Hey folks,
Its that time of year when I start prepping my "Best 25/Worst 5 Films of the Year" list. Last year, you may remember that I didn't post my list until after the Oscars because I hadn't seen that many films and couldn't fill out either list. In fact, I may have just quietly posted the list and been done with it.
This year, I'm offering an "epiphany" of sorts before publishing the list.
I'm 38. I'm married. I have a 2 1/2 year-old son and a second child due in late May/early June. To put it quite simply...movies don't matter much anymore.
Okay...now that everyone has done a spit take or gasped as if I've uttered some blashpeme, let me expand upon this and explain where I'm coming from before we start taking pitchforks and torches to my two college degrees.
I love movies. I will always love movies. From Citizen Kane to Ernest Goes to Africa, I have always championed any kind of film. A few years ago, I finally realized that a good chunk of what Hollywood puts out is just utter crap that isn't worth my time and my rule of "if I start it, I have to finish it" went out the window to fall in the pile of other stupid rules other humans have come up with throughout the millennia (we can thank The Whole Ten Yards for opening my eyes).
Granted, before this time I had seen A LOT of shit. But I always found the good within the bad. I no longer have the time or energy to do this. With the crap that gets churned out on a regular basis to fill the silver screen like so much diarreah, there was no longer time to devote to the passion of watching the magic of film.
Perhaps, unfortunately, the good got tossed out with the bad. Life took me in different directions and I wasn't even able to see all the "good" films either. Sure, I still caught things I wanted to see or felt I had to see, but some of the more acclaimed films had to wait. Netflix came in handy for a while, but eventually that had to go the way of the dodo in our household. We just didn't have the time to keep up with TV shows and life and movies. And while I missed a few things here and there, for the life of me I can't think of anything off the top of my head that I truly "missed" and regret. Sure, I've got a list running of movies I had an interest in seeing...but after a while of not being able to get to any of them, I forget about them entirely. Meaning they couldn't have been that great to begin with or else I'd remember them.
So...in looking over everything I did see this last year, we come up with just about 25 "films"...some of which I refuse to put in a "Best of" list. And I haven't seen anything so horrible as to even have a "Worst of" list. So what am I to do?
Well...I'm gonna have a Top 25 list...but I'm changing the rules somewhat. Since the way we as a society view "films" have changed over the last decade anyway, I'm catching up with the times somewhat. I will be adding "direct to video" movies to the list if they are worthy. They could be based on TV series, but they cannot be part of a show that is still on the air (so don't expect to see Battlestar: Galactica - Razor on the list...but there are one or two others that are eligible and may make it).
As far as doing something about the "Worst of" list, I'm going to list movies or trends in movies that I wish didn't happen...regardless of whether I've seen them or not (let's face it, while Airplane is still a funny film, does anyone think that Date Movie will be funny in 5 years when it wasn't funny to begin with). I believe I have enough "knowledge" of things to be able to espouse an opinion on these matters. If you have a problem with that, well...tough titty.
So that's where it all stands right now. The lists won't get published until just after January 1 as we're going to be seeing at least one other film in theaters before too long and I want to be able to add it to the list if it deserves to be there.
Anyway...I will be back with some other reviews and looks back in the next day or so while I'm relaxing in Napa.
Be seeing you.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, November 29, 2007
That's Frahnk-en-steen
So...we got Broadway tickets (and a babysitter) for our anniversary this year. The tickets were for Young Frankenstein. Being the Mel Brooks fan, I had to see this. I went in with no real expectations. I knew this wouldn't be as funny as The Producers, but it couldn't be worse than Monty Python's Spamalot (which I did still enjoy, just didn't think it was as great as everyone makes it out to be). I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. While I didn't find it as funny as The Producers (though Tash found it funnier), I really enjoyed myself.
If you don't know the plot of the film, its covered pretty well here on Broadway. When his infamous grandfather dies, Frederick Frankenstein (Gary Bart in the Gene Wilder role) returns to Transylvania and gets reluctantly involved in the "family business" of reanimating dead corpses. This leads to many problems with the locals who are tired of the Frankenstein family making their lives a nightmare. Frederick winds up creating a new monster (Shuler Hensley in the Peter Boyle role) that he hopes will be different and also winds up falling in love with his assistant Inga (Sutton Foster in the Terri Garr role), much to the chagrin of his fiance Elizabeth (Megan Mullaly in the Madeline Khan role). The end of the show is somewhat different from the film, but not enough to matter.
Brooks has assembled the same creative team as The Producers and while the show is a lot of fun and technically amazing (there are loads of neat special effects), it doesn't feel as fresh as the previous Brooks musical. Here is a rundown of the show's numbers and my general thoughts on each:
The show starts with a lightning flash and a recreation of the very opening of the film (lightning lighting up the castle...here its on a scrim). And we're told the play takes place in 1934 in Transylvania Heights.
The Happiest Town -- The show starts off with a fun number in which the citizens or Transylvania rejoice that Baron Frankenstein has died...so they're not "The happiest town in town" (a funny lyric that doesn't get much mileage). Inspector Kemp (Fred Applegate in the Kenneth Mars role) arrives to let everyone know that there is still one Frankenstein left, a grandson in New York.
The Brain -- Here we meet Frederick in a scene lifted directly from the film that's still pretty funny on stage. But now they've added a song about how much Frederick loves studying the brain. Gary Bart is definitely not trying to imitate Gene Wilder as he tends to scream lines to punctuate jokes. At first it was a bit ANNOYING, but eventually it woorked to differentiate the two actors nicely.
Please Don't Touch Me -- Instead of being at a train station, Freddie says goodbye to Elizabeth at a boat dock (which makes more sense). With the joke of her not wanting to be touched because she's had her hair done, her nails done, a new dress, etc now turned into a very funny number the problem of Megan Mullally's performance explodes onto the stage. No, she's not trying to recreate Madeline Khan's wonderful performance...but she seems to be channeling Karen from Will & Grace by way of Mathew Broderick in The Producers which is totally wrong for this role (she teeters from being drunk to being spot on to even possible soudning like she forgot a line in one song). We also discover here just how much of the film's sexual innuendo has been transferred over...all of it...and its been amped up to 11 (Elizabeth uses the word "tits" about a few dozen times in a row at one point). Its a funny song that needs a better leader.
Together Again -- As Freddie arrives in Transylvania (by train so we can get the whole "Pardon me boy is this the Transylvania Station" joke), he meets Igor (Christopher Fitzgerald in the Marty Feldman role). This is easily the most memorable original song in the show (which isn't saying much). Igor's film entrance is recreated as best as possible on stage and is enhanced to be even funnier as Freddie moves around in the fog prompting Igor to move around in "surprise" more than he should. Igor tells Freddie how they met in a dream before. And then we get the "walk this way" joke.
Roll In The Hay -- Freddie meets his new assistant Inga (or is it Ula...the role from The Producers now seems much more interchangable with this one than they did on film). Igor takes them for a ride in a hay wagon up to the castle. The effect of making the trip (which involves a stationary cart, two actors dressed like very real horses -- at least at first -- and a movie to make it look like they're moving) are pretty amazing to see. We even get the "where wolf" joke complete with "live" were wolf.
Join The Family Business -- Mel Brooks pretty much lifted "Tevye's Dream" out of Fiddler on the Roof for this one. It involves a neat effect of the castle shaking, a number of ghostly ancestors (and their assistants) and a giant monster puppet. Definitely a memorable highlight of the show (even if I can't remember the tune or lyrics).
He Vas My Boyfriend -- Frau Blucher (horse whinny sound) is played by Andrea Martin. She is easily the best part of the show and this number (which has that Cabaret feel) highlights all of it. The scene also highlights the show's biggest problem. The very memorable music that Frau Blucher (horse whinny sound) plays in the film is COMPLETELY ABSENT from here (did they spend too much money on other things? How memorable is this music? A guy in our row was whistling it during intermission). A BIG letdown in my book.
The Law -- Kemp and the villagers decide to "schnoop" around the castle to see if the new Frankenstein has been up to no good.
Life, Life -- Freddie brings the Monster to life (complete with the charades game involving the sedative and the revelation that Igor got "Abby Normal's" brain instead of Hans Delbruck -- in a scene that's much funnier than the film I might add).
Welcome To Transylvania -- The villagers welcome to good doctor with a song and as the Monster starts to awaken offstage we move into...
Transylvania Mania -- where Igor tries to distract everyone from the Monster's howling. The monster breaks free and the first act ends.
He's Loose -- Everyone is trying to recapture the Monster in the foggy woods at the start of the second act.
Listen To Your Heart -- Inga seduces Freddie. Yawn.
Surprise -- Elizabeth arrives to surprise Freddie (with an entourage that resembles Roger DeBris' from The Producers) but gets a surprise of her own as she finds Inga & Freddie together.
Please Send Me Someone -- Another big highlight of the show as we meet the Hermit (Fred Applegate again this time in the Gene Hackman role -- and the quick transform from Kemp to the Hermit is displayed during the Curtain Call and its pretty amazing). The blind Hermit wants the Lord above to send him "someone"...so of course, you know the Monster's gonna come crashing through the wall at some point (he gets a whole song and thankfully its very funny). The rest of the scene plays out as it does in the film, but being a live show where things can go wrong we got to see a happy accident as the candle went out before he could light his cigar, so Applegate had to change the line "Fire is our friend" to "Fire is our friend -- sometimes" and then milked the mistake for the rest of the scene.
Man About Town -- Freddie tries to calm the Monster after he's been recaptured. Don't remember the word "fuck" being in the film, but it got a laugh here anyway.
Puttin' On The Ritz -- OK...you knew it had to be here and they basically did to this what they did to "Springtime for Hitler" in The Producers in that its been made longer and bigger. Here, it still works but seems a bit like warm leftovers as Igor, Frau Blucher (horse whinny sound), Inga/Ulla and a bunch of tap dancers with monster shoes dance up a storm with Freddie and the Monster.
Deep Love -- After escaping from the theater and taking Elizabeth with him, the Monster satisfies a need and Elizabeth sings the biggest double entendre song EVER...heck its really just single entendres all over the place...in spite of Mullally's bizarre performance, its a funny song and rather memorable...
Frederick's Soliloquy -- Freddie does the brain transference as the mob breaks in. They take him to the square to hang him...and they do...
Deep Love (Reprise) -- But the Monster arrives just as it happens and is able to revive him and sing of his love for Elizabeth since he now "talks like Noel Coward" (as Kemp says).
Finale Ultimo -- We get a happy ending that no one will remember the words or tune to.
All in all, the show has many faults (they got every joke and bit from the film up there except the Monster meeting the little girl...and the missing theme music is unforgivable), but it is a lot of fun in spite of Megan Mullally's weird performance. Of course, knowing that Kristen Chenowith was the first choice makes Mullally all the more hard to take. Chenowith would have done Madeline Kahn proud.
Its definitely not The Producers which lent itself to the musical genre very easily since it was a story about a Broadway musical. This show is based on a movie that was a love letter/homage to a genre & time of filmmaking that was long ago. Not quite as easily adaptable. Brooks does a decent job by throwing every joke he can at the wall and seeing what sticks (a lot like his later movies). Its funny but feels tired and old at the same time.
While I did enjoy the show, I really hope the threat that "Next year Blazing Saddles" is just a threat and not a promise.
Be seeing you.
If you don't know the plot of the film, its covered pretty well here on Broadway. When his infamous grandfather dies, Frederick Frankenstein (Gary Bart in the Gene Wilder role) returns to Transylvania and gets reluctantly involved in the "family business" of reanimating dead corpses. This leads to many problems with the locals who are tired of the Frankenstein family making their lives a nightmare. Frederick winds up creating a new monster (Shuler Hensley in the Peter Boyle role) that he hopes will be different and also winds up falling in love with his assistant Inga (Sutton Foster in the Terri Garr role), much to the chagrin of his fiance Elizabeth (Megan Mullaly in the Madeline Khan role). The end of the show is somewhat different from the film, but not enough to matter.
Brooks has assembled the same creative team as The Producers and while the show is a lot of fun and technically amazing (there are loads of neat special effects), it doesn't feel as fresh as the previous Brooks musical. Here is a rundown of the show's numbers and my general thoughts on each:
The show starts with a lightning flash and a recreation of the very opening of the film (lightning lighting up the castle...here its on a scrim). And we're told the play takes place in 1934 in Transylvania Heights.
The Happiest Town -- The show starts off with a fun number in which the citizens or Transylvania rejoice that Baron Frankenstein has died...so they're not "The happiest town in town" (a funny lyric that doesn't get much mileage). Inspector Kemp (Fred Applegate in the Kenneth Mars role) arrives to let everyone know that there is still one Frankenstein left, a grandson in New York.
The Brain -- Here we meet Frederick in a scene lifted directly from the film that's still pretty funny on stage. But now they've added a song about how much Frederick loves studying the brain. Gary Bart is definitely not trying to imitate Gene Wilder as he tends to scream lines to punctuate jokes. At first it was a bit ANNOYING, but eventually it woorked to differentiate the two actors nicely.
Please Don't Touch Me -- Instead of being at a train station, Freddie says goodbye to Elizabeth at a boat dock (which makes more sense). With the joke of her not wanting to be touched because she's had her hair done, her nails done, a new dress, etc now turned into a very funny number the problem of Megan Mullally's performance explodes onto the stage. No, she's not trying to recreate Madeline Khan's wonderful performance...but she seems to be channeling Karen from Will & Grace by way of Mathew Broderick in The Producers which is totally wrong for this role (she teeters from being drunk to being spot on to even possible soudning like she forgot a line in one song). We also discover here just how much of the film's sexual innuendo has been transferred over...all of it...and its been amped up to 11 (Elizabeth uses the word "tits" about a few dozen times in a row at one point). Its a funny song that needs a better leader.
Together Again -- As Freddie arrives in Transylvania (by train so we can get the whole "Pardon me boy is this the Transylvania Station" joke), he meets Igor (Christopher Fitzgerald in the Marty Feldman role). This is easily the most memorable original song in the show (which isn't saying much). Igor's film entrance is recreated as best as possible on stage and is enhanced to be even funnier as Freddie moves around in the fog prompting Igor to move around in "surprise" more than he should. Igor tells Freddie how they met in a dream before. And then we get the "walk this way" joke.
Roll In The Hay -- Freddie meets his new assistant Inga (or is it Ula...the role from The Producers now seems much more interchangable with this one than they did on film). Igor takes them for a ride in a hay wagon up to the castle. The effect of making the trip (which involves a stationary cart, two actors dressed like very real horses -- at least at first -- and a movie to make it look like they're moving) are pretty amazing to see. We even get the "where wolf" joke complete with "live" were wolf.
Join The Family Business -- Mel Brooks pretty much lifted "Tevye's Dream" out of Fiddler on the Roof for this one. It involves a neat effect of the castle shaking, a number of ghostly ancestors (and their assistants) and a giant monster puppet. Definitely a memorable highlight of the show (even if I can't remember the tune or lyrics).
He Vas My Boyfriend -- Frau Blucher (horse whinny sound) is played by Andrea Martin. She is easily the best part of the show and this number (which has that Cabaret feel) highlights all of it. The scene also highlights the show's biggest problem. The very memorable music that Frau Blucher (horse whinny sound) plays in the film is COMPLETELY ABSENT from here (did they spend too much money on other things? How memorable is this music? A guy in our row was whistling it during intermission). A BIG letdown in my book.
The Law -- Kemp and the villagers decide to "schnoop" around the castle to see if the new Frankenstein has been up to no good.
Life, Life -- Freddie brings the Monster to life (complete with the charades game involving the sedative and the revelation that Igor got "Abby Normal's" brain instead of Hans Delbruck -- in a scene that's much funnier than the film I might add).
Welcome To Transylvania -- The villagers welcome to good doctor with a song and as the Monster starts to awaken offstage we move into...
Transylvania Mania -- where Igor tries to distract everyone from the Monster's howling. The monster breaks free and the first act ends.
He's Loose -- Everyone is trying to recapture the Monster in the foggy woods at the start of the second act.
Listen To Your Heart -- Inga seduces Freddie. Yawn.
Surprise -- Elizabeth arrives to surprise Freddie (with an entourage that resembles Roger DeBris' from The Producers) but gets a surprise of her own as she finds Inga & Freddie together.
Please Send Me Someone -- Another big highlight of the show as we meet the Hermit (Fred Applegate again this time in the Gene Hackman role -- and the quick transform from Kemp to the Hermit is displayed during the Curtain Call and its pretty amazing). The blind Hermit wants the Lord above to send him "someone"...so of course, you know the Monster's gonna come crashing through the wall at some point (he gets a whole song and thankfully its very funny). The rest of the scene plays out as it does in the film, but being a live show where things can go wrong we got to see a happy accident as the candle went out before he could light his cigar, so Applegate had to change the line "Fire is our friend" to "Fire is our friend -- sometimes" and then milked the mistake for the rest of the scene.
Man About Town -- Freddie tries to calm the Monster after he's been recaptured. Don't remember the word "fuck" being in the film, but it got a laugh here anyway.
Puttin' On The Ritz -- OK...you knew it had to be here and they basically did to this what they did to "Springtime for Hitler" in The Producers in that its been made longer and bigger. Here, it still works but seems a bit like warm leftovers as Igor, Frau Blucher (horse whinny sound), Inga/Ulla and a bunch of tap dancers with monster shoes dance up a storm with Freddie and the Monster.
Deep Love -- After escaping from the theater and taking Elizabeth with him, the Monster satisfies a need and Elizabeth sings the biggest double entendre song EVER...heck its really just single entendres all over the place...in spite of Mullally's bizarre performance, its a funny song and rather memorable...
Frederick's Soliloquy -- Freddie does the brain transference as the mob breaks in. They take him to the square to hang him...and they do...
Deep Love (Reprise) -- But the Monster arrives just as it happens and is able to revive him and sing of his love for Elizabeth since he now "talks like Noel Coward" (as Kemp says).
Finale Ultimo -- We get a happy ending that no one will remember the words or tune to.
All in all, the show has many faults (they got every joke and bit from the film up there except the Monster meeting the little girl...and the missing theme music is unforgivable), but it is a lot of fun in spite of Megan Mullally's weird performance. Of course, knowing that Kristen Chenowith was the first choice makes Mullally all the more hard to take. Chenowith would have done Madeline Kahn proud.
Its definitely not The Producers which lent itself to the musical genre very easily since it was a story about a Broadway musical. This show is based on a movie that was a love letter/homage to a genre & time of filmmaking that was long ago. Not quite as easily adaptable. Brooks does a decent job by throwing every joke he can at the wall and seeing what sticks (a lot like his later movies). Its funny but feels tired and old at the same time.
While I did enjoy the show, I really hope the threat that "Next year Blazing Saddles" is just a threat and not a promise.
Be seeing you.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
A Trio of Movie Reviews
Hey folks,
I know its been over a month. Sorry for that. We're in a bit of transition here at the house...mostly due to expecting a second child sometime in late May/early June. There have been a few other things as well, but I'll get to them in due time.
Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving in the meantime. We had a nice small one (the three of us, my parents and my Uncle). Grilled the turkey on the Komodo Kamado Ceramic Grill we bought at the beginning of the summer. Yum! With the rest of the menu, I think we've found one that can work with minor alterations in subsequent years.
Anyway...we had the opportunity to see Across The Universe a few weeks ago in the theaters. Good movie, not great. I was expecting to either love it or hate it...but I just liked it. Thought it was audacious of Julie Taymor to even tackle something that could remotely resemble Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Fortunately, it didn't fall into the "so bad, its good" category. If you like musicals or Beatles tunes or even off-beat filmmaking, you should catch this film at some point.
Meet the Robinsons from Disney is a funny, cute and touching story about an orphan who is looking for his place in the world. Louis is something of a child prodigy who likes to invent things and one day at his school's science fair, he is approached by another boy claiming he needs to stop the man in the Bowler Hat and that he's from the future. To say any more would ruin the twists and turns this film does have. Let's just say a good chunk of it will have you saying "they must have rewatched Back to the Future one too many times while high". Not your "typical" Disney animated feature (do they even still make those anymore?), but a lot of fun regardless.
Ratatouille is Pixar's new entry for the year (although we could just say its Disney's second entry for the year and be done with it). The film concerns a rat named Remy who is a bit of a gourmand. When Remy gets separated from his family he winds up teaming up with a dorky young kid and helps him become the next "Iron Chef" (just kidding, but you get the point). Funny and charming, this is pretty much what you'd expect from a Pixar film at this point (just remove Randy Newman from the equation). Definitely worth seeing.
Two minor complaints about both films being released on DVD. It seems that Disney has abandoned their old philosophy of releasing both a standard single disc DVD and a Two Disc Special Edition set at the same time. Now while I don't expect Meet the Robinsons will ever get a special edition beyond the few extras on this current release, the BluRay release of Ratatouille (and Cars) has me thinking that there will be something later. The BluRay versions have many more extras than the standard DVDs. If this is a ploy to get people to jump to the HD format, I don't see it working. The only thing that will make anyone jump to either HD disc format is to end the fucking format war. HD-DVD (a stupid mouthful that should have been called HDVD or something else entirely) and BluRay are quickly consigning themselves to a niche smaller than LaserDisc before we are forced to buy/rent downloads by the studios (which gives them more control and us a lot less...if Amazon's Kindle gets popular for books in any meaningful way, you can pretty much kiss the concept of consumer "ownership" goodbye).
Anyway...that's all for now. Hope to be back sooner rather than later. I've got some pointed comments of the two current entertainment strikes going on that I'll eventually post and since the new Futurama movie hits this week, I'm sure I'll want to yak about that.
Be seeing you.
I know its been over a month. Sorry for that. We're in a bit of transition here at the house...mostly due to expecting a second child sometime in late May/early June. There have been a few other things as well, but I'll get to them in due time.
Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving in the meantime. We had a nice small one (the three of us, my parents and my Uncle). Grilled the turkey on the Komodo Kamado Ceramic Grill we bought at the beginning of the summer. Yum! With the rest of the menu, I think we've found one that can work with minor alterations in subsequent years.
Anyway...we had the opportunity to see Across The Universe a few weeks ago in the theaters. Good movie, not great. I was expecting to either love it or hate it...but I just liked it. Thought it was audacious of Julie Taymor to even tackle something that could remotely resemble Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Fortunately, it didn't fall into the "so bad, its good" category. If you like musicals or Beatles tunes or even off-beat filmmaking, you should catch this film at some point.
Meet the Robinsons from Disney is a funny, cute and touching story about an orphan who is looking for his place in the world. Louis is something of a child prodigy who likes to invent things and one day at his school's science fair, he is approached by another boy claiming he needs to stop the man in the Bowler Hat and that he's from the future. To say any more would ruin the twists and turns this film does have. Let's just say a good chunk of it will have you saying "they must have rewatched Back to the Future one too many times while high". Not your "typical" Disney animated feature (do they even still make those anymore?), but a lot of fun regardless.
Ratatouille is Pixar's new entry for the year (although we could just say its Disney's second entry for the year and be done with it). The film concerns a rat named Remy who is a bit of a gourmand. When Remy gets separated from his family he winds up teaming up with a dorky young kid and helps him become the next "Iron Chef" (just kidding, but you get the point). Funny and charming, this is pretty much what you'd expect from a Pixar film at this point (just remove Randy Newman from the equation). Definitely worth seeing.
Two minor complaints about both films being released on DVD. It seems that Disney has abandoned their old philosophy of releasing both a standard single disc DVD and a Two Disc Special Edition set at the same time. Now while I don't expect Meet the Robinsons will ever get a special edition beyond the few extras on this current release, the BluRay release of Ratatouille (and Cars) has me thinking that there will be something later. The BluRay versions have many more extras than the standard DVDs. If this is a ploy to get people to jump to the HD format, I don't see it working. The only thing that will make anyone jump to either HD disc format is to end the fucking format war. HD-DVD (a stupid mouthful that should have been called HDVD or something else entirely) and BluRay are quickly consigning themselves to a niche smaller than LaserDisc before we are forced to buy/rent downloads by the studios (which gives them more control and us a lot less...if Amazon's Kindle gets popular for books in any meaningful way, you can pretty much kiss the concept of consumer "ownership" goodbye).
Anyway...that's all for now. Hope to be back sooner rather than later. I've got some pointed comments of the two current entertainment strikes going on that I'll eventually post and since the new Futurama movie hits this week, I'm sure I'll want to yak about that.
Be seeing you.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Off To A Late Start
So the new Fall TV Season started a few weeks ago and I have yet to comment. Why? Well, we can start with some laziness. My laptop was in for repairs (took 28 days) and I was too lazy to use either the desktop in the office (cause its hard to do any work in there with Malcolm poking his fingers at everything) or my wife's laptop (I felt like I was hogging it anyway).
So...we're "back" in business and what do I have to say about the new Fall TV Season? Not much it seems.
You see...my toddler has spent the last couple of months winning the bedtime battle...so our viewing habits have changed drastically. Between not getting him to sleep until 9pm and all the rehearsals either one of us has had in the last two months, if we get to watch one show a night, we're lucky.
Of course, some things are slowly getting back to "normal". Rehearsals have fallen by the wayside for the most part and I've gotten Malcolm's bedtime back to between 8 & 8:30 which does give us more time to catch things...but honestly, the energy and desire aren't quite there anymore.
For example...I enjoyed the first two seasons of Prison Break and while our DVRs have been recording away, neither one of us cares much to actually try and watch it. The cliffhanger from Season 2 left us a bit cold anyway. Desperate Housewives is also starting to fall into this category.
Journeyman and The Bionic Woman sounded interesting, when they started I had no interest and no longer have the time or energy to catch up.
So I do apologize to all of you. I know in years past I have at least reviewed the pilot of most of the new fall shows. This season, you'll barely get that.
So what are we watching? Let's take a look night by night.
Mondays -- Its all NBC. Chuck is a great new show about a guy who accidentally "downloads" (or ingests or views) all the top secret info the government has been collecting over the last few years. So now, in addition to being the head of the "Nerd Herd" at Buy More (the fictional equivalent of Best Buy's Geek Squad), Chuck Bartowski is now a "spy" as he gets dragged along onto assignments by CIA Agent Sarah Walker (not her real name) and NSA Agent Casey. The show is well cast, well written and highly entertaining. Heroes is faltering a bit in its second season. I'm thoroughly bored by the Hiro in ancient Japan storyline and dislike the fact that they seem to only be able to afford one old Star Trek actor at a time. But while it has diminished a bit, its still a great show.
Tuesdays -- While our DVRs are still recording Bones we're so far behind its not even funny. House remains as good as ever and the first few episodes with House's American Idol-like methods for picking new assistants was just short of brilliant. Boston Legal even with all the casting changes (yet again) also remains a fun and entertaining show (maybe more so with the addition of John Larroquette). The new show of the night that we're enjoying is Reaper about a guy who turns 21 only to discover that his parents had sold his soul to the devil and Satan has come to collect. Now he's the devil's bounty hunter as he has to capture souls who have escaped from hell and are wreaking havoc on Earth. Its a fun show (with an exceptional performance by Ray Wise as Satan) that has gotten a bit repetative (much like Smallville in its first season), but will hopefully come out of that.
Wednesdays -- We're still sort of watching Criminal Minds since we wanted to see how they wrote out Mandy Patinkin's character and I like Joe Mantegna and want to see how he gets worked in...but the episodes between those events are a bit blah and have started sitting on our DVR. Back To You starring Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton is a typical newsroom sitcom, but one that is funny and well done. I'm surprised its on FOX. Pushing Daisies is easily the best new show of the season. Quirky and enchanting, I won't say much more about this other than Tash & I both make it the first show of the night (especially if its the only show of the night). South Park has also returned for a bunch of episodes that feel forced and old hat. But they're still funny in that gross way.
Thursdays -- Ugly Betty is still our guilty pleasure that we both enjoy. Smallville also remains high on the list. We do wind up watching this a few days later (like Saturday afternoons during Malcolm's nap). My Name Is Earl and 30 Rock also remain funny shows that we try to watch (well...I do with the latter, Tash doesn't care much for it). Law & Order: Criminal Intent has moved to USA and still remains the best of the franchise in my opinion...but it also gets "time shifted" in viewing.
Fridays -- Aside from still recording the abomination known as Flash Gordon we use this night to catch up on things from the week and watch The Soup when Monk and Psych are on their breaks.
Saturdays -- Just early morning cartoons in The Batman and Legion of Super Heroes get watched. If we're awake at night, we're still catching up on things or going out to see movies if we can get a sitter.
Sundays -- While I'm in the process of finally admitting that fatherhood has changed my movie watching & TV viewing habits, you'll have to pry FOX's Sunday night animation lineup from my cold dead hands.
There's only one new show that we have any interest in that has yet to premiere. Viva Laughlin will get a full review once it does start this week. And I'll mention that somehow Lost, Scrubs, 24, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica and possibly the original Law & Order will find their way back into our lives when they return to the airwaves.
That's all for today. I'll be back sooner rather than later with a few things...including some BIG news.
Be seeing you.
So...we're "back" in business and what do I have to say about the new Fall TV Season? Not much it seems.
You see...my toddler has spent the last couple of months winning the bedtime battle...so our viewing habits have changed drastically. Between not getting him to sleep until 9pm and all the rehearsals either one of us has had in the last two months, if we get to watch one show a night, we're lucky.
Of course, some things are slowly getting back to "normal". Rehearsals have fallen by the wayside for the most part and I've gotten Malcolm's bedtime back to between 8 & 8:30 which does give us more time to catch things...but honestly, the energy and desire aren't quite there anymore.
For example...I enjoyed the first two seasons of Prison Break and while our DVRs have been recording away, neither one of us cares much to actually try and watch it. The cliffhanger from Season 2 left us a bit cold anyway. Desperate Housewives is also starting to fall into this category.
Journeyman and The Bionic Woman sounded interesting, when they started I had no interest and no longer have the time or energy to catch up.
So I do apologize to all of you. I know in years past I have at least reviewed the pilot of most of the new fall shows. This season, you'll barely get that.
So what are we watching? Let's take a look night by night.
Mondays -- Its all NBC. Chuck is a great new show about a guy who accidentally "downloads" (or ingests or views) all the top secret info the government has been collecting over the last few years. So now, in addition to being the head of the "Nerd Herd" at Buy More (the fictional equivalent of Best Buy's Geek Squad), Chuck Bartowski is now a "spy" as he gets dragged along onto assignments by CIA Agent Sarah Walker (not her real name) and NSA Agent Casey. The show is well cast, well written and highly entertaining. Heroes is faltering a bit in its second season. I'm thoroughly bored by the Hiro in ancient Japan storyline and dislike the fact that they seem to only be able to afford one old Star Trek actor at a time. But while it has diminished a bit, its still a great show.
Tuesdays -- While our DVRs are still recording Bones we're so far behind its not even funny. House remains as good as ever and the first few episodes with House's American Idol-like methods for picking new assistants was just short of brilliant. Boston Legal even with all the casting changes (yet again) also remains a fun and entertaining show (maybe more so with the addition of John Larroquette). The new show of the night that we're enjoying is Reaper about a guy who turns 21 only to discover that his parents had sold his soul to the devil and Satan has come to collect. Now he's the devil's bounty hunter as he has to capture souls who have escaped from hell and are wreaking havoc on Earth. Its a fun show (with an exceptional performance by Ray Wise as Satan) that has gotten a bit repetative (much like Smallville in its first season), but will hopefully come out of that.
Wednesdays -- We're still sort of watching Criminal Minds since we wanted to see how they wrote out Mandy Patinkin's character and I like Joe Mantegna and want to see how he gets worked in...but the episodes between those events are a bit blah and have started sitting on our DVR. Back To You starring Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton is a typical newsroom sitcom, but one that is funny and well done. I'm surprised its on FOX. Pushing Daisies is easily the best new show of the season. Quirky and enchanting, I won't say much more about this other than Tash & I both make it the first show of the night (especially if its the only show of the night). South Park has also returned for a bunch of episodes that feel forced and old hat. But they're still funny in that gross way.
Thursdays -- Ugly Betty is still our guilty pleasure that we both enjoy. Smallville also remains high on the list. We do wind up watching this a few days later (like Saturday afternoons during Malcolm's nap). My Name Is Earl and 30 Rock also remain funny shows that we try to watch (well...I do with the latter, Tash doesn't care much for it). Law & Order: Criminal Intent has moved to USA and still remains the best of the franchise in my opinion...but it also gets "time shifted" in viewing.
Fridays -- Aside from still recording the abomination known as Flash Gordon we use this night to catch up on things from the week and watch The Soup when Monk and Psych are on their breaks.
Saturdays -- Just early morning cartoons in The Batman and Legion of Super Heroes get watched. If we're awake at night, we're still catching up on things or going out to see movies if we can get a sitter.
Sundays -- While I'm in the process of finally admitting that fatherhood has changed my movie watching & TV viewing habits, you'll have to pry FOX's Sunday night animation lineup from my cold dead hands.
There's only one new show that we have any interest in that has yet to premiere. Viva Laughlin will get a full review once it does start this week. And I'll mention that somehow Lost, Scrubs, 24, Doctor Who, Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica and possibly the original Law & Order will find their way back into our lives when they return to the airwaves.
That's all for today. I'll be back sooner rather than later with a few things...including some BIG news.
Be seeing you.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Closing The Trap
So The Mousetrap opened last night in Curtain Call's Dressing Room Theater. We were sold out. We're actually sold out already for the whole opening weekend and the second Saturday. Its an interesting and exhilarating feeling. Not sure what to attribute it to. Is it the popularity of Agatha Christie? Is it the longevity of the show? Is it the cabaret style/bring your own food environment? Is it the actual production? Well...a sold out opening night/weekend probably can't be attributed to that cause no one had really seen it yet, but if the trend continues it probably means we've got good word of mouth.
I'm very proud of this production. I've seen some really bad Christie since I started doing community theater. And I'm not saying that only my versions are the best (I'm my own worst critic, I know where my faults and problems are and while this production isn't "perfect", very few non-theater people will notice), but I like to think that I can do right by Dame Agatha.
The show is lean and raw in the round. The cast was highly energized last night having a packed house so in their faces. There was a lot of uncomfortable laughter which worked nicely. We pulled everyone's strings exactly how I hoped we would (chills whenever the windows to the "outside" were opened as if it suddenly got cold in the theater, gasps at all the twists and turns -- particularly the ending).
We've got nine more performances and I look forward to seeing them all.
Its been fun producing shows for The Darien Players this past season, but its nice to be back in the director's seat...and even nicer to be in a new space.
Come see the show if you can. Check out www.curtaincallinc.com for more ticket info.
Be seeing you.
I'm very proud of this production. I've seen some really bad Christie since I started doing community theater. And I'm not saying that only my versions are the best (I'm my own worst critic, I know where my faults and problems are and while this production isn't "perfect", very few non-theater people will notice), but I like to think that I can do right by Dame Agatha.
The show is lean and raw in the round. The cast was highly energized last night having a packed house so in their faces. There was a lot of uncomfortable laughter which worked nicely. We pulled everyone's strings exactly how I hoped we would (chills whenever the windows to the "outside" were opened as if it suddenly got cold in the theater, gasps at all the twists and turns -- particularly the ending).
We've got nine more performances and I look forward to seeing them all.
Its been fun producing shows for The Darien Players this past season, but its nice to be back in the director's seat...and even nicer to be in a new space.
Come see the show if you can. Check out www.curtaincallinc.com for more ticket info.
Be seeing you.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
The Play's The Thing
So I've been involved with Community Theater in the Fairfield County area for about 6 and a half years now. It started with getting involved with The Darien Players in 2001 for The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie and its been a downhill ride ever since...sort of...
I apparently did well enough with that show, the Players not only asked me to direct again the following season (I picked Night Watch by Lucille Fletcher) they also added me to their Board of Directors. Didn't ask for it, but was honored at the time. If I knew then what I know now I would have run screaming into the night (well...not really as I did first meet my wife during the auditions for Night Watch).
My third season I wound up directing two shows for the Players. I stepped in on The Heiress after the director got sick and also did The Curious Savage (my choice of material). I had a co-director on both since the former was going into performances as the latter was auditioning and rehearsing. I was also acting in The Curious Savage.
The following season I finally figured how to make Noises Off work in a space that is really to small for such a large show. But we made it work really well in a scaled down/stripped down version. It was a lot of fun. (I also had a small role and ran lights for Ah, Wilderness earlier this season and stage managed Follies prior to that).
The 2004-2005 Season was The Darien Players 25th Anniversary and I helped with getting an Anniversary show off the ground. I wrote a rather funny Agatha Christie parody (since the Players seem to have done more of her shows than anyone else's...in a 10 year period they did of her plays...all but one directed by the same person...who wasn't me as I've only done The Unexpected Guest there). That season, my show was Lanford Wilson's Book of Days a show I'm very proud of. It got the Players "off the stage" and starting to rethink not only how to stage shows in a very flexible black box space, but also what type of shows to do. This was a good season for change as we got some new directing blood into the group.
The 2005-2006 Season I directed Sly Fox in addition to helping out in various ways on other shows. This was a tough show to direct as I had at least one cast member who didn't trust in my vision for the show and acted like a spoiled diva throughout rehearsals. By the time I finally stepped in and put my foot down, the damage had been done. It was not a bad show by any means, but it could have been better if I didn't have to deal with childish distractions from various camps. I decided I needed to take a year off from directing.
The 2006-2007 Season found me involved in co-producing every show across the season (except one...but I was still involved enough to be annoyed by the antics of a visionless and unorganized director who always casts his wife in his shows...which wouldn't be a problem if they didn't collectively suck the life from everything they touch). I did more work during this season than I did when I was only directing. The Darien Players had a good successful season (with the one exception being the afore mentioned show). We brought in more new directors to help re-energize the group and it all worked well. We finished the season with a wonderfully successful production of A Raisin in the Sun...in Darien...in 2007...and we still got some comments about why we did the show...amazing how close minded some can be.
Anyway...the 2007-2008 Season is just about to start and I'm making my directing debut at Curtain Call in Stamford. Its nice to only be driving 8 minutes to get home at night instead of the 20 or so to Darien. I'm directing Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap which will also mark my third Christie show (as I also directed Spider's Web in Westport back in 2004...so I guess any time I work at a theater for the first time, I'll be doing a Christie piece).
I love Dame Agatha's work. There's a lot of fun that can be had if one understands the material and knows how to work it properly. Not to blow my own horn, but I think I know how to handle her stuff very well. I've watched three of her pieces get butchered in Darien and two of them were not pretty sights (Witness for the Prosecution was mind numbing...some great acting, but that had nothing to do with the director...he just lucked out with a few of the actors...but for a courtroom drama whose pacing depends on the judge and the two attorneys to keep it moving you don't cast people who can't remember lines...even when the lines are written on their legal pads).
I've got a great cast for The Mousetrap. All except one of the eight actors is completely new to me. And I think its going to be a lot of fun. It runs from September 14 until September 30 on Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. There is also a Thursday night performance on September 27 at 8pm. It is being performed in Curtain Call's Dressing Room Theater which is a black box theater where you can bring your own food for a cabaret style experience (yes...hearing that brings up visions of Kevin Kline in Soapdish, but its actually rather informal and not that bad...I've seen a few shows this way). The doors open at 7pm and you sit at your table and eat & drink & be merry until the show starts at 8pm.
We're performing this one "in the round" to give it a bit of a spin for anyone who's already seen the longest running show in theater history. It should be loads of fun. If you're in the area, please come see it. Check out Curtain Call's website for ticket info.
At the same time The Mousetrap opens, my wife is rehearsing a show at Norwalk's Carriage House Arts Center. Sordid Lives opens October 12. Its gonna be a funny show with a great cast under the direction of Frank Gaffney (who also cast our regular babysitter in the show, so we've had to work out a very specific schedule to keep everything on track). Check out the Carriage House website for more info.
While all of this is going on, The Darien Players will have started rehearsals for the first show of the season which is The Elephant Man. I'm co-producing this one. It opens November 2.
After that show closes, we're starting a new series (well...putting a new spin on an old series) called The Darien Players Unplugged. We're trying to get more consistent with our staged readings, so we're doing one on the Sunday after each show closes for a series of 5 across the season. We hope to have a nice mix of new short pieces and excerpts from longer works. I'm "directing" the first session that plays on November 18 (since The Elephant Man closes on November 17).
Lastly, I'm directing Julius Caesar for the Players in March 2008. Its going to be done modern dress and should be both fun and interesting...but I'll discuss that more as we get closer (in between Elephant Man and Caesar The Darien Players are doing Six Degress of Separation). And then I'm most likely going to take a real break from doing shows...a long break from doing shows...
Its been fun, but honestly being on the Players' Board and as their Vice President for the last 4 years has been taxing. There are one too many people on the Board who can't see the future beyond looking down their own arms and I've grown tired of dealing with them. They suck the fun and life out of the most simple tasks (we have a staged reading session going on tonight that has been a pain in the ass and I'm not even involved in it).
I've grown tired of dealing with people who are supposedly part of a larger group but only concern themselves with their working within the group (not for it). I've grown tired of dealing with people who do nothing but complain about how the others who do work very hard all season long. And I've grown tired of people who question how things are done when we've worked hard to put a machine in motion for every show that works very successfully.
Sure, I may change my mind between now and Caesar, but I've thrown the gauntlet down and told the Board (without pinning my frustrations on any one person) that unless things change before that show opens, I will be resigning. Its not an idol threat (as my wife has heard this statement so many times before). I'm tired and I'm done. When something stops being fun, it is time to move on.
Directing The Mousetrap has brought the fun back. Caesar will hopefully sustain it. But I can't continue in the capacity that I have been...that has not been fun.
Be seeing you.
I apparently did well enough with that show, the Players not only asked me to direct again the following season (I picked Night Watch by Lucille Fletcher) they also added me to their Board of Directors. Didn't ask for it, but was honored at the time. If I knew then what I know now I would have run screaming into the night (well...not really as I did first meet my wife during the auditions for Night Watch).
My third season I wound up directing two shows for the Players. I stepped in on The Heiress after the director got sick and also did The Curious Savage (my choice of material). I had a co-director on both since the former was going into performances as the latter was auditioning and rehearsing. I was also acting in The Curious Savage.
The following season I finally figured how to make Noises Off work in a space that is really to small for such a large show. But we made it work really well in a scaled down/stripped down version. It was a lot of fun. (I also had a small role and ran lights for Ah, Wilderness earlier this season and stage managed Follies prior to that).
The 2004-2005 Season was The Darien Players 25th Anniversary and I helped with getting an Anniversary show off the ground. I wrote a rather funny Agatha Christie parody (since the Players seem to have done more of her shows than anyone else's...in a 10 year period they did of her plays...all but one directed by the same person...who wasn't me as I've only done The Unexpected Guest there). That season, my show was Lanford Wilson's Book of Days a show I'm very proud of. It got the Players "off the stage" and starting to rethink not only how to stage shows in a very flexible black box space, but also what type of shows to do. This was a good season for change as we got some new directing blood into the group.
The 2005-2006 Season I directed Sly Fox in addition to helping out in various ways on other shows. This was a tough show to direct as I had at least one cast member who didn't trust in my vision for the show and acted like a spoiled diva throughout rehearsals. By the time I finally stepped in and put my foot down, the damage had been done. It was not a bad show by any means, but it could have been better if I didn't have to deal with childish distractions from various camps. I decided I needed to take a year off from directing.
The 2006-2007 Season found me involved in co-producing every show across the season (except one...but I was still involved enough to be annoyed by the antics of a visionless and unorganized director who always casts his wife in his shows...which wouldn't be a problem if they didn't collectively suck the life from everything they touch). I did more work during this season than I did when I was only directing. The Darien Players had a good successful season (with the one exception being the afore mentioned show). We brought in more new directors to help re-energize the group and it all worked well. We finished the season with a wonderfully successful production of A Raisin in the Sun...in Darien...in 2007...and we still got some comments about why we did the show...amazing how close minded some can be.
Anyway...the 2007-2008 Season is just about to start and I'm making my directing debut at Curtain Call in Stamford. Its nice to only be driving 8 minutes to get home at night instead of the 20 or so to Darien. I'm directing Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap which will also mark my third Christie show (as I also directed Spider's Web in Westport back in 2004...so I guess any time I work at a theater for the first time, I'll be doing a Christie piece).
I love Dame Agatha's work. There's a lot of fun that can be had if one understands the material and knows how to work it properly. Not to blow my own horn, but I think I know how to handle her stuff very well. I've watched three of her pieces get butchered in Darien and two of them were not pretty sights (Witness for the Prosecution was mind numbing...some great acting, but that had nothing to do with the director...he just lucked out with a few of the actors...but for a courtroom drama whose pacing depends on the judge and the two attorneys to keep it moving you don't cast people who can't remember lines...even when the lines are written on their legal pads).
I've got a great cast for The Mousetrap. All except one of the eight actors is completely new to me. And I think its going to be a lot of fun. It runs from September 14 until September 30 on Fridays & Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. There is also a Thursday night performance on September 27 at 8pm. It is being performed in Curtain Call's Dressing Room Theater which is a black box theater where you can bring your own food for a cabaret style experience (yes...hearing that brings up visions of Kevin Kline in Soapdish, but its actually rather informal and not that bad...I've seen a few shows this way). The doors open at 7pm and you sit at your table and eat & drink & be merry until the show starts at 8pm.
We're performing this one "in the round" to give it a bit of a spin for anyone who's already seen the longest running show in theater history. It should be loads of fun. If you're in the area, please come see it. Check out Curtain Call's website for ticket info.
At the same time The Mousetrap opens, my wife is rehearsing a show at Norwalk's Carriage House Arts Center. Sordid Lives opens October 12. Its gonna be a funny show with a great cast under the direction of Frank Gaffney (who also cast our regular babysitter in the show, so we've had to work out a very specific schedule to keep everything on track). Check out the Carriage House website for more info.
While all of this is going on, The Darien Players will have started rehearsals for the first show of the season which is The Elephant Man. I'm co-producing this one. It opens November 2.
After that show closes, we're starting a new series (well...putting a new spin on an old series) called The Darien Players Unplugged. We're trying to get more consistent with our staged readings, so we're doing one on the Sunday after each show closes for a series of 5 across the season. We hope to have a nice mix of new short pieces and excerpts from longer works. I'm "directing" the first session that plays on November 18 (since The Elephant Man closes on November 17).
Lastly, I'm directing Julius Caesar for the Players in March 2008. Its going to be done modern dress and should be both fun and interesting...but I'll discuss that more as we get closer (in between Elephant Man and Caesar The Darien Players are doing Six Degress of Separation). And then I'm most likely going to take a real break from doing shows...a long break from doing shows...
Its been fun, but honestly being on the Players' Board and as their Vice President for the last 4 years has been taxing. There are one too many people on the Board who can't see the future beyond looking down their own arms and I've grown tired of dealing with them. They suck the fun and life out of the most simple tasks (we have a staged reading session going on tonight that has been a pain in the ass and I'm not even involved in it).
I've grown tired of dealing with people who are supposedly part of a larger group but only concern themselves with their working within the group (not for it). I've grown tired of dealing with people who do nothing but complain about how the others who do work very hard all season long. And I've grown tired of people who question how things are done when we've worked hard to put a machine in motion for every show that works very successfully.
Sure, I may change my mind between now and Caesar, but I've thrown the gauntlet down and told the Board (without pinning my frustrations on any one person) that unless things change before that show opens, I will be resigning. Its not an idol threat (as my wife has heard this statement so many times before). I'm tired and I'm done. When something stops being fun, it is time to move on.
Directing The Mousetrap has brought the fun back. Caesar will hopefully sustain it. But I can't continue in the capacity that I have been...that has not been fun.
Be seeing you.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Batman Returns
So, the animal control guy returned (finally) to check things out. We haven't seen our friend in a few days now...so we're assuming he's gone (either flew out the open window or dead somewhere inside the house...still waiting for Malcolm to find it and pick it up).
ACG (animal control guy) checks both fireplaces (which involved having to move lots of toy bins). They're locked up tight.
He checks the attic. No sign of bats.
So maybe this was a one time fluke thing.
He starts looking on the outside of the house. Apparently these little fuckers can get in between siding, shingles, etc. So ACG shines a flashlight all the way up the side of the house into a space at the very corner at the roof line (you have to be standing right up against the house to see it). He points out three dark spots. To me they look like knots in plywood...until he gets his binoculars and we look "closer" and one of those knots has moved about three feet away.
We got bats in our belfry ;-)
There are a few other spots outside the house that also show signs of bats. ACG guestimates we have 10 to 15. Natasha hears this and I can tell I'm going to be late for rehearsal because she's already freaking out (she'd rather we had rattle snakes...she can handle any animal but bats).
ACG then tells us that 10 to 15 isn't a problem. He just went to a house where bats had gotten under the siding and you could hear them in daytime. He said it was like that wall of the house was alive. He figures there were about a thousand or so when they were done cleaning the bats out (which sounds like it should involve a giant vacuum, but is actually much more humane).
So it looks like we're shelling out money to get rid of our dozen or so guests (this is in addition to new tires on the Quest...which we just discovered we were sold a bill of goods on with "run flat tires"...I'll get into that some other time)...this way maybe people will get back to sleep around here. But I kind of doubt it.
Next time...a theater update...haven't done one in a while and there's a LOT going on.
Be seeing you.
ACG (animal control guy) checks both fireplaces (which involved having to move lots of toy bins). They're locked up tight.
He checks the attic. No sign of bats.
So maybe this was a one time fluke thing.
He starts looking on the outside of the house. Apparently these little fuckers can get in between siding, shingles, etc. So ACG shines a flashlight all the way up the side of the house into a space at the very corner at the roof line (you have to be standing right up against the house to see it). He points out three dark spots. To me they look like knots in plywood...until he gets his binoculars and we look "closer" and one of those knots has moved about three feet away.
We got bats in our belfry ;-)
There are a few other spots outside the house that also show signs of bats. ACG guestimates we have 10 to 15. Natasha hears this and I can tell I'm going to be late for rehearsal because she's already freaking out (she'd rather we had rattle snakes...she can handle any animal but bats).
ACG then tells us that 10 to 15 isn't a problem. He just went to a house where bats had gotten under the siding and you could hear them in daytime. He said it was like that wall of the house was alive. He figures there were about a thousand or so when they were done cleaning the bats out (which sounds like it should involve a giant vacuum, but is actually much more humane).
So it looks like we're shelling out money to get rid of our dozen or so guests (this is in addition to new tires on the Quest...which we just discovered we were sold a bill of goods on with "run flat tires"...I'll get into that some other time)...this way maybe people will get back to sleep around here. But I kind of doubt it.
Next time...a theater update...haven't done one in a while and there's a LOT going on.
Be seeing you.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Klytus I'm Bored....
Originally I was going to wait three episodes before reviewing SciFi's new series Flash Gordon, but I figured what's the point.
I've been a big fan of Flash Gordon since I was a kid and PBS would show the old Buster Crabbe serials on weekends. I'd watch them with my dad and while there was an innocent cheesiness to them, they were a lot of fun to watch.
The 1980 camp classic was the first film I saw in theaters after my dad died. Some family friends took my brother and I to distract us from real world events. I wound up seeing it 4 times in the theaters. It was also one of the first films we owned on VHS when we got a VCR. And I've traded up to new formats with it every time its been re-released. It even recently got a new DVD release as a "Saviour of the Universe" Edition which is pretty lackluster if you ask me (so lackluster that I decided to break down and buy the Region 2 version as well...I can at least play that on a computer and listen to the commentary that we didn't get in the new edition). The "extras" on this new DVD consist of an interview with the screenwriter, an interview with comic books artist Alex Ross on why he loves the film, a promo for the new SciFi series and the first chapter of the 1936 serial. Yawn. Luckily, the movie remains A LOT of fun in its cheesy over the top spectacle.
Around the same time, NBC aired a new Saturday morning cartoon that was relatively faithful to Alex Raymond's original Sunday comics. Both seasons of the show are available in a 4 DVD set, but be warned that while the first 16 episodes are great and very faithful, the second season became typical Saturday morning fare (and yet still maintained that Raymond feel surprisingly).
A 1996 cartoon is pretty much ignored these days as it re-envisioned Flash as a skater boy and Ming as a Lizard. Not terrible, but not great either.
Which brings us to the new SciFi series. You know you're in trouble when the preview for the next episode is more exciting than the episode you just watched...and that's only because they're using the Queen theme from the 1980 movie (well...a cover version of it). It's still a great song to get you in that Flash Gordon mood. Too bad the series, after two episodes, doesn't live up to it.
This is not to say that all is horrible. Eric Johnson actually makes a pretty good Flash. I just wish he had better material to work with. Jody Racicot's Zarkov is a bit different from how the character is normally portrayed, but it works for this version. Anna Van Hooft's Princess Aura doesn't quite hold a candle to Ornella Muti's version from 1980, but she holds her own nicely. And Karen Cliche as Baylin, a new character created for this series, is actually somewhat interesting. Ming's right hand man, Rankol, is also an interesting addition to the series (and not just because he hovers when he moves).
Its the rest of the show that is a misfire from start to finish. Gone are any real "aliens" and "monsters". There are no rocket ships only a "rift" that opens to Mongo. Ming is horribly played by John Ralston and the writers don't help him at all. For a guy whose name is Ming the Merciless it took almost all of two episodes for him to even remotely do something to live up to the title. He's more like Ming the Mundane ruling over a planet that pretty much feels like Mongo 90210 than anything else. We haven't seen any of the other major characters from Raymond's universe show up yet, but if we're to believe interviews with the shows producers, we should pray they never do. We're gonna get Hawkmen who have no wings and don't fly? That's not Flash Gordon that's cheap SciFi programming.
And that is what this show reeks of. It seems like someone took a look at all the recent relaunches that have worked well (Bond, Batman, Superman) and decided to give this a shot...but then gave it no budget and the worst writers. Its really sad and someone should put it out of my misery...because I'm such a fan of the characters and situations I may keep watching just to see if it gets any better. And I really don't want to do that.
Until next time.
Be seeing you.
I've been a big fan of Flash Gordon since I was a kid and PBS would show the old Buster Crabbe serials on weekends. I'd watch them with my dad and while there was an innocent cheesiness to them, they were a lot of fun to watch.
The 1980 camp classic was the first film I saw in theaters after my dad died. Some family friends took my brother and I to distract us from real world events. I wound up seeing it 4 times in the theaters. It was also one of the first films we owned on VHS when we got a VCR. And I've traded up to new formats with it every time its been re-released. It even recently got a new DVD release as a "Saviour of the Universe" Edition which is pretty lackluster if you ask me (so lackluster that I decided to break down and buy the Region 2 version as well...I can at least play that on a computer and listen to the commentary that we didn't get in the new edition). The "extras" on this new DVD consist of an interview with the screenwriter, an interview with comic books artist Alex Ross on why he loves the film, a promo for the new SciFi series and the first chapter of the 1936 serial. Yawn. Luckily, the movie remains A LOT of fun in its cheesy over the top spectacle.
Around the same time, NBC aired a new Saturday morning cartoon that was relatively faithful to Alex Raymond's original Sunday comics. Both seasons of the show are available in a 4 DVD set, but be warned that while the first 16 episodes are great and very faithful, the second season became typical Saturday morning fare (and yet still maintained that Raymond feel surprisingly).
A 1996 cartoon is pretty much ignored these days as it re-envisioned Flash as a skater boy and Ming as a Lizard. Not terrible, but not great either.
Which brings us to the new SciFi series. You know you're in trouble when the preview for the next episode is more exciting than the episode you just watched...and that's only because they're using the Queen theme from the 1980 movie (well...a cover version of it). It's still a great song to get you in that Flash Gordon mood. Too bad the series, after two episodes, doesn't live up to it.
This is not to say that all is horrible. Eric Johnson actually makes a pretty good Flash. I just wish he had better material to work with. Jody Racicot's Zarkov is a bit different from how the character is normally portrayed, but it works for this version. Anna Van Hooft's Princess Aura doesn't quite hold a candle to Ornella Muti's version from 1980, but she holds her own nicely. And Karen Cliche as Baylin, a new character created for this series, is actually somewhat interesting. Ming's right hand man, Rankol, is also an interesting addition to the series (and not just because he hovers when he moves).
Its the rest of the show that is a misfire from start to finish. Gone are any real "aliens" and "monsters". There are no rocket ships only a "rift" that opens to Mongo. Ming is horribly played by John Ralston and the writers don't help him at all. For a guy whose name is Ming the Merciless it took almost all of two episodes for him to even remotely do something to live up to the title. He's more like Ming the Mundane ruling over a planet that pretty much feels like Mongo 90210 than anything else. We haven't seen any of the other major characters from Raymond's universe show up yet, but if we're to believe interviews with the shows producers, we should pray they never do. We're gonna get Hawkmen who have no wings and don't fly? That's not Flash Gordon that's cheap SciFi programming.
And that is what this show reeks of. It seems like someone took a look at all the recent relaunches that have worked well (Bond, Batman, Superman) and decided to give this a shot...but then gave it no budget and the worst writers. Its really sad and someone should put it out of my misery...because I'm such a fan of the characters and situations I may keep watching just to see if it gets any better. And I really don't want to do that.
Until next time.
Be seeing you.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
So, Sunday August 12 was my wife's 32nd birthday and Tuesday August 14 was my 38th.
In honor of our birthdays we decided to get rabies vaccinations on August 17th.
What brought us to this decision? Funny you should ask? (though you probably didn't, you're gonna hear it anyway).
August 15th was a long day. Natasha was at a workshop from about 8am until 3pm and then we had to go into NYC for my grandfather's 94th birthday dinner. We got back from NYC around 9pm, dropped my parents at their house, took Malcolm home put him in bed and retired for the evening. Tash was exhausted and promptly fell asleep. I always take a while to unwind, but by 11:30 I was in bed.
At 5am I'm aroused by a sound. It's still dark outside. So I look at the clock and register the time. I listen and hear this fluttering sound. Upon looking up I see this small dark object circling over our heads. I promptly start turning on every light I can reach to confirm that we have a bat in our bedroom.
Tash, groggily wakes, registers my concerns and hides under the covers.
I go screaming like a girl across the room, ducking as low as I can, turning on even more lights. I quickly dart out of our room into the laundry room and yank the screen, open the window and turn on the lights. Of course, now every insect in America is starting to come in, but maybe the bat will leave. Luckily, Malcolm's door is closed and he's asleep.
The bat never leaves our room and eventually flies into our bathroom. I quickly shut the pocket door that separates our bathroom from our bedroom and then close up the laundry room. At least the bat is "trapped" and we can call animal control in the morning.
No one sleeps the rest of the "night". Well...that means mostly me as I'm on line researching what to do if there's a bat in the house.
Frightening stories go past my eyes as I read of what to do and what not to do. I don't think the bat bit either of us, but apparently there's a chance you may not know. Thankfully, Malcolm was nowhere near the bat. We call a place that handles bats at a "reasonable" hour (8am) and the guy says he or his partner will come between 11am and 1pm and his rates are $145 an hour to search. OK. We know where the bat was, so hopefully this will be $145 well spent.
The guy's partner arrives and we show him the location. He searches and finds nothing. He lets us know that a bat only needs a quarter inch opening to hide in, so he's not surprised he can't find him. He suggests we all go for rabies shots just in case, leaves a pamphlet and says to call if the bat returns (when I ask even at 3am, he's a bit hesitant).
That night I come home from a rehearsal around 11pm to find Tash and Malcolm waiting for me in the basement. He won't go to sleep. So we take him for a drive and discuss bringing him into our room when he does. We're out for about 45 minutes and he finally falls asleep...but instead of bringing him into our bed like we discussed, I put him in his bed and close his door as we normally do.
We put all the lights on in our bathroom/closet area and close the pocket door. Tash falls asleep, but I'm having problems. At 3am I go to the bathroom. While sitting there minding my own business, I hear a thump against the window screen. Bruce (my name for our visitor) has returned and he's staring right at me. I run out faster than I've ever run before and reshut the pocket door. I wake my wife informing her the bat is back/still here. We formulate a game plan.
We shut the door to our room. We pull open a window, yank our the screen and turn on all the lights. We then open the pocket door. Bruce comes flying out and proceeds to flap around us ignoring the open window escape route. Tash crawls over to the bed and grabs a blanket which I attempt to throw over the bat (no success, it drives him behind a window shade). We carefully escape from the room.
Downstairs we call the people who we had already called. There is no answer so we leave a message. I think yank open the phone book and start looking for ads under "Pest Control" that have the words "bat" "emergency" and 24 Hour" in them. We pick the first one and call, waking a woman and her husband. The husband says its $150 for an after hours call and that I should go shut the window cause if he's coming out there had better be a bat. I go and do so, but don't see the bat in the process.
The guy arrives and proceeds to go upstairs and start his search. He turns off every light in the room and spends the next hour looking in every crack and crevice (and there are a lot). He eventually gives up and tells us he can't find anything. Now it may have gone out the window, but it may not have. If the bat reappears, even if its right after he leaves, we are to call him on his cell phone and he'll come right back. He even says he's gonna come back over the weekend and check the outside of the house as well as the attic for any openings or other bats. And he's only charging us $75 instead of the quoted $150 (I pay that anyway as I was grateful he was so much more helpful than the earlier guy). On leaving, he suggested we call our doctors and set up appointments to get rabies shots just in case. He leaves us pamphlets from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) stating the same thing. All of the online stuff I've read has also said we should all get shots.
In the morning (which sounds like it was hours later, but it wasn't...Tash & I slept in the den, she on the couch, me on the floor), we decided that we'd all go to New Haven together since Tash had a paying gig on a film and was too tired to drive alone and I was too tired to watch Malcolm alone. So on the way we called doctors.
Malcolm's pediatrician asked many questions about Malcolm's proximity to the bat. As far as we could tell, there was no reason to think Malcolm had been exposed to the bat. Both times he was in his room with the door closed and the bat stayed in our room/bathroom (with a brief foray into the hall that first night). His doctor didn't think he should get the rabies shots since there was no reason to suspect exposure (had Malcolm been in the same room at any point she would have recommended putting a 2 year old through a series of shots...thankfully I had the sense to not bring him into our room that second night).
Now, our doctor basically said we'd know if we were bitten and there was no reason to get the shots and hung up (okay...I'm exaggerating, but that's what it felt like). Malcolm's pediatrician even suggested that Tash & I get the shots. We talked over our options (and even got advice from family members and friends we trust...let's face it, we were working on making important decisions with very little sleep), to get the shots or not get the shots. Since we didn't have the bat, we couldn't get it tested for rabies. So that wasn't an option to help. It was either not get the shots and hope for the best (with the worst case being one of us does have it and dies an agonizing horrible painful death and then the survivor sues our doctor for malpractise) or get the shots and have peace of mind. We decided we'd rather be safe than sorry and went down to the Emergency Room (we left Malcolm with a friend who has been staying in our basement also away from the bat).
When I was in the hospital five years ago for my aneurysm, I had lots of shots. And in spite of my father's antiquated warnings of 20 needles in the stomach, I knew this would be easier to take than death. Turns out the rabies vaccine is a series of shots. The first day you get two...well...sort of two. The first is a shot in the arm with one drug. The second is a series of shots in the lower back/upper ass of a second drug based on your size. Needless to say, I'm a big guy. I got six shots (two in each ass cheek and one in each thigh). Tash got 5 (all in the ass). We now have to go back on specific days (all counted after the first day of shots) to get subsequent injections of the first drug. So all we get now is a shot in the arm four more times (Day 3, Day 7, Day 14 and Day 28). Not a big deal when you're other option could be death.
Call me a hypocondriac on this one if you like...I feel better mentally...we even slept better last night...although we all slept at my mom's. Tonight, we're sleeping at home and we've got a game plan if Bruce reappears. Lock him in our room again and call the second guy right away no matter what time it is. He said he'd stay until he caught the bat.
So that's our birthday presents to each other this year. Peace of mind.
I'll let you know if we ever see Bruce the Bat again.
Be seeing you.
In honor of our birthdays we decided to get rabies vaccinations on August 17th.
What brought us to this decision? Funny you should ask? (though you probably didn't, you're gonna hear it anyway).
August 15th was a long day. Natasha was at a workshop from about 8am until 3pm and then we had to go into NYC for my grandfather's 94th birthday dinner. We got back from NYC around 9pm, dropped my parents at their house, took Malcolm home put him in bed and retired for the evening. Tash was exhausted and promptly fell asleep. I always take a while to unwind, but by 11:30 I was in bed.
At 5am I'm aroused by a sound. It's still dark outside. So I look at the clock and register the time. I listen and hear this fluttering sound. Upon looking up I see this small dark object circling over our heads. I promptly start turning on every light I can reach to confirm that we have a bat in our bedroom.
Tash, groggily wakes, registers my concerns and hides under the covers.
I go screaming like a girl across the room, ducking as low as I can, turning on even more lights. I quickly dart out of our room into the laundry room and yank the screen, open the window and turn on the lights. Of course, now every insect in America is starting to come in, but maybe the bat will leave. Luckily, Malcolm's door is closed and he's asleep.
The bat never leaves our room and eventually flies into our bathroom. I quickly shut the pocket door that separates our bathroom from our bedroom and then close up the laundry room. At least the bat is "trapped" and we can call animal control in the morning.
No one sleeps the rest of the "night". Well...that means mostly me as I'm on line researching what to do if there's a bat in the house.
Frightening stories go past my eyes as I read of what to do and what not to do. I don't think the bat bit either of us, but apparently there's a chance you may not know. Thankfully, Malcolm was nowhere near the bat. We call a place that handles bats at a "reasonable" hour (8am) and the guy says he or his partner will come between 11am and 1pm and his rates are $145 an hour to search. OK. We know where the bat was, so hopefully this will be $145 well spent.
The guy's partner arrives and we show him the location. He searches and finds nothing. He lets us know that a bat only needs a quarter inch opening to hide in, so he's not surprised he can't find him. He suggests we all go for rabies shots just in case, leaves a pamphlet and says to call if the bat returns (when I ask even at 3am, he's a bit hesitant).
That night I come home from a rehearsal around 11pm to find Tash and Malcolm waiting for me in the basement. He won't go to sleep. So we take him for a drive and discuss bringing him into our room when he does. We're out for about 45 minutes and he finally falls asleep...but instead of bringing him into our bed like we discussed, I put him in his bed and close his door as we normally do.
We put all the lights on in our bathroom/closet area and close the pocket door. Tash falls asleep, but I'm having problems. At 3am I go to the bathroom. While sitting there minding my own business, I hear a thump against the window screen. Bruce (my name for our visitor) has returned and he's staring right at me. I run out faster than I've ever run before and reshut the pocket door. I wake my wife informing her the bat is back/still here. We formulate a game plan.
We shut the door to our room. We pull open a window, yank our the screen and turn on all the lights. We then open the pocket door. Bruce comes flying out and proceeds to flap around us ignoring the open window escape route. Tash crawls over to the bed and grabs a blanket which I attempt to throw over the bat (no success, it drives him behind a window shade). We carefully escape from the room.
Downstairs we call the people who we had already called. There is no answer so we leave a message. I think yank open the phone book and start looking for ads under "Pest Control" that have the words "bat" "emergency" and 24 Hour" in them. We pick the first one and call, waking a woman and her husband. The husband says its $150 for an after hours call and that I should go shut the window cause if he's coming out there had better be a bat. I go and do so, but don't see the bat in the process.
The guy arrives and proceeds to go upstairs and start his search. He turns off every light in the room and spends the next hour looking in every crack and crevice (and there are a lot). He eventually gives up and tells us he can't find anything. Now it may have gone out the window, but it may not have. If the bat reappears, even if its right after he leaves, we are to call him on his cell phone and he'll come right back. He even says he's gonna come back over the weekend and check the outside of the house as well as the attic for any openings or other bats. And he's only charging us $75 instead of the quoted $150 (I pay that anyway as I was grateful he was so much more helpful than the earlier guy). On leaving, he suggested we call our doctors and set up appointments to get rabies shots just in case. He leaves us pamphlets from the CDC (Center for Disease Control) stating the same thing. All of the online stuff I've read has also said we should all get shots.
In the morning (which sounds like it was hours later, but it wasn't...Tash & I slept in the den, she on the couch, me on the floor), we decided that we'd all go to New Haven together since Tash had a paying gig on a film and was too tired to drive alone and I was too tired to watch Malcolm alone. So on the way we called doctors.
Malcolm's pediatrician asked many questions about Malcolm's proximity to the bat. As far as we could tell, there was no reason to think Malcolm had been exposed to the bat. Both times he was in his room with the door closed and the bat stayed in our room/bathroom (with a brief foray into the hall that first night). His doctor didn't think he should get the rabies shots since there was no reason to suspect exposure (had Malcolm been in the same room at any point she would have recommended putting a 2 year old through a series of shots...thankfully I had the sense to not bring him into our room that second night).
Now, our doctor basically said we'd know if we were bitten and there was no reason to get the shots and hung up (okay...I'm exaggerating, but that's what it felt like). Malcolm's pediatrician even suggested that Tash & I get the shots. We talked over our options (and even got advice from family members and friends we trust...let's face it, we were working on making important decisions with very little sleep), to get the shots or not get the shots. Since we didn't have the bat, we couldn't get it tested for rabies. So that wasn't an option to help. It was either not get the shots and hope for the best (with the worst case being one of us does have it and dies an agonizing horrible painful death and then the survivor sues our doctor for malpractise) or get the shots and have peace of mind. We decided we'd rather be safe than sorry and went down to the Emergency Room (we left Malcolm with a friend who has been staying in our basement also away from the bat).
When I was in the hospital five years ago for my aneurysm, I had lots of shots. And in spite of my father's antiquated warnings of 20 needles in the stomach, I knew this would be easier to take than death. Turns out the rabies vaccine is a series of shots. The first day you get two...well...sort of two. The first is a shot in the arm with one drug. The second is a series of shots in the lower back/upper ass of a second drug based on your size. Needless to say, I'm a big guy. I got six shots (two in each ass cheek and one in each thigh). Tash got 5 (all in the ass). We now have to go back on specific days (all counted after the first day of shots) to get subsequent injections of the first drug. So all we get now is a shot in the arm four more times (Day 3, Day 7, Day 14 and Day 28). Not a big deal when you're other option could be death.
Call me a hypocondriac on this one if you like...I feel better mentally...we even slept better last night...although we all slept at my mom's. Tonight, we're sleeping at home and we've got a game plan if Bruce reappears. Lock him in our room again and call the second guy right away no matter what time it is. He said he'd stay until he caught the bat.
So that's our birthday presents to each other this year. Peace of mind.
I'll let you know if we ever see Bruce the Bat again.
Be seeing you.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Damned If You Do...
Today we've got a few brief movie reviews...
But first a rant (which may be a repeat...so I apologize if I've bitched about this before)...
Releasing TV Shows on DVD is a tricky business for the studios. They put out a show's first season and then based on sales they decide to do (or not do) more seasons. We as consumers know this and we buy a show's first season in hopes we'll see more. When it works, we get screwed in the end anyway.
There have been too many instances of a studio actually getting an entire show out on DVD only to turn around and fuck the fans by then releasing a complete series box set with even more material. This has happened several times in the past (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, M*A*S*H, Homicide: Life on the Street), but seems to be more prevalent.
We can now add the upcoming Twin Peaks, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The X-Files and I Love Lucy to this list. Its even more obnoxious in the case of I Love Lucy because fans had been promised that what is now the "bonus" disc in the Complete Series set was going to be part of the last season set when it came out back in May. This wouldn't be too much of an issue if the studios released the bonus disc separately (like Fox kind of did with M*A*S*H in putting the bonus material into a set with the final episode...which was already part of the 11th Season set anyway...but at least a fan wouldn't be forced to buy the whole series over again).
Its one thing to put out an entire series, season by season, and then repackage the whole thing in some bizarre collector's box when they're all out. Its another thing to reward fans by fucking them in the ass by saying "We want you to buy this all over again just to get the special stuff." So a big raspberry to the studios for this marketing ploy (especially Fox & Paramount who seem to be the biggest offenders so far).
There ends the rant.
Saw Becoming Jane. It took a while to decide if I couldn't get into the film because the first 30 minutes were dull or because the three teenage twats behind us wouldn't shut the fuck up. Turned out the film was boring. I didn't know much about Jane Austin going in (aside from being my wife's favorite author) and now I don't think I know much more and don't care at all. Skip it.
The Bourne Ultimatum was an exciting action packed film. As far as plot goes, it feels like it was stitched together as they went along. Since I could barely remember what had happened in the other two films, I guess this didn't matter much. Is it just me or is Albert Finney starting to look and sound like Noah Cross (John Huston's character in Chinatown). If you know anything about movies and have never been to Tangier, you know that the best way to find someone is to run across rooftops while looking at the other buildings. Lastly, the most unbelievable thing in the film (aside from the return of the assassin at the end looking like he had time to take a shower between what looked like his "death" in a car accident and his next appearance) is an overhead shot of a NYC highway with three cars on it. Maybe at 3am, but not during mid-day.
Hot Fuzz is the second film from director Edgar Winters and writer/actor Simon Pegg after (following on Shaun of the Dead). What starts as a very funny sendup (which is the wrong word, because like Shaun this film is much more than that...a sendup exists solely to poke fun at something specific, these films are films in their own rights) turns into a hysterically funny film about a big city cop trying to fit into a small village. Easily one of the funniest films in quite some time with a nice dark twist to it. Look for Timothy Dalton to chew more scenery than he did in and Flash Gordon and The Rocketeer combined, but its all in good form for this film.
Marvel Comics' latest animated offering is Doctor Strange and its the best of the four direct to DVD releases so far. While not being the perfect adaptation of the Sorcerer Supreme's origin, it is a very good one. For anyone who doesn't know (and since he's a B level hero at Marvel, most of you don't), Stephen Strange was an arrogant surgeon whose life is ruined when he gets into a car accident and loses the use of his hands. He searches the world for fixes and eventually winds up in Tibet to discover who he really is and becomes the greatest sorcerer on Earth. The movie is relatively faithful but adds some modern twists and new elements all of which work well for the film.
Well...that's all I've got for today. I don't think I've left anything out. I'll be back over the weekend with a look at the savior of the universe.
Be seeing you.
But first a rant (which may be a repeat...so I apologize if I've bitched about this before)...
Releasing TV Shows on DVD is a tricky business for the studios. They put out a show's first season and then based on sales they decide to do (or not do) more seasons. We as consumers know this and we buy a show's first season in hopes we'll see more. When it works, we get screwed in the end anyway.
There have been too many instances of a studio actually getting an entire show out on DVD only to turn around and fuck the fans by then releasing a complete series box set with even more material. This has happened several times in the past (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, M*A*S*H, Homicide: Life on the Street), but seems to be more prevalent.
We can now add the upcoming Twin Peaks, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The X-Files and I Love Lucy to this list. Its even more obnoxious in the case of I Love Lucy because fans had been promised that what is now the "bonus" disc in the Complete Series set was going to be part of the last season set when it came out back in May. This wouldn't be too much of an issue if the studios released the bonus disc separately (like Fox kind of did with M*A*S*H in putting the bonus material into a set with the final episode...which was already part of the 11th Season set anyway...but at least a fan wouldn't be forced to buy the whole series over again).
Its one thing to put out an entire series, season by season, and then repackage the whole thing in some bizarre collector's box when they're all out. Its another thing to reward fans by fucking them in the ass by saying "We want you to buy this all over again just to get the special stuff." So a big raspberry to the studios for this marketing ploy (especially Fox & Paramount who seem to be the biggest offenders so far).
There ends the rant.
Saw Becoming Jane. It took a while to decide if I couldn't get into the film because the first 30 minutes were dull or because the three teenage twats behind us wouldn't shut the fuck up. Turned out the film was boring. I didn't know much about Jane Austin going in (aside from being my wife's favorite author) and now I don't think I know much more and don't care at all. Skip it.
The Bourne Ultimatum was an exciting action packed film. As far as plot goes, it feels like it was stitched together as they went along. Since I could barely remember what had happened in the other two films, I guess this didn't matter much. Is it just me or is Albert Finney starting to look and sound like Noah Cross (John Huston's character in Chinatown). If you know anything about movies and have never been to Tangier, you know that the best way to find someone is to run across rooftops while looking at the other buildings. Lastly, the most unbelievable thing in the film (aside from the return of the assassin at the end looking like he had time to take a shower between what looked like his "death" in a car accident and his next appearance) is an overhead shot of a NYC highway with three cars on it. Maybe at 3am, but not during mid-day.
Hot Fuzz is the second film from director Edgar Winters and writer/actor Simon Pegg after (following on Shaun of the Dead). What starts as a very funny sendup (which is the wrong word, because like Shaun this film is much more than that...a sendup exists solely to poke fun at something specific, these films are films in their own rights) turns into a hysterically funny film about a big city cop trying to fit into a small village. Easily one of the funniest films in quite some time with a nice dark twist to it. Look for Timothy Dalton to chew more scenery than he did in and Flash Gordon and The Rocketeer combined, but its all in good form for this film.
Marvel Comics' latest animated offering is Doctor Strange and its the best of the four direct to DVD releases so far. While not being the perfect adaptation of the Sorcerer Supreme's origin, it is a very good one. For anyone who doesn't know (and since he's a B level hero at Marvel, most of you don't), Stephen Strange was an arrogant surgeon whose life is ruined when he gets into a car accident and loses the use of his hands. He searches the world for fixes and eventually winds up in Tibet to discover who he really is and becomes the greatest sorcerer on Earth. The movie is relatively faithful but adds some modern twists and new elements all of which work well for the film.
Well...that's all I've got for today. I don't think I've left anything out. I'll be back over the weekend with a look at the savior of the universe.
Be seeing you.
Thursday, August 09, 2007
And So It Begins...Again....Sorta...Maybe?
Most of you know I'm a big fan of Babylon 5. It was a cutting edge TV series whose formula of storytelling is now being aped by pretty much everyone. The show ran its course and served its purpose. But it was a shaky road in getting to the end (all of which series creator J. Michael Straczynski chronicles in a book series entitled The Babylon 5 Scripts of J. Michael Straczynski).
But with the main story told we leave behind a rich legacy of characters and worlds that would be great places to visit from time to time. Since the show left the air in 1998 we've had a few attempts at a resurrection. A companion series Crusade was misunderstood by the network that ordered it and cancelled before it could even air (though the 13 episodes produced did eventually air and are now on DVD). A TV Movie Legend of the Rangers was interesting, but didn't have enough of the characters and stories we loved most.
Now we get a very noble attempt at changing the distribution formula. A direct to DVD production entitled Babylon 5: The Lost Tales. Designed to continue the stories of the characters we have come to know, this new release is good when it could have been great.
Essentially a "longer" episode of the series (clocking in at 72 minutes), we get two stories that are barely linked. Interstellar Alliance President Sheridan (Bruce Boxlitner) is returning to Babylon 5 for the 10th Anniversary of the creation of the IA. In preparation, Colonel Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins) has to deal with a crew member who may be possessed by a demon. Meanwhile, Sheridan is visited by Galen the Technomage (Peter Woodward) who wants him to kill the Centauri Regent Prince who is travelling with him.
While the connection is Sheridan's return to the station, the stories don't really intertwine and can be watched separately. The Lochley story is rather thin and is representative of a rather pedestrian episode of the series. The Sheridan/Galen story is much more interesting. The production looks magnificent when it comes to most of the CGI. In fact, the CGI looks much better than it did on the series. Of course, the trade off here is that since the production was done on the "cheap" as a "test" (if its successful there will be more), the one thing that doesn't look as good as it did is the inside of the station itself. During the series Babylon 5 was a bustling and busy station. Here, it seems empty. A shell of its former self. We get to see mostly empty corridors and small rooms since all the money was spent on a new CGI docking bay. A bit of a shame.
Luckily, Straczynski's writing remains sharp and we get mentions of everyone from the series, including a touching reference to Doctor Franklin and G'Kar (both Richard Biggs and Andreas Katsulas have passed away). And maybe that's part of the larger issue. While it may be nice to see these "lost tales", knowing that two of the characters can never actually return to the screen (even thought they are still alive in the B5 universe) makes watching something like this even more heartbreaking.
For such a short program, the DVD is rounded out by some nice extras including a tribute to each of the late actors, a look at the making of the show and a few other interviews with the actors on display here and the show's creator.
While I hope this does well enough for at least one more (Straczynski stated he originally had three stories for the first one, but the Garibaldi story got too large for the budget of this release), I also hope there's more money and a bit more ambition behind the next one.
I'll be back over the weekend with the savior of the universe.
Be seeing you.
But with the main story told we leave behind a rich legacy of characters and worlds that would be great places to visit from time to time. Since the show left the air in 1998 we've had a few attempts at a resurrection. A companion series Crusade was misunderstood by the network that ordered it and cancelled before it could even air (though the 13 episodes produced did eventually air and are now on DVD). A TV Movie Legend of the Rangers was interesting, but didn't have enough of the characters and stories we loved most.
Now we get a very noble attempt at changing the distribution formula. A direct to DVD production entitled Babylon 5: The Lost Tales. Designed to continue the stories of the characters we have come to know, this new release is good when it could have been great.
Essentially a "longer" episode of the series (clocking in at 72 minutes), we get two stories that are barely linked. Interstellar Alliance President Sheridan (Bruce Boxlitner) is returning to Babylon 5 for the 10th Anniversary of the creation of the IA. In preparation, Colonel Elizabeth Lochley (Tracy Scoggins) has to deal with a crew member who may be possessed by a demon. Meanwhile, Sheridan is visited by Galen the Technomage (Peter Woodward) who wants him to kill the Centauri Regent Prince who is travelling with him.
While the connection is Sheridan's return to the station, the stories don't really intertwine and can be watched separately. The Lochley story is rather thin and is representative of a rather pedestrian episode of the series. The Sheridan/Galen story is much more interesting. The production looks magnificent when it comes to most of the CGI. In fact, the CGI looks much better than it did on the series. Of course, the trade off here is that since the production was done on the "cheap" as a "test" (if its successful there will be more), the one thing that doesn't look as good as it did is the inside of the station itself. During the series Babylon 5 was a bustling and busy station. Here, it seems empty. A shell of its former self. We get to see mostly empty corridors and small rooms since all the money was spent on a new CGI docking bay. A bit of a shame.
Luckily, Straczynski's writing remains sharp and we get mentions of everyone from the series, including a touching reference to Doctor Franklin and G'Kar (both Richard Biggs and Andreas Katsulas have passed away). And maybe that's part of the larger issue. While it may be nice to see these "lost tales", knowing that two of the characters can never actually return to the screen (even thought they are still alive in the B5 universe) makes watching something like this even more heartbreaking.
For such a short program, the DVD is rounded out by some nice extras including a tribute to each of the late actors, a look at the making of the show and a few other interviews with the actors on display here and the show's creator.
While I hope this does well enough for at least one more (Straczynski stated he originally had three stories for the first one, but the Garibaldi story got too large for the budget of this release), I also hope there's more money and a bit more ambition behind the next one.
I'll be back over the weekend with the savior of the universe.
Be seeing you.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Twenty Years In The Making
Inevitably, the question that will be asked about The Simpsons Movie isn't necessarily "Is it good?", but more likely "Why? Why now?"
But The Simpsons is more than just an animated TV series. It has become an American institution (why else would there be long lines outside all the 7-11s that became Kwik-E-Marts in one of the most fun promotional gimmicks ever). The family has been with us since April of 1987 (when they first appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show) and have lasted through over 400 episodes not because of the jokes (which even when they're not funny are still funnier than most other "jokes" on TV today), not because of the supporting cast (which has grown HUGE over the years), but because of the archetypical family members that can appeal to all of us.
It is the family dynamic that has been the engine that runs this show. For all his stupidity, for all his loveable faults, Homer Simpson exemplifies the selfish part of all of us that we do our best to surpress at times...yet at the end of the day, he always realizes his faults, does his best to grow from them (until the next episode of course) and remains a faithful husband and loving father. And the rest of the family play their parts as well (Marge is the anchor, Lisa the idealist, Bart the anarchist and Maggie the voice of reality -- and I know the last one sounds funny since she rarely speaks, but think about her reactions to the antics of the others).
It is this dynamic that some may have forgotten about over the course of 18 seasons which have had "terrifying lows, dizzying highs, and creamy middles" (to quote Homer). When the show is good, it is the best show on TV. You don't last this long if you're not. When the show is bad, its still good...just off the mark. The last eight seasons have had more moments than the previous ten combined. But the episodes that work best focus on the family. And they are what is at the heart and soul of The Simpsons Movie. Everything else is just garnish (of course, lovable garnish).
There is little new to the film and this may be where the "why" comes into play. Why make the movie if there is nothing new in the film? Why not? The creators have used the bigger screen to paint a bigger canvas. Do they use it to the same advantage that South Park did when it went "wide"? No...of course not. That's comparing apples and oranges. South Park has always been about getting across a message through crass jokes. The Simpsons is always about exploring family dynamics (sometimes we just have to extend the definition of "family").
There are a few boundary pushes in this PG-13 film. Homer gives the town the finger, Bart dangles his doodle for all to see, Marge actually says "G-d damn" (which threw my wife because Marge has never said that before). All of the major supporting players get at least some screen time (with the exceptions of Sideshow Bob and aliens Kang & Kodos -- whom I suspect will wind up on a special edition DVD in a cut credits sequence I've read about). The film never feels long and never outstays its welcome. It feels just right.
The film starts with a great poke at the audience (and should be seen in theaters because here's a film where the communal experience greatly enhances things...we had a wonderful audience of kids and adults at the matinee we saw and they were all into it). From there its a non-stop riot from start to finish (and by finish I mean stay to the very end of the credits otherwise you'll miss a few more jokes). The story centers around Homer basically turning Springfield into the most toxic city in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency encases the town in a dome. The town turns on Homer. The family escapes to Alaska. There they discover that the government is actually going to destroy Springfield. The family then has to go back and save everyone from death, but not before leaving Homer behind to have an epiphany on why he should bother.
As I said, there's little new here. Homer's screwed up the town before. The family's been driven from town before. The government has been shown to be evil or incompetent before (though not on this scale...well at least in the show...real life is a different matter). How many times has Homer brought home a new pet only to have bad things happen because of it? How many times has Lisa fallen in love with another like-minded person? How many times has Bart turned to Flanders as the model father he believes he wants? How may times has Marge left Homer because of his selfishness?
In twenty years all of this has happened at least once before. But even in its repetition, the movie doesn't feel stale or old. Its as funny as many of the best episodes of the show in its prime.
Like any good movie that comes from a different medium with a built-in fan base, if you like The Simpsons, then you'll like The Simpsons Movie. If you don't, then you won't. Its that simple.
I'll be back in a days.
Be seeing you.
But The Simpsons is more than just an animated TV series. It has become an American institution (why else would there be long lines outside all the 7-11s that became Kwik-E-Marts in one of the most fun promotional gimmicks ever). The family has been with us since April of 1987 (when they first appeared on The Tracey Ullman Show) and have lasted through over 400 episodes not because of the jokes (which even when they're not funny are still funnier than most other "jokes" on TV today), not because of the supporting cast (which has grown HUGE over the years), but because of the archetypical family members that can appeal to all of us.
It is the family dynamic that has been the engine that runs this show. For all his stupidity, for all his loveable faults, Homer Simpson exemplifies the selfish part of all of us that we do our best to surpress at times...yet at the end of the day, he always realizes his faults, does his best to grow from them (until the next episode of course) and remains a faithful husband and loving father. And the rest of the family play their parts as well (Marge is the anchor, Lisa the idealist, Bart the anarchist and Maggie the voice of reality -- and I know the last one sounds funny since she rarely speaks, but think about her reactions to the antics of the others).
It is this dynamic that some may have forgotten about over the course of 18 seasons which have had "terrifying lows, dizzying highs, and creamy middles" (to quote Homer). When the show is good, it is the best show on TV. You don't last this long if you're not. When the show is bad, its still good...just off the mark. The last eight seasons have had more moments than the previous ten combined. But the episodes that work best focus on the family. And they are what is at the heart and soul of The Simpsons Movie. Everything else is just garnish (of course, lovable garnish).
There is little new to the film and this may be where the "why" comes into play. Why make the movie if there is nothing new in the film? Why not? The creators have used the bigger screen to paint a bigger canvas. Do they use it to the same advantage that South Park did when it went "wide"? No...of course not. That's comparing apples and oranges. South Park has always been about getting across a message through crass jokes. The Simpsons is always about exploring family dynamics (sometimes we just have to extend the definition of "family").
There are a few boundary pushes in this PG-13 film. Homer gives the town the finger, Bart dangles his doodle for all to see, Marge actually says "G-d damn" (which threw my wife because Marge has never said that before). All of the major supporting players get at least some screen time (with the exceptions of Sideshow Bob and aliens Kang & Kodos -- whom I suspect will wind up on a special edition DVD in a cut credits sequence I've read about). The film never feels long and never outstays its welcome. It feels just right.
The film starts with a great poke at the audience (and should be seen in theaters because here's a film where the communal experience greatly enhances things...we had a wonderful audience of kids and adults at the matinee we saw and they were all into it). From there its a non-stop riot from start to finish (and by finish I mean stay to the very end of the credits otherwise you'll miss a few more jokes). The story centers around Homer basically turning Springfield into the most toxic city in the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency encases the town in a dome. The town turns on Homer. The family escapes to Alaska. There they discover that the government is actually going to destroy Springfield. The family then has to go back and save everyone from death, but not before leaving Homer behind to have an epiphany on why he should bother.
As I said, there's little new here. Homer's screwed up the town before. The family's been driven from town before. The government has been shown to be evil or incompetent before (though not on this scale...well at least in the show...real life is a different matter). How many times has Homer brought home a new pet only to have bad things happen because of it? How many times has Lisa fallen in love with another like-minded person? How many times has Bart turned to Flanders as the model father he believes he wants? How may times has Marge left Homer because of his selfishness?
In twenty years all of this has happened at least once before. But even in its repetition, the movie doesn't feel stale or old. Its as funny as many of the best episodes of the show in its prime.
Like any good movie that comes from a different medium with a built-in fan base, if you like The Simpsons, then you'll like The Simpsons Movie. If you don't, then you won't. Its that simple.
I'll be back in a days.
Be seeing you.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Hair Products & More Music To Watch The Simpsons By
You can check out my August 14, 2003 entry (newly added to the blog after a search of computer files) to find out what I had to say about the Broadway version of Hairspray. My views have changed a little bit...especially in light of the release of the movie version...
Which makes this yet another movie musical based on a stage musical based on a movie...if only we could unearth a book the movie was based on and a tablet the book was based on...
Anyway...the stage version of this story was a fun show that made you want to get off you ass and dance around...especially by the end of the show. The movie kind of puts something of a damper on that feeling. Its still a whole lot of fun, but it could have been even more so.
First, the casting.
There's just something off about John Travolta playing Edna Turnblad. Maybe its the weird latex face, maybe its that the role really needs a Divine or Harvey Fierstein in the role (both men were already bigger than life) or maybe its that Travolta seems to be barely tapping his talents (think I'm wrong, listen to the CD of the movie...once you divorce the look from the sound you are left with Travolta's voice...and it sounds like a barely breathy Travolta when it should sound a bit more feminine...even Harvey got that down in spots and he's got a very distinctive voice).
Christopher Walken is a good song and dance man and he handles himself well in his one big number, but at this point its more like watching Walken doing an impression of Jay Mohr doing Christopher Walken. Queen Latifah holds her own nicely in a part that's a bit more under-written than the stage version. Only Michelle Pfeiffer comes off better than her stage counterpart. This Velma von Tussle has much more bite to her (well...mostly...even though she's had a few things taken away, she's had a few things added...two new songs and better orchestrations). The kids fare much better, except Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton, who is too cute and not awkward enough.
The musical numbers have been changed around somewhat. Four songs have had their order switched (I Can Hear The Bells and It Takes Two have been flipped as have I Know Where I've Been and Without Love), six songs have been cut (Mama I'm A Big Girl Now, Velma's Revenge, The Big Dollhouse, Good Morning Baltimore Reprise, You're Timeless To Me Reprise and Cooties), four songs added (Ladies Choice, The New Girl In Town, Big Blonde And Beautiful Reprise and Come So Far Got So Far To Go -- which just plays over the end credits) and a few have had lyrical changes that don't make sense to me (the worst being the deletion of Velma's verse of the big ending showstopper You Can't Stop The Beat).
The new songs actually feel like they were always part of the show and don't feel shoehorned in (particularly the Big, Blonde and Bueatiful Reprise since the subplot of Velma trying to seduce Wilbur is new and works rather well). The cut songs are missed (especially the jail cell number The Big Dollhouse), but two of them have been repurposed for the end credits (Cooties -- which is given a modern spin much to its detriment -- and Mama I'm A Big Girl Now -- which has been changed from a song that bounces back and forth between the mother/daughter teams of the Turnblads, the Pingletons and the Von Tussles to a song featuring the three women who have played Tracey -- Ricki Lake from the original film, Marissa Jaret Winokur from the original Broadway cast and Nikki Blonsky from this film, in addition to a short cameo by Harvey Firestein for a lyric or two).
A few plot points have been moved around (the protest on the TV station is now towards the end of the story) and some have been deleted entirely (the arrest after the protest). At the end of the day, the movie is still a lot of fun, but with what's missing or changed, its not as fun as it could have been.
Meanwhile, this Friday is the day I feel like I've been waiting for forever...but since I've got a wife and kid, I'm exaggerating (a bit).
The Simpsons Movie opens this week and I'm in full Simpson mode. So, having picked up the movie soundtrack...and not knowing much about the film (a first...I know...this coming from a guy who knew the end of the new Harry Potter book two days before it was published and still hasn't read it), here's a peak at what's in store (symphonically at least) this Friday (and you can bet your ass there'll be a full review between seeing the film Friday afternoon and the opening of A Raisin In The Sun which I'm producing for The Darien Players later that night -- 655-5414 for tickets, it runs until August 11 on weekends).
The fifteen tracks on this disc were all "baked by Hans Zimmer" (as it says on the cover). Inside, you discover he composed them all except "The Simpsons Theme" which was composed by Danny Elfman, but is given an amazing orchestral rendition. Most of the disc has tracks with funny titles that actually sound like what they're describing (even though I have no real idea what they are describing, but I can make assumptions about a track entitled "Release The Hounds" and the music fits the description). The "funniest" track on the CD has got to be "Spider Pig". If you've seen recent commercials for the film, you'll know what this might be, but it actually turns out to be something even bigger and better and funnier (at least musically).
Listening to the CD Soundtrack yesterday did what watching Sunday's block of episodes did, get me even more excited for a film I can't wait to see.
Friday can't get here fast enough.
Be seeing you.
Which makes this yet another movie musical based on a stage musical based on a movie...if only we could unearth a book the movie was based on and a tablet the book was based on...
Anyway...the stage version of this story was a fun show that made you want to get off you ass and dance around...especially by the end of the show. The movie kind of puts something of a damper on that feeling. Its still a whole lot of fun, but it could have been even more so.
First, the casting.
There's just something off about John Travolta playing Edna Turnblad. Maybe its the weird latex face, maybe its that the role really needs a Divine or Harvey Fierstein in the role (both men were already bigger than life) or maybe its that Travolta seems to be barely tapping his talents (think I'm wrong, listen to the CD of the movie...once you divorce the look from the sound you are left with Travolta's voice...and it sounds like a barely breathy Travolta when it should sound a bit more feminine...even Harvey got that down in spots and he's got a very distinctive voice).
Christopher Walken is a good song and dance man and he handles himself well in his one big number, but at this point its more like watching Walken doing an impression of Jay Mohr doing Christopher Walken. Queen Latifah holds her own nicely in a part that's a bit more under-written than the stage version. Only Michelle Pfeiffer comes off better than her stage counterpart. This Velma von Tussle has much more bite to her (well...mostly...even though she's had a few things taken away, she's had a few things added...two new songs and better orchestrations). The kids fare much better, except Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton, who is too cute and not awkward enough.
The musical numbers have been changed around somewhat. Four songs have had their order switched (I Can Hear The Bells and It Takes Two have been flipped as have I Know Where I've Been and Without Love), six songs have been cut (Mama I'm A Big Girl Now, Velma's Revenge, The Big Dollhouse, Good Morning Baltimore Reprise, You're Timeless To Me Reprise and Cooties), four songs added (Ladies Choice, The New Girl In Town, Big Blonde And Beautiful Reprise and Come So Far Got So Far To Go -- which just plays over the end credits) and a few have had lyrical changes that don't make sense to me (the worst being the deletion of Velma's verse of the big ending showstopper You Can't Stop The Beat).
The new songs actually feel like they were always part of the show and don't feel shoehorned in (particularly the Big, Blonde and Bueatiful Reprise since the subplot of Velma trying to seduce Wilbur is new and works rather well). The cut songs are missed (especially the jail cell number The Big Dollhouse), but two of them have been repurposed for the end credits (Cooties -- which is given a modern spin much to its detriment -- and Mama I'm A Big Girl Now -- which has been changed from a song that bounces back and forth between the mother/daughter teams of the Turnblads, the Pingletons and the Von Tussles to a song featuring the three women who have played Tracey -- Ricki Lake from the original film, Marissa Jaret Winokur from the original Broadway cast and Nikki Blonsky from this film, in addition to a short cameo by Harvey Firestein for a lyric or two).
A few plot points have been moved around (the protest on the TV station is now towards the end of the story) and some have been deleted entirely (the arrest after the protest). At the end of the day, the movie is still a lot of fun, but with what's missing or changed, its not as fun as it could have been.
Meanwhile, this Friday is the day I feel like I've been waiting for forever...but since I've got a wife and kid, I'm exaggerating (a bit).
The Simpsons Movie opens this week and I'm in full Simpson mode. So, having picked up the movie soundtrack...and not knowing much about the film (a first...I know...this coming from a guy who knew the end of the new Harry Potter book two days before it was published and still hasn't read it), here's a peak at what's in store (symphonically at least) this Friday (and you can bet your ass there'll be a full review between seeing the film Friday afternoon and the opening of A Raisin In The Sun which I'm producing for The Darien Players later that night -- 655-5414 for tickets, it runs until August 11 on weekends).
The fifteen tracks on this disc were all "baked by Hans Zimmer" (as it says on the cover). Inside, you discover he composed them all except "The Simpsons Theme" which was composed by Danny Elfman, but is given an amazing orchestral rendition. Most of the disc has tracks with funny titles that actually sound like what they're describing (even though I have no real idea what they are describing, but I can make assumptions about a track entitled "Release The Hounds" and the music fits the description). The "funniest" track on the CD has got to be "Spider Pig". If you've seen recent commercials for the film, you'll know what this might be, but it actually turns out to be something even bigger and better and funnier (at least musically).
Listening to the CD Soundtrack yesterday did what watching Sunday's block of episodes did, get me even more excited for a film I can't wait to see.
Friday can't get here fast enough.
Be seeing you.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Mini Complaints, Rants, Raves & Reviews
Hey folks,
Got to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last week (or as I've been referring to it Harry Potter and the 10,000 Shards of Broken Glass since that's pretty much the main character of the big climactic battles). Anyway...I honestly don't have much to say about it. It was Harry Potter. Sure, they took the longest book and made it the shortest movie, but they either went too far or didn't go far enough with the cuts. I read an interview (I believe with either the screenwriter or the director) where they stated that Rowling suggested they reinstate a character they had cut because they'd run into problems later in the series. So I sat there watching, trying to guess who it was.
Professor Trelawney (Emma Thompson) was a good choice. She makes an appearance (check off that box) but doesn't really serve any purpose (unless you know the books very well as my wife had to remind me of an important point...but then even she admitted it may have come from Book 6 and not Book 5...and I have yet to read Book 6...and Trelawney was still a pointless addition if you're not gonna specify why she's there).
Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) makes her debut, but for all the backstory you get in the book that was cut or shortened, she may as well have played "Unnamed Follower of Voldemort #6".
There was no reason for this film to be the shortest and it could have easily benefited from an extra 20 minutes or so without any real problems.
Anyway...so...Diamond Select Toys actually has a MiniMate exclsuive they're realsing at San Diego's Comic Con this year. It's a two pack of more Marvel heroes as Zombies to go along with the box set of 5 that comes out soon (all from an interesting "What If" kind of story that was popular recently). The problem with this box set as well as another one that comes out later is that DST is putting out Zombie versions of characters before we get "actual" versions. Giant Man, The Wasp and Black Panther all deserve to have regular versions done and having Zombie versions before a regular version is just kind of insulting.
Meanwhile, DC Direct is apparently putting DST/Marvel to shame. Just looking at their latest announcement for Wave 7 of their MiniMates line tells us that with DC anything goes. We're getting a MiniMate of Ambush Bug for crying out loud!!! A minor character who had a cult following in the mid 1980s is getting a MiniMate...before a number of important Marvel characters...heck, before a number of important DC characters (Sinestro anyone? Black Manta?). Can't wait to see if DC displays anything beyond Wave 7 at Comic Con...but I'm sure they've got some more cool stuff up their sleeves.
Well...that's all I've got for today. It's been a bit crazy around here of late. Family was visiting. Malcolm turned 2 (I can't believe he's 2, but he certainly acts like it). I'm jumping into auditions tonight for a show I'm directing at Curtain Call: Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. Hope we get a good turnout over the next two nights because I'd rather not have callbacks...but we'll see.
Anyway...I'll keep you posted on things as time permits.
Be seeing you.
Got to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix last week (or as I've been referring to it Harry Potter and the 10,000 Shards of Broken Glass since that's pretty much the main character of the big climactic battles). Anyway...I honestly don't have much to say about it. It was Harry Potter. Sure, they took the longest book and made it the shortest movie, but they either went too far or didn't go far enough with the cuts. I read an interview (I believe with either the screenwriter or the director) where they stated that Rowling suggested they reinstate a character they had cut because they'd run into problems later in the series. So I sat there watching, trying to guess who it was.
Professor Trelawney (Emma Thompson) was a good choice. She makes an appearance (check off that box) but doesn't really serve any purpose (unless you know the books very well as my wife had to remind me of an important point...but then even she admitted it may have come from Book 6 and not Book 5...and I have yet to read Book 6...and Trelawney was still a pointless addition if you're not gonna specify why she's there).
Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) makes her debut, but for all the backstory you get in the book that was cut or shortened, she may as well have played "Unnamed Follower of Voldemort #6".
There was no reason for this film to be the shortest and it could have easily benefited from an extra 20 minutes or so without any real problems.
Anyway...so...Diamond Select Toys actually has a MiniMate exclsuive they're realsing at San Diego's Comic Con this year. It's a two pack of more Marvel heroes as Zombies to go along with the box set of 5 that comes out soon (all from an interesting "What If" kind of story that was popular recently). The problem with this box set as well as another one that comes out later is that DST is putting out Zombie versions of characters before we get "actual" versions. Giant Man, The Wasp and Black Panther all deserve to have regular versions done and having Zombie versions before a regular version is just kind of insulting.
Meanwhile, DC Direct is apparently putting DST/Marvel to shame. Just looking at their latest announcement for Wave 7 of their MiniMates line tells us that with DC anything goes. We're getting a MiniMate of Ambush Bug for crying out loud!!! A minor character who had a cult following in the mid 1980s is getting a MiniMate...before a number of important Marvel characters...heck, before a number of important DC characters (Sinestro anyone? Black Manta?). Can't wait to see if DC displays anything beyond Wave 7 at Comic Con...but I'm sure they've got some more cool stuff up their sleeves.
Well...that's all I've got for today. It's been a bit crazy around here of late. Family was visiting. Malcolm turned 2 (I can't believe he's 2, but he certainly acts like it). I'm jumping into auditions tonight for a show I'm directing at Curtain Call: Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. Hope we get a good turnout over the next two nights because I'd rather not have callbacks...but we'll see.
Anyway...I'll keep you posted on things as time permits.
Be seeing you.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Blake Edwards Should Have Used The Title
Sometimes we "geeks" (or is it nerds...I can never remember) can be really annoying to each other.
Take for instance, the internet uproar upon finding out that Galactus, the planet eating being made famous in Fantastic Four comic books, was being depicted in the new movie as a giant cloud of debris and energy as opposed to a 28 foot 9 inch human in purple armor. He's where you need someone like William Shatner yelling "get a life" (and they should be angrier about the fact that Stan Lee is not playing Willy Lumpkin, the mail carrier to the Fantastic Four, but is now playing himself...it makes sense that Willy would try and get into the wedding of Reed & Sue, it makes no sense for Stan Lee to try).
Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer is a lot like the first film made two years ago. Little more than a fun popcorn film to keep the masses entertained, both films get in, keep moving and get out before you can be bogged down with brooding, pathos and depth. Sure, the comics had a bit more rounding to them, but if you want a "serious" comic book movie, go see Spider-Man 3.
The plot, as such, involves the Silver Surfer arriving on Earth to prep the planet for destruction by Galactus. The Fantastic Four team up with a revived Doctor Doom (who of course has his own agenda) to save the planet. There's a couple of subplots involving a wedding postponed several times and the old "switching powers among team members" routine (thus giving an excuse for Michale Chiklis to spend at least a few minutes of screen out of full body makeup as The Thing...I think we've seen The Thing turn back into Ben Grimm more times in two movies than we have in 60 years of comic books...but I digress).
Is either film perfect? No. But they're both fun. Nothing more. Try and analyze things and they don't make much sense (for example, the only reason Doctor Doom is "awakened" from his death-like state is because the Silver Surfer passes by...yeah...that's a convenient way to work him in). If you liked the first film, you'll like this one as well. If you hated the first one, move along...there's nothing for you here either.
That said...if there is a third Fantastic Four I'd like to see the potential that's there for a GREAT movie be used. We've done the fun shtick that this super hero group represents. Now let's see them really kick some ass.
Meanwhile, in the "real world" of comic books...we need to make the passing of yet another super hero.
DC Comics has killed off Bart Allen...also known as The Flash (the fourth person to use that name)...previously known as Kid Flash (the second person to use that name)...formerly known as Impulse (the only one to use that name).
This is the latest in what has become a three year long killing spree in the DC Universe (Ted Kord aka Blue Beetle II, Vic Sage aka The Question I, Ralph Dibney aka The Elongated Man, Sue Dibney, Superboy Connor Kent, Jade daughter of Alan Scott the original Green Lantern, the Golden Age Vigilante...I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting but we're almost at the point where it'd be easier to list living characters).
It's a bit sad and odd to have Bart gone. Bart started his life as the grandson of Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash. Bart was born in our future and raised in an artificial environment (kind of like The Matrix). His grandmother, Iris Allen, brought him to the 20th Century to have her nephew Wally West (the 3rd Flash) help Bart become more responsible. Wally passed that job onto another speedster named Max Mercury and Bart as Impulse (named so by Batman since he tended to leap before he looked) had a good comic book run of his own for around 80 issues.
Two years ago, Bart joined the Teen Titans and took over Wally's old name and costume to become Kid Flash since he had grown up and matured a bit. At the end of Infinite Crisis, Bart, Wally, Max and Barry all pushed the Superboy of Earth Prime into the Speed Force (don't ask) and they all disappeared, leaving Jay Garrick (the Golden Age Flash) as the only speedster on Earth. A de-powered and aged Bart returned from wherever they all went to and he took over as The Flash...only to be killed off after 13 issues of his own book as The Flash.
Bart worked best as Impulse in my opinion. Its a great series that was a lot of fun to read (and re-read as it holds up well). Bart as Kid Flash wasn't bad, but why move him in that direction only to quickly move him up the ladder again to become The Flash?
Oh well...he'll be missed. of course, this being comics I'm sure he'll be back at some point. Look at his grandfather who's been dead since 1986 and yet he keeps making appearances.
The Flash is dead. Long live The Flash.
Be seeing you.
Take for instance, the internet uproar upon finding out that Galactus, the planet eating being made famous in Fantastic Four comic books, was being depicted in the new movie as a giant cloud of debris and energy as opposed to a 28 foot 9 inch human in purple armor. He's where you need someone like William Shatner yelling "get a life" (and they should be angrier about the fact that Stan Lee is not playing Willy Lumpkin, the mail carrier to the Fantastic Four, but is now playing himself...it makes sense that Willy would try and get into the wedding of Reed & Sue, it makes no sense for Stan Lee to try).
Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer is a lot like the first film made two years ago. Little more than a fun popcorn film to keep the masses entertained, both films get in, keep moving and get out before you can be bogged down with brooding, pathos and depth. Sure, the comics had a bit more rounding to them, but if you want a "serious" comic book movie, go see Spider-Man 3.
The plot, as such, involves the Silver Surfer arriving on Earth to prep the planet for destruction by Galactus. The Fantastic Four team up with a revived Doctor Doom (who of course has his own agenda) to save the planet. There's a couple of subplots involving a wedding postponed several times and the old "switching powers among team members" routine (thus giving an excuse for Michale Chiklis to spend at least a few minutes of screen out of full body makeup as The Thing...I think we've seen The Thing turn back into Ben Grimm more times in two movies than we have in 60 years of comic books...but I digress).
Is either film perfect? No. But they're both fun. Nothing more. Try and analyze things and they don't make much sense (for example, the only reason Doctor Doom is "awakened" from his death-like state is because the Silver Surfer passes by...yeah...that's a convenient way to work him in). If you liked the first film, you'll like this one as well. If you hated the first one, move along...there's nothing for you here either.
That said...if there is a third Fantastic Four I'd like to see the potential that's there for a GREAT movie be used. We've done the fun shtick that this super hero group represents. Now let's see them really kick some ass.
Meanwhile, in the "real world" of comic books...we need to make the passing of yet another super hero.
DC Comics has killed off Bart Allen...also known as The Flash (the fourth person to use that name)...previously known as Kid Flash (the second person to use that name)...formerly known as Impulse (the only one to use that name).
This is the latest in what has become a three year long killing spree in the DC Universe (Ted Kord aka Blue Beetle II, Vic Sage aka The Question I, Ralph Dibney aka The Elongated Man, Sue Dibney, Superboy Connor Kent, Jade daughter of Alan Scott the original Green Lantern, the Golden Age Vigilante...I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting but we're almost at the point where it'd be easier to list living characters).
It's a bit sad and odd to have Bart gone. Bart started his life as the grandson of Barry Allen, the Silver Age Flash. Bart was born in our future and raised in an artificial environment (kind of like The Matrix). His grandmother, Iris Allen, brought him to the 20th Century to have her nephew Wally West (the 3rd Flash) help Bart become more responsible. Wally passed that job onto another speedster named Max Mercury and Bart as Impulse (named so by Batman since he tended to leap before he looked) had a good comic book run of his own for around 80 issues.
Two years ago, Bart joined the Teen Titans and took over Wally's old name and costume to become Kid Flash since he had grown up and matured a bit. At the end of Infinite Crisis, Bart, Wally, Max and Barry all pushed the Superboy of Earth Prime into the Speed Force (don't ask) and they all disappeared, leaving Jay Garrick (the Golden Age Flash) as the only speedster on Earth. A de-powered and aged Bart returned from wherever they all went to and he took over as The Flash...only to be killed off after 13 issues of his own book as The Flash.
Bart worked best as Impulse in my opinion. Its a great series that was a lot of fun to read (and re-read as it holds up well). Bart as Kid Flash wasn't bad, but why move him in that direction only to quickly move him up the ladder again to become The Flash?
Oh well...he'll be missed. of course, this being comics I'm sure he'll be back at some point. Look at his grandfather who's been dead since 1986 and yet he keeps making appearances.
The Flash is dead. Long live The Flash.
Be seeing you.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
That Takes Balls!!!
So The Sopranos ended and my wife turned to me and said "Did the cable go out?"
This will probably go down in history as the most talked about ending to a TV series EVER.
I'll decide tomorrow if it was fucking brilliant or a big fuck you to the fans (leaning toward brilliant).
Won't spoil it for anyone who didn't see it yet.
If the creators of Lost even think about trying something like this, I will burn the DVDs of all prior seasons. That show needs a real ending.
The Sopranos not so much.
"It goes on and on and on and on."
Had to comment on it "in the moment."
Be seeing you.
This will probably go down in history as the most talked about ending to a TV series EVER.
I'll decide tomorrow if it was fucking brilliant or a big fuck you to the fans (leaning toward brilliant).
Won't spoil it for anyone who didn't see it yet.
If the creators of Lost even think about trying something like this, I will burn the DVDs of all prior seasons. That show needs a real ending.
The Sopranos not so much.
"It goes on and on and on and on."
Had to comment on it "in the moment."
Be seeing you.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
They Always Come In Three...
So...I've been trying to catch up on some movie watching and get a bit current...its gonna take an awfully long time, but little by little I'm getting there...
So...today we've got reviews of three "comedies" (I use quotes because that term can be somewhat subjective).
Tash & I had a chance to drop Malcolm off with his grandparents for an afternoon and take in a new movie in the theaters. We chose to see Knocked Up because we like to be entertained more than anything these days and this film has gotten great reviews. I think the reviews are a bit off. The film is very funny, but more sweet than funny at times. Its also a bit long (over two hours), which for a comedy can be a bit deadly. But luckily, this film is very entertaining and charming...as escapist entertainment, I guess parts hit a bit too close to home since we do have a kid (I swear the conversation between the two leads during sex while pregnant came from a bug in our bedroom).
If you don't know, the film is about a young professional woman who hooks up with a stoner/slacker at a bar. One things leads to another and she winds up pregnant. The rest of the film deals with these two very different people trying to come to terms with what it means to bring a child into the world. The film is worth seeing, but I'm not sure if you need to rush to theaters to see it. It'll be perfectly acceptable on DVD.
Trying to catch up on the DVDs from Netflix we've been sitting on for way too long put us in front of Man Of The Year. This bizarre political satire stars Robin Williams as a John Stewart clone (fake news man) who winds up running for president. That plot could have been an interesting film along the lines of Dave, but the creators of this piece have added a bizarre subplot about rigged electronic voting machines that doesn't make sense and throws the film into other directions. The film also makes a feeble attempt at straddling the political lines. Its not a bad film, but its not a great film. While we probably need someone in our real elections like Robin Williams' character to shake things up in 2008, it ain't gonna happen. So all this film really did was tease.
Lastly, for today's reviews...I watched Epic Movie. Now I use the term "watched" very loosely. I started watching it and left it playing while I was checking on a pork shoulder that I'm smoking on our new grill (more about that some other time). And then I checked e-mail, cleaned the kitchen and did a few other things while this film continued playing in the background. Why I even bothered I don't know. I'm sure this type of film (the bastard step-child of the Airplane school of comedy which needs to be drowned) appeals to someone...but that someone is probably someone who doesn't know what comedy really is, is around twelve and has the attention span of a hummingbird on crack. Last year, I decreed Date Movie (from the same creators) was not only the worst movie of 2006, but probably the worst movie ever made. This film has it beat by a long shot. The worst part is there's some actual talent on screen. I'm gonna give Fred Willard, Darryl Hammond, Jennifer Coolidge and Kai Penn a pass on this one. They probably needed rent money. Crispin Glover has just proved his career died years ago and he's just scraping whatever he can get. Miss this at all costs.
I hope to be back later this week with that wrap-up of the network upfronts. I was holding off until I finished up a few shows for the season. Just about done with that.
Be seeing you.
So...today we've got reviews of three "comedies" (I use quotes because that term can be somewhat subjective).
Tash & I had a chance to drop Malcolm off with his grandparents for an afternoon and take in a new movie in the theaters. We chose to see Knocked Up because we like to be entertained more than anything these days and this film has gotten great reviews. I think the reviews are a bit off. The film is very funny, but more sweet than funny at times. Its also a bit long (over two hours), which for a comedy can be a bit deadly. But luckily, this film is very entertaining and charming...as escapist entertainment, I guess parts hit a bit too close to home since we do have a kid (I swear the conversation between the two leads during sex while pregnant came from a bug in our bedroom).
If you don't know, the film is about a young professional woman who hooks up with a stoner/slacker at a bar. One things leads to another and she winds up pregnant. The rest of the film deals with these two very different people trying to come to terms with what it means to bring a child into the world. The film is worth seeing, but I'm not sure if you need to rush to theaters to see it. It'll be perfectly acceptable on DVD.
Trying to catch up on the DVDs from Netflix we've been sitting on for way too long put us in front of Man Of The Year. This bizarre political satire stars Robin Williams as a John Stewart clone (fake news man) who winds up running for president. That plot could have been an interesting film along the lines of Dave, but the creators of this piece have added a bizarre subplot about rigged electronic voting machines that doesn't make sense and throws the film into other directions. The film also makes a feeble attempt at straddling the political lines. Its not a bad film, but its not a great film. While we probably need someone in our real elections like Robin Williams' character to shake things up in 2008, it ain't gonna happen. So all this film really did was tease.
Lastly, for today's reviews...I watched Epic Movie. Now I use the term "watched" very loosely. I started watching it and left it playing while I was checking on a pork shoulder that I'm smoking on our new grill (more about that some other time). And then I checked e-mail, cleaned the kitchen and did a few other things while this film continued playing in the background. Why I even bothered I don't know. I'm sure this type of film (the bastard step-child of the Airplane school of comedy which needs to be drowned) appeals to someone...but that someone is probably someone who doesn't know what comedy really is, is around twelve and has the attention span of a hummingbird on crack. Last year, I decreed Date Movie (from the same creators) was not only the worst movie of 2006, but probably the worst movie ever made. This film has it beat by a long shot. The worst part is there's some actual talent on screen. I'm gonna give Fred Willard, Darryl Hammond, Jennifer Coolidge and Kai Penn a pass on this one. They probably needed rent money. Crispin Glover has just proved his career died years ago and he's just scraping whatever he can get. Miss this at all costs.
I hope to be back later this week with that wrap-up of the network upfronts. I was holding off until I finished up a few shows for the season. Just about done with that.
Be seeing you.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Reality + Movies = Funny In A Drinking Game Kind Of Way
So...the wife and I have been watching the new FOX "reality" show On The Lot. I actually thought about entering this (you gotta be in it to win it), but decided to wait and see what the show is really like (especially after having entered something in two of the three Project: Greenlight runs).
Attempting to apply an American Idol concept to a filmmaking competition where the "winner" gets a million dollar deal at Dreamworks is kind of like applying it to the casting of a Broadway show (and I didn't even see that show...will two unknowns really have the draw to keep a show running on Broadway for long). The funny part is that the people "behind the scenes" in this "contest" have probably never made films they way these contestants are being forced to (anyone think Garry Marshall has ever been told go make a one minute comedy short in a week).
But the folks "playing the game" are up to the task even if it seems like most of them don't quite have the talent.
The first two episodes aired last week actually showed some promise as the top 50 filmmakers were whittled down to 36 after a pitch session (always tough...anyone think Spielberg still makes his own pitches...or Garry Marshall). Those 36 were then put in teams of 3 to create a short film in 24 hours. Each team member got to direct one scene in each short. There was some good drama and tension involved here and at the end of this round we were down to 24 people.
The next challenge was each of these people were given an hour to direct a page of dialog from a script using a full film crew. There would be 6 people eliminated from this leaving us with 18. But we never got to see any of this as the third episode of the show opened with 18 contestants who each had to make a one minute comedy short. So FOX spent 2 hours on Monday night introducing us to each filmmaker, showing their shorts and having the judges comment on them.
Of the 18 shorts there were 4 really good ones, a whole bunch of ones that were either cute or competent and little more, one head scratcher (meaning what was the filmmaker thinking...the character in the film came off more retarded than "nerdy" just as the judges said) and two films that were so off the mark you knew who was going home the next night.
But let it never be said that American voters are predictable. Only one of the truly "bad" filmmakers went home. The other miraculously stayed. The other two who were voted off were foreigners (so much for the international contingent). And the headscratcher of a film wound up in the top 3???
While the show is an interesting attempt at finding new talent to make Hollywood films, I'm not sure this is the best way to do it. But it is kind of fun to watch...if only to make a drinking game out of the flubs, hand gestures and general stupidity of host Adrianna Costa (who did she fuck to get this job...she's easily the worst host in the entire history of the concept of hosting). If you toss in every time Garry Marshall references how we need more women directors like his sister Penny, you'll be drunk off your ass within ten minutes.
I told my wife that if there's a second run of this show next year to push my ass into at least submitting a film. I'm betting FOX will only stick with the entire first run if they're contractually obligated to. It seems Univision has been getting better ratings.
Be seeing you
Attempting to apply an American Idol concept to a filmmaking competition where the "winner" gets a million dollar deal at Dreamworks is kind of like applying it to the casting of a Broadway show (and I didn't even see that show...will two unknowns really have the draw to keep a show running on Broadway for long). The funny part is that the people "behind the scenes" in this "contest" have probably never made films they way these contestants are being forced to (anyone think Garry Marshall has ever been told go make a one minute comedy short in a week).
But the folks "playing the game" are up to the task even if it seems like most of them don't quite have the talent.
The first two episodes aired last week actually showed some promise as the top 50 filmmakers were whittled down to 36 after a pitch session (always tough...anyone think Spielberg still makes his own pitches...or Garry Marshall). Those 36 were then put in teams of 3 to create a short film in 24 hours. Each team member got to direct one scene in each short. There was some good drama and tension involved here and at the end of this round we were down to 24 people.
The next challenge was each of these people were given an hour to direct a page of dialog from a script using a full film crew. There would be 6 people eliminated from this leaving us with 18. But we never got to see any of this as the third episode of the show opened with 18 contestants who each had to make a one minute comedy short. So FOX spent 2 hours on Monday night introducing us to each filmmaker, showing their shorts and having the judges comment on them.
Of the 18 shorts there were 4 really good ones, a whole bunch of ones that were either cute or competent and little more, one head scratcher (meaning what was the filmmaker thinking...the character in the film came off more retarded than "nerdy" just as the judges said) and two films that were so off the mark you knew who was going home the next night.
But let it never be said that American voters are predictable. Only one of the truly "bad" filmmakers went home. The other miraculously stayed. The other two who were voted off were foreigners (so much for the international contingent). And the headscratcher of a film wound up in the top 3???
While the show is an interesting attempt at finding new talent to make Hollywood films, I'm not sure this is the best way to do it. But it is kind of fun to watch...if only to make a drinking game out of the flubs, hand gestures and general stupidity of host Adrianna Costa (who did she fuck to get this job...she's easily the worst host in the entire history of the concept of hosting). If you toss in every time Garry Marshall references how we need more women directors like his sister Penny, you'll be drunk off your ass within ten minutes.
I told my wife that if there's a second run of this show next year to push my ass into at least submitting a film. I'm betting FOX will only stick with the entire first run if they're contractually obligated to. It seems Univision has been getting better ratings.
Be seeing you
Friday, May 25, 2007
It Was 30 Years Ago Today...
So, Star Wars is 30 years old. Was I really only 8 when I first saw it? Did I really see it 4 times in the theaters? Did my mom really stand up in the middle of the movie when Darth Vader and Ben Kenobi were duelling and shout "Go get him Ben!" (or something to that effect)? Did she later have a fight in a toy store over a Princess Leia action figure?
You bet your asses.
Its kind of scary that this "little" film not only changed how people saw movies, but also how Hollywood made movies.
This amazing juggernaut of a film pretty much birthed the modern summer blockbuster as we know it (and one could argue that the first of the "Prequel" Trilogy killed it in certain respects, but that's another argument for another time).
For me, it was a way of life for a long time. I LOVED Star Wars. I was able to procure (with the help of a crazy mom) every action figure made. It was the starting point of my crazy obsessions that I still try to rid myself of to this day (lets just say that as soon as I get over the daunting task of cleaning off all those old toys, they're gonna go on eBay...my love for them has been replaced by other things -- a wife, a son, a sixth scale Jabba the Hutt).
But I couldn't just let today pass without making mention (not that I'm unique on this respect, there's a whole weekend long convention to mark the damn celebration)...
Partially because I was admonished by a friend for not screening the original trilogy this weekend...but the projector's broken (the latest in a long line of electronic problems we've had at the house since February) and there are other things going on.
I was going to make more than a mention and really wax philosophic about the film (and its sequels)...but I'm honestly all tapped out on this subject right now. I don't have the desire or energy beyond saying what I've barely said.
Be seeing you.
You bet your asses.
Its kind of scary that this "little" film not only changed how people saw movies, but also how Hollywood made movies.
This amazing juggernaut of a film pretty much birthed the modern summer blockbuster as we know it (and one could argue that the first of the "Prequel" Trilogy killed it in certain respects, but that's another argument for another time).
For me, it was a way of life for a long time. I LOVED Star Wars. I was able to procure (with the help of a crazy mom) every action figure made. It was the starting point of my crazy obsessions that I still try to rid myself of to this day (lets just say that as soon as I get over the daunting task of cleaning off all those old toys, they're gonna go on eBay...my love for them has been replaced by other things -- a wife, a son, a sixth scale Jabba the Hutt).
But I couldn't just let today pass without making mention (not that I'm unique on this respect, there's a whole weekend long convention to mark the damn celebration)...
Partially because I was admonished by a friend for not screening the original trilogy this weekend...but the projector's broken (the latest in a long line of electronic problems we've had at the house since February) and there are other things going on.
I was going to make more than a mention and really wax philosophic about the film (and its sequels)...but I'm honestly all tapped out on this subject right now. I don't have the desire or energy beyond saying what I've barely said.
Be seeing you.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
FOX 2006-2007 Review/2007-2008 Preview
And lastly, FOX gives us their new fall lineup (and then some)...
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Drive -- 1 Season/6 Episodes/2 Unaired (but scheduled for July 4) -- This was a sad story of a fun show that FOX pulled way too quickly. This serious version of The Cannonball Run had enough action, suspense, drama and humor to keep it going for a full season. I'm not even sure why FOX canned it...I didn't think the ratings were that bad. At least we'll get to see the last two episodes (which I'm sure don't wrap up anything, but at least we can see where things were headed).
Happy Hour -- 1 Season/6 Episodes/2 Unaired -- Anyone other than me remember this? I barely remember this. That's a good thing.
Justice -- 1 Season/13 Episodes/1 Unaired -- Why do networks air all but one episode of a show? Can't they at least give the handful of fans the last drops of joy? Okay...this show wasn't great, but it was good...heck...anything with Victor Garber is good.
The O.C. -- 4 Seasons/92 Episodes -- I know this was popular, but I never even bothered. If they were 8 episodes shy of the magic 100 for syndication there's gotta be something wrong here.
The Rich List -- 1 Season/4 Episodes/3 Unaired -- I blinked and missed it. What was this about?
Vanished -- 1 Season/13 Episodes/4 Unaired (but streamed online) -- This wasn't a bad show, but the concept was kind of all over the place (Kidnapped meets The DaVinci Code by way of The Bourne Identity). Apparently there was enough time after the cancellation announcement to wrap up the plot involving the kidnapped Senator's wife...sort of...It was a fun mess to watch, but a mess never-the-less as the wife escaped and went back to her old boyfriend, but the cabal of evil people running the country is still there (aren't they always).
The Wedding Bells -- 1 Season/7 Episodes/2 Unaired -- Didn't watch it.
Nanny 911 -- 2 Seasons/24 Episodes -- So we've fixed all the bratty kids in the country? Didn't think so.
Trading Spouses -- 3 Seasons/60 Episodes -- Apparently everyone's swapped at this point...at least those who wanted to...I should have been able to come up with something funnier, but it's been a long month.
The War At Home -- 2 Seasons/44 Episodes -- There is a G-d!
The Winner -- 1 Season/6 Episodes -- This weirdly funny show deserved a better chance. Heck, I found the opening of the pilot to be very unfunny and then the show slowly got much funnier...in a creepy kind of way. I'm sure Rob Cordry will get more work...somehow.
The Loop -- 2 Seasons -- I'm unsure of how many total episodes there will be of this show. The second season doesn't start until June, but since Bret Harrison has a new show next season, I don't expect there to be a third season. The first season of 7 episodes is available on DVD and its a pretty funny show. Hopefully, season 2 will be just as funny (and warrant a DVD release as well).
Standoff -- 1 Season/19 Episodes/8 Unaired -- The rest of this show will be burned off this summer. It was a feeble attempt to redo the success of Bones with hostage negotiators. It didn't work.
Like last year, FOX has given us three different schedules, so some days have multiple listings as the shows rotate through the season.
MONDAYS (September to January)
8pm Prison Break -- Back for a third season of logic defying suspense, at least the show can live up to its title again as Michael, former guard Bellick, former FBI Agent Mahoney and psycho T-Bag are now in a Panama prison instead of running all over the country (actually continent...well...hemisphere). Should be fun, but I don't know how much life the premise has in it.
9pm K-Ville -- A cop show set in post-Katrina New Orleans starring Anthony Anderson? Its a good thing there are other hour long shows ready to go and be moved into this slot (I predict The Sarah Connor Chronicles will air much earlier than expected).
MONDAYS (January to March)
8pm K-Ville
9pm 24 -- Back for a seventh season. I think its time to call shennanigans on this show. This current season about to end started with Jack arriving on a plane from China after 18 months of being tortured in a Chinese prison and having to stop more nukes from going off on American soil within two hours of landing. I know when I get off a plane after a six hour flight from visiting family in California, I'm pretty sure the last thing I want to be doing is running around after nuclear terrorists...I usually just want to take a nice long dump in a clean quiet bathroom. I think Jack Bauer needs to do the same.
MONDAYS (March to May)
8pm Prison Break
9pm 24
TUESDAYS (September to January)
8pm New Amsterdam -- FOX gets an award for sheer balls on even airing this show starring a cast of unknowns and created by a foreign art film director. Lasse Hallstrom (My Life As A Dog) brings us a tale of a cop who is immortal. You bet your ass I'm gonna check this one out.
9pm House M.D. -- The cranky doctor returns for a 4th season of cantankerous fun.
TUESDAYS (January to May)
8pm American Idol -- The juggernaut that is dumbing down music even more than Brittany Spears returns for a 7th round. It amazes me that more people vote for the winner of this show than do in our Presidential elections. Maybe next season should pit Rudy, Hillary, Barack and the gang against each other?
9pm House M.D.
WEDNESDAYS (September to January)
8pm Back To You -- Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton star as an on air news team with little off air chemistry. Toss in Fred Willard and how can you go wrong? I hope they don't, but one would have said the same thing about a show starring John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambour.
8:30 Til Death -- While I'm a bit shocked this show starring Brad Garrett as a hen pecked husband got a second season, I think its nice that FOX has let it grow a bit over the first season. I may try again in the fall. It wasn't bad, just typical.
9pm Bones -- The grossest show on TV returns for a third season. Its still fun to watch the chemistry between the leads.
WEDNESDAYS (January to March)
8pm Back To You
8:30 Til Death
9pm American Idol
WEDNESDAYS (March to May)
8pm Back To You
8:30 The Return Of Jezebel James -- Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose as sisters. Could be worth a viewing based on the talent...luckily, we've got some time to think it over.
9pm American Idol (Results Show)
9:30 Til Death
THURSDAYS (September to January)
8pm Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? -- If you made it through the public education system past the 5th grade and are watching this show, probably not.
9pm Kitchen Nightmares -- The chef of Hell's Kitchen takes his show on the road as he goes to restaurants in trouble and offers them his brand of help. Whatever.
THURSDAYS (January to May)
8pm Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
9pm Canterbury's Law -- Executive producers Dennis Leary and Jim Serpico tackle the courtroom drama with Juliana Margulies as a lawyer who is missing justice in her own life as her young son disappeared a few years ago. Do we need another courtroom drama?
FRIDAYS (September to January)
8pm The Search For The Next Great American Band -- Not being content with finding one new singer, the creators of American Idol are now looking to put together a whole group of musicians to work together. Good luck.
9pm Nashville -- The creators of Laguna Beach are apparently going south...in more ways than one. Ugh.
FRIDAYS (January to May)
8pm Bones
9pm New Amsterdam
SATURDAYS
8pm Cops -- Starts a 20th Season in the fall.
9pm America's Most Wanted -- Starts a 22nd Season of righting wrongs and bringing criminals to justice.
SUNDAYS
7pm The OT -- Finally! FOX just went ahead and officially gave the whole fucking hour to the NFL instead of teasing us who don't care with "episodes already in progress" of our favorite animated families. Let's just hope they don't go over the hour.
8pm The Simpsons -- Going out of its 18th Season into a Feature Film and into its 19th Season is an amazing feat. Doing it with style, grace and barely a loss of wit and humor is something else all together. Here's to more features and 19 more seasons. D'oh!
8:30 King Of The Hill -- This show will be starting its 12th season in the fall. Its like Coach only animated. You're amazed its still on, but its barely changed and still entertains a few people on occassion.
9pm Family Guy -- The TV show that refused to die returns for a 6th rip-roaring, pop-culture reference filled season. Woo Hoo!
9:30 American Dad -- What started off a bit shaky has gotten better, but still has a ways to go. Maybe the third season will get even better.
SUNDAYS (January to May)
7pm King Of The Hill
7:30 American Dad
8pm The Simpsons
8:30 Family Guy
9pm The Sarah Connor Chronicles -- Ever curious what happened between Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines? Didn't think so. But here's where you'll find out. Could be good...we'll see.
MIDSEASON
The Rules For Starting Over -- The Farrelly Brothers bring us this sitcom about a group of late 30 somethings who find themselves single again and starting life over. Meh.
Anchorwoman -- This unscripted "reality" series is about a news director who brings in a WWE hottie to be his new anchorwoman...much to the dismay of his current one. I have no idea what to think of this monstrosity beyond staying far far far away.
Well...that's all for the five major TV networks. I'll be back tomorrow with a round up of everything and a look at how we'll be scheduling our Tivo & two cable DVRs in the fall.
Be seeing you.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Drive -- 1 Season/6 Episodes/2 Unaired (but scheduled for July 4) -- This was a sad story of a fun show that FOX pulled way too quickly. This serious version of The Cannonball Run had enough action, suspense, drama and humor to keep it going for a full season. I'm not even sure why FOX canned it...I didn't think the ratings were that bad. At least we'll get to see the last two episodes (which I'm sure don't wrap up anything, but at least we can see where things were headed).
Happy Hour -- 1 Season/6 Episodes/2 Unaired -- Anyone other than me remember this? I barely remember this. That's a good thing.
Justice -- 1 Season/13 Episodes/1 Unaired -- Why do networks air all but one episode of a show? Can't they at least give the handful of fans the last drops of joy? Okay...this show wasn't great, but it was good...heck...anything with Victor Garber is good.
The O.C. -- 4 Seasons/92 Episodes -- I know this was popular, but I never even bothered. If they were 8 episodes shy of the magic 100 for syndication there's gotta be something wrong here.
The Rich List -- 1 Season/4 Episodes/3 Unaired -- I blinked and missed it. What was this about?
Vanished -- 1 Season/13 Episodes/4 Unaired (but streamed online) -- This wasn't a bad show, but the concept was kind of all over the place (Kidnapped meets The DaVinci Code by way of The Bourne Identity). Apparently there was enough time after the cancellation announcement to wrap up the plot involving the kidnapped Senator's wife...sort of...It was a fun mess to watch, but a mess never-the-less as the wife escaped and went back to her old boyfriend, but the cabal of evil people running the country is still there (aren't they always).
The Wedding Bells -- 1 Season/7 Episodes/2 Unaired -- Didn't watch it.
Nanny 911 -- 2 Seasons/24 Episodes -- So we've fixed all the bratty kids in the country? Didn't think so.
Trading Spouses -- 3 Seasons/60 Episodes -- Apparently everyone's swapped at this point...at least those who wanted to...I should have been able to come up with something funnier, but it's been a long month.
The War At Home -- 2 Seasons/44 Episodes -- There is a G-d!
The Winner -- 1 Season/6 Episodes -- This weirdly funny show deserved a better chance. Heck, I found the opening of the pilot to be very unfunny and then the show slowly got much funnier...in a creepy kind of way. I'm sure Rob Cordry will get more work...somehow.
The Loop -- 2 Seasons -- I'm unsure of how many total episodes there will be of this show. The second season doesn't start until June, but since Bret Harrison has a new show next season, I don't expect there to be a third season. The first season of 7 episodes is available on DVD and its a pretty funny show. Hopefully, season 2 will be just as funny (and warrant a DVD release as well).
Standoff -- 1 Season/19 Episodes/8 Unaired -- The rest of this show will be burned off this summer. It was a feeble attempt to redo the success of Bones with hostage negotiators. It didn't work.
Like last year, FOX has given us three different schedules, so some days have multiple listings as the shows rotate through the season.
MONDAYS (September to January)
8pm Prison Break -- Back for a third season of logic defying suspense, at least the show can live up to its title again as Michael, former guard Bellick, former FBI Agent Mahoney and psycho T-Bag are now in a Panama prison instead of running all over the country (actually continent...well...hemisphere). Should be fun, but I don't know how much life the premise has in it.
9pm K-Ville -- A cop show set in post-Katrina New Orleans starring Anthony Anderson? Its a good thing there are other hour long shows ready to go and be moved into this slot (I predict The Sarah Connor Chronicles will air much earlier than expected).
MONDAYS (January to March)
8pm K-Ville
9pm 24 -- Back for a seventh season. I think its time to call shennanigans on this show. This current season about to end started with Jack arriving on a plane from China after 18 months of being tortured in a Chinese prison and having to stop more nukes from going off on American soil within two hours of landing. I know when I get off a plane after a six hour flight from visiting family in California, I'm pretty sure the last thing I want to be doing is running around after nuclear terrorists...I usually just want to take a nice long dump in a clean quiet bathroom. I think Jack Bauer needs to do the same.
MONDAYS (March to May)
8pm Prison Break
9pm 24
TUESDAYS (September to January)
8pm New Amsterdam -- FOX gets an award for sheer balls on even airing this show starring a cast of unknowns and created by a foreign art film director. Lasse Hallstrom (My Life As A Dog) brings us a tale of a cop who is immortal. You bet your ass I'm gonna check this one out.
9pm House M.D. -- The cranky doctor returns for a 4th season of cantankerous fun.
TUESDAYS (January to May)
8pm American Idol -- The juggernaut that is dumbing down music even more than Brittany Spears returns for a 7th round. It amazes me that more people vote for the winner of this show than do in our Presidential elections. Maybe next season should pit Rudy, Hillary, Barack and the gang against each other?
9pm House M.D.
WEDNESDAYS (September to January)
8pm Back To You -- Kelsey Grammar and Patricia Heaton star as an on air news team with little off air chemistry. Toss in Fred Willard and how can you go wrong? I hope they don't, but one would have said the same thing about a show starring John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambour.
8:30 Til Death -- While I'm a bit shocked this show starring Brad Garrett as a hen pecked husband got a second season, I think its nice that FOX has let it grow a bit over the first season. I may try again in the fall. It wasn't bad, just typical.
9pm Bones -- The grossest show on TV returns for a third season. Its still fun to watch the chemistry between the leads.
WEDNESDAYS (January to March)
8pm Back To You
8:30 Til Death
9pm American Idol
WEDNESDAYS (March to May)
8pm Back To You
8:30 The Return Of Jezebel James -- Parker Posey and Lauren Ambrose as sisters. Could be worth a viewing based on the talent...luckily, we've got some time to think it over.
9pm American Idol (Results Show)
9:30 Til Death
THURSDAYS (September to January)
8pm Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? -- If you made it through the public education system past the 5th grade and are watching this show, probably not.
9pm Kitchen Nightmares -- The chef of Hell's Kitchen takes his show on the road as he goes to restaurants in trouble and offers them his brand of help. Whatever.
THURSDAYS (January to May)
8pm Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
9pm Canterbury's Law -- Executive producers Dennis Leary and Jim Serpico tackle the courtroom drama with Juliana Margulies as a lawyer who is missing justice in her own life as her young son disappeared a few years ago. Do we need another courtroom drama?
FRIDAYS (September to January)
8pm The Search For The Next Great American Band -- Not being content with finding one new singer, the creators of American Idol are now looking to put together a whole group of musicians to work together. Good luck.
9pm Nashville -- The creators of Laguna Beach are apparently going south...in more ways than one. Ugh.
FRIDAYS (January to May)
8pm Bones
9pm New Amsterdam
SATURDAYS
8pm Cops -- Starts a 20th Season in the fall.
9pm America's Most Wanted -- Starts a 22nd Season of righting wrongs and bringing criminals to justice.
SUNDAYS
7pm The OT -- Finally! FOX just went ahead and officially gave the whole fucking hour to the NFL instead of teasing us who don't care with "episodes already in progress" of our favorite animated families. Let's just hope they don't go over the hour.
8pm The Simpsons -- Going out of its 18th Season into a Feature Film and into its 19th Season is an amazing feat. Doing it with style, grace and barely a loss of wit and humor is something else all together. Here's to more features and 19 more seasons. D'oh!
8:30 King Of The Hill -- This show will be starting its 12th season in the fall. Its like Coach only animated. You're amazed its still on, but its barely changed and still entertains a few people on occassion.
9pm Family Guy -- The TV show that refused to die returns for a 6th rip-roaring, pop-culture reference filled season. Woo Hoo!
9:30 American Dad -- What started off a bit shaky has gotten better, but still has a ways to go. Maybe the third season will get even better.
SUNDAYS (January to May)
7pm King Of The Hill
7:30 American Dad
8pm The Simpsons
8:30 Family Guy
9pm The Sarah Connor Chronicles -- Ever curious what happened between Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines? Didn't think so. But here's where you'll find out. Could be good...we'll see.
MIDSEASON
The Rules For Starting Over -- The Farrelly Brothers bring us this sitcom about a group of late 30 somethings who find themselves single again and starting life over. Meh.
Anchorwoman -- This unscripted "reality" series is about a news director who brings in a WWE hottie to be his new anchorwoman...much to the dismay of his current one. I have no idea what to think of this monstrosity beyond staying far far far away.
Well...that's all for the five major TV networks. I'll be back tomorrow with a round up of everything and a look at how we'll be scheduling our Tivo & two cable DVRs in the fall.
Be seeing you.
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