July 2015 - The Dudek Abides

Milwaukee Media Notes: Christian, Lion & the Spanish Inquisition.

Posted July 31, 2015 by Duane Dudek

What an interesting week it’s been. For me at least.

My first full week behind the Milwaukee Magazine paywall experiment was dominated by coverage of the WKLH-FM story. Both sides were heard.

The next angles will be former morning show co-host Carole Caine getting a new job and the station hiring a new co-host for Dave Luczak, per Saga CEO Ed Christian.

Saga owns Milwaukee Radio Group which owns WKLH.

I was told a couple weeks ago when outcry over Caine’s departure was at its height, that Christian might call and prepared a list of questions that were nowhere to be found when he finally did this week before I had my morning coffee. Nicely played.

Allen remakes familiar themes in appealing “Irrational Man”

Posted July 30, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Woody Allen movies do not exist in a vacuum.

There are so many of them that I found myself rifling through my mental Rolodex of his quirks, trademarks and themes while watching “Irrational Man,” his approximately 51st as a writer director.

Reference to the meaninglessness of existence? Check.

Older man-younger woman? Check.

Dilemma involving a betrayal or crime? Check.

Don’t get me wrong. I do not begrudge his tapping the same themes here as he did in “Match Point” and “Cassandra’s Dream” all of which are loose re-workings of his morally dense masterpiece “Crimes and Misdemeanors.”

July Sweeps Ratings Results

Posted July 30, 2015 by Duane Dudek

In the results of the A.C. Nielsen sweeps ratings for July, WISN-TV (Channel 12) claimed the “most watched” title, WITI-TV (Channel 6) grabbed the 10 p.m. crown and WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) remained steady or flat depending on your perspective, and its morning show improved.

The complete story tempts you from behind this Milwaukee Magazine paywall.

To access, just create an account at Imoneza.

Saga CEO refutes misperceptions about Caine, WKLH

Posted July 30, 2015 by Duane Dudek

WKLH-FM image control efforts went into overdrive Wednesday to correct what it believes are misperceptions and misstatements related to its decision not to renew Carole Caine’s contract.

In a statement in response to interviews that former morning co-host Caine conducted yesterday, Milwaukee Radio Group general manager and vice president Annmarie Topel said the station felt “compelled to correct the untruths shared with the press.”

Ed Christian, president and CEO of Saga Communications, which owns Milwaukee Radio Group, even called a reporter who hadn’t had his coffee yet Wednesday morning to set the record straight.

Former WKLH morning host Carole Caine breaks silence

Posted July 28, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Former WKLH-FM (96.5) morning show co-host Carole Caine broke her silence Tuesday a month after her contract was not renewed.

She had worked at the station for 29 years.

She said she was ‘humbled” by support from listeners after her dismissal. And said that she is “now a free agent. Anyone who wants me can have me,” she said.

See the complete story, behind the Milwaukee Magazine paywall.

Create an account at Imoneza.

Reviews of eight movies at theaters near you this weekend.

Posted July 25, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Here’s are some of the movies worth seeing this weekend, with links to actual reviews.

“The Wolfpack” Documentary about how movies shaped a group of sheltered brothers.

“Southpaw” Boxing film with Jake Gyllenhaal.

“Ant-Man” Marvel superhero film with Paul Rudd.

“Mr. Holmes” Ian McKellen as late in life sleuth Sherlock Holmes.

“Jurassic World” Remake, reboot or revival of dinosaur franchise.

“Infinitely Polar Bear” A tale of mental illness and family with Kenosha native Mark Ruffalo.

Confessional intimacy of claustrophobic “Wolfpack”

Posted July 24, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Quentin Tarantino may not have kids of his own but if he did, they might look like “The Wolfpack.”

Imagine a tribe of people for whom Tarantino’s films and any others they could get their hands on became the foundation of their sense of the world. “The Wolfpack” is one such group.

They are brothers, all in their older teens, who grew up on New York’s lower East side but left their apartment and experienced the outside world perhaps once a year.

Their shamanistic father had the only key and their mother home schooled them. They seem to enjoy each other’s company, as if they had any other choice.

Gyllenhaal gets his raging bull on in “Southpaw”

Posted July 23, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Describing something as Golden Globe caliber is damning it with faint praise.

It also means “not Oscar worthy.” Which can be said of the punch-drunk love story “Southpaw.”

It has all the right moves and pushes the right buttons but in pedantic and melodramatic service of past fight films.

Jake Gyllenhaal is having a Matthew McConaughey year.

He was the creepily obsessive guy in last year’s “Nightcrawler” for which he WAS nominated for a Golden Globe. And he has his raging bull on here as a boxer who wins fights by taking a beating.

Milwaukee Media Notes: Lions & Favre, Harvey & Harley, oh my!

Posted July 23, 2015 by Duane Dudek

Once summer at Boy Scout camp I went on a snipe hunt.

Adults sent me and others into the woods at night with a bag and flashlight to lure and capture the elusive snipe. Whatever they are.

When we returned to camp empty-handed, the adults were all eating S’mores and laughing at us from around the campfire.

News of a lion loose in the Milwaukee area feels a bit like a snipe hunt and invites comparisons to other myths and distractions, like Rhinelander’s Hodag and shark attacks.

But the visual evidence is compelling.

MIlwaukee Media Notes: New PD, familiar voice at Radio Milwaukee

Posted July 22, 2015 by Duane Dudek

WYMS-FM (88.9) assistant program director and morning host Jordan Lee has been named program director at the station, also known as Radio Milwaukee. He replaces veteran radio consultant and programmer Sean Demery who joined the station last fall.

Demery resigned to return to his home in Park City, Utah, because of “family health matters” but will stay a consultant.

“Sean worked very hard for us and set the stage for our continued growth,” said Executive Director Mary Louise Mussoline said.

The Dudek Abides

Archive for July, 2015

Milwaukee Media Notes: Christian, Lion & the Spanish Inquisition.

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Allen remakes familiar themes in appealing “Irrational Man”

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July Sweeps Ratings Results

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Saga CEO refutes misperceptions about Caine, WKLH

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Former WKLH morning host Carole Caine breaks silence

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Reviews of eight movies at theaters near you this weekend.

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Confessional intimacy of claustrophobic “Wolfpack”

Like this:

Gyllenhaal gets his raging bull on in “Southpaw”

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Milwaukee Media Notes: Lions & Favre, Harvey & Harley, oh my!

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MIlwaukee Media Notes: New PD, familiar voice at Radio Milwaukee

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