2009-2010 Upfronts Part 2: ABC

Today we take a look at ABC's new fall lineup:

MONDAY
8pm Dancing with the Stars (two-hours in September)-- Hmmm...still don't care.

8pm The Bachelor (two hours in January) -- Why do we still need this?

10pm Castle -- I like Nathan Fillion. The show's been sitting on my DVR. Hope to get to it this summer. We'll go from there.

TUESDAY

8pm Shark Tank -- From the creators of "Survivor" comes this show that sounds like "The Apprentice" but with fewer contestants and more Donald Trumps. Oh...and the contestants aren't celebrities...so we're back to the earlier seasons with "real" people. Yawn.

9pm Dancing with the Stars the Results Show (September)

9pm Better off Ted (January) -- I really like this weird funny comedy from the creators of "Andy Richter Controls The Universe" and am glad to have it back. Look for a DVD/Blu Ray release this summer to catch up on what you may have missed.

9:30 Scrubs (January) -- Returns for a 9th Season. Why? With both Zach Braff & Sarah Chalke turning up as guest stars for about 6 episodes and a few other cast members not signed yet (Judy Reyes & Neil Flynn who is in a new show anyway), this show's gonna have to pull itself off life support pretty quickly. Don't know if I'll keep watching at this point.

10pm The Forgotten--Jerry Bruckheimer brings us a cop show that doesn't contain the letters "c," "s," or "i" in it. These cops try to identify victims of crimes so they don't become "forgotten". I'll pass.

WEDNESDAY
8pm Hank -- Kelsey Grammar stars as a titan of industry to suddenly finds himself out of work. Could be funny simply because of Grammar.

8:30 The Middle -- Patricia Heaton returns to TV (still paired with Kelsey Grammar in an odd way) as a mother of three in middle America. Sounds like "Roseanne". Neil Flynn (Janitor from "Scrubs") also stars, so I expect he's no longer part of that show either.

9pm Modern Family-- Ed O'Neil also returns to TV in this mockumentary about a family.

9:30 Cougar Town -- And Courtney Cox returns to TV as well as a divorced single mom getting back into the dating scene. Okay...never a big Courtney Cox fan, but since ABC's already got my attention with the other sitcoms, I'll give it a shot.

10pm Eastwick -- First it was a book, then a movie, then a musical and then a TV pilot. Now its back again as an actual TV series and aside from Rebecca Romaijn, the cast does nothing for me. I don't know that Paul Gross can step into the shoes of Daryl Van Horne as worn by Jack Nicholson (movie), Ian McShane (musical) and Jason O'Mara (failed TV pilot). But it'll get a shot from me...mainly because I do like the material and have tired of "Desperate Housewives"

THURSDAY
8pm Flash Forward -- A mysterious event causes a world-wide blackout and gives everyone a glimpse into their future. How does humanity cope? We'll see. There's enough creative talent involved behind the camera and in front for me to take a peek.

9pm Grey's Anatomy -- Returns for a 6th season. Still don't watch

10pm Private Practice-- Returns for a 3rd Season. Is Tim Daly still wasting time doing this show?

FRIDAY
8pm Supernanny -- A 5th Season? Really?

9pm Ugly Betty -- Returns for what will be its 4th and most likely last season. Fridays at 9pm? Does that show any confidence in the show anymore? I still like it for the most part.

10pm 20/20 -- Returns for its billionth season because we can't have enough news stories in this age of tweeting where this show is a dinosaur.

SATURDAY
8pm Saturday Night College Football -- anyone remember when there was actual scripted programming on Saturday nights? "Love Boat?" "Fantasy Island?" "Golden Girls?" Ah...those were the days.

SUNDAY
7pm America's Funniest Home Videos -- no matter how often you see it there's something funny and kids and animals falling down and men getting hit in the nuts (as long as its not me)

8pm Extreme Makeover: Home Edition -- Is there any other edition still around?

9pm Desperate Housewives -- If it weren't for the Scavos and Carols and Mrs. McClusky, I'd have left this show a long time ago. I may ditch it soon after the 6th Season starts if Orson doesn't kill Bree and get away with it.

10pm Brothers & Sisters -- Don't watch it, don't care. 4th Season? Really?

MIDSEASON

Deep End -- A law show with Clancy Brown, Billy Zane and Norbert Leo Butz. Those few cast members alone get me to watch an episode.

Happy Town -- The description is vague and it sounds like "Twin Peaks" with Sam Neill. I'll check it out, but it better be damn good to get me past one episode.

V -- Everyone's favorite Man Eating Lizard Aliens return in this "rethink." And since Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet on "Lost") is a lead, we can assume she didn't survive the end of the season on her other show. Also stars Scott Wolf and Monica Baccarin (from "Firefly") as Anna who I believe is this version's Diana. I'll watch because its "V". Let's hope its more "V: The Original Mini-Series" and less "V: The TV Series." I would feel better if Kenneth Johnson were still involved or they were using J. Michael Straczynski's script from a few years ago, but at least we've got new "V".

True Beauty -- Tyra Banks and Ashton Kutcher do make overs for a 2nd Season.

Lost -- Coming into its 6th and final season, I'm only watching because I've invested so much time and energy and need to see it through...but its gotten a bit silly and ridiculous with all the headache inducing time travel stuff. Where's Doc Brown and his blackboard when you need it (oh...right...JJ Abrams trotted that out on "Fringe" with great effect). So here's my theory: The Island is actually the Garden of Eden and "Jacob" and the other guy (Esau?) are just re-enacting the whole Cain & Able story with the Oceanic Group, the Dharma Initiative, the Others and us poor viewers caught in the middle.

Wife Swap -- Henny Youngman returns from the dead to host...what? Oh that's not what its about? Is it porn? Or just fodder for "The Soup" at the end of each week?

Surviving Suburbia -- Bob Saget got a new sitcom and no one watched. So why is it back? Oh...maybe just this summer? OK.

Other shows ABC is still considering for Mid-Season are The Law (with Cedric the Entertainer), Married Not Dead, This Little Piggy and Inside the Box

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

Boston Legal -- 5 Seasons/101 Episodes -- The show had some great moments and when it broke the 4th wall it got really bizarre, but it had a good life and I enjoyed its entire run.

Dirty Sexy Money -- 2 Seasons/23 Episodes -- Never saw it.

Eli Stone -- 2 Seasons/26 Episodes -- Here's one of two ABC shows that I will miss. I hope the 2nd Season gets a DVD release because the 1st Season shouldn't be so lonely. Great show, if you missed it you missed something special.

Homeland Security USA -- 1 Season/3 Episodes -- I blinked. What was this about?

In the Motherhood -- 1 Season/6 Episodes -- Even my wife, who usually loves stuff like this, didn't like it.

Life on Mars -- 1 Season/17 Episodes -- This show was great up until the last 10 minutes of the final episode when they gave us a literal definition of the title and made the "mystery" silly and trite. If you didn't see it, catch it on DVD but turn it off after Sam & Annie kiss in the last episode. This way you'll go out on a high and not the low those of who watched on TV had to sit through.

Opportunity Knocks -- 1 Season/3 Episodes -- What was this about?

Pushing Daisies -- 2 Seasons/22 Episodes -- The show I will miss the most...but thankfully the whole series will be on DVD and we've got a 12 issue miniseries coming from DC Comics to continue the story (sort of -- the plot is supposedly Ned & Chuck and the guys versus zombies). And there's still talk of a big screen version (which happened for "Firefly" but we're still waiting for "Veronica Mars").

Samantha Who? -- 2 Seasons/33 Episodes -- Never saw it. Heard it was good.

The Unusuals -- 1 Season/7 Episodes -- Meant to watch it, but was busy with more important things.

Cupid -- 1 Season/7 Episodes -- The 1998 version lasted 1 Season/15 Episodes. Loved that show. Didn't catch this version. Bobby Cannavale is no Jeremy Piven. Sorry.

According to Jim -- 8 Seasons/181 Episodes -- Our long national nightmare is finally over.

Tomorrow I'll be back with NBC's fall lineup (which was announced today, but I had other things to do -- so I'll be a day behind but will have covered everyone by the end of the week).

Be seeing you.

2009-2010 Upfronts Part 1: FOX

I know its been a while since I've written, but life has been very crazy...that story (or stories) are for another time. Today we start tackling the TV Network Upfronts...something I used to do every year, but skipped last year (for a variety of reasons). But this year, we're back and in full force.

Today FOX has announced its new Fall lineup...so here it is (with my comments where they need to be):

MONDAY
8pm HOUSE -- returns for a 6th Season. Still remains a fun show to watch and in this day and age was able to pull a huge surprise off without everyone knowing it beforehand. This will remain on my viewing list.

9:00pm LIE TO ME (September)-- returns for a 2nd Season. I haven't watched all of the 1st Season episodes yet. My wife and I have seen enough that we enjoy it, but its not priority watching.

9pm 24 (January) -- returns for an 8th Season. Set in New York so you can assume that instead of never going to the bathroom during the show, Jack Bauer pees wherever he wants like the rest of the city. The actresses playing Agent Walker & President Taylor are returning as well -- so unless they're now playing other characters we can guess they both survive tonight's season finale.

TUESDAY
8pm SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Performance Show (September) -- I like to call this "I Don't Care If You Can Dance". I know my wife will be watching. I'll be doing something else I'm sure.

8pm AMERICAN IDOL Performance Show (January) -- Nope...don't care about this show either.

9pm PAST LIFE (January) -- This new show is about a team of "investigators" who research people's pasts to see if what is happening to them today is a result of who they were before. Between "Lost" and "Fringe" I don't have anymore brain capacity for shows that are gonna make me want to scream about the confusing issues of pseudo-science. Plus, there's no one in the cast who cries out "Watch Me!"

WEDNESDAY
8pm SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Results Show (September) -- see above.

8pm AMERICAN IDOL Results Show (January) -- see above

9pm GLEE (September) -- The "previews" for this look interesting. I'll give the episode airing this week a shot (and maybe even review it) and we'll go from there.

9pm HUMAN TARGET (January) -- Mark Valley steps into the shoes of Rick Springfield to star as Christopher Chance, a man who impersonates people in danger to save them and solve the crime/mystery. At least that's what the premise has been in all the comics published by DC Comics. Now he's got two sidekicks, but they're played by Chi McBride & Jackie Earle Haley, and the premise sounds a bit muddy (early reviews are basically saying its not "Human Target" from the comics, but "Generic Action Show Premise #5"). The cast and the DC Logo get me watching. Now if the premiere of this show can get Warner Home Video to release the Rick Springfield version on DVD, I'd be happy. We all need the human touch.

THURSDAY
8pm BONES -- returns for a 5th Season (and I believe has also been renewed for a 6th as well). I stopped watching during Season 2. Miss the show, but not enough to pick it up again on a regular basis. Maybe here and there.

9pm FRINGE -- My favorite new show of last season returns for a 2nd round. It took a while to find its footing, but its everything the later years of "The X-Files" wanted to be and seems to know where its going (where it was obvious "The X-Files" didn't). I'm still wondering if FOX & Warner got any complaints about the final shot of the first season ender.

FRIDAY
8pm BROTHERS -- This new sitcom is about an NFL star who goes home again (or learns he can't go home again). The cast (which includes Daryl "Chill" Mitchell and CCH Pounder) sounds interesting, but not enough to make me watch on a Friday night.

8:30 'TIL DEATH -- Returns for a 4th Season...or maybe they're still burning off episodes from the 2nd & 3rd Seasons that have yet to air. Who cares? Not even sure why this show still exists...didn't they get rid of the young couple?

9pm DOLLHOUSE-- Returns for a 2nd Season. I've got all of Season 1 sitting on my DVR. The pilot bored me, but I meant to keep watching. Maybe this summer I will. We'll see how that goes.

SATURDAY
8pm COPS
9pm AMERICA'S MOST WANTED

SUNDAY
7pm THE OT (September -- gets replaced by Animation reruns after Football Season ends) -- An hour should be plenty of time to wrap up a damn football game and not intrude on my holiest day of the week. I just can't function properly when the animation lineup doesn't start on time. Throws my whole week off.

8pm THE SIMPSONS -- Returns for a 21st Season. Wow. Sure there are clunkers here and there, but I still find the show funny.

8:30 THE CLEVELAND SHOW (September)-- This spin-off from "Family Guy" finds Cleveland moving to his hometown in Virginia to start his life over. Expect the usual Seth MacFarlane humor. If you don't like it on his other two shows, don't watch this one. Will switch to 9:30 in January.

8:30 SONS OF TUCSON (January) -- Three brothers (aged 13, 11 & 8) hire a dad to replace their real one when he goes to prison. I guess since Tyler Labine plays the "dad-for-hire" we can assume THE CW has cancelled "Reaper". I'll watch since its sandwiched between other shows I watch (and Labine is funny).

9pm FAMILY GUY -- Returns for an 8th Season.

9:30 AMERICAN DAD -- Returns for a 5th Season. Will switch to 7:30 in January.

KITCHEN NIGHTMARES Will return at some point as well.

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN

King of the Hill -- 13 Seasons/253 Episodes -- There may be some more in production and the show may have a little glimmer of life left in it at some point this season...but its run its course and probably should have ended a while ago (how far did Fox Home Video get with the show on DVD? That's probably when it should have ended).

Prison Break -- 4 Seasons/81 Episodes (2 have yet to air but are being released on DVD/Blu Ray as "Prison Break: The Final Break" in August) -- I still believe the show should have ended 5 minutes before the end of Season 2 and you'd have a great show. Stopped watching mid-Season 3 as the show got sillier and sillier.

Sit Down, Shut Up -- 1 Season/5 Episodes -- From the creators of "Arrested Development" this should have been funnier.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles -- 2 Seasons/31 Episodes -- Wanted to watch. Meant to watch. May eventually watch on Blu Ray. Good thing I'm not a Neilsen home and my viewing habits don't count for anything.

Do Not Disturb -- 1 Season/6 Episodes (3 Unaired) -- Anyone remember this show? Didn't think so.

Well...that's all for FOX. I'll be back tomorrow with ABC & NBC.

Be seeing you.

I Certainly Picked The Wrong Year To Quit Therapy

I know its been sporadic and uneven when it comes to my "blogging", but let's face it...I have two kids who take up a lot of my time these days...so there's a lot less of everything I used to do...and in most cases I'm getting to be okay with that.

Duncan will be six months old very soon. He's still getting up for middle of the night feedings. He can still be a giant crankapotamus when he wants to be...but he's such a cute kid. I love watching him roll around on the floor (he's gonna start crawling soon...you can just see it in him...he's trying to get to other places and things). And his laugh and smile are so infectious...

Malcolm is having some issues...or maybe we're having some issues with Malcolm. We've known for a while that he has some transitional issues. Abruptly deviating from a routine or plan throws him off. Large groups in small spaces throw him off. When he started pre-school last year, he was in a class of 8 kids with two teachers. He had some issues that the teacher worked with us on to try and alleviate (mostly he would knock over a chair when we came to pick him up in a defiant "You left me here" kind of mode...it was more of a safety issue for the other kids, but we fixed the problem and things went back to normal).

We put him in camp this past summer (at the same place he had school) and there were no problems (we even did it after everyone had left from visiting for Duncan's birth). And after camp ended we had three weeks to get him potty trained to start school again in the fall. We felt he needed structure and consistancy in his day to help work through the transitional issues...so we had signed him up for the 5 day a week program, but he HAD to be potty trained (last year he went 3 days a week and we could have done the same this year because they don't have to be potty trained for that).

We spent the three weeks between camp ending and school starting in "potty training boot camp". We basically just stripped him naked and threw him outside to run around. It took a few days, but he eventually got the concepts of what was happening and what he needed to do. Yet at the same time, he didn't quite get it.

As a father, I don't really know what my expectations were. I'd be an idiot if I thought we'd get him potty trained and that would be that and everything would be perfect. Of course there are going to be accidents (I've spoken to parents who tell me that even at 6 their kids still have accidents), but Malcolm has become problematic when it comes to poop. He tends to do it in the bath or shower (or his pullup that we put him in at night). He was doing well during "boot camp" and then something happened (no idea what -- maybe school) that caused him to hold it until he is somewhere he can relax (shower or bath). Its gotten tiresome doing the cleaning (or having my wife doing the cleaning because when I do it, there's potential of more cleaning as my gag reflex tends to kick in -- luckily when I have it hasn't gotten messier -- and I don't know why that happens to me...I don't have that problem changing diapers).

But beyond that, Malcolm has become a bit more willfull and stubborn about things. When he started school, we would get reports from his new teachers that he needs to listen better, but no real specifics as to what that meant. After a few days, my wife got an e-mail from another mother of a child in Malcolm's class. It was a bit unnerving as she said she knew what was going on with her son and Malcolm, her son was coming home crying and that my wife should call her so they could talk things out. What did that mean? Was that part of Malcolm's "listening problem"?

Turned out that the other mother was getting similar reports from the teachers as her son was a lot like Malcolm. But her son was getting "yelled at" more when the two of them got into one of their "distracting" modes (don't know that these teachers actually yell, but you get the point...maybe heavily reprimanded). We were never told anything beyond Malcolm needing to work on his "listening". Eventually, my wife requested to meet with the teacher. She put it off until after the Jewish holidays and then basically ambushed my wife by having the head of the school in on the meeting with her and her assistant.

But the meeting was productive. Because of his known transitional issues and the thought that he had some sensory issues as well (for example, he doesn't like shirts with cuffs on them), they suggested we get him evaluated by professionals. We had done this the previous year as well, but at that point the people we had gone to on the teacher's suggestion couldn't help us. Well...that's the wrong choice of words, they didn't really see a problem that was worth solving at the time when he was 2...he was 2...he'd either grow out of them or we could move up the ladder to a different group and get re-evaluated. So now that he was 3 and displaying similar and new traits, we opted for re-evaluation.

I took Malcolm to his evaluation. It was interesting. Normally they don't let parents in the room for the testing, but Malcolm refused to go in without me. They told me I could come in as long as I didn't say anything (they impressed upon me that some parents who wind up in on the testing will coach or assist their kids -- I didn't say a word). I saw many good things that didn't surprise me and a few that did (all good -- didn't know or even think that he could pour from a bottle into a cup). But this was all easy stuff -- drawing a straight line, coloring, sharing, etc.

The second test I was not privy for as by then Malcolm was more comfortable with his evaluators. When the second part was done, they let me observe him doing free play and the obstacle course in their gym. The most interesting aspect was when the evaluator put on music. The first bit was just some jungle rhythms. Malcolm pretty much ignored them, which I found odd for a kid that is always singing, dancing and drumming -- he's very musical. The second song was "ABC" by The Jackson Five. As soon as it started he went into a typical Malcolm dance and then ran over to their inflatable ball pit and straddled the ledge and started bouncing to the music. The evaluator must have noticed something because she then put on the soundtrack to Mortal Kombat and repeated a set of instructions she had given him earlier that he didn't even listen to. With the thumping club music in the background, Malcolm did exactly what she said without hesitation. It was kind of amazing. She then put The Jackson Five back on and he did the exact same thing he did before while listening to it.

What does all this mean? I'm not entirely sure. I'm still a bit ovewhelmed by things and trying to process it all. Malcolm seems to have his own soundtrack constatntly playing in his head (like in that episode of Family Guy where Peter had his own incidental music -- "riding on the bus, riding on the bus, riding on the bus"...). And apparently this may be what causes him to not listen or focus when instructed. The Mortal Kombat music apparently drowned it out or negated it in some way.

So we've been recommended to get him auditory therapy as well as occupational therapy. All of which costs money and most of which may not be covered by insurance. And there's been plenty of stress on the money front as investments have gone south due the economy and real estate for my wife has pretty much dried up. I've been slowly and cautiously looking for a job to no avail...and while we're not in dire need of doing completely drastic things yet, that light all the way down at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train...

We were waiting to share the written evaluation with Malcolm's teachers before getting further into things with them, but his teacher is no recommending that we get a "minder" for him while he's in school...which in my book basically amounts to hiring a private teacher for him to keep an eye on him in the class because she can't do her job properly because she's either understaffed, incapabale, doesn't care, has other kids who are more important/less needy or a combination of all three. Maybe this isn't the right place for him anymore...maybe some of this is a legitimate issue and some of it is because he's a three year old.

I don't know...its all new to me and rather overwhelming...toss in everything else and there are days I'm surprised neither my wife nor I have had complete meltdowns. This is partially because we are lucky to have the situatin we are in. There are people who are worse off than we are when it comes to dealing with issues like this...

There was a time when kids with Malcolm's issues would just be given a swift kick in the ass and "everything would be all right" (which pretty much led to the over-medicating of almost every kid in the 1990s as a reverse). Somewhere there's a happy medium. Somewhere there's a real path. I don't know what it is...but we're doing all we can to figure it out and not get completely depressed and despondent about things...

So there we are...a chunk of why I haven't been keeping this updated is now somewhat explained...the rest of it is connected in various ways...it gets harder for me to write about anything the deeper we get...and this is the first time in a long time I've felt up to the task in some manner and not felt like the finished product was utter shit.

Confessions of a Bond Geek

So obviously, we saw Quantum of Solace yesterday on its opening day (haven't missed a Bond movie on opening day since 1983). So we got a sitter and went out.

After the glossy relaunch of the Bond franchise with Casino Royale, I really had no idea what to expect or where they'd go next. While I would have loved to see them start to remake the Fleming novels in the way they did Daniel Craig's first outing, I'm good with where they've taken the character and where they seem to be headed with him.

Picking up almost immediately where we left off, Quantum of Solace hits the ground running and almost never stops. Bond is motivated by revenge for Vesper's betrayal and her death and he is letting nothing get in his way. As he stumbles from one lead to the next (pretty much killing off everyone as he goes), he eventually winds up uncovering a large international cabal that seems to be manipulating the actions of governments (the plot here is a bit convoluted, but not too difficult to figure out if you think about it and a second viewing will clear up everything).

Some of the complaints from about the film are unwarranted and others are unfounded. You can't praise Casino Royale for deviating from the "Bond formula" and refreshing the franchise and then deride this film for not adhering to it (even though it actually does if you dissect it properly). And while there may be too many instances of the "Bourne effect" present in the editing, it actually works well for this film.

This film is the next necessary step in the evolution of Craig's Bond. This "blunt instrument" (as M refers to him), needed to go full force to get back to his center...to find his moment of comfort so he can evolve more into the suave agent we've known and loved. I'm sur ethe next film will continue him on this route (and give us more insight into this new evil organization).

When the producers have need to refresh Bond over the years they always return to Fleming and this film is no exception. Where Casino Royale went back to Fleming's first book it also had the feel of Fleming's On her Majesty's Secret Service. Here, Quantum of Solace takes its title from a Fleming short story and has the feel of the novel You Only Live Twice. Its a fast moving and gritty travelogue that barely gives you time to breathe. Its easily up there with the best of the series (haven't figured out where on my list it will land yet) and I can't wait to see this again and see where they go next (but whatever they do, we need more of Jeffrey Wright's Felix Leiter -- maybe take the "buddy" film and give it a Bondian twist with Bond & Leiter).

Oh...there is one MAJOR complaint I have about the film...I didn't like the theme song "Another Way to Die" by Jack White and Alicia Keyes when I first heard it, but a Bond theme song needs to be heard in context with the opening titles. The titles made me like the song even less. This is easily one of the worst Bond themes ever...luckily, its not quite bottom of the barrel Madonna's "Die Another Day" bad as I think someone could do justice to this song with a good cover version using better orchestration -- Madonna's song is a lost cause). I do miss Daniel Kleinman's title sequences from the Brosnan films though.

Meanwhile, Cartoon Network has premiered a new animated Batman series entitled Batman: The Brave and the Bold. This is a fun series that mixes the humor of the 1960s series with the more fun aspects of the 1990s animated series (and its sister series). Each episode finds the Dark Knight teamed up with another hero of the DC Universe to defeat some villain. The pilot episode starts with Batman & Green Arrow fighting Clock King (in all his silly 1960s costume glory) and then turns to an outer space adventure where Batman and Blue Beetle (the modern Jaime Reyes version with the alien space armor) defending a race of alien blobs from Kanjar Ro. Its silly fun, but worth watching.

I hope to be back sooner rather than later, but life's been geting in the way (mostly in good ways with the boys)...

Be seeing you.

Coming Back With A Vengeance

Hey folks,

I know it's been almost 2 months since my last post, but life got crazy. It does that some times.

Most of my time was spent either dealing with the boys (two is much more work than one) since we have an infant (who gets bigger and crankier every day) and a three year old (who had to go through potty training -- which will get its own blog soon enough). I was also directing a show at a local community theater that turned out to be more work than any of us in the cast and crew ever expected.

So...with that, I'm announcing a series that will start this week and run until its done. I spent seven years doing community theater in the area and now I'm gonna look back on the experience from the beginning. There were highs and lows and lots of crappy middles...but it was definitely a fun seven years. And I'm not saying I'm never gonna do it again, but this is the first time in seven years that I have nothing specific lined up and since this season (2008-2009) has been set in stone I know I've got the rest of it off to just sit back and focus my attentions elsewhere (more on all that when I'm ready).

In the meantime, the new TV season just started and I've been slowly getting back into that swing of things. I know that I never did my annual wrap up of the prior season this year, but I think it's just been that kind of year (didn't do my Top 25/Worst 5 films of the prior year either I don't believe).

Here's just a glimpse of what I plan on watching (or not watching) this season (best laid plans yadda yadda):

SUNDAYS
The Simpsons -- Just started its 20th Season. And its off to a good start. The season premiere was funnier than most episodes of the last few years. There's still some life in this old girl yet.

King of the Hill -- This one falls into the area of "Is that still on?" After 13 seasons, Hank Hill and friends are pretty much still the same. And I'm okay with that.

Family Guy -- Returns for a 7th season of the usual wacky humor.

American Dad -- Returns for a 4th season and the premiere had one of the funniest descriptions of a fart I'd ever heard ("It's like an egg ate garlic and farted in a sulfur pit!").

Desperate Housewives -- Jumping ahead 5 years for the start of the 5th season should energize this show nicely. Glad to see that Dana Delaney's Katherine is still around.

Entoruage -- While the show's still good in its 5th season it is starting to show signs of age.

MONDAYS
Chuck -- LOVED the first season, can't wait to catch up on the 2nd which just started last night.

Heroes -- Not quite sure how I feel about the 3rd season yet. I was one of the few people who didn't seem to hate the 2nd season, so while I'm still interested in where things are headed I'm not as keen on seeing everything that the "fans" want to see.

Boston Legal -- Returning for a 5th and final season, the show has been stripped down to its bare cast (gone are anyone who wasn't pulling weight like Clarence). Its not a bad thing, but it feels like they just extended the show by 13 episodes for other reasons (which they did).

My Own Worst Enemy -- This new show starring Christian Slater as a Jekyll & Hyde type spy/dad sounds interesting...so it'll get a three episode try from me.

Prison Break -- This show should have ended about 5 minutes before the end of Season 2 (they've escaped and they're free and clear)...but it didn't. I stopped watching at the end of that season even though Season 3 sat on our DVR for almost a year before I erased it (and I had plenty of space and didn't need to). Why is this still on?

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles -- Had all of Season 1 on the DVR and erased it when I knew it was coming out on DVD. Figured I'd catch up that way. The DVD's out and I still haven't bothered. Maybe someday.

TUESDAYS
House -- Started its 5th Season and its as good as its ever been.

Fringe -- This new show from J.J. Abrams is weird, but fun. It's a bit like The X-Files crossed with The Silence of the Lambs by way of the works of Michael Crichton. Three episodes in and I'm still watching.

Eli Stone -- Looking forward to the new season of this low rated show just to see where they take it.

WEDNESDAYS
Pushing Daisies -- Another show whose 2nd Season I'm really looking forward to.

Criminal Minds -- Started its 4th season with an interesting, yet predictable, resolution to the 3rd Season cliff hanger. I still like the show and the cast.

South Park -- More silliness is on its way.

Bones -- Stopped watching this early last year. Still have most of season 3 spread across a few DVRs. I'm sure we'll eventually catch up...maybe on DVD.

THURSDAYS
Ugly Betty -- Haven't watched the season 3 premiere yet, but looking forward to it.

Smallville -- At the end of last season I was ready to give up on this show. Its been wheel spinning for quite some time. But the 8th Season premiere actually had some new life to it. Maybe its just because they brought back other DC heroes, but we'll see soon enough with the next few episodes.

30 Rock -- Looking forward to the 3rd Season of this very funny show.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent -- I was shocked at where things went last season. We got more stories about the personal lives of the detectives and the Goran/Eames stuff got a clean slate by season's end while the Logan/Wheeler storyline had better get wrapped up before Jeff Goldblum joins the show for its 8th Season when he replaces Chris Noth.

My Name Is Earl -- Gave up on this show late last season. Still have the final 3 episodes on our DVR unwatched. Don't care anymore.

FRIDAYS
Crusoe -- This remake of Robinson Crusoe sounds interesting...just not sure why. We'll give it a shot.

OTHERS
Monk -- Will be returning for the rest of its 7th Season in January. There's nothing really new here, but we keep watching in hopes it'll get interesting again.

Psych -- Also returns in January for the rest of its 3rd season. Great show. We watch this before we watch Monk every week.

Battlestar: Galactica -- Returns at some point for the rest of its 4th and final season. Hopefully I'll have caught up on the 1st half of the 4th season before then.

Doctor Who -- Returns at some point to Sci Fi Channel with a Christmas 2008 special and then three other specials before the Christmas 2009 special. We'll then get a "proper" 5th Season in 2010 with David Tennant and a new team of producers.

The Sarah Jane Adventures -- This fun and family friendly show returns with a new series of episodes at some point in the not too distant future.

Torchwood -- The 3rd series of this Doctor Who spin-off returns for only 5 episodes, but they're connected into one long story. Hopefully there will be more after all that.

Reaper -- This fun show returns for a 2nd season at some point in 2009. The first season arrives on DVD in November.

Scrubs -- Also returns for its 7th and final season, but on a new network (ABC) who will hopefully show the episodes not aired on NBC.

Lost -- Returns in 2009 with new episodes to make my wife roll her eyes into the back of her head.

Law & Order -- Returns in 2009 with new episodes during its 19th season. I'm sure there'll be some more cast changeovers...there always are.

24 -- Returns in November with a TV movie to bridge the gap between seasons 6 & 7 before the next season starts in 2009. Let's hope it gets better.

Medium -- Stopped watching this show during its 2nd season, but have been slowly catching up on DVD (I'm somewhere in season 3 now), but the version starting again on NBC will be its 5th season.

Eureka -- Liked this a lot when it aired during its 1st season, but it got lost in the shuffle at some point. Just finished its 3rd season. I'm sure we'll catch up at some point.

The Brave and the Bold -- This new DC Comics based super hero team up show features Batman and other DC Heroes fighting various villains. The promos make the show look like a lot of fun. I think it starts in November.

That's all for today. I should be back again before the week is out with the first installment of what we'll call "Community Theater Confidential" for right now.

Be seeing you.

Behind The Eight Ball

I know I keep trying to get back to this on a regular basis...but honestly, between potty training a three-year-old, dealing with the constant bodily fluids of a two-month-old, rehearsals for a show and "normal" daily life, I don't have much energy at the end of the day for writing. But I'll keep plodding along as best I can when I feel like I can.

My wife and I are fortunate enough to have very flexible work schedules and a set of parents (mine) who live in town and allow us to go to the movies often enough to be able to see most things we want. Its how we've hit Iron Man, The Dark Knight, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and a few others. We were going to try and hit The X-Files: I Want To Believe on opening day, but things got crazy and we had to change plans (the bad reviews and my wife not being too into going didn't help matters),

But we have seen two other films recently...

Those that know me well, know I enjoy bad movie musicals. Yes...I own DVDs of Xanadu, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Can't Stop The Music. Well...we can now add Mamma Mia! to that list. I've never seen the stage version, but I can see how in a theater with the events happening live the show could be infectious and get you dancing in the aisles by the end. The movie not so much.

The basic story is about a girl who is getting married and decides she wants to know more about her unknown father. She figures out that its one of three men that her mother dated many years ago and invites all of them to the wedding. Mom is unhappy to see them and mayhem ensues. As the story progresses various songs by the 70s pop group ABBA are shoe horned in to advance the story (or stop it in its tracks).

Setting aside the aspect of "time" as a major complaint (if Donna, the mother played by Meryl Streep, got pregnant during the age of "flower power" as stated in the film's dialogue then her daughter Sophie should be at least 10 years older than she is in the film if that takes place during the internet age), the film is a complete mess. Speaking on a technical level it has no finess and seems to have been directed (and edited and shot) by someone who had never seen a movie before. Shots don't make sense between cuts or transitions. You can easily tell when the actors are on location and when they're in the studio.

The cast is just odd. While most of them handle themselves just fine, hearing Pierce Brosnan warble his way LOUDLY through "S.O.S." makes one long for the big musicals of the 1950s where Marni Nixon could dub Audrey Hepburn's singing voice and no one could tell the difference. Half the time the songs seem to exist just so one could say "Hey, doesn't Colin Furth do a good version of "Our Last Summer?" or "Wow, Christine Baranski really fits the lyrics of "Does Your Mother Know!"

Mamma Mia! is goofy fun that will have the songs of ABBA rattling around your head for a while. That's not entirely a bad thing, but there are better ways to get the songs in your head.

I honestly had no expectations for Pineapple Express. Really. I barely had any idea what it was about beyond it being a film about two stoners caught up in a mob war. To me that could easily be a modern day Cheech & Chong film. And that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Unfortunately, either I've become too old to enjoy those types of films or Pineapple Express was so far removed from what I thought it was that I couldn't "get it". Seth Rogan and James Franco star as a process server and his pot dealer. When Rogan witnesses a murder on the job and leaves behind the joint he was smoking, the killers (a drug kingpin and his payroll cop and bodyguards) are able to track him down when he runs to Franco for help in his paranoid delusion.

The film tries to walk a line between being a comedy about two very high guys who don't quite understand the situation and may actually be so paranoid that they may be over thinking what's really going on and an action film about two guys caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. The blend isn't very successful. As the film progresses, the action film takes over more and more and gets so silly it stops being funny (Rogan gets his ear blown off, another guy gets shot so many times and survives).

I wanted to like the film as I like the cast. Rogan and Franco are pretty good playing their parts. Gary Cole is in "bad guy" mode (he seems to have three modes: bad guy, actor and comedian) so you know what you get there. Rosie Perez isn't too annoying. Ed Begley, Jr. and Nora Dunn are wasted (no pun intended) as the parents of Rogan's high school senior girlfriend (a plot point that borders on creepy even if the point is to show how his character still hasn't grown up yet).

As for the comedy...well...there's only so many laughs one can get from two stoned people having a conversation and most of those have been mined in previous (and better) films. The only time I laughed out loud could be the point where the film really takes its turn from one type to the other. Franco rescues Rogan from the police by pretending to get hit by the police car carrying Rogan and then stealing it when the cop gets out to investigate. As they're eluding another cop car via a chase, Franco can't see out the windshield because of all the slushie that got poured on it when he was hit. So Rogan suggests he kick the windshield out. Had this been an action film, Franco would have kicked out the glass and kept driving. Here he gets his foot caught in the glass and winds up driving around with his foot sticking out the middle of the windsheild. Its the only funny moment in an otherwise unfunny film.

Or maybe I'm just turning into the cranky old guy who wants those damn kids to get off his lawn.

Be seeing you.

Gotham City Brings A Smile To My Face

When the reboot of the Batman franchise happened three years ago with Batman Begins, the wisely stayed away from what are traditionally Batman's "A-List" villains. But the weird combo of Ra's Al Ghul, Scarecrow and Carmine Falcone worked well to get the ball rolling. Of course, you knew that a sequel was inevitable and that they'd be rolling out the "A-List" at that point. And what an amazing ride this one is.

The Dark Knight picks up pretty much where we left off. Gotham's still a city that's falling apart. Scarecrow's still on the loose and the mobsters are still running things -- sort of. You see Batman has provided a bit of hope and inspiration. Sure there are idiots now running around dressed as Batman trying to do what he does and doing it wrong, but the mob and the street criminals have gotten a bit more careful.

Into this scenario comes two new people -- Harvey Dent and the Joker. Dent (Aaron Eckhardt) is a force of good, Gotham's upright District Attorney is looking to Lieutenant Gordon and Batman for help in finally ridding the city of crime. The Joker (Heath Ledger) is nothing more than a force of chaos (as he puts it) that has decided that Gotham needs "a better class of criminal." He masterfully pits everyone against each other and by the time half of his plans have played out everyone has been compromised.

One would think that with a cast of characters as large as this one, people would get lost in the shuffle. But that is barely the case. Almost everyone has the right amount of screen time in this massive story that ultimately winds up being Harvey Dent's. Alfred, Lucius Fox and Rachel Dawes (now played better by Maggie Gyllenhall) all return from the previous film. Toss in a few corrupt cops under Gordon, the Mayor, a Wayne Enterprises employee who figures of Batman's secret, a news reporter and a bunch of new mobsters and the film is packed with interesting and well cast characters. Only Scarecrow gets the truly short end of the stick (making one wonder why he's even there).

The story plays out in a similar manner to what I believe is one of the greatest Batman comic book stories ever done, Batman: The Long Halloween, which was also about the changeover in Gotham's criminal element from mobsters to insane freaks and featured the good guy trio of Batman Gordon and Dent until Dent's downfall (an issue I'm skirting for anyone reading who doesn't know what happens to him because it is truely tragic).

The acting is all spot on. Christian Bale holds his own in a film that is so obviously not so much about Batman as it is about his city and these other two men who inhabit it. Aaron Eckhardt's performance as Harvey Dent is spot on perfect from the comics and all the talk of Ledger getting an Oscar for his Joker diminishes Eckhardt's work a bit as he too deserves one in my book. And the Oscar talk for Ledger isn't unfounded. Legder's performance is a weirdly, wonderful and psychotic one that blows any previous interpretation of the character out of the water. Taking their cues from older stories where the Joker just existed without a backstory and mixing it with the idea that either he doesn't know his or tells it wrong every time, the writers have given Ledger a clean slate with which he has created a villainous force to be reckoned with (and his untimely passing leaves everyone in a quandry as the Joker NEEDS to return, but how do you do that for a third film? Do you recast? With whom?).

The Dark Knight is easily the best Batman film made yet. It's probably also the best comic book movie made yet (and this in a summer of really good ones so far with Iron Man and Hellboy II: The Golden Army). This sequel does everything one is supposed to do, take the characters in a different direction while staying true to them and not repeating anything (and this so rarely happens its not even funny -- most sequels tend to be more of "lather, rinse, repeat" variety). The question is where do they go from here?

Meanwhile, just released on DVD as a tie-in is Batman: Gotham Knight. This is part of a new line of direct-to-DVD movies that Warner & DC Comics have been doing. And so far it is the least successful. Taking its cues from Batman Begins, this film is actually six short "stories" that explore Batman and his image in the world. Each is done by a different Japanese animator in a different style which is a nice twist, but each is pretty much undone by the writing. The best of the segments is the last one featuring a nice re-interpretation of the classic Batman/ DC villain Deadshot (maybe he can make an appearnce like this in the next film), but by the time you've reached this last segment you're already wasted an hour (even an appearance by Killer Croc and Scarecrow in the same segment doesn't work). The animation varies from very smooth to "what the heck am I watching" (which is mostly the first segment). Kevin Conroy who voiced Batman in the Animated Series returns to voice him again. Its another plus. Only recommended for die-hard Batman fans or anime fans.

I know I still need to get my Hellboy II: The Golden Army review up (it got away from me), so you should be seeing that in a day or two. Until then...

Be seeing you.

Playing Catch Up Yet Again: It's My New Mantra

My wife and I used to have a Netflix membership that we enjoyed, but eventually there came a time where we were sitting on the movies for far too long before watching them. This would happen for a variety of reasons, so we eventually cancelled our membership. These days if we have the time to watch something, we hit our cable's pay-per-view...its just easier. So we've been able to catch up on a few things we missed here and there (especially this summer as there's little on TV). So here are some reviews of films we caught there as well as something currently in theaters and a TV review or two.

The Bucket List -- Didn't realize this was directed by Rob Reiner, but this funny and heart-warming story about two men diagnosed with terminal cancer is worth a watch. Jack Nicholson continues to play Jack Nicholson perfectly and Morgan Freeman does an amazing job as the other guy. The end brought a few tears to my eyes.

Wall*E -- Has Pixar made a bad movie yet? Sure, some are better than others, but there has yet to be a dud in the bunch. This film continues the streak. Very funny, touching and heart-warming (that's the second time I've used that word in this one -- maybe its the hormones from my wife talking).

The Jane Austin Book Club -- My wife is a HUGE Jane Austin fan. Up until I met Tash, I didn't know much about her. This film is about a group of women (and one guy) who meet monthly to discuss each of the novels (one a month). But its about more than that as each woman can relate their lives to each of the novels. The film got me to think about reading a piece of "literature" again, so it can't be all bad.

I Survived A Japanese Game Show -- Yes, the summer doldrums have hit TV and I'm watching crap like this. Its got a bit more meat than watching guys get hit in the balls on America's Funniest Home Video at least.

Wipeout -- Okay...so this show is just an hour of guys getting hit in the balls (well...an obstacle course equivalent as people fall off things or get knocked off things). It makes me laugh to see other in such pain these days. I know...I'm sick.

Doctor Who Season 4 -- With one or two episode exceptions, this may be the best season yet. At first I thought bringing back Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) from the 2006 Christmas Special "The Runaway Bride" as a permanent companion was going to be bad. In that episode she was little more than a shrew and comic relief. She starts out that way in the first episode of Season 4, but by the time we get towards the end she's become my favorite companion. The two part season finale really closes the door on everything that's happened in the previous four seasons (whether you wanted it to or not). And while we get a who's who of the Doctor's friends, the outcome of the longest running threads involving Rose Tyler don't mean much. Its Donna's fate that will have you screaming at the TV (she doesn't die, but she may as well have). The season ends with the Doctor alone again -- really and truly alone. Which puts him in a great place for the series of 5 specials between Christmas 2008 and Christmas 2009 before we get a full and proper Season 5 in 2010.

That's it for today. Next time: Hellboy.

Be seeing you.

Would You Believe That Get Smart is The Best Film Ever Made?

I've been a fan of Get Smart ever since I was a kid watching reruns on New York's WPIX Channel 11. It was a funny show then and still remains a funny show now (one of the few classics I watched as a kid that I still laugh at time and time again -- unlike Gilligan's Island or The Brady Bunch which I also watched as a kid).

The premise was a James Bond spoof about a bumbling American spy who worked for a secret organization known as CONTROL. Maxwell Smart, Agent 86 (Don Addams), would stumble in and out of situations and inevitably save the day by accident. Most times he was helped by Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) while he exasperated his Chief (Edward Platt) in his fights against the forces of KAOS. The best episodes were the ones that featured Siegfried (Bernie Kopell) as the KAOS frontman (he always had a superior we never saw). The show aired for five seasons (four on NBC and one on CBS).

The original series is currently available on DVD only from Time Life and only as a full series set with oodles of extras. This is the right way for any TV series to appear on DVD -- full series first and then break it up into seasons because the other way is just becoming obnoxious at this point. The first season will be available in retail stores at the end of August.

The original series gave way to a few revival attempts and remakes. The Nude Bomb in 1980 featured Don Addams as Maxwell Smart and Robert Karvelas as the even more bumbling Larrabee, but little else from the original series remained. While Max had to fight the forces of KAOS again, he was now doing it working for an organization known as PITS. The film was just released on DVD in widescreen and this was probably the first time I had seen it in over a decade. While funnier than I remembered it being, it was still an odd and pale shadow of the TV series.

In 1989, a TV Movie aired on ABC entitled Get Smart Again. This time everyone from the original show was reunited (except for Edward Platt who had died in the 1970s) and the laughs came as fast and as furious as they had during the 1960s TV series. This movie is available on DVD in bargain bins if you can find a copy.


The success of this TV movie led to another attempt at a relaunch, this time on FOX (making Get Smart the first and only show to have aired on every major network at some point). While both Don Addams and Barbara Feldon returned as Max and 99, the show's focus was mostly on their son bumbling Zack (Andy Dick -- before he was really Andy Dick) and his much smarter partner Agent 66 (Elaine Hendrix). The show was lacking the spark of the original and only seven episodes were made. The show is now available on DVD (mostly to piggy back on the new big screen remake) and there's only one episode that even comes close to the original series in quality: the sixth episode features a return by Bernie Kopell as Siegfried and gives Don Addams more screen time as the two old "enemies" continue their battle from years ago. Its a fleeting glimpse at what the original series was and shows what the new series could have been.

Which brings us to the big screen remake starring Steve Carrell. Honestly, I was unsure of what they could do with this series to make it fresh for the movies. The Addams Family kept it fresh by staying close to the original material. The Brady Bunch kept it fresh by staying close to the original look and feel and modernizing everything around the family. So how does one take a 1960s spy spoof and modernize it and make it relevant to today's audiences while staying true to the material? Exactly how these guys have done it.

Max (Carrell) still works for CONTROL, but now he's an analyst who dreams of becoming a field agent. The Chief (Alan Arkin) wants Max to remain an analyst because he's the best there is, but when CONTROL is infiltrated by a KAOS spy and the covers of all their secret agents become compromised, Max is teamed with 99 (Anne Hathaway) to get to the bottom of KAOS ultimate goal.

Almost every major character from the original series gets remade and updated in the right way. We get appearances by Larrabee (David Koechner -- now more of a stupid bully towards Max, but it works), Agent 13 (Bill Murray in a pointless cameo), Hymie the Robot (Patrick Warburton in the most perfect bit of casting who doesn't get nearly enough screen time), Siegfried (Terrence Stamp in the biggest mistsep in this film as this Siegfried would be more at home fighting Jason Bourne or Jack Ryan -- Stamp is so out of place as Siegfried he seems like a villain from a more serious film and its made all the more apparent once Bernie Kopell puts in a cameo) and Shtarker (Ken Davitian). The weapons inventor from the original series, Professor Carlton, has been replaced by Bruce and Lloyd (Masi Oka and Nate Torrence) with great effect.

The film moves at a brisk pace and the humor comes more from the characters and situations as opposed to being slapstick for slapstick's stake. There's stuff that will feel familiar from plenty of more recent films like The Bourne Identity or Patriot Games, we even go back as far as 1979's Bond film Moonraker for a sky diving scene (that's almost an exact remake of the one from that Bond film), but it never feels old, or tired or spoofy. The script treats the main characters with respect and as far as big screen remakes of small screen shows go, this isn't quite as good as The Addams Family or The Brady Bunch but its pretty damn close (and a far cry from Car 54 Where Are You or My Favorite Martian).

This is definitely a comedy worth seeing.

Now, while we saw this film on opening day, it has taken me a few weeks to get around to my review because I wanted to also see the direct to DVD film, Get Smart's Bruce & Lloyd Out of CONTROL, being release in conjunction, but after, Get Smart. If the new Get Smart were Hamlet then this film is Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Here we see Bruce and Lloyd (still played by Masi Oka and Nate Torrence) as they try and recover some stolen technology during the events of the plot of Get Smart (of course, the two plots have nothing to do with one another, but there are scenes and characters that do dovetail in and out). We get scenes with Hymie (who gets more screen time here than he does in the main film), Agent 91 (Terry Crewes who is pretty much Larrabee's partner in crime in the main film) and Larry Miller (who plays a CIA operative in the main film, but here he's also playing that character's twin brother who is called Under Chief since he's one step below Alan Arkin's character in the chain of command). There's also a funny cameo by Anne Hathaway as 99.

The film works well enough. Its not as funny or as well made as Get Smart, but its still fun (kind of in a "we're hanging around after work to have fun" kind of way). It's got some very funny moments, but they are few and far between. For a direct to DVD release, I've seen a lot worse.

Anyway...that's all for today. I'm trying hard to get back on a schedule with writing so with luck you'll be seeing reviews closer to once a week. I hope to be back with some small catch up reviews in a few days before we tackle the new big summer release we plan on seeing: Hellboy II: The Golden Army and then after that is The Dark Knight (woo hoo!!!!).

Be seeing you.

How Incredible Is It?

I'm pretty sure I'm one of maybe two dozen people on the face of the Earth who actually liked Ang Lee's Hulk released in 2003. While the movie was a dud at the box office (costing about $137 million and making about $132 million domestically -- which by Hollywood math means it was a HUGE flop since the rule of thumb is to double the budget of making the film to get the marketing and distribution costs and then you can factor in foreign sales and video sales to probably get about the same ratio of lost expenses), the character is the the second biggest merchandise seller after Spider-Man (can't remember where I read that). So an attempt at a second big screen version was inevitable if only to keep the merchandise machine in motion.

What we've just gotten is what fans are terming a "requel"...not so much a sequel and not so much a remake. This is definitely an interesting beast with its own issues, but on the whole it ups the action from the previous entry and streamlines the "drama" without losing too much.

After an opening credits sequence which sets up the Hulk's origin (without really contradicting the previous film too much...its conceivable that this "origin" sequence actually takes place sometime after the first film ends and isn't so much an origin as it is a recap of what may have happened in the five years since the accident...its possible that Banner returned from South America to get help from Betty & General Ross only to fail and run back to Brazil where we find him at the start of this film), the film hits the ground running as Banner (now played by Edward Norton) is working at a bottling plant in Brazil while learning how to surpress his rage and trying to find a cure. When he cuts himself at work and some of his blood taints a drink opened by an old man in America (played by Stan Lee -- but we never find out what his reaction to ingesting Banner's blood is -- so I think the next film should have Lee as another mutated villain of massive proportions), General Ross (now played by William Hurt) tracks him down. Banner spends the rest of the film on the run trying to get his original data to the mysterious Mr. Blue with whome he has been communicating via e-mail. Of course, he gets back in touch with Betty (now played by Liv Tyler) who gladly helps him.

Ross has upped his game in catching Banner by adding Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), a soldier who's willing to do anything to get a mission done -- even if that means being subjected to similar experiments that made Banner into the Hulk. By the end of the film, Blonsky has gone through one too many injections and becomes an "abomination" as big and as strong as the Hulk. And now Ross has two out of control behemoths on his hands.

Coming in at under 2 hours, The Incredible Hulk barely stops moving. The cast changes work relatively well (although I prefer Sam Elliot as Ross over William Hurt this may be more the script's fault as Ross is mostly just in Ahab mode). The special effects are great until you stop and realize that the final battle between Blonsky and the Hulk is just one long CGI cartoon battle.

The film also sets up further films by giving us a mutating Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson -- Sterns is the comic book villain known as The Leader), a Blonsky who is still alive (which is something I didn't understand -- Blonsky is awake at the end of his battle with the Hulk...so how are Ross and his men supposed to contain something now if they couldn't contain him before -- we could have seen this), a Leonard Samson (who becomes the gamma irradiated good guy Doc Samson in the comics) and a conversation between Ross & Tony Stark that continues planting the seeds for The Avengers at a later date (a film that's gonna cost a bazillion dollars to make if they've got to cast Downey, Norton, Samuel L. Jackson and William Hurt along with whatever A-List stars get cast in the Thor and Captain America movies, not to mention whatever other Avenger characters get mixed into that film).

Many people have been comparing Hulk and The Incredible Hulk to Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The comparison is apt, but not quite correct since Hulk was a stronger starter than Star Trek: The Motion Picture and the sequel is on par with the original (in my book). If you liked Ang Lee's take on the Hulk, there's no reason to not like this film. If you didn't like Ang Lee's film, you'll probably LOVE this one.

Tomorrow: Get Smart.

Be seeing you.

The Long and the Short (Round) of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

While I'm still wending my way through all the other entries of the Indiana Jones franchise, I did make time before the baby arrives to catch the 4th installment that just opened on the big screen.

You'll get two reviews: a short one and a long one.

Here's the short one:

If you liked the other three movies, there's no real reason to not like this one as well.

Now here's the long one...with spoilers and other random nitpicks:

While George Lucas may have destroyed any credibility and trust with his fans when it came to the Star Wars films, its a bit trickier for him to do that with Indiana Jones for a variety of reasons. First, he's not entirely surrounded by "yes" men as director Steven Spielberg and actor Harrison Ford are strong-minded individuals with their own opinions and input. Secondly, unlike the Star Wars films where the six films (soon to be seven) tell a larger story with interconnecting plots, this franchise is a throwback to the old 1930s serials where an adventurer (here named Indiana Jones) has an adventure in one film and then has a different adventure in the next (sometimes with the same supporting cast, sometimes with a new one).

Not sure what people were expecting after a 19 year gap between The Last Crusade and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I was expecting another Indiana Jones adventure/quest with lots of action (okay...some action), some decent fun villains (check), some neat supporting characters (check) and perhaps a wink and a nod to previous adventures (check). It wasn't too much to ask for and that's pretty much what we got.

The plot involves the Soviet Army (the film takes place in 1957) trying to track down a Crystal Skull that when returned to the legendary city of El Dorado will give someone unlimted power. Of course, they try and force the greatest adventurer/archeologist to help them along the way. That's pretty much the "meat" of the story. The potatoes involves a kid named Mutt Williams who is trying to help save both his mother and a close friend from the Russians as the close friend is an old colleague of Dr. Jones' and the mother is none other than Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen returning from Raiders of the Lost Ark or as its now "officially" called Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark by Herr Lucas).

While the film is fun, it is not as fun as The Last Crusade and it is not as tight or as exciting as that film and Raiders (which means on the Fenster scale it winds up being the 3rd best film in the franchise). The action sequences harken back to the three older films which were made at a time when action sequences were less frenetic (for a better example of this change check out the differences between Die Hard and Live Free or Die Hard). Here they seem quaint (not in a bad way, just an odd way). The stunts tend to fall more towards Temple of Doom in their silliness (hey...if Indy can survive a two mile drop in a rubber life raft onto a mountain and then slide all the way down the mountain on said raft, surely he and his group can survive not one, not two, but THREE plunges over waterfalls in a jungle cruiser made of metal -- surviving a nuclear explosion in a lead lined refrigerator that gets thrown a few miles by the blast is a bit much howvere). There is also a bit too much CGI "enhancement" for my tastes. I blame this completely on Lucas of course. Its distracting to be watching a scene and between shots your brain is going "here they're on location" and "now they're in a studio" (also in spite of Ford supposedly doing his own stunts I could swear his stunt double's wig was gonna fly off during the motorcycle chase around Yale).

The subtle nods to both Marcus Brody and Henry Jones Sr. are nice touches as is the story of how Indy met Poncho Villa (check out The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles/The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones for that one). The "gag" with Marcus Brody's statue is a bit much as is the broken crate at Area 51 revealing the Ark of the Covenant (too much wink, not enough nod).

The film really crackles once Indy and Mutt get to Marion and Oxley (John Hurt). Well, it crackels with Marion (as Hurt spends much of his screen time spouting mystical gibberish). The jungle action scene, while exciting, is a bit too familiar feeling (Return of the Jedi) and the "Mutt straddling two jeeps so he can get a cactus in the crotch" gag is older than the alien skulss they're dealing with.

Ooops. Did I just say "alien skulls"? Yes I did. And that's the part I'm not sure about here. The end of the film goes out of the realm of mystical adventure and into the real of sci-fi (and feels a bit like excerpts from a Close Encounters prequel in the process -- in fact...thinking back on it, the whole film has a Close Encounters vibe as various people are getting that calling to go to a large rock tower and witness the arrival, or in this case departure, of a space ship). The whole thing kind of moves the character into a realm I'm not sure I want to see him head towards. Again, its not a bad thing per se, just something I'm not sure how I feel about.

So in the end, as I said in the short review, if you liked the other films, you should like this one as well. But don't go in expecting the 21st Century equivalent of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's fun, but its not groundbreaking filmmaking.

I will eventually finish up my look at the rest of the franchise, but it may be a while. Duncan is due in 9 days and I'm not sure when I'll get to viewing the rest of the films (I'm just over halfway through the 2nd box set of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones). But it will get done...

Meanwhile, this week I plan on finishing my look at the new fall TV season (before we get that new baby smell).

Be seeing you.

NBC Upfronts: 2007/2008 Review-Preview

This past week were the TV Network Upfronts when each network gives us their new fall season. Every year, I've taken the opportunity to look back at the season just ending as well as what new shows will be airing in the fall. NBC however jumped the gun a few weeks ago by announcing a schedule that wasn't just for the fall but one that would run the whole year. This wasn't a new concept since FOX had done the same thing a year ago. So without further ado , here's what NBC has given us (and taken from us):

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
1 VS 100 -- 2 Seasons/28 episodes -- This game show (hosted by Bob Saget) wasn't terrible. It may even be back if something new tanks.

Amne$ia -- 1 Season/8 Episodes -- Another game show hosted by a comedian (Dennis Miller). Didn't catch it.

Bionic Woman -- 1 Season/8 episodes -- The writer's strike essentially killed any chance of this expensive show getting past the 8 episodes shot. The ratings of those episodes didn't help. Was interested in seeing it, but never got around to it. Oh well.

Clash of the Choirs -- 1 Season/4 Episodes -- This show just looked weird.

Journeyman -- 1 Season/13 Episodes -- Another victim of the strike that I didn't get to see (not because of the strike mind you, just didn't get the chance when the season started for a variety of reasons). A DVD is forthcoming.

Las Vegas -- 5 Seasons/106 Episodes -- Even replacing James Caan with a more Tv friendly Tom Selleck couldn't save this show. The first 4 seasons are on DVD and I expect the last one will also arrive within time.

My Dad is Better Than Your Dad -- 1 Season/8 Episodes -- Another dumb game show we got in the wake of the strike. The title says it all.

Phenomenon -- 1 Season/5 Episodes -- It's essentially American Idol for magicians.

QuarterLife -- 1 Season/6 Episodes/5 Unaired -- This supposed internet hit show from the creators of thirtysomething was grabbed by NBC and re-edited into standard TV episodes pretty much as soon as the writer's strike started. The show aired, got dismal ratings and was never heard from again (don't know if the internet version is still around, don't care). Bravo will be (or has already) airing the unaired episodes (nice having a network of networks to burn crap off on).

The Singing Bee -- 1 Season/17 Episodes -- This was the Karaoke Game Show with host Joey Fatone and not the one with Wayne Brady.

Fall 2008-Winter 2009 Schedule

MONDAYS
8pm Chuck -- Returns for a 2nd Season. This wonderfully witty and fun show is about an IT guy (like the idiots on the Geek Squad at Best Buy) who winds up as a covert government agent for reasons the show would explain better. If you didn't catch the First Season a DVD arrives just before the Second one starts. Catch it.
9pm Heroes -- Returns for a 3rd Season. I know many fans felt Season Two wandered a bit, but I still enjoyed it. Can't wait to see where they go next. I assume a DVD set of Season Two will arrive before Season Three, but one hasn't been announced yet.
10pm My Own Worst Enemy -- Christian Slater stars as a Jekyll & Hyde type who is a suburban dad and a vicious killer spy trapped in the same body and each not knowing of the other, until that mental wall starts to break down. (Quick note about new shows...my old policy was to review at least one episode of any new show and the ones that got me hooked on a decent pilot would then get a three episode tryout before I decided on permanently adding them to our viewing lineup -- don't have the time for that any more, so the new policy is to try and catch new shows that sound interesting and give you a review after one episode...if the show winds up sticking on our schedule, you'll get a more in depth review at the end of the season).

TUESDAYS
8pm The Biggest Loser: Families -- The inspiring show returns for a 6th Season.
9:30 Kath & Kim -- Molly Shannon & Selma Blair star as a mother and daughter in this Americanized sitcom based on a hit Australian show.
10pm Law & Order: Special Victims Unit -- Returns for a 10th Season (that I still won't watch)

WEDNESDAYS
8pm Knight Rider -- The recent TV movie did well enough to warrant a new show. Yawn
9pm Deal or No Deal -- The Howie Mandel hosted game show (the one with the cases), returns for a 4th Season.
10pm Lipstick Jungle -- This is the Brooke Shields Sex in the City clone that is returning for a 2nd Season (unlike ABC's Lucy Liu version Cashmere Mafia).

THURSDAYS
8pm My Name is Earl -- While this show is returning for a 4th Season, I'm not sure how much longer we'll stick with it. The show took a bad turn with Earl's coma and dragged that story out way too long (we've got the last three episodes still sitting on our DVR cause we just don't seem to care about getting to them). Its too bad as this show was really well done for two and a half seasons. Let's hope the creators are able to right the ship.
8:30 30 Rock -- Funniest Live Action Sitcom on TV returns for a 3rd Season. I hope the ratings grow cause each season seems to be a struggle towards getting renewed.
9pm The Office -- Still don't care for the American version which returns for a 5th Season.
9:30 SNL Thursday -- Its a highlights show to give us more political comedy during the run-up to the 2008 Presidential Election -- as if that farce wasn't funny enough.
10pm ER -- Returns for a 15th Season? Why?

FRIDAYS
8pm Crusoe -- Based on the Daniel DeFoe novel. Meh.
9pm Deal or No Deal -- More meh.
10pm Life -- Gets paroled for a 2nd Season. What was this show about again? Oh...right...the cop who went to jail for a crime he didn't commit and is now back on the force. Didn't care to catch it the first time, what makes them think I'll do so now?


SATURDAYS
8pm Dateline -- At least its not on every day anymore.
9pm Knight Rider (Encores)
10pm Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encores)

SUNDAYS
7pm Sunday Night Football

Winter 2009-Summer 2009 Schedule

MONDAYS
8pm Chuck
9pm Heores
10pm The Philanthropist -- This show about a rich guy who helps people no matter the cost was originally from the creators of Homicide and Oz. But the network didn't like their take on the show (they wanted to tackle more socially conscious issues, the network wants escapist fare), so Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson have left and one of the guys behind Battlestar: Galactica is coming on. Let's see if he uses any of the 6 scripts completed by the previous team.

TUESDAYS
8pm The Biggest Loser: Couples
9:30 Kath & Kim
10pm Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

WEDNESDAYS
8pm Knight Rider
9pm Deal or No Deal
10pm Law & Order -- At the end of the 17th Season, this show was kind of making me yawn. We'd been there/done that enough that the show was stale and I could understand why NBC was hesitant about an 18th Season...but am I glad they stuck with it and that producer David Wolf made some changes. The additions of Linus Roache & Jeremy Sisto re-energized the show and then Anthony Anderson's replacing Jesse Martin added even more to that. The show feels new again and I look forward to a 19th Season in 2009.

THURSDAYS
8pm My Name is Earl
8:30 30 Rock
9pm The Office
9:30 Spinoff from The Office -- No one has any idea what its about, but its coming anyway. Kinda like the new Indiana Jones film.
10pm The Celebrity Apprentice -- I was bored after 3 seasons of the "regular" edition, but since I missed The Surreal Life since its demise I gave this version a shot. Funny stuff.

FRIDAYS
8pm Deal or No Deal
9pm Friday Night Lights -- Actually returns for a third season in the fall, but its satellite exclusive (forget which one). NBC gets it after New Year's.
10pm Life

SATURDAYS
8pm Dateline
9pm Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Encores)
10pm Law & Order (Encores)

SUNDAYS
7pm Dateline
8pm Merlin -- This puts the Smallville spin on the legend of King Arthur and his magical friend. Meh.
9pm Medium -- I liked the first two seasons of this show, but kinda lost interest. Will catch it on DVD as it comes out since I am a fan of creator Glenn Gordon Carron. Returning for a 5th Season.
10pm Kings -- This modern reinterpretation of the story of David & Goliath stars Ian McShane in the King Samuel role (don't know if that's the character's name). Sounds interesting.

Summer 2009-Fall 2009 Schedule

MONDAYS
8pm American Gladiators -- Ugh.
9pm America's Toughest Jobs -- Don't get me started.
10pm Dateline

TUESDAYS
8pm Most Outrageous Moments -- Blah
9pm America's Got Talent -- Blah blah
10pm Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

WEDNESDAYS
8pm Shark Taggers -- When did NBC become National Geographic?
9pm America's Got Talent: Results Show
10pm Law & Order

THURSDAYS
8pm The Office
8:30 Spinoff from The Office
9pm Last Comic Standing -- If these comics are so funny, how come we never hear from the winners again?
10pm The Listener -- A paramedic who can read minds and helps solve crimes? I think we're officially one step away from this "formula" being a rescue dog that can read minds and solves crimes.

FRIDAYS
8pm Chopping Block -- Since FOX has had so much success with Gordon Ramsey's two cooking/restaurant/reality shows, NBC figured they'd do something similar (even though they could have just repurposed Top Chef from Bravo). While I do occasionally get sucked in by a "reality" show when there's nothing on, NBC's summer of reality next year seems a bit much. Why even announce a whole year's worth of programming when the last third of it is crap?
9pm Dateline

SATURDAYS
8pm Encore of Drama
9pm Encore of Drama
10pm Encore of Drama

SUNDAYS
7pm Dateline
8pm Monk -- Yes, they're repurposing episodes again. From the 7th Season (airing this summer) I assume.
9pm Nashville Star -- There have been 6 Seasons of this show???
10pm Kings


Well...that's all for NBC. Looks like we're definitely watching Chuck, Heroes, Law & Order, 30 Rock and Celebrity Apprentice and giving tryouts to My Own Worst Enemy, The Philanthropist, My Name is Earl (which is on notice) and Kings.

Tomorrow we look at ABC. Be seeing you.

Adventure has a Name Part 1

In the coming weeks, leading up to the opening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I'm going to be taking a look back at previous adventures of Doctor Jones. But we won't be starting with the "beginning" and Raiders of the Lost Ark...we'll be starting with the "beginning" and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles.

On March 4, 1992 ABC broadcast the two hour pilot to entitled The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles entitled Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal. The pilot had two segments to set up the premise of the series. In the first half, which takes place in Egypt in 1908, 9 year old Henry Jones, Jr. (Cory Carrier) is travelling with his father Professor Henry Jones (Lloyd Owen), his mother Anna Jones (Ruth de Sosa) and his tutor Miss Helen Seymour (Margaret Tyzack). While there, Indy befriends a young T. E. Lawrence and also meets Howard Carter as they open a mummy's tomb. There is a murder and talk of a curse. Indy and "Ned" (as young Henry calls his new friend) solve the crime, but the murderer escapes with an artifact. The second half finds Indy (now 17 and played by Sean Patrick Flannery) in Mexico in 1916. Indy is visiting family in New Mexico when he is kidnapped by Poncho Villa, gets involved in the Mexican revolution, meets both General Pershing and a young George Patton and finds the stolen artifact from his Egyptian adventure eight years earlier. The episode has a framing device of a "present day" ninety-one year old Indiana Jones (now with an eye patch and played by George Hall) relating his past adventure to a couple of jaded youths.

The "formula" of the series is set up nicely. Episodes after this were all "told by" old Indy and featured either young Indy or teen Indy in a foreign place and meeting famous historical figures. George Lucas had planned on about 70 episodes to bring us up to the time of the movies, but the show didn't make it that far. ABC had ordered 28 episodes and broke them up into 2 seasons. Four episodes never made it to air. ABC Family (then The Family Channel) ordered 8 more episodes which were delivered as "two hour" movies. The reason for this change was Lucas had started re-editing all the episodes (including the 4 unaired ones) into the new movie format. All of the scenes featuring old Indy were deleted and some new footage was shot to bridge any gaps. The original two hour pilot was broken up into two new movies.

Today, the series is available on DVD only in the movie format. Three box sets cover all 22 movies and add on an amazing amount of extras that focus on the historical aspects of the series. Today we're looking at the first box set entitled The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Volume 1: The Early Years.

The first of the seven movies in this set is My First Adventure and it starts the same way the series did when it aired on ABC (without the old Indy frames). From Egypt, we follow the Jones family to Tangiers where young Indy gets caught up in the slave trade.

The second movie Passion for Life starts off in Paris where young Indy meets a young Norman Rockwell and the two boys wind up in a battle between a brash young Picasso and an older Degas over who is a better painter. The Jones family then moves to British East Africa where Indy tries to stop Teddy Roosevelt from killing an endangered species.

The third movie, Perils of Cupid, finds the Jones family in Florence where Indy's mother is romanced by Puccini (thus really setting the stage for the relationship between his parents only hinted at in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when Professor Jones appears again). Later in Vienna, Indy falls in love with Sophia, the daughter of Archduke Ferdinand and meets a trio of psychologists in Frued, Adler and Jung.

The fourth film, Travels with Father, finds Indy running away from his family while in Russia and meeting Leo Tolstoy. Later, in Greece, Indy and Professor Jones visit a Greek mountain monastery and get trapped in the "elevator" on the way down forcing a father/son bonding moment.

The fifth one, Journey of Radiance, first finds the Jones family in Benares, India where Indy befriends Jiddu Krishnamurti. Later, while travelling in Peking, Indy gets Typhoid and almost dies.

The sixth film, Spring Break Adventure, starts off the adventures of teen Indy as he and girlfriend Nancy Stratemeyer meet Thomas Edison and foil a plot to steal his plans for an electric car (well...I guess "foil" is subjective since in reality Edison's dream is prety much dead in our present day world). The second half, finds Indy being sent to New Mexico and we get the second half of the original pilot episode with Pancho Villa. At the end of that episode, Indy goes off with his new Belgian friend Remy to enlist in the Belgian army and fight in World War I.

The final film in the first set, Love's Sweet Song, starts as Remy & Indy arrive in Ireland and wind up working in a pub to make money so they can get to London. While there, Indy gets involved with a girl whose brother is part of the Irish resistance movement (and meets playwright Sean O'Casey as well as William Butler Yates). When Remy & Indy arrive in London, Indy meets a sufragette (played by a very young Elizabeth Hurley), visits his old tutor Miss Seymour (who forces his to write a letter home so his father will stop worrying) and meets a young Winston Churchill.

The series of films start off interestingly enough, but the stories involving the young Indy get a bit boring at times and seem to serve as jumping off points for people to learn more about the historical figures involved. Once we get to the teen Indy, the show's pace and excitement greatly picks up. While we only get two movies featuring him, they are a good tease for what will come next in The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones Volume Two: The War Years.

The extras are all historical based documentaries and they are plentiful. The seven films each appear on their own DVD, but there are FIVE other DVDs that also feature extras (some are related to a movie on a previous disc as there was so much material they had to go to a second disc as each documentary is about 30 minutes long and some of the movies have 5 or 6 related pieces). This is one case where there may be too much as I only did some sampling of the historical pieces instead of trying to slog through all of it. But what I did watch seemed very interesting.

The biggest (and really only) disappontment with the DVDs is the lack of the old Indy vignettes from the original ABC broadcasts as even a supplement somewhere.

Next we look at Volume Two.

Be seeing you.

And They're Off....

So the Summer Movie Season has officially started in my book with the release of Iron Man. I don't mind an early May start date (as opposed to when I was a kid and Memorial Day Weekend seemed to be the start). Thankfully its no earlier like it had been in a number of years.

My wife and I got my parents to watch Malcolm so we could head down to the AMC 14-Plex in Port Chester (we prefer them to the Stamford theaters these days for a variety of reasons I'll get into later). A good friend came down from Boston on Thursday night to visit and joined us for the flick.

Not having had lunch and hitting a matinee with enough time to buy crap at the concession stand (but not enough time to have a proper sit down lunch at one of the many fine restaurants nearby), we made some food selections. While we each went for combo meals, I'm still amazed that when movie theaters sell food they can't charge a bit less (or heck even a bit more) for LESS Soda. I drank about a third of that 40 thousand once Diet Coke.

Anyway...we got a decent crop of previews:

The Spirit -- While I'm interested in this because I really love Will Eisner's comic, I'm not sure if I like Frank Miller's choice of going with the Sin City/300 route (assuming the trailer's look is anything like the finished film...this is a teaser after all). And using Ennio Morricone's music from The Untouchables is just wrong (its like using John Williams' theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark on a trailer for National Treasure).

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- I've seen a few trailers and commercials for this one already and they've all given me the same reaction "meh". This one actually got me a bit excited to see the film. Just what a trailer's supposed to do (not that we weren't going to go anyway...with a new baby on the way, going to the movies is getting more and more difficult...so we're picking a choosing "event" films mostly...this is one of the four "summer" films we're definitely seeing anyway).

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian -- While I did enjoy the first film, there's nothing drawing me to see this in the theaters. Maybe that'll change when it hits DVD.

The Incredible Hulk -- The first preview left me very underwhelmed. The new one got me a bit more excited. Maybe it was more action or maybe it was just the addition of a few bars of the TV series theme at the end. (This is also one of the four films we plan on catching this summer assuming we can get a sitter for two kids).

The Love Guru -- I've seen Mike Meyers do this shtick before...it still doesn't do much for me. It just doesn't seem that funny.

You Don' t Mess with the Zohan -- Adam Sandler's always a bit hit or miss with me, but this film seems bizarre enough and looks funny enough that I may try and catch this on DVD (it seems to be about the greatest Israeli spy who decides to quit and become a hair stylist in New York -- of course some of his old Arab enemies show up and chaos ensues).

And now our main presentation...

I've been a comic book fan since 1982 when my grandfather took me to see Swamp Thing (well...technically I had been a fan since before then...but I never really read/collected comics until after I saw Swamp Thing). And I've mostly been a DC Comics fan, but there were a few Marvel characters I followed. Iron Man was never really one of them (well...I was not a reader of his solo adventures, but I did read his adventures with The Avengers). But I knew who he was, who his supporting cast was and what his story was. As I got older, and my comic habits changed and fluctuated, I eventually started reading his solo adventures when they got collected in trade paperbacks.

And now he's made it onto the silver screen in a big budget film (not that you could make a film about a guy in a technically complicated battle suit with anything less than a big budget). And the film ranks up there on the better end of the comic book film spectrum. Very much on par with the first two Spider-Man films, Batman Begins and the first two X-Men (to use recent films for comparison and not go back to 1978's Superman which I still consider an amazing film).

For those who don't know, Iron Man is about billionaire genius playboy industrialist Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) who is kidnapped by some terrorists while in Afghanistan (it was the Viet Cong in the original comic stories) and forced to make them a missile just like the new ones his company is making for their enemies. Instead he creates a wearable suit of armor with some attached weapons and flight capabilities so he can escape. Once back in his normal life, he decides to dedicate his company to no longer running the military industrial complex and start trying to help the people his weapons have been used to hurt. Of course, his Board of Directors, led by Obediah Stane (Jeff Bridges) is going to have something to say about all of this.

The film moves at a very brisk pace thanks to director Jon Favreau's handling of the entire operation. The cast is engaging and none of them seem to be stuck or mired in comic book cliches. Robert Downey Jr. is perfectly cast as Tony Stark. He has the swagger and cockiness that the character needs and deserves both before and after his capture at the hands of terrorists. The rest of the cast doesn't get lost in a convoluted plot and all hold their own nicely, particularly Gwenyth Paltrow as Stark's assistant/love-interest Pepper Potts. The special effects serve the plot (instead of the other way around) and they look great (as they should in such a big budget/high profile film). A sequel is something to look forward to coming out of this (and they've laid the groundwork for one with the "Ten Rings" terrorists possibly being tied to Iron man villain The Mandarin from the comic books). And make sure you stay until the very end of the credits for a cool scene (if you didn't already know it was there).

It'll be interesting to see if this film brings new readers to the Marvel comic book and what kind of reaction they may have. For while Iron Man is pretty much Iron Man (guy is cool suit), the Tony Stark of the movie is very different from the Tony Stark of the comics. The silver screen version goes through a change that essentially turns him from a conservative into a liberal. In the comics, Stark is currently the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the biggest backer of a superhero registration act that led to last summer's giant company-wide crossover known as Civil War (which resulted in many big name heroes essentially becoming fugitives as well as the death of Captain America). Of course, all that could change as this summer's big crossover is a story involving infiltration of the super hero community by the shape-shifting alien race known as the Skrulls. So maybe the Tony Stark of the current comics isn't really Tony Stark at all.

Anyway...I will be back sooner rather than later with more reviews...next up at the movie theaters: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but before that we'll take a look at Mr. Jones entire career as a franchise (previous films, TV series, books, comics and video games).

Be seeing you.