black market wit

I've moved!

2007-06-26T04:39:00.000-05:00

For the seven or so people who stumble upon this blog by accident and may happen to read it on a whim, I'd like to announce that I'm moving this blog to Wordpress, as I fancy their setup alot. Blogger's been a great home these past years and I've thoroughly enjoyed blogging here.

Wordpress allows me to migrate all of my posts, since the inception of this blog in July 2004, over there.

So follow me and spread the word...black market wit has moved!

http://blackmarketwit.wordpress.com

Summer Movie Thoughts...

2007-05-24T08:14:00.000-05:00

Alright, here we go...

Shrek The Third - a funny movie (I loved the part where we see The Gingerbread Man's life flashing before his eyes) but it's missing a plot and just feels like a direct-to-DVD movie. No rip on the film's enjoyability factor; it's merely a lesser film than the other two.

28 Weeks Later - Yawn. After a high-energy opening which could induce heart attacks in those prone to heart issues, the film reveals itself to be nothing more than a gore reel with cardboard characters with no definition whatsoever. The first film is a masterful look at humanity on the edge, with well-articulated characters and a storyline that resonates. This sequel is a big letdown.

So far, the summer movie season - adding in Spider-Man 3 has been 0 for 3 for me. Three sequels, all have been sub-par. I was not a fan of Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, finding the comedy to be far too prevalent. From what I understand, Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End is darker, with less hijinks and more plot. I sincerely hope so.

But most of all, I'm really looking forward to seeing Bug this weekend. William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection, Sorcerer) directed it, it's based on a play by Tracy Letts (he also wrote the film's screenplay), and looks to be a truly terrifying piece of psychological horror. It'll be nice to see a smaller budgeted film amongst the maelstrom of summer movie mania now taking over movie theaters. Also, Waitress finally comes out here this weekend! Yay! The late Adrienne Shelly's writing and directing debut stars Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion and is a movie I've been very eager to see. Poor Mrs. Shelley was murdered by an illegal immigrant construction worker after she'd complained of the noise the construction crew was making. From all accounts, this film is a lovely slice of cinema and to support her vision and also the career of Nathan Fillion (Captain Malcolm Reynolds on the very awesome Firefly and Serenity), I'll be seeing this the very first chance I get.

My "Spider-Man 3" Thoughts...

2007-05-14T08:55:00.001-05:00

So I finally saw Spider-Man 3. I'd give it two-and-a-half out of four stars. To quote the song from the musical episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, it just felt like everyone was "going through the motions". Granted, the action was superb and there was more Venom than I thought there'd be (Raimi and company got the look and the feel right; I just wish there'd been more Venom.) but alot of it felt like a retread (the whole MJ/Peter I love you-get away from me-come here-I'm sorry game they play) and the actors looked like they were ready to hang it up. Has anyone seen the actors doing press for the film? They're bored! When the interviewers ask about a fourth film, you can see Tobey/Kirsten/James Franco's eyes glaze over and then they give that generic response, "Well, you know...let's just see how this one does...I mean, we just finished this one so let's wait and see." (Translation: We were contracted for three films and that's it.) So yeah, it's the least of the three. It's worth a watch but don't expect the emotional resonance of the second or the spectacle of the first.

A few thoughts...

*spoilers below*

When Harry was killed, I thought, "Well, there's once actor that didn't want to come back for a fourth film." Also, so the Alfred-clone butler has let Harry sulk and be all melancholy for years, allowing him to mope about the mansion and blame Peter, but only when the plot calls for it does he say, essentially, "Oh by the way, Peter had nothing to do with your father's demise...your dad killed himself. Sorry I waited five years or so to let you in on that fact. It's just, you know, I've been busy...what with the dusting and the cooking...and this *is* a big ass house, you know...it took me this long just to find where the hell you were."

So does anyone see Raimi getting back in the director's chair for Spider-Man 4? I don't. I suspect he'll go make a modestly budgeted horror/thriller to return to his roots. I just hope Marvel and Sony don't pick some idiot to replace him. I think that Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy was brought in for Spider-Man 3 to be a potential replacement for Kirsten lest she not return for a fourth film. And to touch on another point that others have made, I think Jake Gyllenhaal would be excellent as Spider-Man should Tobey opt out of returning; I also think Jake's a better actor than Tobey.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

I also saw The Ex, which is a very enjoyable comedy starring Zach Braff, Jason Bateman, and Amanda Peet. Not a rush-out-to-the-theater movie, but still one worth your time, I thought.

My mother received a $25 gift card for Regal Entertainment Group. So now I can save the 2 passes for Trademark Cinemas. Decisions, decisions...

change of plans...

2007-05-10T04:04:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a super cool connection, I'll be able to see Spider-Man 3 without using my passes. I've decided to use my two passes to Trademark Cinemas' Victory Square Stadium 9 for this film, which comes out tomorrow. It's getting rave reviews as a beyond intense and very unsettling experience...

I thoroughly enjoyed the first film, Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later. This sequel draws upon that film but branches out into its own entity, from what I've read. Plus Robert Carlyle's in it and he's awesome in anything. I can't wait to see this. I've not yet finalized when I'll be seeing it but I figure I'll treat my horror movie-loving mother as a belated birthday present/Mother's Day present.

So...Spider-Man 3 And Ice Cream...

2007-05-07T05:07:00.000-05:00

Thanks to....

I'll be seeing this soon...

You see they have a Sunday morning feature they call their "Beatles Block". You can submit three Beatles songs for them to play during that time. If selected, you win a large three-topping pizza from Papa John's (which I already redeemed a week and a half ago) and a certificate for two passes to Trademark Cinemas' Victory Square Stadium 9 to see a film of your choice. This particular theater had been closed for almost ten years. Then in November, Trademark Cinemas re-opened it, after spending $1 million renovating and refurbishing it with stadium seating and digital sound. Plus it has a soda fountain and a butter station. I'm eager to see what they've done with the place. Regal owned it way back when but closed it after declining sales and rowdy crowds (at night it can be an unsafe environment) forced them to. Thankfully, this new company has a strict policy - children 16 and under *must* be accompanied by an adult. So I look forward to seeing Spider-Man 3, even if the reviews have been lukewarm at best, and seeing it at this new theater.

I've done it! I finally caught up with Heroes! I had a marathon early Sunday morning, and finished watching all of the episodes I'd stockpiled on my TiVo. From "Godsend" (episode 12) all the way through the most recent episode, "Five Years Gone" (episode 20). Now I'm all ready for tonight's episode, "The Hard Part". This show constantly amazes me with how great it is. I can't wait to see where it's going!

I vacuumed the living room about an hour and a half ago, then made scrambled eggs and toast for my mother and I. She's currently sleeping, a few feet away here in the living room - in the recliner, per her doctor's orders, as she had surgery last month on her right arm to help alleviate her fibromyalgia pain; while they were in there they removed a bone spur. She's healing nicely but can't sleep in her bed for a while; her first physical therapy appointment is tomorrow.

Groceries will invade our house tomorrow and if I am not able to procure this...

I will become a whirling dervish of ass kickery. I have longed to try this culinary colossus but no stores in the area have had it. Boo! What the hell?! I mean it, area supermarkets - you'd better have this in stock or it'll be my wrath you'll have to deal with!

More thoughts will tumble out later...for now, it's time for sleep.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters - IN MOVIE PLACE ROOMS TODAY! GO SEE IT!

2007-04-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

This came out today. At that place with the tasty popcorn, the cup holders, and stadium seating. No, I'm not talking about the truck stop showers. I'm talking movie-watching buildings. You need to go see this. Awesome things need to be shown love. Like the 1984 Henry Thomas/Dabney Coleman movie Cloak And Dagger. And this movie. So go see it. Now. I mean it. Get your lazy ass up and go. It's your duty as an American to see this movie. You can do that thing you were going to do later. So, in summation, go see Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters now. And also click on the above poster to go to the movie's official website. You don't want to be called a name for not doing either of those things. Names like "feeny" or "dorkula". Or "Kevin's Mom".

Still not certain, well sink your ocular orbs into this!

Critics are talking...with words they speak!

"...don't expect a coherent plot..."

- Claudia Puig, USA Today

"Succeed[s] enough of the time to make a perversely entertaining movie."

- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Crudely animated, tasteless, and totally pointless, which I'm sure the filmmakers would say is the point."

- M. K. Terrell, Christian Science Monitor

"The big question for fans is does Aqua Teen Hunger Force have enough gags and giggles to translate to 86 minutes on the big screen? And the answer is ... yeah, sort of, well, maybe."

- Bob Townsend, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Narrative's beside the point in a movie created by two guys who gorge on pop culture's high-fat diet and regurgitate it into something approaching . . . art? Close enough."

- Robert Wilonsky, The Village Voice

"If George W Bush could prove that Saddam Hussein had funded this movie I would reverse my stance on the Iraq War and say that every single civilian casualty was justified."

- Devin Faraci, CHUD.com

"You have to give these guys this much: They remained true to their twisted vision, and that's exciting to see."

- Christy Lemire, The Associated Press

"By the end, you may feel as if you've been ballroom dancing with a live, exposed electric guitar cord for an hour and a half. At peak performance, it's wired, chaotic madness."

- Jan Stewart, Newsday

I've seen Grindhouse!!!

2007-04-05T00:52:00.000-05:00

Wow.

I do believe my ass got handed to me.

I echo the sentiment of others, that Planet Terror feels more Carpenter-esque (especially Rodriguez's excellent score) than '70s grindhouse but that makes it no less enjoyable. I thought Jeff Fahey's BBQ joint owner was a terrifically quirky character.

As for Death Proof, I found it to be a different animal altogether. I've read comments that it's a bit too talky for its own good, and that's a valid point; however, it never felt like I was watching a series of boring monologues. Death Proof is a diametric opposite to the over-the-top mayhem of Planet Terror, and when the final third of the movie starts, it's white knuckles all the way. Kurt Russell is great as always; Stuntman Mike is a crazy psychopath and Russell is full of maniacal glee throughout.

And the fake trailers? Edgar Wright's Don't was the best faux trailer; the packed crowd I saw this with loved every moment: the "scratchy print", the "commercials", the "motion picture ratings" and every "missing reel". The 3 hours and 15 minutes flew by.

This weekend, you can see a kick-ass double feature that'll make you rediscover how much fun going to the movies can be...or you see a founding member of N.W.A. in a remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.

Grindhouse is an exhilarating experience, one I can't wait to enjoy again.

(Plus I received a free Grindhouse poster.)

I'll be seeing "Grindhouse" on the 4th...

2007-03-25T05:57:00.000-05:00

So thanks to a very cool connection, I'll be seeing the latest cinema creation from the minds of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, the double feature Grindhouse, at a private screening on April 4th. The flick opens on the 6th. A review WILL be posted. I'm eagerly anticipating this one and have been for quite some time now but I think it'll fly right over the heads of most people; fuck them -- Wild Hogs is still playing; they can have at that shit.

More blogging later. Sleep is calling me.

well better late than never...here are my Oscar picks...

2007-02-25T08:26:00.000-05:00

Well, better the last minute than never.

As usual, here are my Oscar picks...

Best Performance by an actor in a leading role

Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond

Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson

Peter O'Toole - Venus

Will Smith - The Pursuit Of Happyness

Forest Whitaker - The Last King Of Scotland

My pick: I would sincerely love for O'Toole to finally get the just desserts he's been
ignored for so many decades. He's a film legend and the fact that he hasn't won cinema's highest honor is appalling. Despite my thoughts and feelings on this matter, seniority matters not to the Academy. Playing the game is what it's all about and O'Toole doesn't do that sort of thing. He's his own person and won't be confined by the societal norms the Academy likes its nominees to adhere to.
Will win: Forest Whitaker. A great actor will still take home the trophy.

Best Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine

Jackie Earle Haley - Little Children

Djimon Hounsou - Blood Diamond

Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls

Mark Wahlberg - The Departed

My pick: Alan Arkin was fantastic as the no-nonsense grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine. But in my mind, Jackie Earle Haley's performance in Little Children is a revelation. He gives that character depth and personality; a lesser actor would have gone into the wrong areas with it but Haley embues Ronnie with a sadness and fragility that is haunting and tragic. Not only is his acting phenomenal, Haley's own life story is Cinderella all the way. He richly deserves this award and to see him on stage winning tonight would be awe-inspiring and wonderful.
Will win: Eddie Murphy. While Dreamgirls was a good film, Murphy's performance was not the tour-de-force many have proclaimed it. Since the film was shut out in the major categories at this year's Academy Awards, they'll throw the film a bone here. Murphy is talented, no doubt about it, but this performance was nothing merit-worthy, in my humble opinion.

Best Performance by an actress in a leading role

Penélope Cruz - Volver

Judi Dench - Notes On A Scandal

Helen Mirren - The Queen

Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada

Kate Winslet - Little Children

My pick: For years now, Pedro Almodovar has been crafting heartfelt stories of love and loss centering around strong, empowering female characters. While she has not made huge strides in America cinema, Penelope Cruz comes alive in Spanish cinema and a win here would be a validation for her strength in the craft and for Almodovar's ability to draw terrific performances from his lead actress.
Will win: I could be a millionaire tomorrow if I were to place this bet tonight, as there's no contest. Helen Mirren's frosty, aloof, and brilliant performance in The Queen will win here.

Best Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Adriana Barraza - Babel

Cate Blanchett - Notes On A Scandal

Abigail Breslin - Little Miss Sunshine

Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls

Rinko Kikuchi - Babel

My pick: Adriana Barraza was incredible in Babel. Her harried housekeeper breaks your heart in several places. Rinko Kikuchi was a revelation in Babel as the sexually confused deaf mute with no self-esteem whatsoever. But my pick is Abigail Breslin. Olive is a terrific character and Breslin did a remarkable job conveying the uncertainty and wonder that children always provide. The transformation the character goes through is a joy to watch and Breslin makes the role her own.
Will win: Jennifer Hudson will win this. Her performance was great but again, I hate American Idol and thought Dreamgirls was not an award-worthy film.

Best animated feature film of the year

Cars

Happy Feet

Monster House

My pick: Please. No other animated film this year matched the intelligence and creativity of Monster House. Read my review of it here. The film harkens back to '80s films like The Goonies and Cloak and Dagger. It doesn't insult the viewer's intelligence or play to the small fry; instead it seeks to entertain all and it does with a refreshing sense of dark mischief and heart.
Will win: While George Miller's Happy Feet raked in the dough, Pixar is loved by the Academy and this year will be no exception. Cars, Pixar's least entertaining and most vapid of all of their releases, will very undeservedly take home the award here.

Achievement in cinematography

The Black Dahlia

Children of Men

The Illusionist

Pan's Labyrinth

The Prestige

My pick: Children Of Men was the best science fiction film in many, many years. A large part of that film's success was Emmanuel Lubezki's expert lens. While the film starts out with a conventional approach, by the end of it Lubezki's camera throws us into the film as the cinematography grows increasingly frenzied and chaotic. A top-notch job by one of the best in the business.
Will win: Wally Pfister. He did a great job with Nolan's Batman Begins and the Academy will honor him for his work on this crafty magician tale.

Achievement in costume design

Curse Of The Golden Flower

The Devil Wears Prada

Dreamgirls

Marie Antoinette

The Queen

My pick: Marie Antoinette. Sofia Coppola's film was a decadent look at the opulance and apathy of a government too in love with itself to rule properly. Some called this film a vapid truffle; I adored it and it would not have been able to show the incredible lavishness of the ruling class had Milena Canonero's costumes not been a part of the equation.
Will win: Marie Antoinette. The costuming in this film takes on a life of its own.

Achievement in directing

Babel - Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu

The Departed - Martin Scorsese

Letters From Iwo Jima - Clint Eastwood

The Queen - Stephen Frears

United 93 - Paul Greengrass

My pick: All films here were directed by masters of the craft. That being said, Paul Greengrass' United 93 was a harrowing experience and his ratchet-the-tension direction is the cause of that.
Will win: Martin Scorsese will finally take home his long-deserved Oscar gold here.

Best documentary feature

Deliver Us From Evil

An Inconvenient Truth

Iraq In Pieces

Jesus Camp

My Country, My Country

My pick: Jesus Camp. This was scarier than any horror film and showed the world the dangers of any type of religious fanaticism.
Will win: An Inconvenient Truth. Al Gore has committed his life to educating others about global warming and this terrific documentary does an excellent job of letting us know what we're doing to our planet and how we can all pitch in to make this planet cleaner and keep it that way. A win here will be deserved, and to clinch that win on stage I'd love to hear him announce his candidacy for President in 2008, as would alot of Americans.

Achievement in film editing

Babel - Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise

Blood Diamond - Steven Rosenblum

Children Of Men - Alex Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón

The Departed - Thelma Schoonmaker

United 93 - Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson

My pick: United 93. The noose-tightening experience of that film would not have happened if it were not for the editing.
Will win: Babel. Oscar voters love an expansive, layered tale that folds in on itself and editing is a big part of that puzzle.

Best foreign language film of the year

After The Wedding (Denmark)
Days Of Glory (Indigènes) (Algeria)
The Lives Of Others (Germany)
Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico)
Water (Canada)

My pick: I've been a fan of Guillermo del Toro's since his first film, the unique vampire tale Cronos in 1992, and Pan's Labyrinth is his masterwork, blending the fantastic imagination of youth with the harsh and unforgiving darkness of human nature and potential other worlds.
Will win: Pan's Labyrinth. The film is a dark and disturbing fairytale and one worth rewarding.

Achievement in makeup

Apocalypto - Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano

Click - Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso

Pan's Labyrinth - David Martí and Montse Ribé

My pick: David Martí and Montsse Ribé made the labyrinth come alive in Pan's Labyrinth, with creations normally found only in the darkest recesses. A superb makeup job was done here and these two deserve all the accolades they can get.
Will win: Much like Marie Antoinette in the costume design category, Pan's Labyrinth is the only film in this category whose makeup designs are elaborate and thorough. As I stated above, these designs are magnificently creepy and will be rewarded for the craftsmanship and time they took to construct.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

Babel - Gustavo Santaolalla

The Good German - Thomas Newman

Notes On A Scandal - Philip Glass

Pan's Labyrinth - Javier Navarrete

The Queen - Alexandre Desplat

My pick: Javier Navarrete's moody and evocative score for Pan's Labyrinth expertly treaded the fine line between the real and the surreal and is a towering composition.
Will win: The Queen. Alexandre Desplat is a great composer and his brilliant score was a note-perfect reflection of the isolation and insulation of the main character.

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

"I Need To Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth
Music and Lyrics by Melissa Etheridge

"Listen" from Dreamgirls
Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler
Lyric by Anne Preven

"Love You I Do" from Dreamgirls
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Siedah Garrett

"Our Town" from Cars
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

"Patience" from Dreamgirls
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Willie Reale

My pick: "I Need To Wake Up". Melissa Etheridge's song is a powerful plea for the world to pay closer attention to the world around them and to start taking action to preserve the environment. A brilliant song that does a terrific job reflecting the themes of the film it was written for.
Will win: "Love You I Do". Dreamgirls will pick up yet another undeserved win here.

Best motion picture of the year

Babel - Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers

The Departed - Graham King, Producer

Letters From Iwo Jima - Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers

Little Miss Sunshine - David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub, Producers

The Queen - Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers

My pick: Little Miss Sunshine. Some have moaned and groaned that this film is a boring cliche, a typical dysfunctional family film that offers nothing new. They're wrong. The performances in this film hit every note of Michael Arndt's amazing script perfectly, from Paul Dano's insular teen to Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear's harried yet doting parents to Steve Carell's quiet relative who becomes more than he thought he was capable of. Others can call this whatever they want; I saw this in the theater upon release. I loved it then, I love it now, and it's sad that now that it's garnering awards and kudos, others are tearing it down. Well, so be it. A great film is a great film. I've long been a fan of husband and wife directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who've directed some of the most significant music videos of the past 20 years, and with their first feature they didn't go Michael Bay. They went Hal Ashby and the result is a wonderful motion picture that is a testament to the family dynamic, however dysfunctional it might be.
Will win: Last week I would have said Babel. The week before that, The Departed. But serious, serious buzz has been building these last few weeks and sometimes Oscar wins are decided at the very end of ballot casting, so I think that Little Miss Sunshine will be the surprise win here and take home the Academy Award.

Achievement in sound editing

Apocalypto - Sean McCormack and Kami Asgar

Blood Diamond - Lon Bender

Flags Of Our Fathers - Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Letters From Iwo Jima - Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Christopher Boyes and George Watters II

My pick: In war films, sound is everything and this Letters From Iwo Jima, the more praised of Eastwood's two WWII films, deserves the win here.
Will win: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Yet another undeserved win from a very overrated movie.

Achievement in sound mixing

Apocalypto - Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Fernando Cámara

Blood Diamond - Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ivan Sharrock

Dreamgirls - Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton

Flags Of Our Fathers - John Reitz, Dave Campbell, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - Paul Massey, Christopher Boyes and Lee Orloff

My pick: Blood Diamond.
Will win: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Achievement in visual effects

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall

Poseidon - Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chas Jarrett and John Frazier

Superman Returns - Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover and Jon Thum

My pick: Superman Returns. Technology has come a long way in making us believe a man can fly, and the visual effects team on this film outdid themselves. The visual effects in Superman Returns are a tremendous technical tour de force and deserve to be rewarded.
Will win: Here's an award that will be given to another film that isn't very good, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The effects were dark, muddled, and unimaginative yet because of the extent of them, the Johnny Depp film will win here. Yawn.

Adapted screenplay

Borat Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer
Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips

Children Of Men
Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby

The Departed
Screenplay by William Monahan

Little Children
Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta

Notes On A Scandal
Screenplay by Patrick Marber

My pick: I would have picked Little Children, but the ending was changed for the film. While not ruining the film, it shifts the dynamic in a lessening way. That being said, I think Children Of Men really stands above the rest. It is a truly excellent and mesmerizing science fiction tale and one deserving this award.
Will win: The Departed. A great movie and a great screenplay full of twists and turns, Boston native William Monahan will win the award here.

Original screenplay

Babel
Written by Guillermo Arriaga

Letters From Iwo Jima
Screenplay by Iris Yamashita
Story by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis

Little Miss Sunshine
Written by Michael Arndt

Pan's Labyrinth
Written by Guillermo del Toro

The Queen
Written by Peter Morgan

My pick: As I stated earlier, Michael Arndt's excellent screenplay displays a family trying to stay on the mend, relationship-wise, yet not able to do so until they come to grips with each other, good or bad. Arndt's writing isn't showy or full of lame posturing -- it's the real deal -- and a triumphant piece of writing that should definitely win the Oscar here. I can't wait to see his next film (Toy Story 3) and what else he has in store for us moviegoers in the future.
Will win: Peter Morgan's masterful definition of a noblewoman uncertain of her place in the world and how others react to her and that position will definitely win this award.

NBC Universal's Horror Channel - Chiller - Has Announced Its Launch Schedule!!!

2007-02-18T15:05:00.000-05:00

All I can say is...goodbye remote control! :) I CANNOT WAIT for this channel to launch! Sure its initial launch schedule is a bit repetitive but most channels are when they launch. Plus, unlike its sister channel, Sleuth (dedicated to crime/mystery/suspense), Chiller will feature content from other companies beside NBC Universal. That should make for a more diverse lineup in time.

Not only is The 101 (channel 101 on DIRECTV) doing a Chiller preview this Friday and Saturday night starting at 8PM Eastern...

http://tvlistings5.zap2it.com/tvlistings/GridAction.do?method=getSingleStation&stnNum=49432&lineupId=DITV507:-&zipcode=31419&channel=101

but Sleuth is airing a 14-hour movie marathon dubbed "Chiller on Sleuth" next Sunday...

http://www.sleuthchannel.com/Schedule/daily.bravo?start_date=2007-02-25&end_date=2007-02-25

And now without further ado, here's the initial launch schedule for Chiller...

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?p=3466131

Chiller TV (from NBC Universal Cable)

Launches March 1, 2007 with special programming (see Specials and Stunts)

Regular Schedule
Starts Monday, March 5, 2007:

Weekdays
6:00AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
6:30AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
7:00AM Night Gallery
8:00AM Friday the 13th: The Series
9:00AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
9:30AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
10:00AM Tales from the Crypt
10:30AM Tales from the Crypt
11:00AM Movie
1:00PM Movie
3:00PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
3:30PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
4:00PM Movie
6:00PM Friday the 13th: The Series
7:00PM Tales from the Crypt
7:30PM Tales from the Crypt
8:00PM Short Lived Wheel: G vs. E (Monday); American Gothic (Tues); Monsters (Wed); Freddy's Nightmares (Thurs); Twin Peaks (Fri)
9:00PM Movie
11:00PM Short Lived Wheel: G vs. E (Monday); American Gothic (Tues); Monsters (Wed); Freddy's Nightmares (Thurs); Twin Peaks (Fri)
12:00AM Movie
2:00AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
2:30AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
3:00AM Movie
5:00AM Night Gallery

Saturdays
6:00-9:00AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
9:00AM-12:00PM Night Gallery
12:00PM Movie
2:00PM Movie
4:00PM G vs. E
5:00PM Monsters
5:30PM Monsters
6:00PM Twin Peaks
7:00PM American Gothic
8:00PM Freddy's Nightmares
9:00PM Movie
11:00PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
11:30PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
12:00AM Movie
2:00AM Movie
4:00AM Movie/Various

Sundays
6:00-9:00AM Night Gallery
9:00AM Friday the 13th: The Series
10:00AM G vs. E
11:00AM Monsters
11:30AM Monsters
12:00PM Movie
2:00PM Movie
4:00PM Twin Peaks
5:00PM American Gothic
6:00PM Friday the 13th: The Series
7:00PM Tales from the Crypt
7:30PM Tales from the Crypt
8:00PM Freddy's Nightmares
9:00PM Movie
11:00PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
11:30PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
12:00AM Movie
2:00AM Movie
4:00AM Movie/Various

Specials and Stunts

- Launch Weekend:
Thursday, March 1 through Sunday, March 4
See various marathons and first episodes! Along with movies like The Shining!

Thursday, March 1
6:00AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
6:30AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
7:00AM Night Gallery
8:00AM Friday the 13th: The Series
9:00AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
9:30AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
10:00AM - 3:00PM Tales from the Crypt Marathon
3:00PM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
3:30PM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
4:00PM - 9:00PM Tales from the Crypt Marathon
9:00PM Movie: The Shining (Commercial Free)
11:30PM Movie: The Shining (Commercial Free)
2:00AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
2:30AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
3:00AM Movie: Werewolf of London
5:00AM Night Gallery

Friday, March 2
6:00AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
6:30AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
7:00AM Night Gallery
8:00AM Friday the 13th: The Series
9:00AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
9:30AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
10:00AM Tales from the Crypt
10:30AM Tales from the Crypt
11:00AM - 3:00PM Friday the 13th: The Series Marathon
3:00PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
3:30PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
4:00PM - 8:00PM Friday the 13th: The Series Marathon
8:00PM Twin Peaks Pilot
10:00PM Movie: The Watcher
12:00AM Twin Peaks Pilot
2:00AM Movie: The Watcher
4:00AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
4:30AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
5:00AM Night Gallery

Saturday, March 3
6:00-9:00AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents
9:00AM-12:00PM Night Gallery
12:00PM Movie: Nightmares
2:00PM Movie: Stephen King's Cat's Eye
4:00PM G vs. E
5:00PM Monsters
5:30PM Monsters
6:00PM Twin Peaks Pilot
8:00PM American Gothic
9:00PM Movie: Dial M for Murder
11:00PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
11:30PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
12:00AM Movie: Dial M for Murder
2:00AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
2:30AM Movie: Abbott & Costello Meet the Mummy
4:00AM Movie: Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man
5:30AM Alfred Hitchcock Presents

Sunday, March 4
6:00-9:00AM Night Gallery
9:00AM Friday the 13th: The Series
10:00AM G vs. E
11:00AM Monsters
11:30AM Monsters
12:00PM Movie: Stephen King's Cat's Eye
2:00PM Movie: The Legacy
4:00PM Twin Peaks Pilot
6:00PM American Gothic
7:00PM Tales from the Crypt
7:30PM Tales from the Crypt
8:00PM Friday the 13th: The Series
9:00PM Movie: The Legacy
11:00PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
11:30PM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
12:00AM Movie: The Andromeda Strain
2:30AM Movie: Abbott & Costello Meet the Invisible Man
4:00AM Movie: Werewolf of London
5:30AM New Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)

- Monsters Marathon
Saturday, March 24 from 4-6pm and again Sunday, March 25 from 10am-12p

new posts are up...

2007-02-18T15:02:00.000-05:00

at my Myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/blackmarketwit

Fret not, for I will not be abandoning this blog.

Hey Boston...guess what? He's doing this as hard as he can...

2007-02-01T08:09:00.000-05:00

There are t-shirts with the above logo and the one below for sale online. Check it out on eBay.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16902707/

That's BS the artist was arrested.

As all well know, there's no such thing as bad publicity. Methinks the ATHF movie's going to do much better when it's released March 23rd.

I think the funniest aspect of all of the reporting on this is the utter detachment of the reporters from Aqua Teen Hunger Force and their general cluelessness. Too much hairspray in their ears, perhaps. It sadly illustrates the divide and disconnect between generations, when viral marketing (it's a fricking mini-Lite Brite, for crying out loud) is proclaimed to be an act of terrorism. I want those t-shirts.

Are you on the list?...

2007-01-22T11:45:00.000-05:00

That's right - Heroes returns from its hiatus with an all-new episode tonight at 9/8C on NBC.

If you're not up on the details, then by all means go to heroes.nbc.com
At the site you can catch up on past episodes and there's all sorts of Heroes-related goodies to be found. Also, the official unofficial fan site is at 9thwonders.com

what a haunting, creepy, dark, intense, beautiful film...

2007-01-22T11:36:00.000-05:00

If you value great cinema, see this movie. This may just be my favorite film of the year. I still have several more potential Oscar nominees to see. In any case, click the Pan's Labyrinth poster to read my review.

I cannot wait until March 1st!!!

2007-01-15T11:08:00.000-05:00

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117957250.html?categoryid=14&cs=1

Click the logo to head to Chiller's official website, ChillerTV.com.

NBC Universal Launches Horror Channel - Chiller - On DIRECTV March 1st

This was certainly unexpected. NBC Universal states that Chiller will cull their programming from not just the NBC Universal vaults but the vaults of other studios (Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox, Sony, and Warner Brothers, to name a few). Series that they'll be debuting with include Twin Peaks, Freddy's Nightmares, Alfred Hitchock Presents, and Friday The 13th: The Series. Plus they'll be airing movies, of course. It'll be cool to see all of those old shows and I hope they dig deep into the vaults of their content providers. But I have to remember to temper my excitement just a tad when I see what NBC Universal's done with SCI FI through the years, Battlestar Galactica and the occasional miniseries excluded. Hopefully Chiller can avoid that and it will as long as Bonnie Hammer's nowhere near it.

I sincerely hope that NBC Universal really puts a considerable effort into Chiller. Look I'm not naive. I know that both Sleuth (NBC Universal's mystery/crime-themed cable network) and Chiller are basically, for the moment, a way for NBC Universal to make money off of the thousands of hours of programming in their and other companies vaults. And that's just fine with me, as long as the lineup is programmed with diversity and character. As I stated on messageboard, Chiller might turn into SCI FI by 2013, with shows like WWE Fear Fights and Who Wants To Be A Serial Killer?. I'm crossing my fingers it doesn't and until it does I plan to watch Chiller and enjoy the repurposed programming, alot of which haven't been on TV in a long time.

tonight you'll see stars...

2007-01-15T10:49:00.000-05:00

Well as is tradition, I'll now give my Golden Globe picks. I've still yet to see several of these but am trying to play catch up.

Here we go...

The 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards

FILM

Best Picture, Drama

Babel
Bobby
The Departed
Little Children
The Queen

My pick: Although I've not seen any of these yet, I'd like to see Babel get the nod, as I absolutely loved Iñárritu's Amores Perros and 21 Grams.
Who will win: While Scorsese's getting tremendous accolades for his remake of the Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs, The Departed won't win here. He's a lock for Best Director and an Oscar, however. Little Children's release and the subsequent promotional fumbling by New Line Cinema have locked it out; it's the dark horse here. Bobby was primed for gold, be it of the Golden or Academy Award persuasion. As it stands now most seem to have written it off as a garish cameo party. Much like Scorsese's Director win, Mirren will take home Best Actress. That leaves Alejandro González Iñárritu's Babel.

Best Actress, Drama

Penelope Cruz - Volver
Judi Dench - Notes On A Scandal
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Sherrybaby
Helen Mirren - The Queen
Kate Winslet - Little Children

My pick: I'd absolutely love to see Gyllenhaal get this, as she's one of my favorites and proves time and again just how versatile an actress she is, no matter what the role calls for.
Will win: As previously stated, the movie royalty will take this home. Helen Mirren has it in the bag.

Best Actor - Drama

Leonardo DiCaprio - Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Departed
Peter O'Toole - Venus
Will Smith - The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker - The Last King of Scotland

My pick: In all honesty I would be elated to see Peter O'Toole get this and I think he will. After almost fifty years on screen, he sure deserves it. I also think he, much like Scorsese, are going to get nominated after being unjustly snubbed for so very long and will be clutching Oscar gold on the night of February 25th.
Will win: Peter O'Toole. No contest.

Best Picture, Musical Or Comedy

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Little Miss Sunshine
Thank You for Smoking

My pick: Little Miss Sunshine was a brilliant dysfunctional tale of a family growing closer after growing apart.
Will win: Sacha Baron Cohen will win Best Actor so this one's going to Dreamgirls.

Best Actress, Musical Or Comedy

Annette Bening - Running With Scissors
Toni Collette - Little Miss Sunshine
Beyonce Knowles - Dreamgirls
Meryl Streep - The Devil Wears Prada
Renee Zellweger - Miss Potter

My pick: Toni Collette's performance as a harried mom trying to do her best was wonderful.
Will win: Streep could read the White Pages. She won raves for her performance in The Devil Wears Prada and she'll win this award.

Best Actor, Musical Or Comedy

Sacha Baron Cohen - Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Aaron Eckhart - Thank You for Smoking
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Kinky Boots
Will Ferrell - Stranger than Fiction

My pick: Aaron Eckhart was terrific as a slimy tobacco lobbyist. I'd like to see Ejiofor win, as I've been a fan of his for a long time.
Will win: If this were any other year, Depp would walk away with the win here. However, only ONE performance in this category became a cultural phenomenon. Cohen will win this hands down.

Best Actress, Musical Or Comedy

Adriana Barraza - Babel
Cate Blanchett - Notes on a Scandal
Emily Blunt - The Devil Wears Prada
Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi - Babel

My pick: I have no opinion here.
Will win: Plucked from obscurity, Jennifer Hudson will garner the gold.

Best Supporting Actor, Drama

Ben Affleck - Hollywoodland
Eddie Murphy - Dreamgirls
Jack Nicholson - The Departed
Brad Pitt - Babel
Mark Wahlberg - The Departed

My pick: Again, no opinion.
Will win: Focus Features released Hollywoodland far too early for it to register with the awards voters (September?!). Brad and Mark will split the vote and even though Eddie's performance has gotten good ink, Jack rules the roost and everyone, even The Hollywood Foreign Press, loves to see him play a villain. As this is the first time he's done so in quite a while, he'll be on stage tonight to accept this award.

Best Director

Clint Eastwood - Flags of Our Fathers
Clint Eastwood - Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears - The Queen
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu - Babel
Martin Scorsese - The Departed

My pick: As a fan I'm torn between Inarritu and Scorsese. However, Inarritu's career has just begun whereas Scorsese is a filmmaking legend who's been shut out for far too long. I'd love to see him get this award.
Will win: Martin Scorsese

Best Screenplay

Guillermo Arriaga - Babel
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta - Little Children
Patrick Marber - Notes on a Scandal
William Monahan - The Departed
Peter Morgan - The Queen

My pick: Yet again as a fan I'd like to see Arriaga get it and I think he will, for the sweeping multi-layered types of films he writes are always adored by the awards voters.
Will win: Arriaga

Best Foreign Language Film

Apocalypto (USA)
Letters From Iwo Jima (USA/Japan)
The Lives Of Others (Germany)
Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico)
Volver (Spain)

My pick: I'm this close from seeing Guillermo del Toro's fantasy horror epic. As much critical acclaim as Almodovar gets this time each year, I think the world that Pan's Labyrinth created will let Mexico win this one.
Will win: Pan's Labyrinth

Best Animated Feature

Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House

My pick: Not one other animated film this year was as well-written, intelligent, articulate, and thoroughly entertaining as Monster House. It was a throwback to the style of '80s films both animated and otherwise that the whole family could watch and not feel as if they'd gotten dumber after watching it.
Will win: I was going to say Pixar grabs the gold here but George Miller's Happy Feet was a runaway success, no pun intended. The penguins will waddle away with this one.

Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat - The Painted Veil
Clint Mansell - The Fountain
Gustavo Santaolalla - Babel
Carlo Siliotto - Nomad
Hans Zimmer - The Da Vinci Code

My pick: No contest. Clint Mansell's haunting, ethereal score for Darren Aronofsky's brilliant The Fountain was a key part of immersing the viewer in this beautiful poem of a film.
Will win: I believe the world cultural aspects of Babel no doubt played a part in the creation of the score. It'll win.

Best Original Song

Unfortunately I've no opinion here at all, as I've not heard any of these songs at all.

TELEVISION

Series, Drama

24 (Fox)
Big Love (HBO)
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Heroes (NBC)
Lost (ABC)

My pick: I love 24 with a fiery passion. But I'd love to see the freshman get some attention here. C'mon HFPA! Give it to Heroes. They won't, as it's not even through its first season yet, which is sad as no new series this season has been so far so consistently good.
Will win: 24. Jack Bauer and the gang at CTU won the Emmy (finally!) and now they'll pick up the win here as well.

Actress, Drama

Patricia Arquette - Medium
Edie Falco - The Sopranos
Evangeline Lilly - Lost
Ellen Pompeo - Grey's Anatomy
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer

My pick: For two seasons now, Patricia Arquette has been terrific as the harried mom and the harried psychic who someone manages to balance both. Her Emmy win was well warranted. She deserves this one.
Will win: Ellen Pompeo will win for Doctors Screwing. Harsh? Maybe. But after giving this show every chance, it has finally chosen to be about who the doctors are sleeping with and everything else be damned. Because all hospitals have their doctors making out in stairwells and supply closets, right? Um, don't you guys have...PATIENTS?

Actor, Drama

Patrick Dempsey - Grey's Anatomy
Michael C. Hall - Dexter
Hugh Laurie - House
Bill Paxton - Big Love
Kiefer Sutherland - 24

My pick: Michael C. Hall's turn as the serial killer with a heart deserves this.
Will win: Kiefer Sutherland, in an echo of the Emmys.

Series, Musical or Comedy

Desperate Housewives (ABC)
Entourage (HBO)
The Office (NBC)
Ugly Betty (ABC)
Weeds (Showtime)

My pick: I really want to give this to Entourage, as it is consistently addictive and *such* a well-written series. However, The Office continues to amaze me.
Will win: America Ferrara was the talk of the town as the fall season started. I've seen an episode or two and Ugly Betty is fun and breezy. But I think the Emmy win will repeat itself here, especially since they gave this award to the original British version of The Office in 2003.

Actress, Musical or Comedy

Marcia Cross - Desperate Housewives
America Ferrera - Ugly Betty
Felicity Huffman - Desperate Housewives
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - The New Adventures Of Old Christine
Mary-Louise Parker - Weeds

My pick: As I stated above, America Ferrara has been the breakout star of the new season, aside from Masi Oka of NBC's Heroes. She deserves to win.
Will win: America Ferrara

Actor, Musical Or Comedy

Alec Baldwin - 30 Rock
Zach Braff - Scrubs
Steve Carrell - The Office
Jason Lee - My Name Is Earl
Tony Shaloub - Monk

My pick: Jason Lee and Steve Carell are solid as always. Each of these nominees is terrific. But Alec Baldwin has surpassed my every expectation. His Jack Donaghy is a live wire, as you never know what's going to come out of his mouth.
Will win: I think Lee will grab this, as Carell won last year (not that repeats don't happen) and I think 30 Rock might be a bit too inside for the HFPA. Sadly.

Best Miniseries Or Movie

I have no opinion here as I've not seen these. I'm rooting for Bleak House. I'm a Charles Dickens fan.

Best Actress, Miniseries Or Movie

No opinion yet again.

Best Actor, Miniseries Or Movie

No opinion. I'm rooting for Ejiofor, though.

Best Supporting Actress, Miniseries Or Movie

Emily Blunt - Gideon's Daughter
Toni Collette - Tsunami, The Aftermath
Katherine Heigl - Grey's Anatomy
Sarah Paulson - Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip
Elizabeth Perkins - Weeds

My pick: I guess this is Heigl and Paulson are thrown in here as the HFPA wanted to recognize them but ran out of room in the major category. Sarah Paulson has been stellar as Harriet Hayes and the exchanges between she and Matthew Perry's Matt character. The claws have been extended towards the show but I'm thousands of miles from Hollywood and I love Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. The dialogue is great and I've never seen an entire episode of an Aaron Sorkin show prior to this one.
Will win: With all of that being said, look for Heigl to win for Doctors Screwing...oh, I'm sorry....I meant Grey's Anatomy.

Best Supporting Actor, Miniseries Or Movie

Thomas Haden Church - Broken Trail
Jeremy Irons - Elizabeth I
Justin Kirk - Weeds
Masi Oka - Heroes
Jeremy Piven - Entourage

My pick: Piven is electric as the acidic and viciously caustic yet endearing-at-times Ari Gold. But Oka has, as I've stated, gotten alot of buzz. Either way I'll be happy but I'm going with Piven. He's so damn fun to watch.
Will win: Piven lost to one of the masters of the medium last year, Paul Newman (Empire Falls). This time will be a charm for him.

hell yes!!!

2007-01-04T10:31:00.000-05:00

Today we get to make up for twelve years of Republicans who shredded our Constitution, launched an illegal war, made it harder for the middle class and students by shifting the tax burden on their shoulders and all the while allowing corporate bail-outs, outrageous spending (hell Bush never vetoed any bill presented to him, no matter the cost, until July 2006), corruption and covering up the Mark Foley scandal, to name a few. During all of this they shouted us down as traitors, Benedict Arnolds, and terrorist sympathizers.

Now those same people, the new minority party, are clamoring for bipartisanship after years and YEARS of not giving an iota of it to the Democrats. Pot meet kettle please. It's time to make these people pay, with investigations and critical scrutiny of what exactly has been going on in these hallowed halls for so long. As Nancy Pelosi said so eloquently after the elections, "It's time to drain this swamp." But first let's get those first 100-hour pledges enacted ASAP: increasing the minimum wage, getting affordable health care, pay as you go spending, rolling back the massive Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, to name a few.

Now let's not think I'm putting on the rose-colored glasses here. As we all know Bush plans to announce, in a speech next week, his new plan: "Surge & Accelerate". The speech's theme will be "sacrifice". As in young men and women sacrifice their lives for this continual lie while he stands behind a podium, hair shiny with hairspray in an air-conditioned building thousands and thousands of miles away. If the Democrats don't engage in a political battle over this ill-gotten foreign travesty, I and millions of other voters will be outraged. We didn't vote for you just to have you mewl like a kitten. It's time to expose the razor-sharp talons and use them. If the Democrats falter or waver on any promises, you better believe I'll be there to call their asses on it, as will many others They cannot be allowed to grow complacent.

For now let us celebrate a well-deserved victory. It's time to take back Washington D.C.. It's time to hold those who abused power for so long accountable. It's time to make this country fair for all again, not just the obscenely wealthy. We now have a moment in America's history to correct wrongs and shape the outline of this country back to the way it used to be - one of hope, prosperity, and charity - and away from the black chasm we've had to endure for far too long. In 56 minutes, we will have the first female Speaker Of The House and the first Democratic Majority in 12 years. Good luck. Make us proud. Get to work but don't forget who put you there. Let the changes and investigations begin.

2007-01-02T11:07:00.000-05:00

1913-2006

I was not yet born during Gerald Ford's time in office. But there was always something about him that made me feel like he was a regular guy, someone who you might not agree with on certain policy matters but someone who you wouldn't mind grabbing a burger with and having good conversation. His unpopular pardoning of Nixon cost him reelection. He later said, ""The only way to clear the desk in the Oval Office was to get Mr. Nixon's problems off my agenda and get my total attention on the problems of the country." That decision prevented a second term but in 2001 he won a John F. Kennedy Profile In Courage Award for it.

Gerald Ford, in my estimation, marks the last of a breed that the Republican Party of today has slowly expunged from its ranks: a man for whom life was his politics, not the other way around. Someone who could disagree with you yet still manage to be endearing and genuine, a stark contrast to the rancor and venom discourse of recent years.

My sincere condolences to the entire Ford family.

Rest in peace, President Ford.

beware pure evil...

2007-01-02T06:33:00.001-05:00

I'll explain more later. Suffice it to say I'll be expounding on my earlier musings about the sad state of cinema.

(And no, I've not and will not see the above film. I have taste.)

2007 is here now...

2007-01-01T22:14:00.000-05:00

Well Happy New Year to those out there that might happen to read this. I hope your New Year's Eve was enjoyable. I carried out the usual tradition of summer sausage, cheese, and Ritz crackers (which I finished snacking on some more of a while ago) and we had a little bit of pink champagne from last year in the refrigerator. Speaking of New Year's Eve and contrary to some's belief, I thought Dick Clark looked much better than his last appearance with more mobility and a clearer speech pattern. The man IS New Year's Eve and when he no longer feels like doing it (which I think won't happen until he leaves us), I'll stop watching ABC for New Year's Eve. Ryan Seacrest is an untalented idiot. Our coffee table has more talent.

How was your Xmas? Mine was cool. Not alot of gifts as money was tight for all of us but alot of food and fellowship was had by all.

I hope 2007 is a fun year, with good health and goodwill for all. Of course until all of our troops are home and this ill-gotten calamity known as the invasion and occupation of Iraq is over, that wish won't come true. One can hope and perhaps the Democrats will hold Bush's feet to the fire to start bringing troops home. Also, they need to hurry up and get that minimum wage increase enacted ASAP. As for myself, I'd like to find a full-time job that pays well, has flexible hours, paid insurance and is fun. I'm a loyal and dedicated worker. I have excellent customer service skills and would like to find something that takes advantage of that -- if a writing job isn't in the offing, that is. I'll keep you posted on my progress in this arena.

2007 will be an interesting film year. More sequels of course. I'm most looking forward to Grindhouse on April 6th.

TV in 2007. One project has me excited and that's Drive, the new series from Angel and Firefly writer Tim Minear. It stars Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Slither, Serenity, the upcoming White Noise: The Light) and will air on FOX sometime in March or April. For more info, check out...

http://www.fox.com/drive
http://www.drivefans.com

I plan to get up early on Thursday morning and turn on C-SPAN and MSNBC to watch the 110th Congress being sworn in. Seeing Nancy Pelosi stand behind Bush and next to Cheney will be priceless.

Getting back to the topic of movies, I sincerely hope that 2007 can provide a decent slate of interesting and thought-provoking films. I hunger for David Lynch's Inland Empire, Guillermo del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men (which starts playing here this Friday) and many more. Babel is playing here again, albeit only twice a day. I hope I can use connections to get to see them.

Films like the ones above provide the viewer with elements that can be discussed, deconstructed, analyzed, and debated. Said films offer scripts written with love by filmmakers that aren't afraid to take a chance and who want to bring imaginative and original stories to the masses. It is this that makes me furious when I see absolute crap like Night At The Museum rake in cash. Former cast members/writers of the excellent and edgy early '90s MTV sketch comedy series The State wrote that film. They also wrote The Pacifier (!). In a few weeks, a remake of the excellent 1986 horror film The Hitcher will be released by Rogue Pictures, genre imprint for Universal Pictures. It's utterly appalling that intelligent, thought-provoking films are continually thwarted by crap. Sheer, unmitigated crap is continually foisted upon the moviegoing public who eagerly slurp up any offal that's placed in front of them and then hungrily ask for more.

so much time...so little posting...

2006-12-20T01:48:00.000-05:00

Seriously, what the hell's wrong with me? I should be a posting sensation but I've been feeling an indifference about posting. Weird but that's what happened. I've broken pledge after pledge to post so forget about me ever promising to post again.

Well, after only having two hours or so of sleep, I went with my mother to pay bills, browse at Oglethorpe Mall and Best Buy today and also to procure Christmas gifts for my sister and a friend of hers. We also picked up a whole publishing company of books (practically) from Barnes & Noble. Think of it as a sort of early Christmas present for us, the slavishly devoted readers, although I've been slack when it comes to that as of late. I may receive a few DVDs for Christmas. My mother's been hinting that she ordered a present for me online, oh excuse me, "A BIG GIFT", as she's been calling it. Anyway, after we came home from our excursion and ate some lunch around 2PM, I read Watchmen for a bit then took a nap until about 8:30 when Zach called. I then hung out at the apartment of his girlfriend, Amanda. She, Zach, and a mutual friend of theirs, Sharon, were making sub sandwiches. We ate, watched part of Disc One of Season 3 of Scrubs and then the mutual friend had to leave. After conversing for two hours or so, they called it a night at about 11:30, as Amanda has to drive to Marietta at 7AM this morning - you know the home for the holidays thing. Zach and I might hang out after the holidays, as he'll be sticking around Savannah.

Besides the books I'm about to mention, my mother got two true crime books. It's always been her cup of tea. Heck, she even got a Criminal Justice degree. She loves all things to do with the criminal process.

On the book list...

I'm currently reading this and...WOW! I was an avid comic book geek back in my formative years then fell away from it. This graphic novel is rich with deep characterizations, dense thematic material, and I can't wait to see where it takes me. The movie version of this is coming out in 2008. I thoroughly enjoyed the V for Vendetta graphic novel and this looks to be just the masterwork that others have deemed it. Alan Moore is amazing. In the Graphic Novels section at Barnes & NobIe I looked for Frank Miller's 300 but couldn't find it. Another day perhaps.

I plan to start reading this next. Bloodsucking Fiends looks like a dark comedy spin on vampirism. I'm always on the lookout for good vampire fiction. The Philadelphia Inquirer touted Moore's writing as reminiscent of Vonnegut. If that's even halfway true I'll be over the moon. I'm tired of lethargic, cliched vampire novels that think they're cutting edge by having their characters act like they're in a lame soap opera. In vampire fiction, I'm more intrigued about how a writer describes the process in which a human become a vampire and how they deal with being a vampire. If it's done poorly, it can be a boring, plodding affair that winds up being a waste of time for the reader. Witness Charlaine Harris's "Sookie Stackhouse" series. I invested time in almost all of those books only to be let down when it turns into a yawn-inducing Anne Rice Xerox with people transforming into dogs and werejaguars. I hope Christopher Moore doesn't let me down.

Yes, I know. After reading the synopsis, this book sounds it copies a bit from Dead Like Me. I'll let you know how this one turns out.

I really liked the novel Hannibal, thought the movie's rewritten ending was a total and utter copout (remember, Hannibal got away? The book has he and Clarice running away together as a couple). Even though Thomas Harris took a script he wrote of the same name and crafted it into novel form, I'm looking forward to this. The film version of this novel will hit theaters February 9th.

I, like the rest of the world, have been reading Stephen King novels as long as I can remember. Unlike alot of these very same people, I could never get into The Dark Tower series, try as I might. And like alot of authors, he's had some misses. Insomnia, From A Buick 8, to name two. I didn't like Cell. It showed promise then unraveled as the end of the novel approached. The synopsis of Lisey's Story puts me on edge a bit, as King in fantasy mode has never gelled well with me. Still, he is arguably the most popular author of the latter half of the 20th and early part of the 21st century and like a loyal baseball fan, I'll always be there to devour the latest offering and then offer my two cents.

Well, I'm going to tool around the old Internet for a bit and then read more of Watchmen before I hit the hay.

This is the really cool video for "Phantom Limb", the awesome first single from The Shins' forthcoming album Wincing The Night Away which will be released by Sub Pop Records on January 23rd. On January 13th, The Shins will perform on Saturday Night Live. Jake Gyllenhaal will be hosting. Music experts and cinemaphiles might remember that two songs by The Shins, "New Slang" and "Caring Is Creepy", appeared on the soundtrack to the 2004 film Garden State.

a whole lot of indie cinema is on its way to me...

2006-12-04T23:09:00.000-05:00

In the coming days/weeks, I'll be receiving screener DVDs of upcoming indie films from

I'd like to thank Erik Martin at Palm Pictures. The titles I'll be sent will consist mainly of films yet to be released on DVD but some catalog titles will be in the mix as well. I'm not getting paid for this and I don't have to review these films (chances are I will anyway, though) so don't think I'll be a mouthpiece for their films. Even if I was paid by them, I wouldn't mince words excoriating a film I didn't like. From afar I've admired Palm's handling of their Director Series (compilation DVDs of music videos by visionary directors like Chris Cunningham, Spike Jonze, and Mark Romanek, to name a few) and will let you know what I think of these films in a straightforward, unbiased manner. The first title will be Michael Kang's The Motel. It debuted earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival and was just nominated for Best First Feature at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards.

Well, it's happened. Our first official fireplace fire of the winter. It's getting in the low 20s here tonight. Excellent. Honestly, if it was that cold here every day of the year, you'd not hear a single word of protest from me. Summer can screw off; I'll gladly take cold weather each and every day of the year.

I went to bed at 8AM this morning and woke up at 3:30PM. What the hell is wrong with me?! I waited until the last minute taking out the trash, getting it to the curb, and then loading and unloading the dishwasher. Afterwards I wound up playing games on GSN.com I really need to start behaving like an actual human being, one that gets up and goes to bed at a decent or somewhat levelheaded time. We'll see if that comes to fruition soon enough. Goodness knows I'd like it to. Hibernating like a bear is tacky.

Expect a review of The Fountain. Suffice it to say in this year of barely there movies, this was the best so far. No kidding. I haven't had that amazing of an experience in a theater in a long time...hell, probably ever. It was as if you were inside the film as it was unfolding and the theater dissolved away. And, no I was not under the influence of any mind-altering substances as I watched The Fountain. Go see it at the theater. You owe it to yourself.

1993 says hello...

2006-12-02T04:07:00.001-05:00

and what do you know...1996 has decided to greet you as well...

the thrilling week that's been...

2006-12-01T04:02:00.000-05:00

Not too much going on at casa de black market wit at the moment.

I treated myself and my mother to the final showing of this, as it was the last day of it playing here in Savannah...

While not as good as Lost In Translation, I thought Sofia Coppola's latest film did an admirable job of conveying the aloof nature Marie had as a naive girl placed in over her head into a position of such immense power although she was not exactly a student of government after she was installed in the role either.

Kirsten Dunst was great in the title role, the costume design and Versailles were amazing, and no, the New Wave music from bands like Gang of Four, New Order, The Cure, Bow Wow Wow, and other songs by The Strokes, Air, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and others do not take you out of the movie but add an air to the film to give it some sense of relatability to the modern world.

At the age of 15 Marie is given away in an arranged marriage. While those around her ache for a new dauphin to carry on their royal heritage, Marie's new husband is more taken with hunting, his stable boys, and keymaking. She is hesitant at first but by the age of 20 she was accustomed to her lavish lifestyle of parties and the extravagance her station provided her as all the while the people of France were dying of starvation. The film gives a birds-eye view of the vapid nature of a head-in-the-clouds existence and what said existence can portend.

Marie Antoinette does not discuss the political aspects of the Palace of Versailles or its country's affairs and while some may decry that fact I simply went in with the knowledge that I wasn't watching a biopic, that Marie Antoinette is not a history lesson nor does it aspire to be. Instead, it's a jaundiced look through the eyes of a girl and those around her who couldn't see the forest for the trees and that reason, coupled with their arrogrant opulence, created the end of a lavish, overblown empire too in love with itself to govern properly.

And I loved the soundtrack, FWIW. I just might purchase it. Maybe.

For Your Consideration is also playing here now. I love Christopher Guest films and I hope this one's great.

I'll be a year older tomorrow. 25 to be exact. 30 is ever approaching. Wow. As I'm wont to do each and every birthday, I'll be partaking of a film. The movie I'll be seeing is Darren Aronofsky's The Fountain. It's tanking at the box office because America is full of fucking idiots who'd rather watch offal like Deck The Halls and The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause then actually stimulate some activity in that poor excuse for grey matter they call a brain. As a friend of mine stated, it'll go on to an amazing life on DVD when it will be rediscovered and heralded as a cult classic like Donnie Darko was and then people will go, "Damn! How come I never heard of it?" Well, slack-jawed yokel if you'd venture outside of your insular cocoon once and a while and actually see what else is playing at the theater instead of just following the herd mentality and blindly watching crap, you'd have known.

I received another check from the video store I formerly worked at. I'd given them BOD as far as $$$ went, as silly me assumed they'd take a few weeks to get things sent out. They first sent a check for only half of the 53 hours I worked the last week I worked there. A call to payroll later, a check was cut, and voila, all is well.

Psst...want to hear music that is the antithesis of all of the staid shit you always hear on the radio? Of course you do!

To those in the know, woxy.com has been cranking out excellent music, breaking bands, and just being immense amounts of cool for eons now. Clue yourself in if you've not had the pleasure as of yet. Click the logo to travel to a land of music and honey.

Wednesday I received Sophie Scholl: The Final Days from Netflix. Nominated for a Best Foreign Language Academy Award at the most recent Academy Awards, it's based on a true story about a college girl who dared to speak out against the Nazis in 1940s Germany. It looks really good, very captivating. I added the FOX series Profit to the top of the 'ol Netflix queue. The 1996 FOX series was cancelled after four episodes aired (eight were made). Adrian Pasdar (currently on NBC's smash hit Heroes and married to Dixie Chick Natalie Maines) starred in the lead role and volumes have been written about just how stellar this show is.

As I've been a slack bastard as far as this blog goes lately (TiVo's chock full, as usual, as I type this), I feel like an ambitious undertaking. For this month, the month of December, I pledge to post a movie review a week A pretty crazy notion, huh? It'll be a task, no doubt, but I think I can manage it. Expect a review of Michaelango Antonioni's 1975 film The Passenger later this week.

For now time for dishwasher unloading and loading and then sleep.

being blue never felt so good...

2006-11-10T04:30:00.000-05:00

Here are my thoughts on the beyond amazing, lovely, and oh so awesome mid-term election results...

http://blackmarketwit.livejournal.com/779.html

Vote Democratic Tuesday!!!

2006-11-06T19:04:00.000-05:00

In just a day or so, we as a nation have the chance to reject the policies and procedures of a government that has ruled of its own accord, blindly shredding all precedents before it in an attempt to craft its own rules and declare itself, as Stallone put it in the detestable 1995 film Judge Dredd, "the LAUW!" And if I'm quoting a shitty Stallone movie from eleven years ago, you know my metaphor machine is running low.

Five years ago, Bush ran a campaign as a "uniter, not a divider" despite the fact that we could all tell that he was being forcefully shoved through the political wringer much like the little boy whose mother drags him to K-Mart for a family photo, pushing down his cowlick with her saliva-slick hand. After years of what any sane person could see was blatant incompetence on the part of those in power in D.C., it seems that the nation just may be waking up and finally seeing just how awful this country has become under Republican leadership. I sincerely hope that wake-up call translates into Democratic control of both the House and the Senate.

It's time to put our vote where our mouth is. While I vehemently disagree with Congressman John Barrow (D-GA, 12th District) on a whole host of issues (he's against the estate tax - which Republicans renamed "the death tax" to scare people...to paraphrase Bill Maher, "it's for really rich old fucks who die..."), he voted for the flag-burning amendment, he supports a ban on same-sex marriage, and he's voted with Republicans alot - I'm still voting for him as all of that matters not. What matters in this very crucial election is electing Democrats and helping them keep their seats (the ones who are incumbents).

Today I plastered fliers from Democracy For America around the neighborhood. Others are getting out the vote with phone calls, emails, and good old-fashioned door-to-door campaigning. Whatever the method, I hope you're doing it or have done it. It's time to make these last few hours before Tuesday count. We don't want to be wringing our hands over missed opportunities come Wednesday morning. Now is the time to make every minute count. For five years of lies on top of lies, for every deception we've endured, for all the hateful rhetoric and disgusting entrenched corruption they've eagerly swum in, it's time to pay them back for their arrogant and power-abusing ways.

It's The End Of An Era...

2006-10-29T00:59:00.000-05:00

Well, well, well....I certainly have been absent from the world of blogging, haven't I? Well don't you fret, the no ones who read this. Since I am no longer have a job, I will be blogging at all hours...whenever the mood strikes me. Yes, you read that correctly. I am unemployed. Why, you may ask? I'd be delighted to elaborate.

We had a store meeting on Sunday, October 15th at 8AM. It started like any other of our previous store meetings. Our manager Cheryl told us that in the very near future, we'd be able to check in customer online rentals at the store, and they'd then get a free in-store rental. The criteria was explained, etc. Then there was a shift in what we were told. The topic of new store policies began.

Cheryl explained that fairly soon there was to be no more joking around, fraternizing with customers or fellow employees. No longer could we hold movies for regular customers. No loitering allowed. Also, they installed a software system on a brand-new PC in the breakroom. This software would start scheduling our shifts. Initially at the employee meeting a month ago, the corporate people said that it was totally user-friendly and that store managers could edit schedules and that it was flexible with employees and their availability. Guess what? That was a LIE. Let's say the software schedules someone Monday from 8AM-10AM and they have class or a family member gets ill or hurt? If you don't show up, you're fired. How's that for treating your employees right? Cheryl even asked one of their Human Resources guys, "What about employees that have school or church?" He smirked, she said, and replied, "Well, that's where we've gone wrong - putting our employees needs in front of the customers."

When we were franchise-run, even though I was part-time I could still get insurance. No more under corporate control.

Here's one of the big ones - let's say a loved one was rushed to the hospital. The last thing on your mind would be a late DVD rental, correct? So let's hypothesize that the loved one is released a week later and all is well. When you return the item, we're now supposed to say, "Sorry but you've got to pay us." Our modus operandi was to always make the customer happy. These guys see it another way apparently. No late fees to be removed -- EVER.

They don't want us to foster friendships with our loyal regulars. They don't want us to be family to our customers or our fellow employees. They want us to be soulless automatons. I'm not naive. The main goal of a business is to make money. However, our store has proven time and again through the years that you can marry profitability and personality and get a winning combination that equals in a pleasant and welcoming environment that keeps your customers coming back time and again, knowing that they're, to borrow Cheryl's always-on-target mantra "Welcome, Wanted, & Appreciated." In the six years she's run that store, our district manager never received a single complaint. It's qualities like that that show just how dedicated we as a staff, a team, a FAMILY have endeavored to make that a video store worth frequenting. Hell, we've even had people who live across town come in and tell us that they prefer us to the video store nearest to them and don't mind driving halfway across town simply because of our superior customer service.

For that reason, among many others, we all resigned. Friday, October 27th was the last day for Cheryl, Jeff, and I. I hadn't been off since last Wednesday and I really racked up some hours this last week - 12 hours on Tuesday, 14 on Friday - so blogging has been sparse. Larry, Steve and Ana were to work this weekend, with Steve's last day on Monday (and Friday our DM had Cheryl craft a perfunctory schedule for next week, culling employees from other stores -- an *hour* before she was to leave!; she cobbled something basic together, placed it on his desk for him to finish and then she and Jeff left) Ana and Larry's being Halloween. But then things can and do change, sometimes...

So today I went up to work to print a time card today at 2PM. A "This Store Is Closed" sign was taped to the inside of the front door, along with a hand-written-in-black-permanent-marker sign on the inside of the other door that read:

"This store will re-open on Monday, October 30th.

- Management"

Puzzled, I went home and after lunch I called around (Cheryl, Jeff, Larry). I called work and our District Manager answered. After a long pause (I initially thought I was talking to Steve), I told him I planned to return rentals and wanted a time card copy. He was frazzled to say the least. Jeff said he called as well to see what was going on and also assumed our DM was Steve Roberts. Then the other line rang and our DM told Jeff to hold on, as he needed to talk to him. Jeff immediately hung up and turned off his cell phone. Hmmm...I wonder what our DM wanted to speak with Jeff about? Hmmm? ;)

Jeff, Larry, James, and I went to see Saw III Saturday night at 7PM (we ran into our former co-worker Robin and her husband, who leave home for Ohio on Monday...Saw III was a great flick, by the way) and Larry filled in the gaps...

Steve was to open this morning as scheduled. He, however, was having issues clocking in on the software system on the PC in the back. He called Larry, who arrived shortly thereafter. Larry called Ana in to see if she wanted more hours and she came in. Steve then said that he'd had enough and was going home. Larry replied, "Well, I'm not going to work a double all this weekend with Ana." The three of them looked at each other and agreed in unison to end their employment right then and there. They left at noon, locking the door behind them. Larry said he called Cheryl and she laughed her ass off. Larry shredded our clock in/clock out info/ and apparently the drop box somehow moved away from the window.

I have some of my 401k saved up and I plan to just relax, take some me time off to cool my jets through the end of the year and then I'll get back out there looking for employment. Think of this as a new beginning for all of us. Not a time to mourn but a time to look onward and upward.

So there you have it.

As I think about more and more, I realize that while we treated that store like a home and it truly felt like one, it was not the store that made it feel that way but instead each other that created and fostered the truly dynamic fellowship that we all felt toward each other, customer and co-worker alike.

Cheryl is having a get-together at her house next Wednesday. Pizza will be served and it'll be a great chance for all of us to let our hair down and bullshit about just how clueless our former employers are.

Expect more and more blogging. I've got alot of things to watch and all the time I need to watch them.

We ordered Showtime today so that we can watch the second season of Masters of Horror. The first one was so-so (except for Takashi Miike's Imprint); hopefully Season Two will ratchet up the quality. We're also anxious to see Dexter, the drama about a blood spatter analyst in Miami who's also a serial killer - he only kills bad people, though. It's based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. I found the novel to be lukewarm but I hope the series isn't. The showrunner, a former Sopranos writer, was fired mid-way through the season, as Showtime wanted more humor in the series. Let's hope they're not fucking up a series that hasn't even gotten going yet.

My Saw III review *IS* forthcoming. I also need to see Marie Antoinette.

my posting delay was not my fault this time...

2006-10-10T19:14:00.000-05:00

More on that in a second. But first it's good movie time...

Bernardo Bertolucci has earned a reputation for being one of Hollywood's most interesting filmmakers. From the now infamous Last Tango In Paris to 1900, The Last Emperor, and Stealing Beauty, Bertolucci has moved effectively from one genre to the next. Some pigeonhole him as being too attached to "controversy" but that's really a moot point. He's able to accurately convey whatever themes he sets out to, and with a style and sophistication lacking in 90% of directors today.

The Dreamers is his latest. It relates to us something from Bertolucci's own life, being in the midst of the political uprisings of Paris in 1968. Based on Gilbert Adair's novel The Holy Innocents (and scripted by Adair), The Dreamers brings us the tale of Matthew, an idealistic American traveling abroad. He just begins to soak up the culture when he meets twins Isabelle (played with a heady verve by Eva Green) and Theo (Louis Garrel). They are protesting the funding loss of the Cinémathèque Française by the government. Matthew is slowly drawn into their intoxicating world of cinema, politics, and sex. But is there a world beyond the one the siblings have made for themselves? The twins devise movie pop quizzes with sexual games as punishment (City Lights and Bande A Part are but a few titles discussed, as clips from the films interject) and all the while Paris seems to quake with dissent on the streets below.

Much has been made of The Dreamers MPAA rating. NC-17. It doesn't get thrown around alot these days. Fox Searchlight decided to buck the trend and release the film as is to theatres. It didn't play that long as most theatre chains won't play NC-17 films. I find the whole thing funny as the sexual content in the film, while graphic and intense, is nothing pornographic. Yes, you see explicit closeups of both male and female genitalia and there is implied sex but the hype is much ado about nothing. It adds a sensual and intoxicating feel to the film, as these young people discover sexuality and film in their own way. (The twins parents are only seen in fleeting glances, dropping off a check before heading off to an undisclosed destination.)

The Dreamers is a romantic and beautiful look at the chrysalis that envelopes two lost souls who seem to be unable to function outside the four walls of their own design. One person tries to help dismantle those walls (Matthew) but it seems that he just adds more bricks. All three actors provide compelling performances and help to construct a very believable environment. You can practically smell the wine and cigarettes oozing off the screen. This is one of the very best movies in a long time.

I'm at work last Thursday when I receive a phone call from my dear mother who informs me that she, in her inifinite wisdom, decided to clean up the 'ol Dell computer of unnecessary and unwanted files. HOWEVER... When the prompt came up to erase files, she hit 'Y' when it asked her if she wanted to delete all duplicates. And just like that...voila! Our computer was toast. We had to replace the drivers. After much obfuscation, hand-wringing, and very nice and helpful customer support from Dell, we finally got our computer back up and running today. The title of my message sums it up quite eloquently...I was going through major withdrawals! It's sad to admit one is a slave to technology but oh well. On the bright side, I did catch up with my reading. Books are good companions when you're bored as I rediscovered.

My mother is having her "frozen shoulder" orthoscopic surgery tomorrow. She has to be there at 5AM; however, she should be home by noon as it's considered day surgery. I will be the doting son tomorrow when she gets home, making sure she's comfortable and that painkillers and a fresh beverage or snack are always at the ready.

I'm currently watching/listening to Countdown with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC. He's the current-day Edward R. Murrow, shining a blinding light into the dark crevices that slimy politicos try to hide in. There's no one out there like him on television and he's been spot-on in covering Bush's idiocies, the Mark Foley scandal, and any other political horror we've had to endure.

You can check out my blog to see what I've procured from Netflix. I've got Lucky Number Slevin and American Dreamz from work to watch.

SPIKE TV's 2006 SCREAM AWARDS are broadcast tonight at 10PM Eastern, with an encore at midnight. It'll then re-air throughout the weekend. Tune in to see the best in horror, sci-fi, and fantasy entertainment given awards. I've also heard that they'll be unveiling clips from Saw III, the upcoming April release co-directed by Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez, Grindhouse, and the first-ever DVD release of Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut.

A co-worker let me borrow Imprint, Japanese director Takashi Miike's episode of Masters Of Horror that Showtime would not air. It reconfirms Miike as a master of all things macabre and unsettling. After viewing it it is unquestionably the best episode of that Showtime series' debut season; hopefully Season 2 will up the ante. I just need to cancel HBO and re-order Showtime now.

no luck at Target...

2006-10-03T17:40:00.000-05:00

I went to bed at about 1:45AM or so. I woke up at 8:00 this morning. It was rather cool to have a morning to enjoy. I plan on doing that again real soon.

We have a new coffemaker. Our coffeemaker is dead. Target did not have Sean Lennon's new CD Friendly Fire, which streets today. I plan to stop by Best Buy soon to get it. Last week at Target I got Sam Raimi's 1995 film The Quick And The Dead for $5. I've never seen it but I love Raimi's work so I figured why not. As for today, I picked up new reading material at Target...

I can't wait to devour this book. I read the first few pages already. It reinforces what we all know: those in power in this country are clueless imbeciles. While I have my disagreements with Democrats from time to time, we've got to wrest control of the House and the Senate away from the Republicans this November.

2006-10-03T11:26:00.000-05:00

I thoroughly enjoyed the Tales From The Darkside marathon on SCI FI last night. It's great to see that series return to television (re-airing, I mean).

Movie rundown...

Edmond - it's based on the brilliant David Mamet's 1982 play of the same name. Directed by Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator), it stars William H. Macy as a man who decides to give in to his baser instincts. The film co-stars Julia Stiles. Edmond is raw and brutal, the film that Falling Down wishes it was. Macy is spellbinding as usual. It's his movie and he runs with it, crafting a man at the end of his rope with equal parts outrage and insanity. One of the best movies of the year with a great, great ending.

Feast - fun little horror flick. Mindless b-movie cheese.

Thank You For Smoking - brilliant satire and one of the best movies of the year.

The Woods - Lucky McKee's second film might get pegged as being one-note or unfocused but it's still a great horror movie. Bruce Campbell is effective, as always.

TiVo. Lovely, lovely TiVo. How I forsake thee so much. Want to know how much? Well too bad. 'Cause you're gonna....

JASON'S TiVo NOW PLAYING LIST

Heroes (2 episodes)
How I Met Your Mother (1 episode)
The Class (1 episode)
Desperate Housewives (2 episodes)
Ugly Betty (1 episode)
Doctor Who (2 episodes)
Six Degrees (1 episode)
The Office (1 episode)
Jericho (2 episodes)
Smith (2 episodes)
Eureka (11 episodes)
George Sluizer 1988 film Spoorloos (The Vanishing)

Quite the ensemble, eh? I hope to get through some of these later today and tomorrow. I've also got Art School Confidential and 12 and Holding to watch, along with my Netflix films.

Veronica Mars has its Season 3 premiere tonight on The CW. If you don't watch or haven't been watching this show -- for shame! Jump in now. It's the best show on television.

Now I'm off to Target. Our coffeemaker is dying. And perhaps they'll have Sean Lennon's new CD Friendly Fire, which streets today.

Head on over to Daily Kos for the latest on Mark Foley-gate. It's sick and full investigations need to be implemented ASAP. Whoever in D.C. -- and it looks like a hell of alot of them knew for five years (Dennis Hastert -- I'm looking at you and your ilk) -- knew that a pedophile was walking the halls of Congress needs to be ousted also.

Tonight history was made with the birth of.....

2006-09-20T20:43:00.000-05:00

At 8PM Eastern tonight, television history was made. The merger between The WB and UPN became official. Both networks had been losing money and therefore decided to unite to garner a larger audience and actually make money. In my humble opinion the best series on the network are Supernatural and Veronica Mars and I'm looking forward to Runaway, which debuts Monday at 9PM on The CW. It stars Donnie Wahlberg as a man who takes his family on the run after he's framed for murder. I think The CW will do well and it'll be interesting to see just how their ratings do now that they'll have bigger and better market saturation and thus will be able to reach more viewers.

For all things related to The CW, head over to their official website at cwtv.com

Locally here in Savannah, Georgia, we'll be getting The CW via WGSA. WGSA began life as an independent, then was an affiliate of The WB from 1996-early 1997 as WUBI (WB 34). It then switched affiliations to UPN as UPN 13 and is now known as CW 13. Their website, which they never had before - ever - is now online. As of now it's just the official website of The CW with WGSA's logo as a border. I hope that changes. If not oh well but it'd be cool. Click the logo for WGSA CW 13 to see what I mean.

More later as always. I've yet to watch CBS's new offerings, Jericho and Smith. James Woods's new series Shark debuts tomorrow on CBS. Plus I have some lovely TiVo to get through and I'd like to take a crack at finally watching Eureka as I have 10 episodes of that stockpiled.

I have Blood (UK vampire-type movie about a girl with narcotic blood - you taste it you're addicted) and Hard Candy (teenage girl turns the tables on a potential pedophile) on the way from Netflix. Google them for further info. I tried to get The Proposition, a gritty, trippy Western written and scored by musician Nick Cave and starring Guy Pearce but they skipped it and sent Blood . There must have been a short wait while I slept, as there wasn't when I compiled the list initially. I also need to get Battlestar Galactica Season 2.5 (the second half of Season 2, of course) as I've been giving my mother a crash course in the series to prepare her for Season 3's debut on October 6th. There was a short wait for Disc One so I reordered my queue as they would have sent Disc Two if One was not available. I also need to watch the 1959 French film Pickpocket and mail that back to Netflix ASAP.

As for work, we're going corporate as of Monday. I will now be able to watch films before they street - but I will wait to see how well their indie and arthouse rental selections are before I cancel my Netflix subscription. We got three rows of The Proposition and while some think that buy was still made by the franchise, I doubt it, as as a franchise-owned location, our arthouse/indie fare never warranted three rows, except for Friends With Money.

this Saturday...I'll be having a FEAST...

2006-09-20T04:49:00.000-05:00

But first, as promised, my Little Miss Sunshine review...

In the early '90s, music videos changed from a wall of keyboards, bad lighting, monotone lip-syncing, and Reagan era-decadence into mini art films, sometimes short and compact, at other times elaborate and moody. The 1990s brought forth a surge of talented directors to the music video world. Along with MTV staples like Mark Romanek, Mark Pellington, Kevin Kerslake, David Fincher, Spike Jonze and Samuel Bayer, husband and wife team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris entered the fray. Little Miss Sunshine is their directorial debut and it is a sure-handed and confident slice of familial dysfunction that is also one of the year's very best films.

Young Olive Hoover dreams of being in a beauty pageant. When the opportunity arises for her dream to come true her parents Richard and Sheryl (Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette) load up their VW bus and head for California. Along for the ride is Dwayne (Paul Dano), the Hoover's mute-by-choice, Nietsche-reading teenage son, Edwin Hoover, Richard's father, and Frank (Steve Carell in a terrific performance), Sheryl's brother.

Abigail Breslin is adorable as Olive and aptly conveys both heartache and happiness without breaking stride. Paul Dano's Dwayne should also be mentioned. Dano embues his angsty teenager role with the right amount of bemused detachment and isolation that echoes perfectly the sullen teen attitude cliche we've all seen before, yet the script allows Dano to encase Dwyane with a sense there's something more going on there. It is a role that is played pitch perfect. And of course Steve Carell is masterful as Frank, a Proust scholar on the brink of giving up on life but pulled back by his own awakening. For Carell this marks a noted departure from the genre he's made his bread and butter on and he excels. Frank and all of the characters for that matter are not the paper-mache cutouts that populate most movies this days. They're fully realized people who want very badly to be a nuclear family and must go to great lengths to discover what that means to them in their own way.

Dayton and Faris are not Michael Bay (thankfully) and Little Miss Sunshine is shot in a very straightforward manner. The earlier dysfunction I spoke of is indeed a prevalent theme but it does not overpower the film to the point of tedium. Dark humor bleeds through from time to time yet there's still a bite to the proceedings and it makes for a great blend of humor mixed with the cynical disposition of the characters. Essentially Little Miss Sunshine offers up the common knowledge that we don't get to choose our family but if we take time to get to know them and cherish them, we'll all be alot richer for it. Instead of numbing your brain with the mindless tedium that usually populates the cineplex, seek Little Miss Sunshine out. It is an original, thoroughly alive film that treats its characters and its audience with respect, intelligence, and wit, something sorely lacking in most films these days.

I've been following this film ever since the making of it was chronicled on Bravo's Project Greenlight back in 2004. Well then came the Miramax/Weinstein Brothers divorce and the Weinsteins decided they liked the film and took it with them (along with their genre company Dimension Films) to their new film company, The Weinstein Company. It's been sitting on a shelf ever since, give or take the horror convention screenings here and there over the past year or two. Flash forward to now. Dimension Films will FINALLY be releasing this in two special "late-night screenings" this Friday and Saturday night at 10PM and later at selected theaters across the country.

Go here - feast-movie.com - to find the theater playing Feast in your area this weekend.

I was at first dismayed because the only theater playing it here is across town and I thought that it was only playing Friday night -- when I don't get off work until 10PM. Well thankfully I get off of work Saturday at 6PM so Feast here I come. The many horror sites I frequent tout this film as an unpretentious throwback to the gory horror flicks of the '80s that we know in love. I get paid Friday so I will be grabbing a big tub of popcorn and a Cherry Coke and immersing myself in horror movie goodness.

Now, a bowl of Fruity Cheerios (if you've not tried them I pity you...honestly...they're made from whole grain, they have 25% less sugar than regular cereal, and they're flavored with real fruit juice -- so go buy a couple of boxes!) and then I'm off to bed.

the film that never existed (apparently)...

2006-09-04T00:40:00.000-05:00

I was perousing Netflix about a week ago when I stumbled upon this film...

The film's tagline is "Love on the razor's edge of addiction."

The plot?

"20 years ago, Carl was responsible for genetically engineering a girl with narcotic blood. Now he's brought her home - and the boundaries between love and addiction are becoming increasingly blurred."

Now I'm always in the mood for a good vampire movie so I'm eager to see this one. Yes, it's made its way to ..1 on the 'ol Netflix queue. However after reading several reviews (most of them favorable), I cannot seem to find any substantial info on the director, actors...hell, IMDb doesn't even have a trailer nor does any other site. It's like this film just sprung up out of nowhere. Hmmm...pretty odd...Anyway it was made in 2000 but just came out on DVD in September of 2004.

Little Miss Sunshine was phenomenal. Expect a review in a fortnight or so. Congrats to the cast and crew of The Office and 24 for their well-deserved Emmy wins.

Blogging will commence later. I have to be at work at 9AM.

watch brick....and here's my Emmy picks...

2006-08-27T18:32:00.000-05:00

Expect a Brick review sometime in the next fortnight, the same thing with Little Miss Sunshine.

Outstanding Comedy Series

Arrested Development
Curb Your Enthusiasm
The Office
Scrubs
Two And A Half Men

Will Win: The Office
Should Win: The Office

I think that the buzz for The Office has risen. I just hope I'm right. Although the Emmy voters might give this to Arrested Development, for a terrific last season. Too bad no one was fucking watching.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm
Kevin James, The King Of Queens
Tony Shalhoub, Monk
Steve Carell, The Office
Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Will Win: Steve Carell
Should Win: Steve Carell

Carell's star is on the rise, with high-profile roles in The 40 Year-Old Virgin and this summer's Little Miss Sunshine plus his lead role in next summer's Bruce Almighty sequel, Evan Almighty. This will cement his meteoric rise.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Lisa Kudrow, The Comeback
Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm In The Middle
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, The New Adventures of Old Christine
Stockard Channing, Out of Practice
Debra Messing, Will & Grace

WILL WIN: Debra Messing
SHOULD WIN: N/A

I have no opinion here except that the overrated Will & Grace will win another undeserved award. Alyson Hannigan should have been nominated for How I Met Your Mother; likewise for the always awesome Jenna Fischer for The Office. That staid mediocrity always gets nominated shows how clueless the Emmy nomination people are.

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES

GREY'S ANATOMY
HOUSE
THE SOPRANOS
24
THE WEST WING

WILL WIN: GREY'S ANATOMY
SHOULD WIN: 24

24 should finally get recognition for its consistently excellent delivery of a taut, suspenseful drama series. Unfortunately, the buzz has built steadily for the show that will win tonight, so ABC's Doctors Screwing will eke out a win here.

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Christopher Meloni, Law and Order: SVU
Denis Leary, Rescue Me
Peter Krause, Six Feet Under
Kiefer Sutherland, 24
Martin Sheen, The West Wing

WILL WIN: Denis Leary
SHOULD WIN: Kiefer Sutherland

Michael Chiklis took home the gold for The Shield in 2003, increasing the visibility of FX as a network willing to program gritty drama. Emmy voters may seize on that tonight. Still, Kiefer's been deserving of this honor for so long and he really should get this one. It's been a long time coming.

I have no opinion about the lead actress in a drama series category, as I never watch any of those shows so I cannot judge adequately.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Will Arnett, Arrested Development
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Bryan Cranston, Malcolm In The Middle
Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men
Sean Hayes, Will & Grace

WILL WIN: Jeremy Piven
SHOULD WIN: Will Arnett

While I love Piven on Entourage, Will Arnett made Gob Bluth a brilliant study in idiotic dysfunction and thus deserves the win here.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

WILL WIN: GREGORY ITZIN, 24
SHOULD WIN: " "

Itzin made the Commander-In-Chief look asinine and silly. Pretty true-to-life and therefore he deserves the win for doing such a brilliant job of a weasel under pressure.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

WILL WIN: Megan Mullally, Will & Grace
SHOULD WIN: Jaime Pressly, My Name Is Earl

Again, staid mediocrity will win, as Will & Grace will take this. A shame, as Jaime Pressly made Joy a believable trailer park queen.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

WILL WIN: Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy
SHOULD WIN: Jean Smart, 24

Grey's Anatomy will pick up another but Smart's vivid portrayal of the First Lady on a razor's edge should get it.

OUTSTANDING INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE IN A VARIETY OR MUSIC PROGRAM

WILL WIN: Hugh Jackman
SHOULD WIN: Stephen Colbert

Jackman won last year; he'll repeat that win here. Colbert certainly should win the Emmy, as he zeroed in on BS right-wing talking points, creating a spot-on parody of O'Reilly and his ilk.

OUTSTANDING MADE FOR TELEVISION MOVIE

WILL WIN: Flight 93
SHOULD WIN: The Girl In The Cafe

The five year anniversary of 9/11 will allow Flight 93 to win. The Girl In The Cafe was somber, emotional, brilliant, and lovely. Kudos to Kelly Macdonald for her breathtaking performance and she should win her nomination as well.

OUTSTANDING VARIETY, MUSIC, OR COMEDY SERIES

WILL WIN: The Daily Show
SHOULD WIN: The Colbert Report

It'd be nice to see Colbert win his freshman year. It won't happen.

OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES

WILL WIN: The Office - "Christmas Party"
SHOULD WIN: Arrested Development - "Development Arrested" (aka "Harboring Resentment"

The Office is always good; however, Arrested Development needs to win, for the best series finale I've ever seen.

And I think The Colbert Report should win the "Writing" category it's up for and The Girl In The Cafe should win the category it's nominated in. Sorry for the haphazard manner this is posted in...I'll try not to cram this in next time.

now, where was I?...

2006-08-24T19:02:00.000-05:00

As I was saying before Mother Nature reared her disruptive head...

I procured the following from Netflix last Friday...

and...

These should make for an excellent double feature. Rian Johnson's directorial debut Brick was mentioned by me earlier this year when I lamented, once again, of how I had a dire need to see it in the theater but Savannah sucks through a coffee table when it comes to indie film. And, as always, my viewing of the film is relegated to DVD. In any case, I'm excited to watch it.

I'd always known he wrote the 1996 Troma film Tromeo and Juliet. But I was not a fan of James Gunn in 2002. I saw his 1999 film The Specials and thought it simply a lower-budgeted version of Mystery Men but lacking something. He wrote Scooby-Doo and I was lead down a path of distaste via Ain't It Cool News. But you know what? It wasn't all that bad. The sequel is another thing. In 2003 he wrote the remake of Dawn Of The Dead. It was a good horror film (and I'm Mr. Anti-Remake usually), one that I suspect would have gotten more respect had it carried any other title. Earlier this year he gave us his directorial debut Slither. He wrote it as well and supplied a very good horror comedy that came and went like a breeze in theatres. It's a shame as it was a really good throwback to '80s horror comedies like Night Of The Creeps.

His wife, Jenna Fischer, can currently be seen on NBC's hit series The Office. She plays Pam, the receptionist. In 2004 she made her writing and directing debut with the above mockumentary Lollilove, about a satirical version of James and herself who give out lollipops with inspirational slogans to homeless people in order to cheer them up. Advance word is very good on this one as well. I'll tackle these and post reviews after.

This was an experience to be certain. Jeff, our assistant manager, let me borrow it and I finally got around to watching it. It concerns a hidden subculture in which men run websites around overweight girls. They are the "feeders", the girls are the "gainers" and bets are taken on when these girls will die. A cop in Australia finds one such guy in America and heads out to stop him. It's a taut, unnerving film that I only recommend if you know that it's certainly unlike anything you've ever seen.

And now the long-awaited jury duty story...gather round children of the world for here goes...

I checked the Chatham County Juror website every night at 5:45, hoping to not get called. But lo and behold, Tuesday night mine was called: 528. So I arrived at the courthouse at 8:30, fifteen minutes early. I'd been through this before and took a seat in the jury assembly room on the second floor. I read the book I'd brought (Off Season by Jack Ketchum) and waited. The jury services lady told us that both cases that were being tried were criminal trials. We had The Travel Channel on a screen behind her for the most part. She gave us a ten-minute break after supplying us with our juror stickers. One group had their numbers written in pink marker, others in brown. I was one of the brown group. The pink marker crowd went up to the fourth floor; I'm unaware of their fate.

We were told that we'd be going into Judge Karpf's courtroom. We were led into the courtroom, where I noticed that I knew one of the bailiffs. He waved at me and smiled and I returned the favor. Twelve of us potential jurors were already in the jury box; the rest of us took seats in the gallery. The judge came in at that time. The defendant, a young black male, sat with his attorney. A blond female, presumably the prosecutor, was seated ahead of them. They all kept glancing back at us, sizing us up as we all know.

Judge Karpf told us about how important us showing up was and thanked us immensely. He was talking about the process of jury selection when a loud knock could be heard at a door attached to an alcove near the judge. A bailiff handed Judge Karpf a note written on paper from a legal pad. The judge said that he suspects he'd have to deal with a juror's issue, as there was another jury deep in their third day of deliberation on another case. If that happened, we'd have to go back to the jury assembly room and wait. He continued telling us about what was going to happen and, in a very cool move, said that even if we're not selected by no means does that mean we cannot stay. He added that our legal system is transparent and all courtrooms are open for the public....and that he'd really appreciate the company! ;) Judge Karpf then said that he doesn't labor under any false illusions that people would want to stay to watch -- just that he'd appreciate it, as it gets awfully boring in the courtroom! He was a really cool guy (maybe not if you're charged with a crime) with a great sense of humor and personality.

He surmised correctly. We were lead back to the jury assembly room, where the jury services lady forgot to turn The Travel Channel back on. The room was cool and it was still 11-something in the morning. Snores were abundant and I almost fell victim to slumber as well. Luckily, I had my book. She came back in and turned the TV back on. We were in there for about 30-35 minutes. The lady returned then, turning off the TV. She said the judge had something to tell us. He then entered, along with a bailiff. Judge Karpf said, "Unfortunately sometimes these things happen when we try to juggle too many things on one plate. We were making an attempt to try two cases at once. I had to pause to deal with one juror's concern on the other case when the case you were going to try was plea bargained." He said that the defense attorney had met with him and a deal was struck. The case involved a young man who approached a woman at a Garden City shopping center. He told her that he had several XBox video games he'd be willing to sell her at a severely discounted rate -- for about $140. They went to his car, she produced the money, and he took off with it. There was a camera in the parking lot and he was caught. He entered a plea and the judge accepted, so he got five years -- two served, three on probation. Judge Karpf thanked us for our service and told us we were free to go.

So no more jury duty for me -- until January 2008 at the earliest.

And now onto more musings from me...

A couple of books I'm eager to pick up...

I've yet to decide what I want to buy with my $10 juror check. I was planning on picking up the 1990 Bill Murray comedy (which he co-directed) Quick Change on DVD. It's his best movie and you need to see it immediately if you haven't. I still might although I would like to pick up a new book.

I spent several evenings in the company of two friends, Zach and Amanda. We just hung out and watched TV. A very cool time was had by all. Neither has seen Quick Change. I have it on VHS but cannot find it anywhere. I tore my room apart looking for it, to no avail, so I think I'll get that at Best Buy tomorrow. I need it for my DVD collection anyway.

Tomorrow the Fox Searchlight film Little Miss Sunshine will begin playing here in Savannah at Carmike Cinemas Wynnsong 11. I've been waiting for this film. It was directed by the husband-and-wife directing team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. The duo has directed tons of music videos over the decades and along with Kevin Kerslake, Mark Pellington, David Fincher, Mark Romanek, and Spike Jonze, really helped define MTV during the early '90s. Their debut film has garnered terrific critical acclaim. I look forward to seeing it, especially Steve Carell's performance.

Well I've blathered tons for now. More later. Now, I'm off to view the films from Netflix, watch a little TiVo, and just relax and try to enjoy the last vestiges of my paid vacation. Check back closer to Sunday for my Emmy picks. And don't forget...THE MAN himself...Conan O'Brien is hosting...click the below banner to be taken to NBC's Emmys site.

rain falls against the windowpane...

2006-08-24T13:44:00.000-05:00

Wow...where the hell have I been, huh?

Well, I'm off until Monday, as I had to cash in the very last bit of paid vacation time because I'd lose it in September and ALSO because I had jury duty this week. More on that in a bit.

I also spent several evenings in the company of two friends, Zach and Amanda. We saw Snakes On A Plane Friday; I then saw it again with my mother last Saturday (thank you connections). It's mindless fun and worth watching only if you're in the company of a crowd. It's definite audience participation material.

I received the following from Netflix last Friday...

and...

post to be continued later today as there's quite the hellacious thunderstorm outside.

some people just don't get it...

2006-08-15T03:07:00.000-05:00

Need New Army Recruits? Please Don't Ask At A Video Store....

I posted the above diary at Daily Kos. It's a record of what transpired Monday morning at work. It's a very interesting read.

2006-08-10T04:05:00.000-05:00

1995 was a good year...

for music, for it gave us The Rentals. Former Weezer bass player Matt Sharp's band combines unique, somewhat dissonant melodies with Moog synthesizers and hell any other instrument you can think of. Expect a new album from The Rentals in 2007. For now enjoy their hit song "Friends Of P." from their debut album Return Of (The Rentals).

you need some brilliance...

2006-08-06T04:37:00.000-05:00

September cannot come quick enough, as that is when Capitol Records will release Sean Lennon's sophomore album Friendly Fire. I'm a big fan of his 1998 debut album Into The Sun and I cannot wait to delve into his latest offering. Above you'll find a promo video for said album, with clips interspersed from music videos shot for every song on Friendly Fire.

today...my horror thirst is slaked...

2006-08-06T03:55:00.000-05:00

Much has been written of director Neil Marshall's (Dog Soldiers) latest film, that it's a return to form for the often-maligned medium known as horror films and that The Descent is a taut exercise in claustrophobia. I can't wait to find out at 5 o'clock today. An employee of the theatre I'll be seeing it at came into work tonight (I worked 5-close Saturday) and said that he felt like he needed an oxygen tank afterwards, as the film was intense. Now that's a rave review.

I'm off today.

The Scoop review is forthcoming and I'll try to tackle Eureka ASAP as well.

Over at DailyKos.com Markos and the gang have really done a bang-up job at following the Connecticut Senate race. I hope Ned Lamont receives the Democratic nomination but I'm afraid Joe "I'm a lobbyist whore who should register as a Republican" Lieberman might garner some muster. Even if he loses the bid, the asshole that Lieberman is plans to run as an Independent, effectively hurting the Democrats in the fall midterm elections. Check out Matt Taibbi's latest "Road Rage" article in this newest issue of Rolling Stone; it's a kick-ass piece that details why Lieberman is a totally clueless fuckhead who's only in it for himself and his inside-the-Beltway lobbyist sugar daddies...

Lieberman: Bush's Favorite Democrat

And now it's bedtime, for I'll not sleep the day away yet again.

2006-08-01T05:03:00.000-05:00

U.S. Vs. John Lennon Trailer

Fucking amazing.
I cannot wait to see this. Now if only Bush and his ilk could see the forest for the trees. Unfortunately that'll never happen as they're all too delusional.

Last December, I made my thoughts known on Lennon's assassination.

My John Lennon Post

expect a review of this very soon...

2006-07-31T23:33:00.000-05:00

THIS is my most anticipated fall series. I've procured the 55-minute pilot; they added a few things since it was shot, as the episode that debuts on September 25th is 72 minutes long. This series is about ordinary people who wake up one day with incredible powers.

The official site is heroes.nbc.com

The "Official Unofficial Fan Site" is 9thwonders.com

And there's another fan site at heroes-forum.com

I have to work tonight from 8PM-12AM and then do inventory from midnight until 5AM. Thankfully I'm off Wednesday.

And now, a lovely snack of peanut butter and banana sandwiches and some TiVo time.

just started this novel...

2006-07-31T21:06:00.000-05:00

Touchstone Pictures will release the film version of this in limited release October 20. It was co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan. It stars Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, and Michael Caine.

The trailer is here --
The Prestige Trailer

I'm only three chapters in but it's pretty darn good so far and I'm intrigued to see Nolan's take on the material.

And a quick stop at Google will allow you to discover that Heath Ledger has been cast as The Joker in the upcoming Batman Begins sequel, now titled The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan will again direct, from a script written by his brother Jonathan and a story by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. Christian Bale will reprise his role as The Caped Crusader. No other casting details are available as of yet. The film will begin shooting early next year. I'm not quite sold on Ledger as The Clown Prince of Crime but I trust Nolan emphatically.

James Berardinelli's review of Neil Marshall's new horror film The Descent really has me geeked out. I was already highly antcipating this movie, as I really loved his previous film Dog Soldiers. The advance word is that this is a claustrophobic nightmare of maddening intensity and I can't wait to see it.

Expect a review of Woody Allen's Scoop fairly soon. I was able to see an advance screening early Friday AM (about 2AM) but got so busy with various other things I haven't had a chance to get that done. It's not as good as Match Point but it's still a pretty fun movie. I watched the amazing Nicole Holofcener's Friends With Money last night. It won't be out on DVD until the 29th but it's seven shades of cool and good and really brilliant cinema, despite an ending that has a small contrivance.

And in severely fucked news, I got a jury summons. I have to call the weekend prior to the week of August 21st to see if I'm called. Hopefully they won't call me but if history has taught me anything it's that I'm always fucking called for this and always get picked. Last time I showed my ass and pissed the judge off. I'll be a good boy this time, no doubt; I just don't want to be picked to be on the damn jury. I'll keep you posted.

Coming soon from Netflix...

Great critical acclaim has been thrown this film's way. I aim to discover it for myself. I also have The Libertine and Tsotsi from Netflix that I need to watch.

I procured this from work today as well. It was filmed in 2001 and although it's a loose remake of Jacques Tourneur's classic 1943 horror film I Walked With A Zombie, several online horror sites have said it's a fine little unpretentious horror flick.

As I'm typing this, VH1 Classic is currently airing the first 24 hours of MTV's existence, as it is now officially the 25th anniversary of MTV, despite what my blog post time stamp might say. (It's currently a few minutes past 12AM Tuesday morning now) Why isn't this airing on MTV, you might ask? Simple. The teens that watch it are too wrapped up in fucking bullshit like Laguna Beach and TRL to know anything about MTV's origin. I say fuck that and they should just air it on MTV anyway. Fuck those little snot-nosed brats. In any case, I'm about to rock out to "Video Killed The Radio Star" by The Buggles.

2006-07-30T00:15:00.000-05:00

Pearl Jam - Here's To The State Of Mississippi

Beautiful song reimagined by the always amazing Pearl Jam. This song is powerful, soul-searing, and oh so true.

live what you believe...

2006-07-29T22:39:00.000-05:00

In 1994, writer/director Kevin Smith broke onto the cinema scene with a caustic yet brilliantly original take on the trials and tribulations of what it meant to be twenty-something and working-class. Five movies later, Smith returns to his roots with Clerks II. Many sequels are borne of monetary obligation and suffer drastically from idealistic bean-counters whose main concern is not whether the film they're making is substansive, it's whether or not enough tie-in plastic cups are sold at Burger King. And yet as Smith's sequel will no doubt make considerable coin, he's embued his film with pathos and warmth. It's there, in between the raunch and vulgarity.

Twelve years after we left counter jockeys Dante Hicks and Randal Graves, we return to New Jersey. Since their previous place of employment went up in flames, the two are now slaves to the fast food grind at the Disney-themed fast food restaurant Mooby's. Becky (played wonderfully by Rosario Dawson), their manager, may have a thing for Dante yet he's planning to head to Florida with his fiance, Emma (Jennifer Schwalbach, Kevin Smith's wife). Randal's still his smart-ass, sarcastic-to-the-nth-degree self, and Jay and Silent Bob are still dealing, yet they're no longer using thanks to a stint in rehab. Trevor Fuhrman is new to the equation, playing a young Fundamentalist Christian Mooby's employee who Randal loves to torment.

Kevin Smith has become a media entity in and of himself. Yet his presence in the public eye tends to dilute the most overlooked fact about him: the man can *WRITE*. With Clerks II, he deftly blends the characters we know with a statement that rings very true. The main characters in the film are in their mid-thirties. Smith asks the question: do we grab the brass ring and step forward or do we do something that, while not particularly glamorous career-wise, makes us truly happy? In its very essence Clerks II holds the mirror up to its audience and allows them to reflect on what is to come, which is in their hands.

Some may denounce or dismiss the bawdy nature of some of the elements in the film but that's trademark Smith. This film is not Wedding Crashers. It's not Date Movie. It's wholly original and takes steps that other scripted-by-committee comedies wouldn't, mainly advancing the fate of the characters into different areas.

Clerks II is also a treat for those of us who've followed Smith's View Askewniverse, with cameos from many alums from his other films.

All in all, Clerks II is the best film of the summer. While achingly funny, it also manages to have a very big heart that beats with a rhythm and style that brings real emotion and tenderness to the fore, with caustic yet believable dialogue that only Kevin Smith-scripted characters can deliver. No matter what, it's a film that could have been a disaster. Those out there worried that this was a lame cash-in, worry not. Instead Clerks II is a delight and one that delivers on the hype and then some.

tonight....

2006-07-21T03:43:00.000-05:00

I'll be seeing this at 7PM tonight, with the husband of one of my co-workers. He's a Kevin Smith fan. She unfortunately cannot attend, as she has to work tonight. I've been excited to see this for over a year now and finally the day is at hand! I'll be using the free ticket I earned thanks to Regal Entertainment Group's Crown Club Card, which accumulates your box-office purchases as points, which are then redeemable for concession items and movie tickets. By the way, head over to http://www.silentbobspeaks.com. It chronicles the recent Kevin Smith/Joel Siegel dust-up. It's pretty funny. I agree - don't fucking make a scene if you walk out of a theater while the movie's still playing.

TiVo has amassed a treasure trove of TV for me. I hope/plan to get through as much of it as humanly possible ASAP.

Apple has posted the trailers for Alfonso Cuaron's Children Of Men and TMNT, respectively. Check those out here - http://www.apple.com/trailers
(And yes, TMNT is indeed an acronym for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". And yes, my by-then 25-year-old ass will be parked in a theater seat come March 30th, 2007 to see it.)
Someone online stated that the sci-fi drama/romance The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Hugh Jackman and Aronofsky's girlfriend Rachel Weisz (who just gave birth to their son recently) debuts its first full trailer in front of M. Night Shyamalan's Lady In The Water this weekend. I hope it's online soon, as The Fountain and Danny Boyle's upcoming sci-fi flick Sunshine are my two most heavily anticipated sci-fi films. As for Lady In The Water, I'll see it before it leaves theatres. The reviews have not just been bad -- they're downright atrocious. Only time will tell, however. My Super Ex-Girlfriend looks funny and anything starring Rainn Wilson (who's hilarious as Dwight Schrute on NBC's The Office) automatically garners my attention. I just don't know if I'll be able to see it in the theater so it'll probably be a decent DVD rental in the near future.

Alright rambly bits are over. Time to hit the hay, navigating through TiVo before I do so. I know I'm Broken Record Man when it comes to this (reviewing movies in a timely fashion) but expect my Clerks II review sometime this weekend. I also plan to start reviewing more movies on here. ALOT more movie reviews. Hell, that was part of the reason I started this damn blog two years ago! Plus I think TV reviews are in order as well. I've still got SCI FI's new series EUReKA to watch (the pilot) so I'll get that review posted this weekend also.

adjectives lose all meaning...

2006-07-14T03:25:00.000-05:00

In the 1980s, films described as "family" or "children's" films were not mainly timewasters meant to keep the little ones engaged while Mom and Dad traipsed off to see something else at the theater or to make dinner. Nope. Instead, talented writers and directors used the medium to present films that articulated intelligent and well-written dialogue that was enjoyable for the entire family, not a mere segment. It mattered not if the film was animated or live-action -- more often than not what you got was quality. Films like Wolfgang Petersen's The Neverending Story, Richard Donner's The Goonies, and Richard Franklin's Cloak & Dagger all gave us characters we could relate to and situations we either would love to be in or would wonder how we'd get out of them ourselves.

Director Gil Kenan and his writers, Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab, and Pamela Pettler, have crafted an unbelievably original yet wholly reminiscent tale of a domicile gone demonic. Monster House, the latest animated offering from Sony (and the first to successfully use motion capture animation), allows us to recall what it meant to be twelve and in those akward years of uncertainty and yet still clinging somewhat to our sense of child-like wonder. In the film, DJ, a young boy, and his best friend, Chowder, are afraid of Mr. Nebbercracker, the cantankerous old man whose house is rotting from the inside it seems. He hates children, especially when they get on his lawn. After Chowder's basketball accidentally rolls onto the old man's lawn, DJ tries to retrieve it. But Mr. Nebbercracker grabs DJ and yells at him, inciting a heart attack which kills the old man instantly. DJ feels responsible for the man's death. But soon thereafter, the boys notice that the house is...ALIVE...and will eat anything that crosses its path. The two buddies decide that they must do something and so, after enlisting the help of Jenny, a girl who goes to the nearby prep school, the trio set about enacting a plan to prevent the house from devouring anything or anyone else in their suburban neighborhood.

Kudos must be given to the animators. The motion-capture animation done in The Polar Express was pedestrian at best. Monster House remedies that with lush, vibrant colors and attention to detail that has to be seen to be believed. These characters are some of the best that have ever been created for this format, bar none. But the animation would be nothing without the actors, of course. Steve Buscemi is excellent as Mr. Nebbercracker, while Maggie Gyllenhaal is dead-on as DJ's wanna-be rocker chick babysitter Zee. Jason Lee shows up for a bit as well, in a funny bit as Zee's loser rocker boyfriend Bones. And Napoleon Dynamite star Jon Heder is inspired as the sage movie and comic book geek the kids look to for advice. However, the movie belongs to Mitchel Musso, Sam Lerner, and Spencer Locke as DJ, Chowder, and Jenny Brewster, respectively. These three actors embue their roles with wit, warmth, and genuine presence that is a refreshing change of pace from the vanilla characterizations alot of animated films have featured over recent years.

Many films this summer will offer overbaked scripts written by committee or explosions and catchphrases instead of smart well-defined characters. With Monster House, one of the best films of the summer, the viewer will remember what childhood was all about and how it made us who we are. The film also provides a savvy yet brilliant treatise on how the world seemed full of adventure and magic and was a sea of endless possibilities, just waiting for us to grasp them and make them our own. Except this time...well, the adventure is real....it's a giant house....and it's mad as hell.

There will be sneak previews of Monster House this Saturday - check your local listings for showtimes; the film opens nationwide July 21st.

currently reading and surfing and watching and musing....

2006-07-02T06:08:00.000-05:00

I've been living at DreadCentral.com lately. I've also been making good use of Netflix as of late and have been making an attempt at clearing space on TiVo by watching things in a timely manner. It's a work in progress, really, but it's better than nothing.

I just saw Spaced a little while ago. BBC America's been running it. It's from the minds of Simon Pegg and Jessica Stephenson. Pegg is best known for co-scripting the 2004 rom zom com (that's "romantic zombie comedy" for those uninitiated out there) Shaun Of The Dead and alot of the cast from that film is in Spaced. It's really funny and full of pop culture references. I saw the first three episodes and it airs Fridays at 11PM Eastern on BBC America.

I saw Superman Returns Friday afternoon. A review *is* forthcoming; suffice it to say that I loved this film and thought it was even better than the Donner films.

Blade: The Series debuted on Spike TV last Wednesday at 10PM Eastern. It's pretty good and I'm looking forward to where David S. Goyer and his team take this. Alot of print and online media trashed it but I think they'd already made their minds up that this wasn't the movies so by its very nature it is somehow inferior. No matter -- I loved it and the TiVo Season Pass is set. Blade: The Series also set a Spike TV viewership record, with 2.5 million viewers tuning in. It was also the #1 cable series last week with Men 18-34 and 18-49. I hope the viewer retention is huge from week to week. I want them to renew this sucker (no pun intended)

And since I've been in a vampire mood as of late, I ventured out to Barnes & Noble on Saturday with my mother. We procured the first three books in the Charlaine Harris "Dead/"Southern Vampire"/"Sookie Stackhouse" series...

and

I'm twenty pages removed from finishing the first and then I'll be diving right into the second one (during my lunch break; I have to work 9-5 today). Mrs. Harris's characterizations and flavor make for an excellent read.

More talk of the horror films I've viewed recently (thank you Netflix...they were quite good) and other exciting minutae will follow later today once I've returned from work...

sorry about the delay...

2006-06-26T20:12:00.000-05:00

Head on over to DreadCentral.com for really lively discussion of all things horror. You see those astute readers out there may remember my geeky ramblings about The Horror Channel. Click here to revisit them.

Well last weekend, the entire writing staff and tech team from horrorchannel.com bolted, in a sign of no confidence to the CEO, Nicholas Psaltos. They'd been strung along under false pretenses about where the channel was going. The CEO wants the "channel" to be broadband, online only, and freaked out when rumors started swirling. He fired a gentleman who goes by the board name Uncle Creepy and with that firing, the entire web staff resigned in a show of solidarity. So the news, review, and message board section of the site is back in the hands of Dread Central, the site that merged with THC a while back. It's a really nice atmosphere, with really cool people with wicked senses of humor.

I also have a Myspace page now -- http://www.myspace.com/blackmarketwit
Don't worry the eleven nobodies that read this site -- my blog's not going anywhere.

I saw The Hills Have Eyes, Kairo (Pulse), Night Watch, and Transamerica recently. All were very good. Kairo will be released as an American remake by The Weinstein Company this September, starring Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars fame.

Up next on the 'ol Netflix queue: Intruder, a slasher flick from 1988 co-starring Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi and Bruce Campbell, I, Madman, about a girl who loves pulp novels and then her life starts mirroring the latest one she's read, and Alone In The Dark, a Jack Sholder-directed horror film about inmates in an asylum and their doctor. The lights go out and mayhem ensues...it stars Donald Pleasance, Martin Landau, and Jack Palance.

As usual, TiVo is stuffed to the gills....*really stuffed*

I purchased the following items today...

2006-06-17T01:49:00.000-05:00

Alright, well make that yesterday, by now.....

(In a move that really makes me applaud and give kudos to them, Warner Independent Pictures has made it known on their official website for the film version of A Scanner Darkly that Savannah WILL be getting the movie on August 4th! Now if only *other* arthouse distributors - Focus Features, Sony Pictures Classics, Paramount Classics/Paramount Vantage, Fox Searchlight, et al, I'm looking at you - would take the same initiative. Al Gore's global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth is supposed to go wide next Friday; we'd BETTER get it. There's simply no reason why ten and eleven screen theaters need to only be playing FIVE FUCKING MOVIES. I don't care how good Nacho Libre or Cars is; open up one or two screens for other, smaller films. Yes, I know they don't rake in the big $$$ but throw us film cineastes a bone once in a while, for crying out loud!)

But I digress. Back to the list of today's/yesterday's procurements...

and...

and...

I've very much been looking forward to reading the aforementioned item; the albums are icing on the cake. I mulled over either getting A Scanner Darkly or Chuck Klosterman's Sex, Drugs, & Cocoa Puffs: A Low-Culture Manifesto. I was uncertain but after seeing the other pop-culture laden tomes he's written and remembering the witty anecdotes I read from the offering I mentioned just now, I think I'll be picking up everything he's ever written. I still have to finish Joe R. Lansdale's Sunset and Sawdust.

It's a really good read and Lansdale artfully embues the setting with the sad, wistful feelings of early 20th-century Texas living and the rampant racism and sexism that went along with it; sadly alot of that is still prevalent in this century.

Today Netflix will bestow upon me the 1996 Reb Brown film about a Hispanic maid who gets a thrill out of cleaning crime scenes. A serial killer is on the loose in Miami (played by Stephen Baldwin) and she may just get too close for comfort. I'll also get Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic, the film version of the comedy show she did last year.

I saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang last night. Shane Black deftly blended film noir with impeccable comic timing to provide a very funny yet very dark tale of intrigue, violence, corpses, and a severed finger. It's a really cool film with really smart banter and good dialogue. Give it a spin if you get the chance. Firewall was good, with Paul Bettany making a really slimy villain. I really hope Netflix receives Kiss Kiss Bang Bang in a manner that allows my next title to be The Hills Have Eyes (2006). Everything that I've read touts that it's miles above the remake and that French director Alexander Aja (the amazing High Tension) really made a terrifying horror film.

Last Sunday I got a haircut. A major haircut. Buzz cut. It's quite disconcerting, as as long as I can remember I've never had my hair this short. It's taken some getting used to (and many of our regular customers at work can't believe it).

TiVo beckons. But first, some bedtime reading. Bed will most certainly soon follow. I went to bed about 6:15 Friday morning and didn't wake up until 3:30PM. I really don't feel like sleeping Saturday away.

also, a new channel emerges...and I have rediscovered my love affair with...

2006-06-05T15:10:00.000-05:00

I was very excited to receive this channel. I'm mainly viewing it for Knight Rider and they're replaying the cancelled-before-its-time Karen Sisco. I may also sample The Equalizer as well. They've also been running several decent movies but, as the channel is in its infancy, the schedule repeats itself each day. I sincerely hope NBC Universal doesn't start throwing any of the Law & Order franchise onto Sleuth. There's enough of that damn show elsewhere.

SLEUTH, an NBC Universal Cable digital suite of networks launched in first quarter 2006, is the premier entertainment cable channel dedicated to the popular crime/mystery/suspense genre, 24/7. SLEUTH features exclusive crime and mystery programming from NBC Universal's extensive collection of feature films, classic television shows, reality series and documentaries, from Miami Vice and Homicide: Life On The Streets to Scarface and Casino. The unique Sleuth digital suite will include video on demand (VOD) content and a high-definition (HD) simulcast. To uncover more, visit: www.sleuthchannel.com.

Our local NBC affiliate here in Savannah, WSAV has been doing something really cool. In honor of their 50th anniversary, they're airing "Golden Anniversary Theater" in which personalities from the station intro classic series that have run on the station in the past. Since the shows they've featured so far have been in black and white, so are the intros. They'd been airing Abbott and Costello but last night I was very happy to see them air The Addams Family! Since TV Land just stopped airing the series, I've been jonesing for an Addams Family fix. They're also holding a voting contest at WSAV.com for which episode they should play next. Apparently The Addams Family aired Saturdays at 6PM in 1964 on WSAV, as back then Savannah did not have a true ABC affiliate so WSAV took up the slack in that department.

Of all of the series not yet available on DVD, The Addams Family would be my #1 pick to put out on DVD. They should load it with any deleted scenes, screen tests, making-of anecdotes, hell they could even throw in the Halloween movie if the rights allow it. And a John Astin commentary is a must; Lisa Loring & Ken Weatherwax should also be allowed to record a commentary. Sony would make a mint on this thing if it was properly promoted and loaded with special features.

Wow...it appears that the official DVD release will be happening in October; conveniently October 31st falls on a Tuesday this year, the normal street date for all DVDs. Cool!

I was up earlier this morning and realized that Boomerang is airing the 1992 animated series The Addams Family weekday mornings at 7AM. I set a Season Pass for that. It only lasted 21 episodes. It's funny but as a child, we always assume there were 300 episodes of the animated series we loved when the opposite is usually the case.

Nap time is coming around the corner.

After tendering a partial payment of my balance at work, I procured the screener DVD of this...

Reviews were lukewarm at best when it was released to arthouse theatres earlier this year but with that cast involved, I figure it's worth a look. A co-worker of mine said it was excellent.

Now, sleep and then perhaps I'll finally screen Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

IT'S OFFICIAL! YEAH!!! :)

2006-06-05T14:54:00.000-05:00

I can safely say that I'll be setting a Season Pass on the good old TiVo for this!!! I am so excited! :)

+

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Press Release:

Pee-wee's Playhouse Makes TV Return on Adult Swim July 10
By Matthew Williams
06-05-2006, 10:34 AM
Pee-wee's Playhouse Makes TV Return on Adult Swim July 10
Emmy-Winning Series Returns to Air Monday-Thursday at 11 p.m. (ET, PT) 20 Years after its Debut

Pee-wee's Playhouse, the winner of an astounding 22 Emmy Awards and a pop culture touchstone nearly 20 years after its debut, returns to TV, joining the [adult swim] lineup beginning Monday, July 10. The acclaimed series, which has been largely absent from the airwaves for nearly 15 years, stars Paul Reubens as his alter-ego Pee-wee Herman, and features a rich cast of characters who drop by "the place where anything can happen."

[adult swim], Cartoon Network's late night sister network featuring animation and other programming aimed at adults 18-34, will air the groundbreaking series Monday-Thursday at 11 p.m. (ET, PT), airing all 45 original half-hour episodes of the series and the rarely-seen Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. Many of the episodes have not been seen on TV since the original Saturday-morning run of Pee-wee's Playhouse.

In the series, Pee-wee, dressed in his too-small gray suit and red bowtie, welcomes a cavalcade of characters to his playhouse, including the King of Cartoons, Cowboy Curtis, Miss Yvonne, Pteri the Pterodactyl, Randy (the resident trouble-starter), Captain Carl, Jambi the genie, nosey neighbor Mrs. Rene, and Reba the mail lady. Other inhabitants of Pee-wee's Playhouse include Pee-wee's talking chair, Chairry, Globey the Globe, Magic Screen, Conky the Robot, hipster-beatniks Chickie Baby, Cool Cat and Dirty Dog, Cowntess the cow and the family of miniature dinosaurs that live in a mouse hole inside a wall. Each fast-paced episode blends live-action, puppets and all different types of animation including vintage cartoons, stop-motion Penny segments and Spanish superhero El Hombre. Plus there's always a lesson or two.

Pee-wee's Playhouse originally aired Saturday mornings on CBS, beginning on Sept. 13, 1986. The cast includes Phil Hartman, Laurence Fishburne, S. Epatha Merkerson and Natasha Lyonne. The series won a remarkable 22 Emmy Awards during its original run. Since then, Pee-wee's Playhouse has attained iconic status. In 2004, TV Guide named the show one of the top-ten cult classics of all time. A hugely successful 2004 DVD release brought all 45 original Saturday morning episodes, including eight "lost" episodes, plus the classic Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, to new generations of fans. Gary Panter, famed painter, punk rock illustrator and comic book artist won three Emmys for his work as the show's production designer. Musicians who scored episodes of Pee-wee's Playhouse include Mark Mothersbaugh, Dweezil Zappa, George Clinton, Stanley Clark and Danny Elfman.

"I'd say this was a dream come true," said Paul Reubens in Hollywood, California, "but I never dared to dream The Playhouse would join [adult swim]'s amazing line-up of cool shows! Well, maybe I did dream of it a couple of times. OK, it's a dream come true!"

"We're all huge fans of Pee-wee's Playhouse and we're really happy that it will be a part of [adult swim]," said Mike Lazzo, Cartoon Network senior vice president of programming and production, responsible for [adult swim].

Paul Reubens created the Pee-wee Herman character in 1978 while a member of the famed L.A.-based improv group The Groundlings. It rapidly grew into a cultural phenomenon. In 1981, he sold out five consecutive months of performances of "The Pee-we Herman Show" at the Roxy Theatre in L.A. HBO taped the show for its On Location series and Pee-wee was introduced to a national audience. His sold-out 22-city national tour in 1984 included Carnegie Hall. The 1985 movie Pee-wee's Big Adventure, co-written by Reubens and directed by Tim Burton, was a commercial and critical success, which led to the series Pee-wee's Playhouse and the 1988 movie Big Top Pee-wee.

Since that time, Reubens has acted in film and television, earning an Emmy nomination for his recurring role on TV's Murphy Brown and garnering critical acclaim in Ted Demme's Blow, where he joined a cast including Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Franka Potente. He stars with Lukas Haas, James King and Thomas Jane in David Arquette's directorial-debut slasher film, The Tripper, and next can be seen in the upcoming feature Reno 911! Miami. His voice can be heard in many films, including Dr. Dolittle, Teacher's Pet- The Movie, Rugrats and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Pee-wee's Playhouse joins the [adult swim] lineup that already includes top-rated original comedies such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Boondocks, Robot Chicken and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law; acquired series Family Guy, Futurama and American Dad; and action/animé series like InuYasha, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex and Samurai Champloo. [adult swim] remains the #1 ad-supported basic cable network among young adult viewers, ranking in April 2006 as the top cable network in delivery of its target demos, adults 18-34, adults 18-24, men 18-34 and men 18-24, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

[adult swim] (AdultSwim.com), launched in 2001, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.'s network offering original and acquired animated comedy and action series for young adults. Airing overnights six days a week for a total of 45 hours weekly, [adult swim] shares channel space with Cartoon Network, home to the best in original, classic and acquired programming for children and families, and is seen in 89 million U.S. homes.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and the leading provider of programming for the basic cable industry.

it's monday...

2006-06-05T09:48:00.000-05:00

And so begins my week-long PAID vacation. I meant to sleep...however I owe an exorbitant amount of moolah at work so I'll be dropping off a payment at work today (boss lady said I had to pay *her*). I was afraid I'd sleep too late, as her time leaving work varies sometimes.

I'm sort of mega pissed. I was all excited to see Underworld: Evolution and Firewall via Netflix. Yet they decided to let me know Saturday they'd be shipping Bad Dreams and the Maria Bello horror film The Dark (from Ginger Snaps director John Fawcett). I mean, I wanted to see these films, no doubt about it. Yet it irked me. Plus, I was checking out scheduling on TiVo when lo and behold...guess what's on one of the HBO channels in about a week or so? Bad Dreams! Oh well. I still have the film Yes and I'll probably drop that at the post office later today.

And in potentially incredible news, [adult swim] dropped what may be a big bombshell late last night...

Last night during [adult swim] several bumps showed a black screen, then a blurry phrase that slowly came into focus as...

REMEMBER THIS?

Then hula-sounding music and sounds of nature could be heard., followed by the words...

COMING JULY 10TH

To the discerning ear, one could immediately recognize the beginning of Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

Could the gang at Williams Street be joking? Or does this signal the return of one of the best shows ever created to television? It's been so long since I've seen the show so it'd be cool to revisit it again.

And hell, if Family Guy and Futurama can return, I'd love to see Paul Reubens have a career resurgence once the show starts airing again.

Then again only time will tell. I know I'll be waiting with baited breath.

___________________________________________________________

I plan to do the aforementioned things then come home and sleep, sleep, sleep. Then I'll get up, clean my room, eat, and watch Mr. Smith Goes To Washington which I TiVoed off of Turner Classic Movies yesterday.

More awesomely excellent news follows...

From HalloweenMovies.com

DIMENSION FILMS TO MAKE NEW HALLOWEEN FILM;
AUTEUR FILMMAKER ROB ZOMBIE TO WRITE AND DIRECT

Trancas International Films to Produce
Along With Rob Zombie and Andy Gould

NEW YORK, NEW YORK (June 4, 2006) Dimension Films is proud to announce that they will make a new Halloween movie with Rob Zombie (The Devil's Rejects, House of 1000 Corpses) writing, directing and serving as a producer. Malek Akkad of Trancas International Films (Halloween H20: 20 Years Later) will produce the feature along with Andy Gould of Vision Entertainment Group (The Devil's Rejects, House of 1000 Corpses). Zombie will also serve as music supervisor on the film. Miramax Films will co-finance the development with Dimension Films. The announcement was made today by The Weinstein Company co-chairman, Bob Weinstein.

Zombie's vision of this film is an entirely new take on the legend and will satisfy fans of the classic Halloween legacy while beginning a new chapter in the Michael Myers saga. This new movie will not only appeal to horror fans, but to a wider movie-going audience as well. It will not be a copycat of any prior films in the Halloween franchise. The film is set for an October 2007 theatrical release.

Bob Weinstein stated, "Rob Zombie is a gifted musician and performer as well as a talented filmmaker. His vision for this new Halloween is spectacular and I am thrilled to be collaborating with him and to work closely with Malek Akkad to continue the legacy built by his father, the late Moustapha Akkad."

Zombie said, "I have been a huge, huge fan of John Carpenter's original film since its release. So when Bob Weinstein approached me about this, I jumped at the chance to join forces with Dimension Films on this amazing project."

The Halloween story began with the 1978 release of John Carpenter's Halloween executive produced by the late Moustapha Akkad, founder of Trancas International Films and became the highest grossing independent film of the time. Moustapha Akkad's son, Malek, is now taking some of the reigns on this new Halloween project to continue the outstanding work begun by his father. Malek Akkad stated, "Trancas is very excited to be working with Rob Zombie and producing another Halloween with Bob Weinstein and Dimension, the home of the franchise for the last three installments. It will be a fitting and worthy tribute to my late father."

"I am thrilled to be working again with Rob and with Dimension Films on such an iconic project that will reinvigorate Halloween and Michael Myers in a truly terrifying new way," stated Andy Gould, Rob Zombie's long time manager and producer of Zombie's two previous films.

Richard Saperstein, president of production, Matthew Stein, senior vice president of production and Alex Franklin, director of development and production will oversee the project on behalf of Dimension. Bret McCartney of Trancas International will oversee production on behalf of Trancas.

Andrew Kramer, executive vice president of business and legal affairs, and Lumumba Mosquera, senior vice president of business and legal affairs, negotiated on behalf of Dimension Films. Attorneys David Fox and Jeffrey Light of Myman Abell Fineman Greenspan & Light negotiated on behalf of Rob Zombie. Attorney Wayne Kazan of Weissmann Wolff Bergman Coleman & Silverman negotiated on behalf of Akkad. Rob Zombie is represented by Paradigm.

ABOUT ROB ZOMBIE

An auteur filmmaker and music artist with shrewd insight and creative vision, Rob Zombie challenges audiences as he stretches the boundaries of film, music and publishing.

Zombie is the longest active artist on Geffen Records and has sold in excess of fifteen million records. He is currently on a sold-out nationwide tour for his latest gold-selling album, "Educated Horses." which debuted at number five on the Billboard Top 200.

In 2000, Zombie jumped from music to film with his directorial debut and cult smash hit, House of 1000 Corpses. Due to the film success Zombie returned in 2004 to helm its follow up the critically acclaimed, The Devil's Rejects. Zombie was hailed by critics and fans alike as a visionary filmmaker due to the film's uncompromising and wildly inventive exploitive throw-back style.

Prior to House of 1000 Corpses, Zombie directed dozens of high profile music videos. In 1995 Zombie won an MTV Music Video Award for "More Human Than Human," becoming the first self-directed artist to win such an award.

Let me just say that I'm really excited about this. Zombie's first film wasn't great but he knocked it out of the park with The Devil's Rejects. Now if he can return The Shape to his quiet, brooding evil stalking self and return the Halloween franchise to a respectable place that marries suspense and terror to create a truly great horror film, it'll be really cool.

More later...

and so it goes...

2006-06-05T08:39:00.000-05:00

Well, let's face facts.

I could post the Fall 2006 TV schedules. But I'd just be regurgitating the various press releases available on numerous entertainment websites. Suffice it to say, I'll be sampling all of this fall's television offerings and offering my opinion as always.

This summer, there's a small amount of stuff to watch. USA Network will bring back its original series The 4400, SCI FI will debut Eureka, a new original series about a secret town, hidden by the government, that houses the most brilliant among us. Other new series include TNT's new offerings, Nightmares & Dreamscapes - From The Stories Of Stephen King and Saved
(about paramedics).

USA Network adds another notch in its "Characters Welcome" positioning statement with
Psych about a guy who pretends to be a psychic while working for a police department.

NBC's offering up the drama Windfall about a large group of friends who play the lottery and realize they must share the prize money.

NBC will also offer "webisodes" of The Office on NBC.com.

But what I'm most excited about this summer is...

Yep, Blade: The Series. It will debut with a two-hour pilot on June 28th at 10PM. The channel is SPIKE.

David S. Goyer, writer of all three Blade films and director of Blade: Trinity, serves as head writer and an executive producer of Blade: The Series. Kirk Jones, best known as "Sticky Fingaz" from the rap group Onyx, takes the role of Blade over from Wesley Snipes. I have faith in Goyer, as I'm a huge fan of his (hey, he co-wrote Dark City and co-wrote Batman Begins) and I'm quite anxious to see what he does with the material. Plus, I love the angle of one of the characters (Krista Starr played by Jill Wagner) - her brother was killed by the leader of a particular clan of vampires. Krista seeks vengeance but the vamp leader captures her and has her turned. Now, although she's become the very thing she hates, she teams up with Blade to help him fight the vampires.

The series has been sending out cryptic messages, in character, from one of the vampire clans - the House of Chthon. Their website is at http://www.houseofchthon.com and it's pretty cool the way they're treating the viral marketing so far. The official website for Blade: The Series is at http://blade.spiketv.com. Nothing's there just yet, save for a trailer for the series.

heading to bed...

2006-06-01T04:59:00.000-05:00

The old post I promised is on hold presently. I worked from 11:23-3:45 this morning. The reason? Inventory. Only rental and sell-thru so it was not too bad. I have to be in at 5 tomorrow so I'm going to hit the hay. More blogging goodness to follow...maybe if I can drag my lazy ass out of bed I may post before work. The promised post will have to follow after work tomorrow.

And now...sleep.

it's late...

2006-05-29T00:21:00.000-05:00

I was planning to post what I'd promised. Unfortunately, due to the lateness of the hour and the uncooperative nature of the blogging instruments I employ (let's just say that fonts, italics, and bold print are not behaving in a proper manner), my Fall 2006/what I'll be watching this summer post will have to be delayed until later today.

I misspoke...

2006-05-27T14:27:00.000-05:00

The best film of 2005 is NOT Munich but...

Seek this out. It is taut, unnerving, and unforgettable. It will be released on DVD June 27th by Sony Pictures Classics.

up next...

2006-05-27T03:27:00.000-05:00

I'm going to crash and watch some stuff on TiVo. Expect my analysis of what the networks are offering this fall, their schedules, and also what I'll be watching this summer. It should be up sometime either late tomorrow night or early Sunday morning.

Extremely Evil - How 20th Century Fox Killed The "X-Men" Movie Franchise

2006-05-27T02:16:00.000-05:00

In the summer of 2000, movie studio 20th Century Fox was all set to release the highly anticipated first film based on a Marvel Comics property, X-Men. One small problem - 20th Century Fox President Tom Rothman HATED it. The film, helmed by the acclaimed director of The Usual Suspects, Bryan Singer, had gone into production with less than half of its original budget. Its intended release date of early summer was pushed back to late July. Rothman wanted to bury the film and be confirmed in his belief that the property was nothing special.

Lo and behold! The vast amount of comic book fans and other sci-fi loving movie-goers responded in favor and rewarded X-Men with a big bang at the box office. Dollar signs mean sequel so one was developed immediately. No film company's president is going to badmouth a film while it's being created so Rothman was quiet -- but not for long.

Rumors swirled around the time filming started for X2: X-Men United. It was three years later but this time studio notes came fast and furious; Ain't It Cool News reported that Rothman kept wanting Storm and Wolverine to become a couple and various other reports stated that Rothman and his administration began to micro-manage Singer and his production team to the nth degree.

It's now early 2005. 20th Century Fox still had not signed Bryan Singer to direct a third X-Men installment, X3. Delay after delay after delay was becoming the norm. In the ensuing time, Alan Horn, an executive at Warner Brothers, holds a meeting with Singer to ask him if he'd be interested in developing and directing their long-stalled Superman film - no corporate over-the-shoulder glances or studio notes. Singer, a long-time Superman fan, would be allowed to use his own writers and production team. Singer wanted the film to be a sequel to Superman II. Horn and the executives at Warner Brothers were ecstatic with Bryan Singer's take. Both sides said yes and thus a deal was made. Once the news broke, Bryan extended an olive branch, stating that he'd love to return for a third X-Men film once he'd completed Superman Returns.

20th Century Fox did not take the news of Singer leaving the X-Men franchise well. Ain't It Cool News reported of guards escorting Singer off the Fox lot after he'd cleaned out his office -- only to have to let him right back in, as he is an executive producer on the hit FOX series House.

Panic-stricken, Fox made an interesting and cool choice. Chosen to succeed Singer to direct X3 was British director Matthew Vaughn, best known for his 2005 film Layer Cake. It seemed Fox was continuing in the tradition they'd followed when assembling the behind-the-scenes talent for the first film. Vaughn's first act was to hire Kelsey Grammer to play the hirsute yet intelligent Beast, a shrewd and logical casting move if ever there was one. Shortly after this, Vaughn opted out, citing he did not want to uproot his family from England to Vancouver for the shoot.

By this time it was almost August of 2005. Marvel CEO Avi Arad stated that the director they'd chosen would remain true to the intelligence that Bryan Singer's X-Men films had but bring his own style to the franchise and refresh the property to make the third film just as powerful as the first two.

The director chosen? None other than Brett Ratner. What has this man directed, you ask? Money Talks, Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2, The Family Man, Red Dragon, and After The Sunset. All loud garish films not known for strong character development or resonant storytelling. A reporter at the Hollywood premiere of Mr. & Mrs. Smith asked Tom Rothman if they think they should wait, develop the script a bit more, and mentioned the ever-quickening time between shooting and release; Rothman shrugged it off with a cheesy smile and said, "Nope. We're going out worldwide May 26th, 2006."

So...filming began. And then Rothman's true intentions were soon laid bare for all to see...

Halfway through production online media began reporting that all that Rothman had sought to do during Singer's tenure but was denied was now becoming a reality. Halle Berry wanted a much, much larger role or she'd walk. She was given it. Then all the cards were laid on the table. The film was retitled. No longer X3, the new title summed up Rothman's feelings quite succinctly - X-Men: The Last Stand. It was then abundantly clear that the third film was to be the end for the franchise.

Simon Kinberg was hired to help flesh the new script out (alongside Zak Penn, who wrote Elektra). The Mr. & Mrs. Smith screenwriter also scripted xXx: State Of The Union and did script polishes on Catwoman. It seemed that Ratner and company felt compelled to overload the film with copious mutants. While people on the street find this entralling, it will only amount to limited screen time for them.

And my biggest gripe? I read the comics religiously in my youth. I devotedly watched the 1992 animated series and devoured all things X-Men. As a long-time X-Men fan, I believe you can do many things in an X-Men movie. But what you cannot do in just ONE film is "The Dark Phoenix Saga" (in which Jean Grey absorbs the power of an alien crystal and turns against her friends and loved ones - go here for more info.) It is a LONG, sweeping saga, one filled with deep resounding storylines that affect many, many characters over a long span of time. To just shove this, one of the comic world's most well-known and most-respected stories into one movie and treat is as a perfunctory story element is an appalling injustice and really speaks volumes of how badly Fox is treating this property.

Movies are made to make money, no doubt about it. X-Men: The Last Stand will make money hand over fist, but at what cost? A potentially long-running sci-fi/comic book/summer tentpole franchise is being given an early burial simply due to the devious machinations of a power-drunk egomaniac (you can thank Tom Rothman for the cinematic atrocity that is Alien Vs. Predator) who, more so than any executive in Hollywood, seems drawn to the almighty dollar. Ample evidence shows that one can marry creativity and big-budget blockbuster moviemaking and the results can be lucrative and masterful. Case in point -- Batman Begins.

So the masses will flock to this offal in droves, like lambs to the slaughter. I know what you're thinking - "Jason, you've not seen frame one of the film...How do you know it'll be bad?" Well I don't need to jump off of the roof of a tall building to know that I'll get hurt.

Others have tried the other approach with me - "You've already made up your mind. You're so predisposed to hate X-Men: The Last Stand you'll hate it even if it's good."

Look, I'd love for Ratner and company to have made a competent, creative film that will stand as a great piece of work. But the deck is clearly stacked: The many many reviews that tout how broken and ambivalent the film feels coupled with my growing resentment of the way this property was treated (I already know the fate of several characters in the film and it's just horrible the way they're treated) ensures I'll never watch X-Men: The Last Stand. Call me a geek...whatever you like. I stand by my decision.

I will NEVER view X-Men: The Last Stand. I would rather remember what's come before then subject myself to something sub-par. It hurts to see this film being given a threadbare, second-hand treatment and it hurts doubly so to see source material I cherished as a child treated as cannon fodder. Fox will regret this in the long run. When Rothman is no longer production head, they'll have to pull a 'Batman Begins' to relaunch the franchise after this film.

So to all the people out there eager to see X-Men: The Last Stand: Enjoy the offspring of corporate yes-men and women and massive studio interference. Eat until you're full. I'll not be dining at that table. It's too fucking pathetic.

a true masterwork...

2006-05-14T13:30:00.000-05:00

A charge often directed at Steven Spielberg, a fair one I think, is that if he makes a film that's not factually-based, it is an exercise in Nerf: all main characters live and no harm comes to them. This wasn't the case in the past - certainly not in Jaws. But these claims are put on hold when he makes up for those films by crafting a brilliant piece of filmmaking like Munich.

We all know the story - in 1972 eleven Israeli athletes were taken hostage by a Palestinian terror group known as Black September. Eventually said athletes were massacred by Black September. Israel's Prime Minister Golda Meir decides retaliation is in order and she hires a former bodyguard, Avner (Eric Bana), to assemble a team to execute vengeance in the name of Israel.

To take a side would imply bias and Spielberg knows this. The film treats the job these men are given as something they continually wrestle with, not as a video game joyride. Indeed the first hit they accomplish is full of uncertainty and nervous glares between two of the men as they wonder whether they can do what they've been assigned to.

Munich reminds us why film is such a powerful medium, in the proper hands. Munich also serves a larger purpose in relaying the sad truth that terrorism and its victims are a wide and varied network that sometimes reaches across political and religious boundaries. Terrorist organizations have leadership like the head of the Hydra; cut one off, another sprouts in its place. The film also shows the effect of what's asked of these Israeli assassins - are they any better or are they doing a patriotic job for their country? And at what cost, when it appears that the hunters may have become the hunted?

Eric Bana is masterful in the lead role. As Avner, he projects a strong man who begins to wonder if taking this assignment means a death sentence to his family. Others, including Daniel Craig and Geoffrey Rush, offer great performances as the hot-tempered getaway driver and Avner's Israeli contact, respectively.

For more than thirty years, Steven Spielberg has been one of, if not the, best-known directors. It is with a film like Munich that one resdiscovers just what he is capable of. The film is a brilliant masterstroke that intelligently and hauntingly relays the sad tale of one of the darkest chapters in Israel's history. It cuts no corners and takes chances. Munich is the best film of 2005.

2006-05-14T12:54:00.000-05:00

Director Wolfgang Petersen is best known for his claustrophobic 1981 film Das Boot. This year he returns to the theme of waterlogged seafaring vessels, one he revisited in 2000's The Perfect Storm. This time it's a remake of Irwin Allen's campy 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure.

It's New Year's Eve and several stock characters, including the former mayor of New York City (Kurt Russell), a sleazy card shark (Kevin Dillon), Russell's newly-engaged daughter and her fiancee (Emmy Rossum & Mike Vogel), a former Navy officer (Josh Lucas), and Richard Dreyfuss as a suicidal, recently dumped gay man, are aboard the biggest luxury liner ever made. One rogue wave later, the ship is capsized and the cast, lead by Lucas's character, make a break for the surface.

Poseidon is not high art. It does what it does well, with great special effects and a better-than-average cast for this type of film. We all know what characters will live, which will die, and the in between offers torrents of water, potential drownings, explosions and lots and lots of screaming and crying.

I enjoyed the film but there's no real reason to see it unspool at your local multiplex, unless you wish to experience it with theater-quality sound. I echo Roger Ebert's sentiment that the film does feel very corporate; that being said Poseidon is still a pretty good popcorn picture albeit one best experienced on DVD.

change of plans...

2006-05-13T20:00:00.000-05:00

The reviews of Friends With Money and Art School Confidential will have to wait as I won't be able to see them until next week, most likely Wednesday.

The reason? It's quite an easy explanation actually. I've gotten the chance to see this...

for free. And you know me - if it's free, I'm there. So expect a review of this shortly. I expect a competently made piece of summer entertainment from director Wolfgang Petersen. Reviews so far have been mixed. I'll weigh in with my two cents later.

Then I'll expound on why X-Men: The Last Stand will never be seen by me. Plus I've got Munich on the table from Netflix as well.

Work today was interesting. It's been a while since I've worked a day shift outside of Monday; it being a Saturday really added to that feeling. I'm covering for a co-worker who has play practice at one of our colleges here in Savannah, Armstrong Atlantic State University (barely five minutes from our work) this and next weekend.

I also got my mother a really cool Mother's Day card after I got off work. Don't forget to treat your mother to something special this weekend, be it a card, flowers, dinner, or a movie. She's definitely earned it.

well...

2006-05-10T13:45:00.000-05:00

I plan to see Friends With Money and the opening-wide-this-weekend Terry Zwigoff film Art School Confidential. I saw The Sentinel the night I was to see Friends With Money as I was the doting son and let my mother decide what she wanted to see.

I saw Mission: Impossible III last Friday night. It was the best of the three films, with all of the film's cohesive elements coming together wonderfully. JJ Abrams managed to make the film actually feel like an episode of the television series, where the IMF team actually had their own expertise and they all worked together to get the job done. Couple that with great action setpieces, a really terrific villain played brilliantly by Philip Seymour Hoffman, a funny role for Shaun of the Dead star and co-writer Simon Pegg, Keri Russell's quite convincing role as an IMF agent, and a great score by Michael Giacchino (who composed the amazing score for The Incredibles) and you've got a very good movie indeed.

We went out to Masato, a Japanese teppanyaki restaurant formerly part of the Kyoto chain until the owner got tired of paying franchise fees and decided to just name it after his son and run it himself. Aside from renaming menu items, the restaurant was just like it was the last time I ate there ten years ago. My sister took us (my mother, myself, and her best friend Toni) there to celebrate my mother's belated birthday which was actually last Friday. Sake was consumed. I only had one shot of sake -- believe me it was more than enough -- and half a can of Sapporo. Then we met Joe, a friend of my sister's whose father owns the McDonald's franchise near our house. We met him at the nearby Chili's (and I mean nearby -- right across the parking lot from Masato) where we had a few drinks (I just had three Bud Lights) and finished off the evening with good conversation and a Buttery Nipple, of which I really liked as the Bailey's Irish Cream and Kahlua did a very good job of masking the alcohol. I don't drink often (never) but figured I'd do so to celebrate. So all in all, it was a very fun evening.

I watched Tristan & Isolde Saturday evening. Director Kevin Reynolds (Waterworld, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) and scribe Dean Georgaris crafted a sumptuous tale of love and devotion in a time of tumultuousness. James Franco and Sophia Myles have a very believeable chemistry and help make this a tender and haunting love story that blends the best of cinema's romantic elements amidst a running parallel of violence. Rufus Sewell also gives a remarkable performance, as he always does. Check this movie out; you won't be disappointed.

I've got the season finale of Veronica Mars awaiting me. Nine thousand plot threads need to be wrapped up in this final installment of season two and I don't doubt creator Rob Thomas and his writers ability to do just that, although I've heard some minor plot threads may carry over into next season - if The CW picks the show up, that is. I've also heard that next season will not be about a season-long mystery but rather several smaller ones.

Also awaiting me on the lovely TiVo is Orson Welles's Mr. Arkadin. I've heard alot about this, Welles's second most-troubled production (behind his most famous). There are several different cuts of this film; I am unaware which version this is but I'll know more later.

M. Night Shayamlan's latest film Lady In The Water will be released on July 21st. It stars Paul Giamatti as Cleveland Heep.

In "Lady in the Water," a story originally conceived by Shyamalan for his children, a modest building manager named Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti). He rescues a mysterious young woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) from danger and discovers she is actually a narf, a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the treacherous journey from our world back to hers. Cleveland and his fellow tenants start to realize that they are also characters in this bedtime story. As Cleveland falls deeper and deeper in love with the woman, he works together with the tenants to protect his new fragile friend from the deadly creatures that reside in this fable and are determined to prevent her from returning home.

M. Night stopped by Ellen yesterday to debut the new trailer and..wow! I can't wait to see this one. He said that even though initially sold as "A Bedtime Story from M. Night Shayamalan", it's actually quite dark and intense. I've loved all of his movies thus far - yes even The Village - and Lady In The Water just shot up several notches on my "Must-See Summer Movie List".

More thoughts will follow after food is consumed, including why X-Men: The Last Stand will remain unwatched by me. I mentioned it briefly when the initial trailer debuted; this time I'll be a bit more substantive. Now though it's time to eat.

The day is Friday...it's a cop...it wears a badge...

2006-04-28T01:51:00.000-05:00

and I plan to see this later today - thank you connections.

Nicole Holofcener is a filmmaking goddess. If you've not seen her films Walking and Talking (1996) or the beyond brilliant Lovely & Amazing (2001), stop reading this and seek them out. Now please. When Lovely & Amazing came out on DVD it was around the same time as the terrible The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I would constantly let female customers know that Lovely & Amazing is a thousand times better, as its dialogue rings true and sincere, not like the tastes-like-screenplay patois that the Ya-Ya film foists upon its viewers. Each and every time they'd come back and thank me for recommending Lovely & Amazing.

I also plan to make some headway in regards to TiVo and Netflix (Aeon Flux is winging its way to me; hopefully it'll arrive tomorrow) and maybe try to see American Dreamz or The Sentinel today or tomorrow as well. I have to work 2-6 on Sunday.

I will see United 93. People can hem and haw over whether or not a 9/11-themed film should exist at this point in time. My personal belief is that Hollywood churned out film after film about WWII *during* WWII and that as long as the subject matter is treated with care and a steady hand, it's fine. Early word on the film states that writer/director Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday, The Bourne Supremacy) has crafted a masterful, gripping, haunting film experience that is never exploitative and that United 93 is the first four-star film of the year. Greengrass also worked closely with the family of the Flight 93 passengers and 10% of the opening weekend grosses will be going to 9/11-related charities. In any case, I will watch United 93. I think certain people will be alot more apprehensive when Paramount releases Oliver Stone's 9/11-related film on August 11th, World Trade Center, starring Nicolas Cage as a real-life port authority worker.

I am almost finished reading The Da Vinci Code and it is a very taut, spellbinding novel and I can now fully understand why the Catholics are up in arms over it -- especially the sect known as Opus Dei.

Edward Norton produced the latest film he's in and it looks exceptional with a great cast. The trailer just debuted online at Apple's movie trailer page. Click the poster to check it out. It's a small film so of course that means we here in the uncultured dregs of a city known as Savannah will only get to see this when it's thrown onto DVD by ThinkFilm this August. Have I mentioned that this town is quite lame, arthouse movie-wise? Because I think I have.

Whatever the case may be, I plan to post reviews of several films that I see this weekend. I've been slacking off for far too long lately.

2006-04-22T04:02:00.000-05:00

After Silent Hill ended, my mother and I picked up a Toshiba DVD player as the old one conked out, sound-wise. It seems the thing kept emitting a loud buzz through our sound system whenever we'd turn it on. The damn thing wasn't even a year old yet! So much for SONY being top-shelf. Then after Bill Maher's show ended we watched...

I've had this for almost a week from Netflix. Suffice it to say I love Franka Potente (she will be mine...oh yes) but all in all this was a two-star affair. It started out promising but then after the characters start behaving like toddlers halfway through it undermined the entire rest of the film for me. It's a shame too as the film was well-made and well-directed with great cinematography inside London's Underground.

I just finished Dan Brown's novel Angels and Demons and am currently reading...

in advance of the film's release on May 19th. I need to start reading again. TiVo has bewitched me as we all know and I think I should dive right back into the frothy cool waters of the printed page as I'd not done so, until recently, in quite some time.

In the land of radio buyouts and format changes, steady constants are always cool and delicious.

First a bit of Savannah radio history...

In the mid '90s Savannah had a really cool alternative station - WZAT-FM Z102 - Savannah's Rock and Roll Radio. The DJs were *always* live and you truly had the feeling that if you turned the dial you'd miss something. Hell, my freshman year of high school I attempted to do my four hours of community service (all Georgia high school students must complete four hours of community service, in addition to maintaining their grades, to pass) interning at Z102. I did so under the tutelage of the amazing, awesome Tripp West, who's now at WSTR-FM, Star 94, in Atlanta (and has been for quite some time). It was an experience I'll never forget. Pulling commercials (this was *before* the automated computerized stuff), watching the behind-the-scenes stuff - it was fascinating.

Then, Cumulus flashed their cash and bought the station in 1998, flipping it to Top 40 as "Z102 - Savannah's Hit Music Station". And for a while it did extremely well. Then Clear Channel flipped their Hot Adult Contemporary station WAEV-FM - Mix 97.3 - to Top 40, relaunching the station under their national Top 40 banner as "97.3 KISS FM". And then Z102 began its slow descent to the bottom of the ratings pile, where it still lingers today, as a weird Top 40/Hot AC hybrid. Z102 continually winds up being beaten while WAEV towers in the market.

As for the alternative rock scenario now in Savannah? Well, none to speak of. We do have a rather kick-ass Adult Album Alternative station, Wave 104.9, - http://www.wave1049.com - but nothing along the lines of WZAT. Triad Broadcasting, which owns Wave, also owns the boring-as-hell WFXH-FM (Rock 106.1). If you like hearing Chevelle and Nickelback three thousand times a day, be my guest. It's horrible. Their standard operating procedure must be - nothing melodic -- EVER! Tama Broadcasting might be launching a new rock station -- The Hawk 104.7 http://www.thehawk1047.com but only time will tell as they're still simulcasting their Variety Hits station, Freedom 92.3.

So suffice it to say, there's nothing here for those of us who like a diverse menu of alt-rock goodness. For more than ten years, WAVF-FM has shone like a beacon of hope from Charleston, South Carolina. If you love great alternative music, look no further than this gem of a radio station. If someone could bring a station like this to Savannah, it'd clean Rock 106.1's clock -- no doubt about it. Ah, if only I had the money...click the 96 Wave logo to hear aural brilliance.

beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

2006-04-22T03:25:00.000-05:00

In 2002, director Christophe Gans created a masterpiece with Le Pacte des loups (otherwise known as Brotherhood of the Wolf). It was ambitious, smart, and an all-around well-made film with a vibrant and alive mythos populated with strong characters. Now, four years later, the French filmmaker has teamed with Pulp Fiction co-writer and Killing Zoe writer/director Roger Avary (he wrote Silent Hill) to craft one of the very best horror films in quite some time.

Rose Da Silva (Radha Mitchell) and her husband Christopher (Sean Bean) have been having issues with their adopted daughter Sharon (Jodelle Ferland), who's taken to sleepwalking and uttering the phrase "Silent Hill". Medication has not helped so Rose decides to take Sharon to the place she keeps uttering, much to Christopher's dismay. But along the way there's a car accident and when Rose awakens from it, Sharon is nowhere to be found. It is in the nearby town of Silent Hill where Rose searches for her daughter, alongside a no-nonsense cop (Laurie Holden) who followed her. The town is seemingly deserted, save for the ash that rains down by day. At night, a blaring siren signals to all in the vicinity that something horrible is coming.

I have never played the video games upon which Silent Hill is based (my video gaming ended somewhere around the Sega Genesis era) but one need not be well-versed in any of the video games to enjoy the film. Christophe Gans and Roger Avary use musical cues, slight CGI, good-old fashioned makeup, and several different film techniques to convey the sheer hellish nature of the decrepit town. Walls melt, moaning demonic babies and barbed wire-covered corpses come alive to help create a vivid and beyond nightmarish landscape. In all of the other video game adaptations so far, the emperor truly had no clothes. With Silent Hill, Gans and company (kudos to Carol Spier's production design) have made a film that feels like the love child of Clive Barker and Dario Argento, a movie that has a carefully detailed backstory (some might say *too* detailed) that gives weight to the otherworldly images we witness.

Some reviews are treating this film as a graphic exercise in sadism and revulsion that only a maniac would view. But then again horror films as a genre have never been given a fair shake. This is not the watered-down PG-13 pablum that most studios are now trying to pass off as a "horror" film. It is a gripping and plot-driven horror film that is head and shoulders above any in a very long while. If you truly enjoy a scary and enjoyable time at the movies, see Silent Hill. It may not reinvent the wheel but it damn sure covers it in gore, with a style and craftsmanship that's really refreshing.

"Can someone help me...I think that I'm lost...lost in a place called America."

2006-04-12T03:56:00.000-05:00

So, blogging can be a fun and informative way to pass on information between one person or a set of people to millions and possibly billions of others across the globe. My little corner of the Internet seems to become active in sporadic fits and starts.

My plans for today mostly consist of...

1. Go to sleep

2. Enjoy my day off and finally see V for Vendetta.

I really want to see Thank You For Smoking. It *finally* opens in nationwide release this weekend.

But I'm really jonesin' to see Rian Johnson's directorial debut, Brick. It's film noir with characters still in high school.

Learn more here - BrickMovie.net

Writer/director Rian Johnson also has a forum of his own at rcjohnso.com/forum
It's really cool; he replies to posts and has been posting new release date schedules as he gets them. I asked him about the release plan for Brick here in Savannah and he said it bodes well if we got the Focus Features films 21 Grams and The Constant Gardener (pre-Oscar noms), (which I'd mentioned we had) as the same guy is in charge of distribution. So in other words - hurry up and get here Brick! I need my noir fix. In the meantime I plan to sate my lust for all things noir with a list I procured from the Internet and will soon check out a few film noir titles on Netflix.

I guess I should come clean as to WHY I've been blog absent. You see, dear reader, I've fallen in love. I am smitten and have been wooing my dear lass for several days now...

What, you thought I was speaking of a female? That's funny. First you'd have to assume there's a girl out there that thinks I'm more interesting than debit cards, text messaging, "American Idol" and Abercrombie & Fitch or Aeropostale and that said imagined girl would think me a nice and witty chap. And that is stuff you only find in badly written romantic comedies. But I digress.

I've long been a fan of Turner Classic Movies, or TCM, for short. If you look back on the maelstrom of cable activity in the early/mid '90s, it was amazing. You had new cable channels popping up all over the place. Cartoon Network, E!, Game Show Network, The Sci-Fi Channel, and Turner Classic Movies were just a few new faces on the cable landscape. Each sought to carve out a special niche in the marketplace, one that until then had largely gone unfufilled.

Now it's almost two decades later and what has happened? Cartoon Network has turned into a repetitive noise-machine of regurgitated "original series" while forsaking the classic cartoons they originally aired (so much so they had to create a sister channel, Boomerang, just to air said cartoons!), E! resembles The Paparazzi Channel, save for their weekly series The Soup, Game Show Network is now called gsn - the network for games and throws in reality series and poker, poker, poker, and The Sci-Fi Channel now dubs itself simply SCI FI while upon closer inspection, the channel could not be any less devoted to science fiction, as it constantly eschews the genre it's named for in lieu of demos, ratings, and the almighty dollar.

But in the loud den of the money-hungry claptrap that the race for viewers causes, one channel has stood the test of time by staying true. One channel has remained committed and devoted to its founding principles: classic movies 24/7. They've proven that they can make money and yes, Bonnie Hammer at SCI FI *still* retain a hefty viewership. That channel is, of course, Turner Classic Movies.

I will turn 25 later this year and Turner Classic Movies is truly like a breath of fresh air. I've ignored this channel for far too long. On May 22nd, they'll be airing the Orson Welles-made documentary F for Fake! That's never shown on television! Tonight theme (as each night has one) is films by director Norman Z. McLeod. They'll be playing The Marx Brothers classic Horse Feathers plus the film Topper, to name a few.

It'd be one thing if they only ran movies. But Turner Classic Movies goes the extra mile by really conveying just how much they love these great films. Each film is more often than not introed and outroed by the inimitable Robert Osborne, the vast film encyclopedia. He is amazing and provides a lush detailing of each and every facet that you might want to know about the film you're going to watch or the one you just did. Then there's the channel's movie promos, TCM's "One Reel Wonders" in which they'll air a short (in between movies) from yesteryear, one that no doubt played before a movie in one of the country's grand movie houses, "Cartoon Alley", where classic cartoons are screened, and sometimes we'll get treated to Robert Osborne interviewing a classic film star. In September, select episodes of The Dick Cavett Show will air, each featuring interviews with legends of film including Groucho Marx and Alfred Hitchock, to name a few. Some bemoan the fact that they'll be airing this show; I welcome it as an added bonus to hear a candid and in-depth interview with some of Hollywood's best and brightest who are no longer with us.

And as for a web presence...whoa nelly! TCM's website, at TurnerClassicMovies.com , is really something. There's games, schedule info, a message board, and a newly unveiled movie database, which is a technological marvel in and of itself. Their web team really outdid themselves.

As long as Time Warner keeps their mission statement in mind, this amazing, amazing, treasure of a cable channel, with its great films that harken back to the silver's screen's best and brightest of yesteryear and wonderful on-air style, sophistication, and presentation, will truly remain the one and ONLY crown jewel on cable television - PERIOD.

...unless we get a little crazy....

2006-04-01T17:35:00.000-05:00

I *will* see this movie this weekend, come hell or high water. It's so far one of the best reviewed film of the year, with an 86% Tomato reading over at RottenTomatoes.com

It's just a damn shame that it's not doing as well as I'd have liked it to. Damn snot-nosed brats and their foolish adherence to Ice Age: The Meltdown. A lovingly crafted throwback to great '80s horror comedies like Night of the Creeps and Tremors and the masses simply bring their soccer mom SUVs to the same old, same old retread of a CGI movie that wasn't all that great in the first place. But dollars speak volumes. Oh well. If there's a silver lining in there anywhere it should pick up a bit this weekend and then next weekend there's no competition to speak of so it might rake in a couple more million before recouping its cost on DVD in three months. Longest run-on sentence ever. Thank you very much.

The blog has taken a backseat recently and for that I apologize as I've been busy with work. I had inventory from 11:30 last night to 4:30 this morning. We would have been out of there earlier but we had to re-scan the XBox and Gamecube section and then reshift all of the movies. I came home at 5, watched some lovely TiVo, then crashed about 8 and woke up at 3.

I have this to watch. I've heard good things and I pray that David Benioff's screenplay isn't a lame pastiche of all thing Sixth Sense. I'm in the mood for a good, smart, effective supernatural thriller and I hope this is it.

Also on the bill is...

The Horror Channel gave this one a good review and at work it's been slim pickings as far as new horror titles that look halfway decent (i.e. that don't have that filmed-in-the-backyard-by-imbeciles look) so we'll see how this one turns out.

If you live in Connecticut, please donate to Ned Lamont. Hell, if I had some extra cake to spare, I'd donate. Joe Lieberman needs to be kicked the hell out of office as he's been the best Democrat the Republicans could ever want - a mewling, nodding sycophant willing to parrot any right-wing trope that's ever thrown out there. Lest we forget the shudder-inducing kiss he received from Bush after that State of the Union address a while back.

Here's a few links of what's going on in CT via Daily Kos...

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/31/161825/695

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/4/1/132442/3585

and then georgia10 over at Daily Kos really does a bang-up job dissecting how, even thought the Bush censure won't take, it's still a marvelous tool that could effectively help the Democrats regain Congress this November by painting the Republicans into the now-testy corner of having to defend an indefensible Bush. Mr. 33%, indeed.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/4/1/131629/0619

what a night...

2006-03-18T02:51:00.000-05:00

Well, it was chaos to the nth degree at work tonight. Busy, busy, busy and then I paid the remainder of a late fee I had for Prime (which was a great movie, by the way). Robin took off the hold that always appears whenever an employee gets a late fee. But they recently changed the numerical codes for various items in the "edit" mode of accounts so instead of typing the new number to remove a "hold" she typed the old one and accidentally negated my employee status. So I called our AM, Jeff, and he called our manager, Cheryl. She was actually going to drive in from Hinesville but had him come in and rectify the situation. Suffice it to say my old employee #, with its history of 777 rentals, is no more. Factor in this with the maddening maelstrom of customer idiocy and general BS and voila - a rather crappy night. Then it took forever to leave as certain opening procedures had not been done this morning and that made our computers restart and think we were performing opening procedures. So Robin had to call computer support and shortly thereafter order was quickly restored. As the title states...WHAT A NIGHT! If tonight is not a much better evening, I'll be quite pissed.

I brought home Rodrigo Garcia's Nine Lives and Zombie Honeymoon from work. I also have Netflix and the massive collection of television TiVo has amassed, including the U.S. premiere of Doctor Who. I am a novice of all things Who so I can't wait to see it. I also have some free previously-viewed DVDs I won for being a top seller of Rewards memberships (titles I chose include Millions, Layer Cake, and Elizabethtown) I also get to pick another one this week as I was top seller by one Rewards membership last week.

Yes, V for Vendetta came out today (well, technically yesterday as it's past midnight now). No, I haven't seen it, although I did read the graphic novel. I will hopefully see the film Monday after work. I still want to see The Hills Have Eyes as well as Inside Man, which comes out next Friday. Alot of good movies are finally coming out and the remainder of my income tax (I had to file an amendment...and you *can't* e-file it...LAME!) is weeks away. Being broke sucks beyond the telling of it.

In2TV

Clicking the link above will take you to AOL and Warner Brothers new venture, In2TV. It's totally free and allows you to watch episodes of series like Lois & Clark, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., the animated Beetlejuice, and many more. I'm most excited about Freddy's Nightmares, the long unavailable A Nightmare on Elm Street series that was syndicated back in the late '80s. I remember watching it late at night/early AM on our local ABC affiliate and it's great to be able to watch it again after so many years.

R.I.P. Peter & Kathleen Tomarken

While I was bit too young to watch Press Your Luck in its original airing, the summer of 1992 all I did was vegetate in front of USA's weekday afternoon game show block (of which Press Your Luck was a staple) and drink iced tea out of a McDonald's Batman Returns promo cup. Ah, memories.

Peter Tomarken was a legend. Some may think otherwise but in a total reversal of the superficial and phony on-air personalities we're faced with today, he projected an affable, witty, cool, and personable demeanor without a bit of pretension. He was simply marvelous. The world has lost a great television personality and a wonderful part of television history.

This comes out April 21st. It's the best movie poster, ever, in my opinion.

Here's the synopsis of American Dreamz.

On the morning of his re-election, the President (Quaid) decides to read the newspaper for the first time in four years. This starts him down a slippery slope. He begins reading obsessively, reexamining his black and white view of the world, holing up in his bedroom in his pajamas. Frightened by the President’s apparent nervous breakdown, his Chief of Staff (Dafoe) pushes him back into the spotlight, booking him as a guest judge on the television ratings juggernaut (and the President’s personal fave), the weekly talent show American Dreamz.

America can’t seem to get enough of American Dreamz, hosted by self-aggrandizing, self-loathing Martin Tweed (Grant), ever on the lookout for the next insta-celebrity. His latest crop of hopefuls includes Sally (Moore), a conniving steel magnolia with a devoted, dopey veteran boyfriend (Klein), and Omer, a recent Southern Californian immigrant (who just happens to be a bumbling, show tune singing, would-be terrorist awaiting activation). When both Sally and Omer make it to the final round of Dreamz – where the President will be judging along with Tweed – the stage is set for a show the nation will never forget.

Of course it won't be successful. It makes fun of the slack-jawed morons who love "Glorified Karaoke Contest". Satire is not something they'd understand. But the point of the movie isn't the singing show; it's the fact that people in this society blind themselves from the news in favor of being complacent in their ignorance. Our national past-time is celebrating mediocrity and this movie appears to address that notion. I look forward to seeing it.

"Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist." - Rene Magritte

2006-03-12T11:50:00.000-05:00

The Telfair Museum of Art here in Savannah has its grand opening this weekend for its newest building, The Jepson Center for the Arts. It's the first expansion in the museum's 120 year history. Constructed at a cost of $25 million (after much hand-wringing and second guessing by the stuffed shirts at the Historic Board of Review) and designed by the same man who designed Jersualem's Holocaust Memorial Museum, this thing is a sight to behold, even if one's just looking at it from the outside as I did while running errands Friday afternoon. A guy accidentally drove into a parked car while looking at the Jepson Center the other day. The official grand opening was Friday and all weekend admission is free. I will be heading downtown to take in this wonderful new addition to our city. It is truly wonderful to have something artistic and creative added to our city, as it's been sorely lacking. This city lacks culture and creativity so often and the Jepson Center for the Arts is a wonderful blast of cool air in a city that far too often is content remaining in the past. I'll post a complete rundown of my visit later. Now, the shower is calling.

Jepson media coverage in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution follows...

http://tinyurl.com/l8ssj

And the Telfair's website for the Jepson...

http://www.telfair.org/buildings/jepson.asp

saw 2 movies tonight...

2006-03-09T03:33:00.000-05:00

Both were really good (and really free, thanks to my connections). 16 Blocks was vintage Richard Donner, with Willis and Mos Def making a great pairing and connecting to their roles excellently. Some say that Mos Def's character was grating but I didn't think so. Great action and some really stellar work from the always reliable David Morse make this a cut above the average action flick.

But writer/director Wayne Kramer (The Cooler) really struck paydirt with his gritty and disturbing Running Scared. Paul Walker ascends to heights heretofore unseen. He is very believable in the role and you never doubt him for a second. But it's Vera Farmiga, as Walker's wife, who really commands and holds your attention. She is breathtaking in the role, as a harried Jersey housewife who summons strength when she needs to...and boy does she ever, especially in one scene.

I implore you to seek this film out. It's a damn shame that shit like the Pink Panther remake can make money hand over fist yet amazing gems like Running Scared get ignored and then they come out on DVD and people ask me, "Why didn't I hear about this awesome movie?" Well, dumb fuck, if you paid attention you'd have known.

Running Scared is brutal, intense, and doesn't let up from frame one. I can't wait to see what Wayne Kramer does next.

16 out of 21...

2006-03-09T02:34:00.000-05:00

that's my Oscar prediction ratio, in the renowned categories. I *so* should have gone to Vegas or done some betting. I'd have made a decent cent or two.

Well, another Oscar night has come and gone. After what seemed like eons, all of the awards have been handed out and conservatives can sleep easy knowing that hordes of gay sheep herders aren't going to rampage through their town.

Bill O'Reilly, however, is somewhere with his blood boiling that the phrase "Academy Award Winner George Clooney" is now a truth. And Clooney's acceptance speech was a great "fuck you" to conservatives everywhere.

Onto the awards...the rest of my thoughts follow...

Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role

George Clooney, Syriana

Achievement In Visual Effects

King Kong

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Wallace & Gromit In The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit

Best Live Action Short Film

Six Shooter

Best Animated Short Film

The Moon and The Son: An Imagined Conversation

Achievement In Costume Design

Memoirs of a Geisha

Achievement In Makeup

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe

Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role

Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener

Best Documentary Short Subject

A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin

Best Documentary Feature

March of the Penguins

Achievement In Art Direction

Memoirs of a Geisha

Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Score)

Brokeback Mountain

Achievement In Sound Mixing

King Kong

Achievement In Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Song)

"It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" From Hustle & Flow

Achievement In Sound Editing

King Kong

Best Foreign Language Film Of The Year

Tsotsi

Achievement In Film Editing

Crash

Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

Achievement In Cinematography

Memoirs of a Geisha

Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role

Reese Witherspoon, Walk The Line

Adapted Screenplay

Brokeback Mountain

Original Screenplay

Crash

Achievement In Directing

Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain

Best Motion Picture of the Year

Crash

Good for Hoffman, Weisz, Nick Park & the gang at Aardman Animation. Gustavo Santaolalla's work on Brokeback Moutain was richly deserving of an Oscar and I'm glad the Academy agreed. Robert Elswit's cinematography for good night, and good luck. was sadly overlooked. Applause and kudos also go to Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana for their wins for the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. Ang Lee's award for Best Director was a lock and was also Oscar-worthy.

Reese Witherspoon = yawn times twelve. As usual the Academy loves it when actresses campaign and talk about their devotion to their role. So couple that with her new lease on life as the new title-holder "America's Sweetheart" and Reese Witherspoon was a lock to win Best Actress. This is much like when Horse Teeth - oh, I'm sorry, I meant Julia Roberts - won for the vastly overrated Erin Brockovich. Ellen Burstyn deserved that for Requiem for a Dream and we *all* know it. This year's Oscar in the category belonged to Keira Knightley but they never reward actresses who haven't had a lengthy career which is just stupid. So a big award goes to a mediocre actress for a mediocre role in a mediocre film...Jon Stewart *is* right...Walk The Line is just Ray with white people.

Jon Stewart was incredible as host. He managed to pull it off with aplomb and style. They'll never have him back of course, as he was too far over the heads of alot of clueless offal in the crowd. He also razzed the people in the theater in a dry, deprecating manner, which they never appreciate. Next year we'll be treated to the same staid mediocrity. Billy Crystal, Steve Martin - get those tuxes ready.

As I very accurately predicted, Crash was the dark horse here, pulling out the win for Best Picture. People thought I was crazy for joining those that saw the last minute push, the renewed interest, and the writing on the wall. But 9,000+ Crash DVDs (distributed by Lionsgate to Academy members between the nominations being announced & the voting deadline) later, here we are. The liver-spotted elder Academy members (and to be fair, some younger ones, presumably) decided not to reward a haunting, poetic film about love denied and instead gave the pinnacle award to a film that was not by any means the best of the year.

Unlike some, I am not anti-Crash. I saw the film in the theater upon its initial release last May. I liked it then, I like it now. But it just seems that Crash won after months of public surmising that the Academy was not looking for a fight by giving Brokeback Best Picture. Mark my words, had the Academy Awards been held a month ago, Brokeback would have won. But they weren't. To the victor go the spoils. Oh well. Despite it all, at least Brokeback can still be called "an Academy Award-winning film". And no matter what anyone says, Brokeback is still a better film than Crash.

So sleep well, conservatives. The boogeyman you so stupidly fear isn't coming to redecorate your house.

Brokeback Mountain is still a powerful love story, one whose story will resonate through time as a masterpiece of virtuoso filmmaking. And just looking at all of the films nominated in major categories brings a smile to one's face - they're all extremely well-made pieces of exemplary art that personify and encapsulate the very heart and essence that make movies a powerful and transformative medium.

I look forward to what's in store for us on this year's silver screen and I can't wait to see what will be honored at next year's Academy Awards.

my oscar picks...

2006-03-03T15:18:00.000-05:00

As usual, I'll post what *will* win and what I think *should* win.

Best Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow
Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain
David Strathairn, good night, and good luck.
Joaquin Phoenix, Walk The Line

I just saw Walk The Line last night and while technically proficient and *very* well done, it felt more like a condensed travelogue of Johnny Cash's life, with extended music videos throughout. That said, Phoenix was great as The Man In Black. Heath Ledger was masterful as the grizzled sheephand and Strathairn became Murrow. Sadly, this award is locked down for one man alone. I really wish Terrence Howard would get this, as until I saw Hustle & Flow I was rooting for Hoffman. But Howard's electrifying performance outshines all others in this category. Unfortunately that matters not to Oscar voters, so they'll stick with the status quo which is a damn shame.

WILL WIN: Philip Seymour Hoffman
SHOULD WIN: Terrence Howard

Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role

George Clooney, Syriana
Matt Dillon, Crash
Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man
Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain
William Hurt, A History of Violence

This category has come down to two contenders: will Clooney's on-point performance as a grizzled, worn-out CIA agent pull a win here or will Dillon's racist cop get the nod? crash has recaptured alot of its buzz from earlier this year so Matt Dillon may have a chance. But I think Clooney's other nominations will be ignored in favor of this category.

WILL WIN: George Clooney
SHOULD WIN: George Clooney

Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role

Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents
Felicity Huffman, Transamerica
Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice
Charlize Theron, North Country
Reese Witherspoon, Walk The Line

I've yet to see Transamerica (it *just* started playing here today...gotta love the superficial theaters here - only run them once they get the Oscar noms) but I hear Felicity Huffman is a revelation. I hate to say it but the others are slot-fillers as again the Oscar voters will gather around one young lady from Memphis and reward her for bringing to life a strong musician. While very well-done, I was not impressed with the performance as a whole and it just seemed like I've seen her play that role before. In a perfect world, Keira Knightley's wonderfully brilliant role would take the Oscar gold here but it's early yet in her career. Even though this will be much like when Horse Teeth (I'm sorry - Julia Roberts) won for the vastly overrated Erin Brockovich, Ryan Phillippe's wife needs to start clearing mantle space now.

WILL WIN: Reese Witherspoon
SHOULD WIN: Keira Knightley

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role

Amy Adams, Junebug
Catherine Keener, Capote
Frances McDormand, North Country
Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain

You want to know what's sad? I've had a screener VHS tape of Junebug for about two months now. But I just haven't had the time to watch it. I will do that before Sunday, mark my words. I was very happy to see Amy Adams get a nomination, as I love left-field nominations. The other three actresses were great. I simply think Rachel Weisz will get the win here, for her luminescent work as the passionate activist. It's much deserved. I would *love* to see Amy Adams get it, simply because I've enjoyed her work over the years and to see an acceptance speech by her would be wonderful.

WILL WIN: Rachel Weisz
SHOULD WIN: Amy Adams

Best Animated Feature Film Of The Year

Howl's Moving Castle
Tim Burton's Corpse Bride
Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Burton's macabre tale was gothic eye-candy but with more plot than this previous stop-motion effort and therefore alot more enjoyable, with a great score and songs by Danny Elfman. Miyazaki already won for Spirited Away a few years ago. Nick Park and the gang at Aardman Studios have already impressed Oscar enough with their wins for their shorts in the early '90s so Oscar will return the favor yet again.

WILL WIN: Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
SHOULD WIN: Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Achievement In Art Direction

good night, and good luck.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
Pride & Prejudice

James Bissell's staggeringly devoted job recreating the 1950s-era CBS was nothing short of breathtaking. But I feel that loud, garish tones will sadly win the day here.

WILL WIN: King Kong
SHOULD WIN: good night, and good luck.

Achievement In Cinematography

Batman Begins
Brokeback Mountain
good night, and good luck
Memoirs of a Geisha
The New World

This is the rare case in which conventional wisdom might win out, to which I would not mind in this instance. Wally Pfister's great work bringing to life the visual scope of Gotham City was done masterfully. But Robert Elswit really captured the essence of George Clooney's film, so much so you could practically smell the Pall Malls wafting through the air.

WILL WIN: good night, and good luck
SHOULD WIN: good night, and good luck

Achievement In Costume Design

Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
Memoirs of a Geisha
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Pride & Prejudice
Walk The Line

The melted gumdrop designs of Willy Wonka's world might squeak out a win here but we all know how much Oscar loves period pieces and the clothing of classic Britain will edge out an award all their own, every time. Jacqueline Durran managed to make the costumes moveable and true to the era of their making.

WILL WIN: Pride & Prejudice
SHOULD WIN: Pride & Prejudice

Achievement In Directing

Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
Bennett Miller, Capote
Paul Haggis, Crash
George Clooney, good night, and good luck.
Steven Spielberg, Munich

If Clooney did not snag the supporting Oscar, he could be the dark horse here. Spielberg is always here, like a friend who crashes on your couch but refuses to leave. This is Ang Lee's all the way and deservedly so.

WILL WIN: Ang Lee
SHOULD WIN: Ang Lee

Best Documentary Feature

Darwin's Nightmare
Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
March of the Penguins
Murderball
Street Fight

With so much corporate and political wrong-doing going on these days (hell, when *isn't* it?), a win here for Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room would be great. I've also heard that Murderball is a stellar documentary and it could be the dark horse in this contest. But with a massive marketing push, a bigger-than-expected box office, and a family audience that came out in droves, expect the citizens of the North Pole to waddle away with an Oscar.

WILL WIN: March of the Penguins
SHOULD WIN: Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room

FILM EDITING
The award will go to Crash. It *should* go to The Constant Gardener for Claire Simpson did a masterful job with the non-linear storytelling this narrative provides, bringing it all into focus with remarkable clarity.

Best Foreign Language Film

Don't Tell
Joyeux Noel
Paradise Now
Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
Tsotsi

Just three months ago, I would have said that Paradise Now with its tale of two suicide bombers in Palestine would have won. But significant praise and acclaim have slowly been buiding behind South Africa's Tsotsi

WILL WIN: Tsotsi
SHOULD WIN: Tsotsi

Achievement In Makeup

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe
Cinderella Man
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Seeing as how there's only one film in which makeup played an extensive part, you could pick this winner blindfolded.

WILL WIN: The Chronicles of Narnia
SHOULD WIN: The Chronicles of Narnia

Achievement In Music

Brokeback Mountain
The Constant Gardener
Memoirs of a Geisha
Munich
Pride & Prejudice

Staid complacency will ensure that John Williams will not cancel himself out. Gustavo Santaolalla's haunting score for Brokeback Mountain deserves this reward, however.

WILL WIN: Memoirs of a Geisha
SHOULD WIN: Brokeback Mountain

Original Song

"In The Deep" (crash)
"Travelin' Thru" (Transamerica)
"It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp" (Hustle & Flow)

Dolly will take the cake here.

WILL WIN:"Travelin' Thru"
SHOULD WIN: "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp"

Achievement In Sound Editing

King Kong
Memoirs of a Geisha
War of the Worlds

The loud roars of his acceptance speech via satellite from Skull Island can already be heard.

WILL WIN: King Kong
SHOULD WIN: King Kong

Sound Mixing - King Kong

Visual Effects - Some are guessing Narnia but this one will go to King Kong.

Adapted Screenplay

Brokeback Mountain
Capote
The Constant Gardener
A History of Violence
Munich

There is no contest here. Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry took Anniel Proulx's story and turned it into the most romantic and moving love story of the year.

WILL WIN: Brokeback Mountain
SHOULD WIN: Brokeback Mountain

Original Screenplay

Crash
good night, and good luck
Match Point
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana

This is historically the consolation prize for whatever doesn't get Best Picture (witness Sofia Coppola's win for Lost in Translation). I'd love to see Noah Baumbach get recognized for his bitter divorce piece. Stephen Gaghan did a great job with Syriana. Clooney and Grant Heslov also were awesome with good night, and good luck. But this one's sewn up by Bobby Moresco and Paul Haggis. Match Point, IMHO, should win here. It deserved far more nominations.

WILL WIN: Crash
SHOULD WIN: Match Point

Best Motion Picture Of The Year

Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
good night, and good luck
Munich

And now we come to the top category. All were good films, yet Crash has lost some of its shine for me. I did not see Munich but that's not even remotely an option (see my Spielberg analogy earlier). Hoffman will get rewarded for Capote, and Clooney will pick up an Oscar elsewhere. Brokeback Mountain so richly deserves this award. But with deep, deep sadness I fear that Crash has managed to gain more steam as time has worn on and I think it's going to eke out a win here. I sincerely hope I'm wrong. I really want to see Brokeback Mountain producer James Schamus up on that stage with an Oscar in his hand when this envelope is opened.

WILL WIN: Crash
SHOULD WIN: Brokeback Mountain

And with that, I'm going to get ready for work.

black market wit

I've moved!

Summer Movie Thoughts...

My "Spider-Man 3" Thoughts...

change of plans...

So...Spider-Man 3 And Ice Cream...

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters - IN MOVIE PLACE ROOMS TODAY! GO SEE IT!

I've seen Grindhouse!!!

I'll be seeing "Grindhouse" on the 4th...

well better late than never...here are my Oscar picks...

NBC Universal's Horror Channel - Chiller - Has Announced Its Launch Schedule!!!

new posts are up...

Hey Boston...guess what? He's doing this as hard as he can...

Are *you* on the list?...

what a haunting, creepy, dark, intense, beautiful film...

I cannot wait until March 1st!!!

tonight you'll see stars...

hell yes!!!

beware pure evil...

2007 is here now...

so much time...so little posting...

a whole lot of indie cinema is on its way to me...

1993 says hello...

the thrilling week that's been...

being blue never felt so good...

Vote Democratic Tuesday!!!

It's The End Of An Era...

my posting delay was not my fault this time...

no luck at Target...

Tonight history was made with the birth of.....

this Saturday...I'll be having a FEAST...

the film that never existed (apparently)...

watch brick....and here's my Emmy picks...

now, where was I?...

rain falls against the windowpane...

some people just don't get it...

you need some brilliance...

today...my horror thirst is slaked...

expect a review of this *very* soon...

just started this novel...

live what you believe...

tonight....

adjectives lose all meaning...

currently reading and surfing and watching and musing....

sorry about the delay...

I purchased the following items today...

also, a new channel emerges...and I have rediscovered my love affair with...

IT'S OFFICIAL! YEAH!!! :)

it's monday...

and so it goes...

heading to bed...

it's late...

I misspoke...

up next...

Extremely Evil - How 20th Century Fox Killed The "X-Men" Movie Franchise

a true masterwork...

change of plans...

well...

The day is Friday...it's a cop...it wears a badge...

beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

"Can someone help me...I think that I'm lost...lost in a place called America."

...unless we get a little crazy....

what a night...

"Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist." - Rene Magritte

saw 2 movies tonight...

16 out of 21...

my oscar picks...

Are you on the list?...

expect a review of this very soon...