to see him imprisoned and she would prefer Polanski be allowed to return to the United States. One could argue that Polanski has suffered great tragedies in his life and that putting him behind bars at this point serves no purpose.

Harvey Weinstein says, “Whatever you think about the so-called crime, Polanski has served his time…It is a shocking way to treat such a man. Polanski went through the Holocaust and the murder of his wife, sharon Tate, by the Manson family…”

He also writes: “Roman Polanski is a man who cares deeply about his art and its place in this world.”

Nobody’s arguing that. Nobody’s saying Polanski hasn’t suffered immense losses.

But what if Polanski wasn’t a gifted director? If a 44-year-old “nobody” who hadn’t suffered personal tragedies committed the same act in 1977, would there be a different set of standards?

What if the crime in question was committed against your daughter, sister, friend, anyone, today? What if a 44-year-old man assaulted a 13-year-old girl in 2009? Would your urge to throttle this man subside with time? Is the arrest of Polanski really tantamount to a “lynching” on any level?

Finally, what’s more indicative of “savagery”–the arrest of Polanski in 2009, or the acts Polanski committed in 1977?

One assumes this individual is offering an editorial comment on Brett Favre. But when you’re a grown man wearing a custom-made football jersey in public, I’d say you’re actually doing a pretty good job of characterizing your own personality.

Did you see how Jay Cutler reacted when he threw a second-quarter touchdown pass to Greg Olsen on Sunday, cutting the Seattle Seahawks’ lead over the Bears to 13-7?

Instead of doing the Favre-ian thing and sprinting over to Olsen for fist-bumps and chest-bumps and all that stuff, Cutler was bitching to an official for not calling a roughing the passer penalty. Olin Kruetz got between Cutler and the official and started guiding the punky QB toward the sideline, staving off a possible penalty.

Granted, Cutler might have had a point, having just been the recipient of a pile-driving blow after he had delivered the ball. Most of us would be calling “Paramedic!” if we got smushed like that. But it just seemed odd for Cutler to be more concerned about getting that late-hit call than with celebrating the TD.

What we’ve seen from Cutler so far is consistent with what we heard about him when he came to the Bears. In 10 years, we might be calling him the most talented quarterback ever to put on a Bears uniform–and if he leads the Bears to a couple of Super Bowl titles, they’ll be talking about building a statue of him. Not outside Soldier Field, of course, but maybe outside Angels & Kings on Clark Street.

There’s also a chance he’ll mature over time. It happens, even with pro athletes.

But we’ve also seen glimpses of the hothead, the less-than-charming personality. Nobody will care if the Bears go 12-4, but it sure makes things entertaining when your quarterback is really, really good–AND has a tendency to act like a spoiled brat.

*By the way, how about those lime-green Seahawks jerseys? I wasn’t sure if they were going to play football, direct traffic or do a choreographed number for the Kids’ Choice Awards. Yipes.

Since when did Britney Spears start looking like Bret Michaels hopping a fence after stealing Elton John’s vintage glasses from 1974? Just askin’.

Never let it be said Oprah doesn’t know how to exploit, I mean, explore, a hot-button story as well as anyone else out there. Two days after the stunning claim by Mackenzie Phillips that her father John raped her and she had a “consensual” sexual relationship with him for a decade, Ms. Phillips is returning for a live “Oprah” show on Friday. Reports indicate Mackenzie’s half-sister Chynna will be a part of the program as well.

The ratings will be huge. Guarantee you that.

story.jhtml

I remember reading John Phillips’ book Papa John many years ago. Phillips wrote frankly and eloquently about the beautiful music he helped create——and the horrific addictions he battled. He was doing so many drugs, his fingernails turned black. For some reason I remember that detail.

John Phillips died eight years ago, some nine years after a liver transplant. (After Phillips was spotted drinking post-transplant, he explained to Howard Stern he was just “breaking in the new liver.”) He is not here to respond to these shocking allegations. His wife at the time, Genevieve Waite, has issued a statement defending him and saying he would never do something so evil to his own daughter—–but the allegations are out there now and they will be out there forever, and the pop culture world is buzzing about it.

After a long, long stretch of “Whatever happened to?”, Mackenzie Phillips is suddenly the “get” of all gets in media circles, at least until the next Big Story. Her High on Arrival stands at #3 on the Amazon bestseller list, behind only Dan Brown’s latest book and Arguing with Idiots by the inexplicably popular and consistently simple-minded Glenn Beck. (One presumes the book is all about Beck standing in front of a funhouse mirror, debating multiple images of himself.)

Even a cynic’s cynic (hi!) would have a difficult time believing Mackenzie made up these stories to sell books and to bask in multiple “Oprah” appearances. But given Mackenzie’s own demons and addictions, we can’t dismiss at least the possibility that the entire thing is a figment of her imagination, or the result of…a total breakdown? An inability to separate fact from nightmarish fantasy? Just total batshit craziness? I don’t know. None of us do. I guess on some level it’s better to believe she’s a crackpot inventing a bloodcurdling horror story. The alternative is to take her at her word and to believe her father was that much of a monster for that many years.

Either way, you have to feel very sorry for Mackenzie Phillips. What’s beyond dispute is she never had a chance to be a kid and she was exposed to things at 11 and 12 that many people never bear witness to until they’re 21. Or never.

Truth or fiction, what a sad, sad story.

Last night I co-hosted the ‘orange carpet’ festivities for a Chicago-in-Hollywood event at the Melman family’s new restaurant, La Grand Orange. You can read all about in Bill Zwecker’s piece in today’s Sun-Times.

1784140,chicago-in-la-link-bill-zwecker-roeper-092209.article

In the photo above, comedian Tom Dreesen and actress Virgnia Madsen. Dreesen, a fellow south suburbanite, was for many years the primary opening act for Frank Sinatra. As I said hello to Dreesen on the orange carpet, I thought of the Sinatra connection and the fact Sinatra once said, “Orange is the happiest color,” which has to be one of the wiggiest declarations of the mid-1960s. Sinatra even wore a startling orange sweater in the original “Oceans 11.” WTF.

As for Ms. Madsen, an engaging and talented actress: I remember seeing her in films such as “Class” (semi-nude cameo appearance) and “Electric Dreams” a million years ago. (Probably shouldn’t say “a million years ago” when referring to an actress.) Not to mention the immortal “Hot Spot,” co-starring the perma-tanned Don Johnson and the very young Jennifer Connelly. What a warm and welcome presence Madsen is these days. How great was she in “Sideways”? (Note: As much as I liked “Sideways,” I have a theory that many film critics had extra love for that movie because it features the schleppy Paul Giamatti as a bitter, frustrated writer who drinks far too much and often has the manners of a wolverine——yet he manages to intrigue, court and bed the lovely Maya, played by Madsen. Of course all those male critics loved “Sideways,” because more than few of them look, sound and behave like Giamatti’s character.)

Also at the party: Harold Ramis, co-architect of many of the greatest comedies of the last 30 years. Earlier this year, I did a Q-and-A with Ramis in which he revealed his first choice to play the lead in “Groundhog Day” was Tom Hanks, but the problem was that Hanks had such a nice-guy persona, viewers would like him from the start, even when he was being a jerk. Bill Murray? Much easier to buy as an asshole. (And to Murray’s credit, he was just as believable as a changed man by the end of the film.)

Ramis was one of the 30 or so guest critics that filled in for Roger Ebert on “At the Movies” after Roger took ill. (Others included Jay Leno, Kevin Smith, Aisha Tyler [my personal favorite], David Edelstein, Lisa Schwarzbaum and John Mellencamp, who did the show mainly because he wanted to tout the documentary “Grey Gardens.”) Nearly every time after I’d finished taping a show with a guest critic, that person would say, “Wow, there’s a lot more to this than I thought,” or, “It’s not so easy to rip a movie or a performance when you realize millions of people are going to see it,” or, “There’s a lot that goes into this show.”

When Ramis finished, he deadpanned, “You call this work?”

Whether I was chatting with Jeff Garlin or Joe Mantegna or for pics with Dick Butkus (!), there were a number of moments when I thought to myself, “You call this work?”

Yeah it’s a bit of a challenge to maneuver your way through one interview after another with an actor or a producer or a sports figure, listening to their answers while formulating your next question as a frantic producer is signaling for you to wrap it up because MISTER BIG STAR has just arrived—–but compared to the real jobs most people do every day, it’s another day at Fantasy Camp.

Cheers,

RR

Yes, I really will be “singing” at the Park West in Chicago in a couple of weeks. From RBR.com:

Grammy winning singer and songwriter Richard Marx, along with award winning WLS-AM Chicago radio personality Roe Conn, return to the stage of Park West for an encore of last year’s inaugural Newsapalooza. Benefiting The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Newsapalooza II boasts the creative cast of The Roe Conn Show, Richard Marx performing his hit songs, and showcases several of Chicago’s most celebrated media personalities singing classic songs from the Rock N’ Roll catalogue. This year’s show will feature the songs of Beyonce, Wilson Pickett, The Kinks, Sugarland, Eurythmics, The Eagles, Van Halen and many more, before Marx leads the entire cast in a show-stopping all-star finale.

A special Meet & Greet Party will be held at the Hard Rock Hotel after the show, providing all Gold Circle donors the opportunity to meet the stars. Featuring food from China Grill, libations from Beam Global Spirits and Pepsi, plus a silent auction featuring celebrity signed items, gift baskets and certificates and much, much more.

Joining Marx & Conn this year will be Richard Roeper, CNN Headline News’ Christi Paul, CBS 2’s Rob Johnson, Anna Davlantes, NBC 5’s Ginger Zee and Natalie Martinez, WGN 9’s Steve Sanders, Dina Bair, Jackie Bange and Walt Willey from TV’s soap All My Children.  As with last year’s event, additional performers and surprise guests are sure to be added.

My column today is about a movie theater at Camp Anaconda in Iraq.

1775456,CST-NWS-roep17.article

Here are some pics of the theater, from Maj. Brian Nomi:

Note that the screenings are listed in Military Time…

If you’re a Chicago-area redhead, I’d like to be judging you. In a good way.

UPDATE: I guess some people couldn’t see the photo, so here’s the link to information about the event:

Redhead Piano Bar