Home Video Exclusives

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - MOAO Part I


Not a repurposed (expanded) post, a brand new entry!!!

This week we travel cross country, 1950s style with "My One And Only"...



The motion picture opened on September 21st, 2009 - limited theatrical run in New York (NY) and Los Angeles (CA). The budget is unknown. It grossed over $2 million during its U.S. theatrical run. The film opened number forty at the box office, the following week remained at forty.

The feature opened against "Inglourious Bastards", "District 9", "Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince" and "The Time Traveler's Wife".

This release did not come with a slipcover, nor any insert.

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This was an exclusive store release from Target. It streeted on November 10th, 2009 for $14.99. Let me begin by saying everybody complains about the cover - which you can see was altered from the poster.

Such a bad photoshop job. The head is out of proportions to her body as is her arms. Maybe an inexperienced intern made it.

The comments on the picture, trail to the movie's website; the home page could be modified into a better cover.

So I took a look and came up with this...



Nothing fancy. But it feel warm and is an improvement.

Oh yeah, the DVD is presented anamorphic widescreen. Extras include "Behind The Scenes Of My One And Only", a 35:34 minutes documentary. And six short featurettes, totaling 28:09 minutes. All of which is in widescreen.

But no trailer. I hate when that happens.

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Footnotes.

The how...

Up and coming film company, Herrick Entertainment wanted a way to get their films on store shelves. So they signed an exclusive deal with Target for guaranteed exposure.

In addition they signed with Blockbuster; only chain that could carry the title for rent.

This unique deal is a great way for Herrick Entertainment to build on its entrance into the motion-picture business. My One and Only is a movie we're very proud to have made, and we believe that Target and Twentieth Century Fox will expand the picture’s theatrical run into a tremendously successful home-entertainment release. We’re very pleased to be in business with these industry leaders and to present My One and Only to audiences, both in theaters and at home.

- Norton Herrick, Chairman and CEO of Herrick Entertainment

Norton looks like an elderly Harold Ramis (1944 - 2014).

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Rant.

Let me take a step back. I'm sure most don't know this movie.

Well, more than a step.

This was a blind buy, not from Target. I bought this last year from the discount chain, Dollar Tree. From time to time, they get a swatch of DVDs for sale (BDs too). I buy them for their cases, a buck each. I HATE the current eco-cases with holes in them to reduce the amount of plastic used. It's not solid.

No.

I want solid wall cases. So when these sales surfaces, I buy as many as I can afford, the ones which I know are good. Let me make this clear, not all cases are equal. There are only two kind of disc holder nubs I want. The rest are crap and/or just ugly.

So I'm buying movies, knowing what kind of cases they are. But that limits the buys. So I often buy random stuff from the sale table; see if I should added them to my list - DVD cases. "My One And Only" was one of them.

By the way, the case still had the sticker on it, "Only From Target".

This past April, I finally got around to watching. I really liked it. Now part of my library. It's a coming-of-age and road trip film. As well as a detached mother coming to know her kids.

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Gonna give a spoiler - a twist if you want. Whatever, I'm a bastard. And besides the twist in given away in the back of the case.

This is a dramatization, the life of actor George Hamilton when he was a teen. The events that lead him to become an actor. You don't get the reveal until the very end when George is sitting in his name chair on a movie set.

God, fine.

For non X-Geners, Hamilton is a known actor from the 1960s through the 80s. He did a TON of movies and television. He still works, a couple of movies coming out this year (2016).

So that got me searching. The man has had an amazing life, is there more?

Yes there is.



He wrote his memoir (with collaborator William Stadiem), "Don't Mind If I Do: My Adventures In Hollywood"; published by Touchstone in 2008 (320 pages, hardback).

It's quite an interesting time he found himself in. Sway. A bunch of Hollywood stories and the famous people he met. I need to buy that book.

Before you ask, Hamilton was an executive producer on the movie, but does not appear in it, nor is the narrator. Or does he appear in any of the extras.

Anyhow...



The movie is set in 1953. Anne Devereaux (Renée Zellweger) and her two boys, George (Logan Lerman) and Robbie (Mark Rendall), from different marriages leave New York in a newly bought (baby-blue) Cadillac, El Dorado. That is a beautiful car. And if it got into a car accident with a modern auto, it would tear it to pieces.

Anne got her fill of her band leader, husband, Dan (Kevin Bacon) cheating on her. She opts to pull her kids from school to go with her.

Anne doesn't want to drive so she has fifteen year old, George becomes the chauffeur.



The plan is to find a new man and father in Boston. A meet up with an old flame. This begins a series of failures, bad decisions and rotten luck.

From Boston (MA) to Pittsburgh (PA) to St. Louis (MO), Albuquerque (NM) and ending in Los Angeles; various heartbreaks with sprinkles of short lived joy.

Tired of the directionless rudder - his mom, George decided to go back to Dan, but is hit when he doesn't want him back. This culminates in George living with his aunt, Hope (Robin Weigert) for a while - until he discovers his mom and brother are in financial trouble. And returns to them with money.

The deal... to finish the trip they started, then leave - to end in Los Angeles. But circumstances pop, an unexpected opportunity that keeps him there with family.



It ends with Anne not getting any guy; a single mom with an acting kid.

The only guy who was actually good to her was someone she would never have gone for - he's not rich. Bud (Nick Stahl), the auto mechanic neighbor in Pittsburgh. His little sister, Paula (Molly Quinn; better knows as Alexis on ABC's "Castle") shows George his first topless girl. It was sweat, not salacious. This is PG-13 after all. And no, you don't see anything.

One of my favorite moments was George in a new school; each kid taking turns in front of the class - 'what I did this past Summer.' His long talk about how he ended up here and how his mom was busted for mistaken prostitution. All the men his mom almost married and so on. His Summer was way more interesting than the rest.

It was nice how they treated Robbie, a gay kid, a bit flamboyant, but never over the top. While it's acknowledge that he's different and 'not manly', he's not treated badly. There's an on going joke, wherever they move, enrolled into school; Robbie always gets the lead role in the school's play. The joking being, right before he's to go - they have to move once again, never getting to perform, but always so close.



As for Zellweger, she's...

How do I put it gently?

Has aged accordingly? She doesn't quite look as she did in "Empire Records" (1995), cute. This could be because she's had work done, surgery and or botox. She was okay as an entitled Southern Belle; as the movies progresses she becomes more of a realist. But far too late for Bud.

So is she a gold digger? *thinking*

I believe she's looking for a good replacement and not afraid to do some work. But is demanding an unrealistic lateral move. She's not as young as she used to be. That caliber of husband is simply beyond her reach.

Anyhow, one of bit roles caught my attention.



Who is that?