A look at TV in early 2009

Sorry there have not been many posts lately. I have been too busy to go out to the movies lately, and as many of you know nothing is on tv at the moment.

A few of my favorite premium channel shows like "True Blood", "Dexter", and "Entourage" won't be coming back till late summer or fall. My favorite comedy series "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" won't be returning till next year. A few of my other favorites like "Heroes" and "Gossip Girl" are out for another week or so.

A few old favorites are coming back again for another season in a few weeks. I can't wait to see new episodes of "The Tudors", "Big Love", and "Lost". Hell I'll even admit it I am excited to watch the first few episodes of "American Idol" so I can watch as they weed through the really horrible crazy people.

Yet there are some brand new shows to look forward to.

On showtime there is a very promising show called "United States of Tara." It's written by Diablo Cody (best known as the writer of "Juno")and from what I have read seems to be a very quirky and fun show. It's about a woman with multiple personality disorder, although it is a highly controversial diagnosis it does make for some great tv. I fully intend to watch it when it premiers on January 18th.

Before I list any other descriptions for the next show on my list just let me say this, Joss Whedon. Really that alone should have been enough to sell you on the idea of "Dollhouse". The premise sounds a bit stupid, it's about people with altered DNA who have their memories regularly wiped clean or imprinted with false memories so that they an complete tasks. It's sounds a bit close to the current show "My Own Worst Enemy" but I trust that anything put out by Whedon will have excellent writing, unlike "My own Worst Enemy." But really who would think that a space western, a show about a cheerleader fighting vampires, or a musical about super villains could be good. I have faith in Joss Whedon, I will see anything he makes. "Dollhouse" premiers February 13th.


NBC is putting out a show called "Kings" a modern day retelling of the story of King David. I don't know, I mean I already know it's good story but I'm not sure how it will translate. Honestly from the trailer it looks like they are taking this show a bit too seriously, I mean obviously it's a serious drama but I get the feeling that they are going to get pretty pretentious with this one. I have a personal pet peve with any movie or show that takes itself too seriously, any show that sets out thinking it is the best show ever created or that it is a show that will change lives (excluding shows like Extreme Home Makeover where they actually do change lives)automatically has me annoyed. We shall have to see how it turns out. It won't be out until March 19th, but It seems epic enough to attempt watching it.

None of the other upcoming new shows seemed to impress me enough to temp me into watching.

I think "Harpers Isand" could be kind of a fun show because it's essentially a horror tv show. One of the characters gets killed off each week. If they add the right amount of cheesiness into this show it could end up being quite enjoyable. Of course it could also be terrible.

"Cupid" has a cute romantic premise about a man who thinks he is cupid. Experience tells me that cute romantic shows never last. Even very well done ones like "Pushing Daisies" never get the ratings necessary for a show to stick around.

"Castle" and "The Unusuals" are both shows dealing with the NYPD. I don't know about you but I am sick of shows about crime scenes and courtrooms. They may be good shows, they may gain an audience but I for one am sick of the whole cop genre. "The Beast" is also a show about cops, the twist they are undercover cops. Even the promise of former underwear model Travis Fimmel, and Patrick Swayze is not enough to get me to watch something with cops in it. Oh crap there is another one isn't there. I also forgot that "Flashpoint" was coming out, that's a show about SWAT teams. Enough with the cop genre already!

The advertisements for "Trust me" are a tedious and boring attempt at humor, how can I expect the real show to be any different.

I would rather gnaw off my own arm then watch "Howdie Do It" a lame ass spin on traditional prank shows. I don't find Howie Mandel to be funny in the first place, and the commercials don't make the show look all that good. His big prank seems to be pretending to be a waiter who sticks his fingers in people foods. ZOMG that is so original and hilarious listen through the thick coating of sarcasm you may actually hear me laughing on the inside.

I'm sure there are a lot of shows that I missed, but honestly I don't see too many winners out of this bunch. Then again I always hated "Everybody Loves Raymond" and that ran for years, so who knows there is really no accounting for taste.

RIP Eartha Kitt

What can I say I love Eartha Kitt. Obviously I never met the woman but I always wished that I could have been more like her. She was always sexy, classy mysterious, and cool on a level that I can never hope to achieve.

Most know her as the second Catwoman from the beautifully campy TV series "Batman" or perhaps you know her as the voice of Yzma in "The Emperors New Groove." Her voice is better known then her acting she lent her vocals to the Christmas classic "Santa Baby" and to a number of other wonderful songs.



She will be missed, but her impact will always be around.

Last minute gift ideas for film snobs!

Ok Christmas is swiftly approaching, and I'm beting there are a lot of slackers like me who have yet to do their Christmas shopping yet. I am going to suggest a few gifts in different price ranges for different types of film nerds and enthusiasts. Remember while a cinemaphile always appreciates a new dvd to add to the collection, that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gifts.

The Cheap Stuff Gifts for about $10 and under

For a really cheap gift go around to local video rental stores, if possible hit the stores that aren't part of some big corporation. A lot of them give away movie posters or other promotional items (cut outs ect) for free. It may take some searching and haggling but sometimes you walk away with some really good stuff.

If you have a video camera make a video tribute to your friend and post it on youtube. It could be something silly like you dancing and singing to a favorite song of theirs. You could get friends and reenact a scene from one of their favorite movies. Or you could do something stupid involving fire or being hit in the nuts that will guarantee a viral video and dedicate it to them , just don't actually hurt yourself or do anything too stupid.

Here is an awesome example of a silly video some guy made for his girlfriend. It's very low production quality, very simple premise, and extremely silly. However there is no doubt in my mind that his girlfriend smiled when she got this. I would like to make this clear right now, I don't know who the heck this guy is. I found it because it's the top youtube search result for one of my favorite songs. He would probably be embarrassed to have this posted around by a complete stranger, but he allowed for embedding so I have to assume he is ok with it. But it gives you a good idea of what a gift video should look like.



Books are another good cheap way to go as far as gifts are concerned. If you go to your local bookstore you are bound to find a few books about film. There are reprinted scripts, books about production, books on theory, and my favorite books about directors. If you don't feel like browsing around then I recomend going with
"The Film Snobs Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Filmological Knowledge"
by David Kamp and Lawrence Leviretails $10 new

For the Budding Film Maker

As a film maker you can never have enough tape to work with. Sometimes a simple practical gift is the most appreciated. Get them some mini DV tapes you can get a pack of two for somewhere between $15-20 at most retailers. Something as simple as another tape will allow a director to take more shots and take more chances with their work.

Another great idea is getting a shirt (they make other items too) from http://www.filmmakergear.com/
They have some hilarious shirts all specific to the film making world. whats even cooler is that it's not just for directors they have shirts specific to DP's, sounds guys, and editors. Their shirts range from $13-$22

Build them a Steadycam for about $15
here is the site that tells you how to do it. http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/steadycam/

For the General Film Fan

A gift subscription to netflix is always a good choice. You can get someone a very cheap two month, one movie a month subscription for $10. Naturally you can keep building up from that point. As an added bonus if you order between now and the 29th netflix is donating %5 of the profits from each gift subscription to Feeding America.

You can also give gift certificates to Fandango, allowing your friend or loved one to get movie tickets to almost any movie theater they want. As an added bonus they can do this all through email, you never even have to leave the house and your gift will get to them on time.

For the Big Spender

For somewhere between $100 and well above you can get them a VHS to DVD burner, and let them transfer all their old tapes onto something a little more modern.

Final Cut Studio 2 offers the budding film maker just about everything they need for post editing. It is priced at $1,299 but it is the best software available to non professionals. Not to mention there are a lot of film makers using pirated software due to the prohibitively expensive cost of video editing software, can you really put a price on keeping a loved one out of jail?

Finally for the Star Wars fan an opportunity to kick George Lucas in the balls. Now I have no idea how much you would have to pay him in order for him to agree to this, but everyone has their price. Giving someone the opportunity to kick George Lucas in the balls, punch him in the face, or perhaps simply the opportunity to yell obscene things at Skywalker ranch for a bit is the type of thing that a Star Wars or Indiana Jones fan would treasure forever.

I hope this helps make gift giving a bit easier.

Happy Holidays or lack there of!

Christmas Movies that I don't hate

Most of the time I save my holiday specials till the day of the actual event, yet for Christmas I found I had to do something different. Right now it seems like a lot of places are playing an almost constant stream of Christmas movies, and that would be all well and good if they were bothering to play halfway decent movies, but they are not.

I thought it would be fun to sit all the way through one of these Lifetime, Hallmark, or ABC family specials just to write a scathing review, but I couldn't even sit though them. During this season it's ok for things to be a bit sappy, we all want to see the couple get together in the end or see a family come back together but bad Christmas movies take it to an extreme. At the same time I don't want to see familys that are suffering too much, I don't want to see depressing movies, and I don't want to see things that are too far fetched.

In a veritable sea of bad Christmas movies I felt it my duty to point out that there are some good Christmas movies. You can have a movie that is sentimental without being maudlin, you can have a movie be funny without it being stupid, and you can have something that is actually fun for the whole family to watch. The list I have provided you with should safely guide you through the holiday season, without having to watch something awful.

I present to you a list of my favorite Christmas movies.

First and foremost there are fantastic Christmas classics that never get old. I'm not even going to bother writing descriptions here, if you have never seen these you need to get out and do so immediately.

"White Christmas." skip this only if you can't stand musicals.
"Miracle on 34th Street" (1947)
"It's a Wonderful Life"
"A Christmas Story" ok so this ones more of a modern Christmas Classic, but I feel it's going to stand the test of time.

A Christmas movie for the Kids

"A Muppet Christmas Carol"
The title realy says it all. You have Charles Dickens classic story A Christmas Carol, interpreted with the humor of the muppets. I loved it when I was a kid and I still think it's funny.

Family Friendly Christmas Comedy

"Christmas Vacation"

It is the quintessential tale of what happens when everything that can possibly go wrong at Christmas goes wrong. There are crazy relatives, a father that is way too overzealous in his decorating plans, trouble with the boss from work, and a few issues with wild animals. It is hands down my favorite of the "Vacation" series with Chevy Chase. This is the movie to watch if you have to deal with a crazy family this season.

"Elf"

Ok, ok so most people have seen this one it came out fairly recently. But it doesn't mean that it's not a good movie. Will Farrell is adorable in this movie, as a man who grew up thinking he was an elf. Buddy goes off to the US in search of his true identity. It's a really sweet and enjoyable story, but it managed to keep from getting overly sentimental. It's kind of goofy but it will definitely make you feel the Christmas Spirit.

The Christmas Romantic Comedies

"All I Want for Christmas"

This is the story of two kids who wand to get their divorced parents back together for Christmas. I know I know it sounds like one of the sappy lifetime movies, but it's very well done. The kids cook up a crazy plot, hilarity ensues, and in the end everyone wins. It has a really great cast featuring a young Thora Birch, Ethan Embry (that kid from Dutch), Kevin Nealon as the unlikeable man the mother is currently engaged to, and the always fabulous Lauren Bacall.

"Love Actually"

A bunch of intertwining love stories set around Christmas time. It's a cute movie with a phenomenal cast. Most of you have heard of it or even seen it, but as far as romantic Christmas movies go this is as good as it gets.

Also keep an eye on Hugh Grants tie during a scene where he is dancing around, it's the same color but they purposely changed the pattern in each shot.

If you feel like laughing at a Christmas Movie not with it.

"Babes in Toyland" (1986 version)

Keanu Reeves and Drew Barrymore in a crappy made for tv Christmas movie, thats right it actually exists. A young Drew Barrymore gets into a car accident and is taken away to Toyland where she has to stop an arranged marriage between Mary Contrary and the evil Barnaby Barnacle. naturally Mary Contrary's true love is Jack Be Nimble played by Keanu. Oh did I forget to mention that they meet Santa, who is played by Pat Morita aka Mr Miyagi. There are some slightly catchy songs, but overall this is a pretty terrible movie. Oh did I fail to mention this was also a musical.

This movie has gone so far wrong that it is actually kind of enjoyable to watch. I put this here for people who like to make fun of bad movies, but still wanted to feel the Christmas Spirit. I recommend loading up on eggnog before attempting to watch Babes in Toyland.

Here is a Trailer to give you a better idea of what "Babes in Toyland" is about.

1001Movies to see before you die

I didn't make up the list. I don't really have the time for that sort of thing, and naturally I would have made some different choices.

Here is the link http://1001beforeyoudie.com/

I only got about 182 out of 1001, I better get crackin. There are a bunch of movies that I have seen parts of, but I only counted movies that I had seen from beginning to end.

A lot of their choices are significant but things I kind of wished I hadn't wasted an hour of my life seeing.

"White Balloon" and "L'Atalante" are two of my least favorite films of all times.

Some of the movies on the list are things I can't bring myself to watch for one reason or another.

"Audition" and "The Exorcist" are movies that look way too scary for me to even consider watching

And some movies like "The Sweet Hereafter" (which is about a town dealing with the loss of many children in a horrible bus accident) just look too damn depressing to watch.

All the same I want to see a lot more films on that list.

Heroes "Dual"

The mid-season finale starts out with an amazing monologue given by Syler. Much like the name of the episode it is about the Dual nature of the world. Right vs wrong, good vs evil, science vs destiny. It was chilling to hear a lovely rant about the nature of the world coming from the lips of a serial killer. In other words it was awesome.

This was the end of the chapter, the end of an era. "Villains" is no more and "Fugitives" begins. But I suppose I am getting ahead of myself.

Highlight the rest to read the spoiler laden review. But for those who don't want spoilers allow me to say this, it was one of the best shows heroes has had this season. Lot's of twists and turns, emotional stuff, and finally we can see where the plot is going.

The story begins with Peter looking distraught standing near his fathers body. Nathan shows up and there is this minute where you almost see their entire relationship dissolve. Nathan plays the hero a lot, but you can't forget how he described himself in the first season, the man is a shark. He is cold and ruthless, quite frankly I wish Peter would have shot him. Naturally, Peter being the good guy that he his would never be able to do that to his own brother. Peter just punches him, leaving his brother poised to wake up at a very inconvenient moment.

Meantime at Primatech it appears as if Syler finally got around to watching some horror films, and picked up a couple of ideas from "SAW." A group of people locked in a poorly lit, almost abandoned building, with a serial killer who keeps toying with them at every stage. It's not exactly original, but it's damn effective. Syler does lots of bad things while trying to work out his mommy issues, and seems to be really picking on Claire. In some strange way he identifies with her, he even goes on an EMO rant about how they can never be hurt but they can be heart broken

*Emo Tear*

All joking aside it is pretty creepy. Syler knows how to play to each persons weakness. Well all except Angela, that woman may not have a weakness.He keeps tempting each character trying to get them to turn against each other, in so many ways trying to prove that anyone could be as bad as he is. Or perhaps maybe he was trying to prove to himself that he is not such a terrible monster. He leaves quite a death toll: a few guards, the puppetmaster, Meredith, Echo, and probably someone else too. The big points go to Claire for stabbing Syler in the back of the head with some glass, though it remains to be seen if he died or not. Did I mention there was an explosion.

Onto another story. Hiro is stuck in the past without his powers. Ando, Matt, and Daphne come up with a plan. Daphne will steal the serum and give it to Ando in the hopes that he will develop a time traveling power. Their reasoning is that Matt always wanted to know what other people are thinking, and Daphne who was crippled wished that she could run, so perhaps people get their powers based on what they truly desire. Yet when Ando takes the serum he does not end up with the powers he wanted. I seems as if another fan thoery may be at play here, some believe that people get their powers based on their personality. Ando gives this theory great credence. Ando, already everyone's favorite sidekick gets a power that truly makes him the best sidekick ever he has the power to enhance other peoples powers. He is able to enhance Daphne's speed enough that they are able to time travel and get Hiro.

There is another thing that is important to note about Ando's powers. Remember all the way back at the very beginning of this season Hiro time travels to the future and sees Ando shooting him with red sparks. Hiro assumes that this is Ando trying to kill him but this may not be the case. Ando's red spark power seems to enhance a persons power, maybe he just gave heey really want in life. It's a theory I have seen on the forums before, and perhaps it is still true. Ando focuses on getting a time traveling power, but he ends up with something else. One fan theory is that people get powers based on their personality's, and what happens to ro a jolt but I somehow doubt that the power is fatal. I really hope that this is the case, while the two may argue sometimes I know that Ando could never betray Hiro.

Oh yea back to what happens with Peter and Nathan. Peter goes to wreck the lab and get rid of the serum, he gets unexpected help from the "Villains" Flint and Knox. Mohinder gets hit with enough serum that it seems to make his icky skin condition go away, and the Mohinder fangirls rejoiced. Some people die and there is an explosion. Just before the whole place goes up Peter injects himself with the serum, and takes Nathans flying power and zooms himself and his brother out of the place just in the nick of time.

Thus begins the new chapter

Sadly Nathan continues to be a douchebag. He tells the government about the existence of "dangerous" people with powers. Provides lists to the government, and from the preview it looked like some serious Guantanamo Bay torture shit was happening.

There was this one haunting and incredibly powerful image in the preview of the next chapter. It was of prisoners in their orange uniforms, chained up, and with bags covering their heads. As they sat chained together unable to speak you could see them holding hands in solidarity.

I don't want to see this happen to the characters, but I see this as a necessary step in several directions. For one the future is a very difficult thing to change, since season one there have been visions of heroes being hunted down by the government. Eventually they had to address the issue, this time it's not about saving the world it's about saving themselves.

Perhaps more importantly this new "Fugitives" chapter allows the creators to say a lot about political issues currently facing the world, or situations which have happened before. It seems like the heroes are being rounded up into camps similar to that of Nazi Germany, and the scenes of prisoners with bags over their heads was reminiscent of those taken at Abu Ghraib. I'm expecting issues of discrimination, torture, and even terrorism to be brought up in the next chapter. One of the reasons why Sci-Fi is such an important genre is that it can create worlds that allow us to better examine our own political structures and moral issues.

Allow me to make a prediction. I'm expecting the show to take a dramatic turn, I think the next chapter will actually be a lot darker then "Villains". However, with the new writers on board, and much of the time travel issues gone I expect "Fugitives" to be a great improvement on the current season.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

You know how a bunch of commercials said "Come to War of the Worlds the only place to see the new trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine" well they lied.



Are X-men movies the best forms of cinema, no.
Will they ever win Oscars (for anything but special effects or makeup), no
Are they entertaining as heck, yes.

Sometimes you just need something that you don't have to think too hard about, and this looks like a very fun movie. Some of the stunts look way over the top, but that's not necessarily a bad thing in superhero movies.

I have to say the casting choice of Ryan Reynolds for Deadpool is brilliant. He can determinately carry off a role as an action hero, and he brings the right amount of sarcasm and charm necessary to pull of a character who is can break the fourth wall.

Another note on casting. Josh Holloway was offered the role of Gambit but he refused, saying that it was too close to his character Sawyer. I can't argue with his logic on that one, but I really wish he was playing gambit. I mean the man was kind of born to play that role.