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ducktracy · 3 months ago

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"Go See The Day the Earth Blew Up" Masterpost

this isn't really anything new for anyone following me, but i wanted to make a comprehensive post covering my adamence on seeing this movie--i have a lot of different versions of a lot of different posts being spread around, and wanted to uncross the wires a bit. entering Tumblr PSA mode for a bit like it's 2013 all over again--bear with me!

before getting into the nitty gritty, though, this is a TIME SENSITIVE POST. most theaters were beginning to pull the film out as early as end of day TODAY--not even a full WEEK'S worth of a run. but, thanks to word of mouth, the film has mostly been extended to the end of the weekend. with continued word of mouth and support, the film has a chance to run even longer.

What the Heck is The Day the Earth Blew Up

The Day the Earth Blew Up is an all traditionally hand-drawn, 2D animated film starring Looney Tunes' own Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Petunia Pig. initially announced in September of 2021, it's the very first all traditionally animated film in the franchise's entire 95 year run.

Why Haven't I Heard About The Day the Earth Blew Up

originally intended to be a direct to streaming release, this film's existence has been wrung through the wringer. for the benefit of tax cuts, Warner Bros. wrote the film off and just barely avoided axing it entirely--even during its production. the film was put up for sale and only just last summer finally was able to procure an independent distributor, Ketchup Entertainment. unfortunately, Ketchup Entertainment is a much smaller name than Warner Bros. is, and because WB isn't releasing it, it's Ketchup who is marketing and spreading the film--obviously, something incredibly difficult to do with a very small budget.

Why the Heck Should I See The Day the Earth Blew Up

hand-drawn, traditionally animated films are all but extinct in theaters, and by setting the film up for what could essentially be described as sabotage, a meager box office performance is the perfect excuse for the suits to claim that there's no more demand for traditionally animated movies anymore.

it's the first all-animated Looney Tunes film in the entire franchise's history.

you don't have to have any knowledge or attachment to the characters to enjoy the film--there are absolutely no prerequisites required (but there are plenty of loving nods to fellow fans of the film.) i dragged my best friend to see this with me who doesn't have the same LT brain parasite that i do and she absolutely loved it.

WB just axed the entire LT library of shorts off of HBO Max, as well as gutted all of the cartoons freely available on their YouTube channel--there seems to be a clear embarrassment for the franchise on their behalf, and seeing the film proves that notion dead wrong.

supporting the film spreads the message that there is a demand for the love and craft that goes into these films. you will genuinely be experiencing history in the making--when's the last time you've seen a brand new, all traditionally animated film in the theaters from the States?

crew members themselves are urging you to spread your support and mention how it empowers them to keep making more

the money goes to Ketchup, not Zaslav--you don't have to worry about boycotting the film. the absolute opposite is necessary.

supporting this film could potentially spawn similar films with similar opportunities. Eric Bauza himself has mentioned that suport and turnout for this film could see a potential revival in Coyote vs. ACME, another film victim to WB's tax writeoffs all in the name of the dollar

EDIT: Ketchup Entertainment is in talks with WB to distribute Coyote vs ACME!!! because of the word of mouth and positivist surrounding The Day the Earth Blew Up!! keep it coming!!

it's likely that the film will be completely overshadowed by the Snow White remake, with theaters initially beginning to pull screens to make way for early previews. what could be more poetic than supporting an all traditionally hand-drawn film over a cash-grab remake of the very first feature length traditionally hand-drawn film?

How Else Can I Support The Day the Earth Blew Up

GO SEE IT! go see it again! go see it with your siblings, your friends, your family! tell your coworkers! reblog this post! spread the news! keep the conversation going!

pre-orders for the Blu-ray, releasing May 27th, are already scheduled

there's a limited edition run of 1,000 copies for the film's soundtrack on vinyl!

said soundtrack is also available on YouTube, which you should likewise listen to! get those view counts up!

Why the Heck Should I Listen to You

i'm asking myself the same thing! but, i do want to put this out there: i get it. i usually do not like being a walking advertisement. i know this is full on shill-mode and you're surely asking "you're being paid, aren't you" (i wish!). i also share the Ferocious Contrarian Gene where seeing posts like these is an instant way for me to NOT want to see the film. i genuinely understand how pushy and obnoxious this can come off. especially since, clearly, i'm a little biased to the franchise and these characters. i also balk at the guilt trippy idea of "YOU'RE A MONSTER IF YOU DON'T SUPPORT THIS FILM YOU KILLED ANIMATION". i HATE that rhetoric with a passion, and that only is going to alienate people from wanting to see this further. please know that's not the intent of my messaging here at all.

but even beyond my personal biases, i really think this is a film worth supporting. movies like this are a once-in-a-lifetime event anymore, and that could only be exacerbated by how this film's fate is handled. i've been overjoyed with the amount of messages i've received from people who said they caught the film on a whim and enjoyed it--especially from those without a clear LT bias like myself. it's proven that this film is enjoyable for anyone.

also, just, spite. the reason you haven't heard about it is by design. this film has been set up to fail. and while the success shouldn't be the sole responsibility or burden of the consumers, but instead the higher-ups, you are making a difference by supporting and spreading word of mouth of this film. crew members themselves are saying so. the distributor themselves are saying so.

i'm not expecting a miracle for this film, as much as i'd love one. i will genuinely be surprised if it makes a profit (which it should at a measly $15 million, pennies compared to most features that look much worse than this). but that's all the more reason to TRY rather than give up and say there's nothing we can do. you all have been making such a wonderful difference. that energy needs to continue, not dwindle. every single person is able to make a difference.

there are a lot worse ways you could be spending your time than spending an hour and a half at the theaters enjoying some gorgeous traditionally hand-drawn animation on the big-screen, feeling good that you're helping to spread a message and supporting the hard, loving craft of the people who worked on it. imagine if all "good turn"s in the world could be as fun and easy as seeing an animated comedy!

#the day the earth blew up #signal boost #looney tunes #daffy duck #porky pig #petunia pig #animation #warner bros #award winning

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mrs-stans · 5 months ago

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Sebastian Stan on His Cristian Mungiu Film, the ‘Brutalist’ Role He Almost Played, Actors on Actors, and Battling for ‘The Apprentice’

The surprise Golden Globe winner tells IndieWire why the industry remains "apprehensive" about his Donald Trump role and about new indie projects with Mungiu and Justin Kurzel.

BY RYAN LATTANZIO

If you don’t watch Marvel movies, then you don’t know Bucky Barnes, which means you only know Sebastian Stan as the also-indie actor behind films like 2024’s “A Different Man” and “The Apprentice.” Both movies have put him in the awards race, and possibly the Oscar running, especially after his grimly funny, pathos-spiked turn as a self-loathing, out-of-options actor with neurofibromatosis in Aaron Schimberg’s “A Different Man” won him a surprise Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. That night, he was also nominated for Best Actor in a Drama for “The Apprentice,” where he plays a ’70s New York-era Donald Trump.

Had scheduling gone a different path, he would’ve starred in Brady Corbet’s also-Oscar-contending “The Brutalist,” but Stan had plenty on his plate last year and into this one, setting him up for his biggest awards season run yet. His transformative Trump performance in director Ali Abbasi’s “The Apprentice” has been celebrated since the film‘s 2024 Cannes premiere. Top distributors shunned the film until rookie releaser Briarcliff Entertainment got on board in August 2024, billionaire investor Dan Snyder tried to wrangle creative control and block the release, and, eventually, Stan’s peers declined the chance to speak with the American-Romanian actor in Variety’s popular Actors on Actors series, a major platform for awards contenders. Stan has been candid about not finding a sparring partner for the publication’s viral program. Why not? People don’t want to go near a movie about the incumbent president, including American audiences ($4 million domestic).

Speaking with IndieWire over the phone, Stan said that once he went public with why he wasn’t participating in Actors on Actors, “A lot of friends called me and said, ‘Hey let’s go do this together.’ That was obviously very thoughtful and very kind, but for us, Ali, Jeremy [Strong, who plays lawyer Roy Cohn], that was nothing really new.” (Last November, Variety’s editor-in-chief Ramin Setoodeh told IndieWire, “We invited [Stan] to participate in ‘Actors on Actors,’ the biggest franchise of awards season, but other actors didn’t want to pair with him because they didn’t want to talk about Donald Trump.”)

Stan continued, “We had been facing that kind of a thing since Cannes, whether it had even been photo shoots promoting the film, or certain people that were like, ‘We don’t want to go near this.’ Every interview since Cannes, we’ve been asked, ‘How’s the reception been? Why do you think studios are apprenehsive?’ This is sadly the reality. We have a lot of people who love this film or say they do, but when it comes down to jumping in the fire a little bit … hesitancy is understandable, to some extent.”

While understanding the emotional component around not wanting to see a movie about a leader and convicted felon who is on TV every second of the news day, Stan said, “However, around hesitancy, there’s also a slippery slope toward indifference, and that complements fear. That’s the only distinction we have to keep trying to make. You can rightfully own, ‘Hey, this isn’t for me,’ or ‘I don’t want to go there.’ But in terms of ‘I’m too worried, I’m too scared, I don’t want to get in hot water,’ then it’s like, what’s the next thing that becomes OK to not want to deal with it because it’s uncomfortable? We didn’t understand what was so uncomfortable about the movie.”

“The Apprentice” received mixed reviews at Cannes, though I remember in my festival screening being surrounded by European journalists laughing their heads off because they see Trump as a comic figure. Many Americans do not, and with “The Apprentice,” we don’t yet have the benefit of hindsight because we’re still living in the Trump era.

“Usually what happens is you look at movies like ‘Nixon’ or the movie ‘Downfall,’ which is about Hitler, [the movies] happen years later. We’ve had time to process our emotions about it, and we’ve had some distance so we can go back and look at what went wrong or what we [believed] at the time,” Stan said. “You don’t have that luxury [with ‘The Apprentice’]. We don’t have the luxury of not dealing with this person.”

Going back to his moment winning the Globe for “A Different Man,” it’s been a mixed blessing for double nominee Stan.

“There was this unbelievable kind of moment at the Globes that I never really thought was ever going to happen, and you have a brief moment of that, and suddenly, anything can flip,” he said of L.A. going into panic mode right after the Globes amid the ongoing wildfires in Southern California. “In terms of Mother Nature… at the end of the day, it really is just people. We’re all in the same boat there. There’s nothing to differentiate or anything. We are all pretty much in the same boat.”

After he’s finished with awards season duties, Stan expects to head to Europe in March to film the new film from Palme d’Or-winning auteur Cristian Mungiu, which brings the “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” filmmaker’s usual moral ambiguity into a real-life case of abuse in Romania. He’ll be reuniting with “A Different Man” star Renate Reinsve for the film, which will shoot in Romanian, English, and Norwegian.

“With all of these smaller indies, I always feel even while I’m on the plane going there, I’m always worried, ‘Is the financing going to come through? It’s on its way,” Stan said. “He’s been up there with me for a few years with filmmakers from Romania where I’ve been calling him trying to find a way to work with him, where I can speak Romanian as well. We finally found this story, which is about a Romanian family who’s moved to Norway and then ends up in this very complicated trial. There’s a system [that] investigates cases if there’s ever been physical abuse in the household between the parents or the kids. They go investigating the family for an incident, and it leads to this trial. It happened before the pandemic, and it became national news. There were a lot of religious communities that came to their side, and it’s really interesting and quite complicated.”

Stan has also been instrumental in shepherding the next film from Australian “The Order” director Justin Kurzel, “Burning Rainbow,” about a true Waco-style FBI standoff that brought down a pro-marijuana campground in Michigan a week before 9/11. He’s attached to star in the story of Tom Crosslin and Rolland Rohm, a gay couple defending their land amid police investigations linked to a Rainbow Farm festival-associated killing and their marijuana plants.

“They were raising a child as well,” Stan said. “They were real activists in some ways, and they were very controversial as well because they were running this Rainbow Farm, which was like the start of this Woodstock-style festival that was bringing all these people together, advocating for legalizing marijuana. It was also such a loving place. They were attracting a lot of attention from local authorities, and a lot of controversies were going on down there. It all happened before 9/11, so there are many people who don’t know this story. But I’ve known about it for six years or something. I’ve been tracking it through different evolutions, and it finally landed with Justin. I was tracking him now for two years to basically give me a chance, and finally, I think we’ve got to go and find all the other people.”

As for “The Brutalist,” Stan was announced to star in Brady Corbet’s Golden Globe Best Picture winner in 2019, but scheduling changes on “The Apprentice” interfered. (“The Brutalist” shot in early 2023; “The Apprentice” didn’t film until that fall after a few false starts.) Stan would’ve played Joe Alwyn’s role, Harry Lee Van Buren, the pompous son of Guy Pearce’s moneyed industrialist who exploits Adrien Brody’s Jewish-Hungarian architect.

“I’m glad that the timing [didn’t work out] … The difficulty of that movie is astounding. What they were able to achieve. Some of us would be attached. I was sort of the last one, but then [Corbet] started to go. Because ‘Apprentice’ kept getting pushed, those two started to overlap at one point. I wasn’t available for it, but having seen the movie, Joe is amazing in it, and I would have been too old by that point anyway. I feel like it worked out for the best. It makes total sense with Guy being his father,” Stan said.

As for how Stan’s indie roles fit into the Marvel orbit, especially as he’ll be seen in “Thunderbolts” this spring again as Bucky Barnes, he said, “If I hadn’t had so many opportunities with Marvel with that character alone and creatively what I got to do, I don’t know if I would have been as driven to go in this other direction as well and try to find things that I’m not always at the top of mind for. I believe, like Brady Corbet, films are a directors’ medium. It is about the filmmaker. We have to trust the filmmakers. The best films to me, in my experiences, were with really strong directors with these strong points of view. It’s been amazing to watch Brady. I was attached to that film for a long time, going back to 2019, so I’ve known of that movie and have known Brady since we were kids auditioning. I would see him at casting calls, him and his mom. Even watching him up there on Sunday felt like I’d been weirdly attached to that story as well.”

#IndieWire #Sebastian Stan #A Different Man #The Apprentice #Cristian Mungiu #Renate Reinsve #Justin Kurzel #Burning Rainbow #Joe Alwyn #Guy Pearce #Thunderbolts*#mrs-stans #Golden Globes #Awards

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kylesvariouslistsandstuff · 2 months ago

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Before we get to the box... Here's another update from the toy box.

Combat Carl returns in TOY STORY 5, he'll be voiced by Ernie Hudson. Carl Weathers previously voiced him, but he passed away a year ago. Pixar usually nails it in casting, and that's a good get for the character(s). Will it be the same mini ones seen in TOY STORY 4? The one we met at the motel in TOY STORY OF TERROR!? Maybe all of them? A new one? Either way, you gotta have Combat Carl. He was a big part of Jessie's little arc in OF TERROR! - my favorite TOY STORY anything to have come out of this franchise since the release of the third film, and Jessie is said to be the focus of TOY STORY 5... So, makes sense!

The closer we get to the movie existing, the more trickles out.

Box office...

Third place is THE KING OF KINGS, which tracks, because it was Easter weekend. I expect a hefty drop afterwards, but the film slipped 9% and has made $45m to date here and $49m everywhere. Cost $15m to make, so I imagine a lot more Biblical animated movies will come from Angel. Complete w/ QR code PSAs trying once more to astroturf their sales!

7th place goes to GKIDS' release of COLORFUL STAGE! THE MOVIE: A MIKU WHO CAN'T SING. $2.8m from 800 locations, $10m everywhere.

New opener SNEAKS - seemingly TOY STORY but with footwear... Shoe Story... From distributor Briarcliff Entertainment, fell outside of the Top 10. Playing in around 1,500 cinemas, SNEAKS only took in $530k... Woof... My cinema didn't get the movie, and I've heard from some that it's unfortunately a misfire. It had some great people involved (Rob Edwards and Chris Jenkins directed, they have solid resumes), in fact it was almost helmed by Pixar vet and frequent Brad Bird collaborator Teddy Newton. I still await a feature film directed by him, for he was supposed to do this pretty edgy picture for Pixar that entered development around 2012, but never got formally announced by Disney or Pixar, nor went anywhere. Then he was at Paramount Animation for a bit, Warner too, hopped around some, but has never done a feature. Only his pretty solid 2D/CG hybrid Pixar short DAY & NIGHT that ran before TOY STORY 3... And also BOYS NIGHT OUT, a 2003 short that was apparently a re-cooked deleted scene from THE IRON GIANT.

Anyways, SNEAKS looks to come and go, and will rotate on a streamer somewhere.

The PRINCESS MONONOKE re-release dropped 69%, has made $17m to date, plays in 40 theaters.

THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP plays in 42 theaters, having lost 43 this week. 67% drop, $8.8m domestic / $11m worldwide.

FLOW, still floating somewhere. $26m+ worldwide. Looks like MOANA 2 and MUFASA finally packed their bags and left.

Again, it's relative quiet time until ELIO gets here, and honestly, that may be a quiet opener too. I certainly hope it's a big hit, we need to see a Pixar original/non-sequel actually make back its ridiculous budget in a post-COVID breakout era. Even a $350m-ish gross, great for a sub-$100m DreamWorks movie like THE WILD ROBOT, would be considered a failure for ELIO. $496m was called just that for ELEMENTAL. Ludicrous curve these things are graded on. The Walt Disney Company really needs to adjust to the field here.

A good solution for Disney and Pixar is to simply not blow $200m+ on these things. A sequel, maybe, but something less familiar? Nah. A lower budget doesn't HAVE to be a bad thing. In fact, one could take more risks with less, so long as it's not a crunchy production made under screwy regulations or lack thereof. (Like what happens, in say, Vancouver's animation sphere.) Think Disney Animation Florida making LILO & STITCH for $80m in comparison to the main unit in Burbank sinking $140m into TREASURE PLANET. L&S did well in theaters, exploded on home video, and is beloved to this day, TREASURE PLANET bombed hard but it did get a deserved following afterwards. I love both movies, myself.

Like, why can't Pixar - and WDAS for that matter - just have solid units outside of California making smaller, lower budget, quirkier movies that don't need to climb Mount Everest in order to turn a profit? I know why, but it's a nice thought to have.

Because this just isn't sustainable. ELIO looks to be the first Pixar original movie that is scrubbed of anything "autobiographical"... Supposedly the thing that caused SOUL, LUCA, TURNING RED, and ELEMENTAL to "flop"... Never mind that three of those movies never saw a proper theatrical release, couldn't because of a literal deadly virus... As in one that opens wide, and lasts for months...

I heard through the trenches that the original version of ELIO that was being directed by Adrian Molina mirrored what it was like for him growing up gay - a kid who feels alone on Earth and finds community with aliens... Like yeah, and that was the "autobiographical" thing that had to be pulled from the film to make it more "universal". Now, what happens if that movie fails? What are Disney bean counters going to blame it on then?

They'll come up with something. No "space movies", no "alien movies". Remember how MARS NEEDS MOMS flopping - way back in 2011 - convinced Disney heads that people won't see movies about Mars, and that lead to JOHN CARTER OF MARS losing the OF MARS? To now just being a guy's name? And then some 4 years later, Fox released THE MARTIAN - before being bought by Disney - and it did really really well? Dingus corporate stooges spending too much money on movies that they try way too hard to sand off for an audience that would probably hate it for other reasons because that's just where we are right now lol. And if those tariffs really go into affect, Disney's not gonna have the Chinese box office that they so need for a $200m+ endeavor to break even... So, yeah, as you could tell, I think Disney is stuck in a weird self-destructing cycle that someone with guts has got to break them out of. Make me the CEO, then!

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animenostalgia · 8 months ago

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News - Gkids has announced they've been acquired by Japanese company Toho Co Ltd. According to their press release, Toho will own 100% of the company now, to be operated under CEO and GKids founder Eric Beckman and President Dave Jesteadt. Toho currently owns the rights to Godzilla properties, many Tokusatsu and Kaiju works, Japanese studio Science Saru, and distributes the works of Studio Ghibli, TMS Entertainment, and Akira Korisawa. Gkids has stated that no changes will be made to their staff or how they run the company, and that this buy-out will lead to more opportunities for them. I guess we'll see what the future holds!

#news #Gkids #Toho #Toho films #links out

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toonabby · 3 months ago

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Since that greedy cheapstake doesn't want this in theaters anymore, Imma pirate this because I ain't spending a single dollar on that bastard of a CEO and company.

For those wondering what the hell is going on, one of the people who worked on this film, Michael Ruocco, announced that the film will be pulled from theaters on Wednesday, erging fans to get tickets to it before its gone.

Link to his Bluesky post

Link to my Blue sky thread for the matter

Whether this was the result of WB or its distributor Ketchup Entertainment is uncertain, but it IS certain that the future of Warner Bros., the Looney Tunes IP, and WB animation as a whole is dire. All because of a greedy fuck of a CEO who couldn't care less about screwing over animators and animation fans and costing what would've been WB's "return to form/win the crowd back" moment, especially since the classic shorts were pulled from Max not long after the film's release.

#the day the earth blew up #tdtebu #fuck david zaslav #fire david zaslav #fuck wb #fuck warner bros #piracy #piracy is cool #piracy is always the answer #yar har fiddle dee dee

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moviesframes · 2 months ago

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Last Breath (2025)

Directed by Alex Parkinson

Cinematography by Nick Remy Matthews

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thepeoplesmovies · 11 months ago

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Pierre Niney's The Count Of Monte Cristo Gets A UK Trailer

Entertainment Film Distribution have released the official UK Trailer for Pierre Niney’s The Count Of Monte Cristo, ahead of next month’s cinematic release. The film debuted back in May at Cannes Film Festival garnering some great reviews. Niney maybe directing he also stars in this latest version of the classic Alexander Dumas novel. The film has already played in French Cinema, taking in $10…

#2024 #Anaïs Demoustier #Entertainment Film Distributors #Pierre Niney #The Count Of Monte Cristo

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damiankirby99 · 3 months ago

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This post is made to support Ketchup Entertainment, as they finally brought The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie to the big screen last March, as well as finally buying distribution rights to Coyote vs ACME recently.

I wanna say, congratulations to those who saw potential in 2D animation, as well as Looney Tunes in general, since Warner Bros. isn't doing a great job with it. I will be looking forward to seeing The Day The Earth Blew Up once it comes out on home media, as well as Coyote vs ACME too. We're happy we finally get these movies since Looney Tunes has been our childhoods when we watched those cartoons on television, as well as the movies they had done (except Space Jam 2), and I hoped that WB would release these movies. But as we lost hope on those movies, Ketchup finally saved the day and got their hands on these movies, and now they can finally see the light of day (let's hope Scoob: Holiday Haunt is next as well).

It's a shame that WB is trying to get rid of Looney Tunes, because that's what helped made WB in addition to their films, and it is all because of Zaslav. Now that these two films are under the healm of Ketchup Entertainment, I'm proud that they saved these films from being lost and I suggest anyone of you to support the distributor by watching The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie in theaters and Coyote vs ACME next year. Let's hope the latter gets more promotional material and tie-in products though.

#looney tunes #the day the earth blew up #coyote vs acme #ketchup entertainment

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rippleberries · 10 months ago

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Happy Weyounsday. Reminder that Stream comes out TODAY (in the US 😭) It’s legit good and not that gory (edit or maybe it is, I personally was okay with the gore but maybe I was expecting more from Fuzz on the Lens??) and Jeffrey is a sadistic muffin in it.

#it is Weyounsday my dudes #jeffrey combs #stream #Tim Reid #Daniel Robuck #Tim curry #danielle harris #stream the movie

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themenendezbrothers · 5 months ago

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LA-Times - Chronology of the Menendez Case - From the archives.

Chronology of the Menendez Case

1986: The Menendez family moves from New Jersey to California. Jose Menendez, a Cuban immigrant who began working as a dishwasher and rose to become a top executive at Hertz and the RCA Corp., takes over as chief executive at Live Entertainment, a Van Nuys-based video distributor. He moves with his wife, Kitty, and two tennis-playing teen-agers--Lyle and Erik--into a Calabasas home.

1987:Nov. 8: Kitty Menendez is taken to the hospital for a drug overdose.

1988, January: Erik Menendez and a friend at Calabasas High School write a screenplay about a son who murders his parents for $157 million. Prosecutors later lose a bid to use the script at the brothers’ trial.

July: Erik Menendez helps burglarize two houses in Calabasas, getting about $100,000 in property. Lyle joins in the second break-in. To satisfy authorities, Jose Menendez makes restitution and his younger son, Erik, begins seeing Beverly Hills psychologist L. Jerome Oziel.

1989 :July 30-31: NBC-TV airs a movie on the Billionaire Boys Club, a money-happy group of young Southern California men who turn to murder. The club includes the older brother of one of Erik’s friends--and prosecutors later suggest that the film gave the Menendez brothers the idea of killing their parents.

Aug. 15: On this night, according to the brothers, Kitty Menendez rips off Lyle Menendez’s toupee in the family’s new home, a Beverly Hills mansion. As the brothers tell it, Erik Menendez is shocked to learn Lyle wore a wig, but also feels closer to him--and thus confides that he has been molested by their father since age 6.

Aug. 17: Lyle confronts Jose Menendez, telling him to stop the abuse, according to Lyle’s testimony. He says his father responded: “We all make choices in our life. Erik made his. You made yours.”

Aug. 18: According to the brothers’ testimony, they shop for handguns at a Big 5 store in Santa Monica, then wind up instead buying two shotguns in San Diego, using a false ID.

Aug. 20: About 10 p.m., the brothers burst into the TV room of the house and blast away at their parents, hitting Jose Menendez six times and Kitty Menendez 10 times. After dumping weapons and bloody clothing, the brothers drive to a food festival in Santa Monica to establish an alibi. They return home and, at 11:47 p.m., Lyle Menendez dials 911. In seeming hysterics, he reports the discovery of the bodies.

Aug. 21: Lyle Menendez tells Beverly Hills police his father’s business dealings might have provoked the killings.

Aug. 24: Lyle Menendez spends $15,039 on three Rolex watches and money clips.

Aug. 31: Summoned to the mansion by Lyle Menendez, computer expert Howard Witkin searches the family computer to look for new wills, but finds none. Lyle Menendez pays him with a check for $150. It bounces.

Sept. 6: Lyle Menendez buys a $70,484 Porsche. Later, he puts down $300,000 on a chicken-wing restaurant in New Jersey. “I realize, I look back, it sounds awful,” he says in testifying about the spending.

Oct. 31: Erik Menendez confides to Oziel that he and his brother killed their parents. Lyle Menendez, called to the therapist’s office, confirms his brother’s account.

Nov. 2: The brothers meet again with Oziel. Oziel’s lover, Judalon Smyth, is in the waiting room, and later claims she overhears “bits and pieces” of conversation.

Dec. 11: In another session with Oziel, which is taped, the brothers say they killed their mother to put her “out of her misery” and that their father’s infidelity caused her despair.

1990

March 4: Judalon Smyth, who has been living at Oziel’s in Sherman Oaks--under the same roof with his wife and two daughters--leaves, ending their affair.

March 6: Smyth tells police that the brothers confessed to Oziel.

March 8: Oziel’s bank safe deposit box is searched. Police find notes the psychologist dictated after the Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 meetings, and the Dec. 11 tape. Lyle Menendez is arrested.

March 11: Erik flies home from a tennis tournament in Israel and is arrested at Los Angeles International Airport. Both brothers are held without bail.

1992

Aug. 27: In a split decision, the California Supreme Court rules that Oziel’s notes on the Oct. 31 and Nov. 2 sessions can be used as evidence against the brothers because Lyle Menendez allegedly threatened the psychologist. But the court blocks use of the Dec. 11 tape on grounds of patient-therapist confidentiality.

Dec. 7: The Los Angeles County grand jury indicts the brothers on murder and conspiracy charges, with special circumstances that could mean the death penalty.

1993

May 14: Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Stanley M. Weisberg rules that two juries will hear the case because some evidence is admissible against only one brother.

July 11: Defense lawyer Leslie Abramson, representing Erik Menendez, discloses that he will say the brothers killed in self-defense after years of abuse.

July 20: Before opening statements begin, spectators line up for seats in court. Prosecutors allege that Lyle and Erik Menendez were driven by hatred and greed. Abramson says they killed in “pure terror, pure panic.”

July 29: With Oziel scheduled to testify, Abramson vows to “attack his credibility in every way known to man and God.”

Aug. 4: Oziel testifies that the brothers considered the killings the “perfect crime.”

Aug. 10: Under cross-examination, he is made to recount his affair with Smyth. Even he laughs at a poem he wrote her: “For like a nymph, she strides from the forest at daybreak dressed in white where no other man has known her—Judalon.”

Aug. 16: The prosecution rests after calling 26 witnesses.

Aug. 17: The defense begins a parade of teachers, coaches, relatives, neighbors and friends to depict Jose Menendez as a power freak and Kitty Menendez as a suicidal enigma. Weisberg warns the lawyers to keep to relevant evidence: “Every time someone picked their nose and the father slapped his hand, that’s not going to be before the jury,” he says.

Sept. 10: Lyle Menendez takes the stand, saying that he was molested by his father from age 6 to 8. Sobbing, he says he, in turn, sexually abused his younger brother.

Sept. 17: Recounting the slayings, Lyle says he just “freaked out,” and now mostly recalls a dark room, glass breaking, booming guns and lots of smoke.

Sept. 20: Lyle Menendez admits offering his onetime girlfriend, Jamie Pisarcik, a bribe to testify falsely that Jose Menendez made an unwanted pass at her.

Sept. 21: On cross-examination, Deputy Dist. Atty. Pamela Bozanich asks Lyle Menendez: “You almost got away with it, didn’t you?”

Sept. 23: Lyle Menendez says his mother appeared to be “sneaking” away, so he reloaded and shot her one final time.

Sept. 27: Erik Menendez, pale and trembling, takes the stand and testifies that his father molested him from age 6 to 18, sometimes sticking pins in him during sex.

Oct. 1: Prosecutors spring a trap. They allow Erik Menendez to testify about shopping for handguns at a Big 5 store--then reveal that the Big 5 chain had stopped selling handguns three years earlier.

Oct. 13: A new phase of the defense opens with five expert witnesses on the mind-set of the brothers. Ann H. Tyler, a Salt Lake City-based psychologist, tells jurors that Erik Menendez endured “psychological maltreatment.”

Oct. 15: Ann Burgess, a nursing professor at the University of Pennsylvania, says the crime scene was “disorganized,” suggesting there was no plan to kill. She later cites research on snails to bolster the notion that prolonged fear can “rewire” the brain.

Nov. 3: Weisberg rules that the Dec. 11, 1989, tape of the counseling session with Oziel now is admissible as evidence because the defense made the brothers’ mental state a central issue.

Nov. 12: Defense attorneys play the tape for jurors, saying they did not want it to seem they were hiding evidence. There are gasps when Lyle says of his mother and father: “You miss just having these people around. I miss not having my dog around. If I can make such a gross analogy.”

Nov. 15: Smyth, whose tip led to the brothers’ arrests, is called by the defense to discredit Oziel. She says he wanted the brothers to confess on tape so he could control them.

Nov. 18: After three months of testimony and 56 witnesses, the defense rests.

Nov. 23: The prosecution, in its rebuttal, calls Brian Andersen, Kitty Menendez’s brother. He says the Menendez parents were loving and caring, but their sons were brats.

Dec. 6: Weisberg rules that the evidence does not justify a legal instruction giving jurors the option of outright acquittal.

Dec. 9: As closing arguments begin, Lyle Menendez’s lead lawyer, Jill Lansing, implores jurors to convict him of manslaughter, not murder. She asks jurors to consider: “What in the world could have caused these two boys to kill their parents?”

Dec. 10: With Bozanich calling the brothers cold-blooded killers who put on the “best defense daddy’s money could buy,” Lyle Menendez’s case goes to the jury.

Dec. 13: Deputy. Dist. Atty. Lester Kuriyama kicks off his closing argument for the Erik Menendez jury by posting pictures of the killing scene. Abramson calls that a “cheap prosecution trick,” then puts up her own pictures, of the brothers as naked young boys.

Dec. 15: Relating her “fantasy” of seeing Erik Menendez a free man, Abramson urges jurors to acquit him. Closing arguments wrap up with Kuriyama suggesting that Erik Menendez was gay and that his sexual orientation--not abuse by his parents--fed the family friction that led to the slayings.

1994

Jan. 10: The Erik Menendez jury announces that it seems hopelessly deadlocked. Weisberg urges the panel to keep trying.

Jan. 13: A hung jury is declared in the case against Erik Menendez.

Jan. 17: The earthquake damages the courthouse--and the neighborhoods of many jurors--causing a postponement of deliberations for the Lyle Menendez panel.

Jan. 24: The jury finally resumes deliberations, in a trailer.

Jan. 25: The jury reports: “We are unable to come to a unanimous decision.” The judge asks the panel to keep trying.

Jan. 29: With the Lyle Menendez jury still hung, Weisberg declares a mistrial. Prosecutors vow to retry the brothers.

X (First part of the article).

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#erik menendez #lyle menendez #the menendez brothers trial #menendez brothers

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