Category: Film and TV

HOLLYWOOD: Michael Moore Failed To Make Best Picture

MichaelmooreOf course, we all knew he failed to make it, but the news is that Hollywood knows it, too.

MICHAEL MOORE FAILS TO GET BEST PICTURE OSCAR NOMINATION FOR FAHRENHEIT 9/11.

Unfortunately, Hollywood also failed to nominate the picture that genuinely deserved to be named last year’s best: The Passion of the Christ.

My guess is that the failure to nominate it was partly a case of cluelessness (Hollywood is too anti-Christian to "get" the picture) and partly sour grapes ("If we have to admit F9/11 isn’t best picture material, neither will we give you the satisfaction of acknowleding that TPOTC is, either.")

SOME INTERESTING COMMENTARY ON MOORE’S FILM’S LOUSINESS (FROM A LIBERAL PERSPECTIVE) OVER AT TKS.

Quick question: What does Michael Moore’s "L" hand gesture stand for?

(a) Liberal
(b) Loser
(c) Both

I submit that the answer is the same for both the election and the Oscars.

Sci-Fi Roundup

While we’re talking about TV shows today, let’s note the new episdoes of sci-fi shows that will be debuting tonight:

Star Trek Enterprise:

"Observer Effect"
After Hoshi and Trip contract a deadly virus, two aliens possess the bodies of other crew members to observe humanity’s reaction to tragedy. NOTE: This is supposed to involve an alien race we met in The Original Series.

Incidentally, (SPOILERS):

[Enterprise writer/producer Manny] Coto also offered tidbits on the remaining episodes of the season: "In
the second half of the season, you can expect this: Stories that take
place on Andoria, a Klingon moon, Romulan outposts, Romulan Marauders,
Orion Privateers, Earth’s Moon, Mars, a 1701-class Federation starship
and more. And you’ll see a live Tholian… and a Gorn."


Coto emphasizes that whether the show returns for a fifth season remains to be seen.


"As to whether or not we’ll be back for Season 5, that’s always been up in the air. We’ll see what the future brings." [SOURCE.]

Stargate SG-1:

"Gemini", Episode #811.
When an enemy takes on the guise of one of the team, Carter’s emotions leave the planet susceptible to attack.
NOTE: Stargate SG-1 is not head-to-head with Enterprise, so you’ll have to TiVo, VCR, choose, or catch a re-run. I’d recommend Enterprise as your first-watch, then SG-1 later.

Stargate Atlantis:

"The Eye", Episode #111.
When the city is evacuated due to an approaching storm, the Genii launch and invasion.

Battlestar Galactica (new series):

"Bastille Day", Episode #103.
Apollo is held hostage on a prisoner ship by a group of convicts led by a freedom fighter convicted of terrorism. NOTE: The new Battlestar Galactica series has some very good aspects to it, but it’s got too much sexy stuff in it for me to recommend it. It’s also opposite Monk, so I recommend you watch Monk.

CHECK YOUR LOCAL LISTINGS.

MONK!!!

Monk_1 Yes!!!

The new season (or half-season) of Monk starts tonight!!!

What will happen? Will Monk be able to survive the tragic loss of his long-time caretaker and assistant, the beloved Sharona?

How will they explain her absence?

Who will replace her?

Will the new person be any good?

Will the audience accept her?

Will America’s favorite and hysterically-funny obsessive-compulsive detective jump the shark, as one reader ponders down yonder? (Though you really can’t tell that from just one show; shark jumps can be accurately discerned only in the rear view mirror.)

Monk is worried about these and many more questions. Just look at him! Can’t you see how worried he is?

Help Monk get over his new half-season jitters by tuning in and giving the new character a chance.

He can’t go off the air. He’s got crimes to solve!

CHECK YOUR LOCAL LISTINGS

Bless This Mess

Okay, I don’t normally watch network TV (or any TV), but this season I have found myself catching (occasionally) a couple of reality TV shows that are in proximity to Lost and 24.

These shows are called WifeSwap and (if I remember correctly) Trading Spouses. They are on ABC and FOX, respectively.

Both involve (from the 3-4 episodes I have seen) the mother of one family switching places with the mother of another family. When this happens then–formally or informally–the mother at first conforms to the rules of her new family and then begins to impose the rules that she is used to.

The producers of the shows seem to be trying to pick the most extreme (and clearly dysfunctional) families that they can find.

From my limited viewing experience of these shows, it seems that they involve pitting commonly stereotypical families against each others. Specifically: One mom comes from a messy, cluttered, rambunctious, and (usually) more-explicitly-Christian family than the other, who comes from from a clean, spartan, sedate, and (usually) less-explicitly-Christian family.

Part of the point of the shows is to see how the introduction of both moms affects both families. Inevitably, the "messy" mom comes across as more human than the "cleaner" mom–and the "messy" mom seems to have longer-lasting and more positive effects on the "clean" family than visa-versa.

That’s fiine with me.

Though I appreciate cleanliness (and especially hygiene), ultimately people are more important than things, and while venturing too far in either direction is unhealthy, it’s better to be messy, cluttered, rambunctious, and Christian than clean, spartan, sedate, and non-Christian.

Here’s to bigger famlies!

(Which regularly accompany the "messy" families rather than the "clean" moms.)

Is B5 Kiddable?

A young gentleman writes:

Jimmy,
   

Hi!  I was thinking of trying out the TV series Babylon 5, and I was just wondering if there’s any objectionable content that I might want to be aware of.  I’m 16 right now, and I have a sister who’s eleven who would probably end up watching whatever was being viewed in the house.  Is the show appropriate for children, or should I wait a few years?  Thanks!

Though most episodes of B5 are quite kid friendly, there are some scenes in some episodes that are not kiddable, particularly for someone as young as eleven. If your parents were interested in watching the series and skipping over these bits, it would be possible to watch them, but this would require a good bit of effort on their part and they likely wouldn’t have the time to devote to such a sustained effort. Therefore, I would just wait a few years.

Hope this helps and that you enjoy the series when you do see it!

NOTE: B5 fans, do not spoil what the unkiddable parts are in the comments box.

 

My Favorite Alarm Clock

Stll_alarm_clock_snoozeI recently bought the DVDs for the first season of My Favorite Martian, a 1960s sitcom that I have never seen but often heard about.

Just watched the opening sequence of the first episode and was laughing out loud in moments.

The first shot of the first scene of the first episode is of an alarm clock, which procedes to ring.

The single guy sleeping in the bed next to it (a very young Bill Bixby) shuts it off.

Then second alarm clock rings. To shut it off, he must get out of bed and walk over to a birdcage, which contains the sounding clock. He opens up the birdcage and shuts off the alarm.

He’s still so sleepy, though, that he is about to lay down in bed again when a third alarm clock sounds. To shut this one off he must leave his bedroom and go into the next room.

He seems invigorated by the trek, rubs his hair with his hands, and marches back into the bedroom to get dressed.

But sleepiness again overcomes him and he hits the bed.

Great visual comedy! And not a word of dialog in it!

Had to laugh because, not presently having a wife to poke me out of bed (unfortunately!), I happen to have three alarms set to wake me up in the morning. My cell phone goes off first. Then, fifteen minutes later, it goes off again. Then, almost immediately, my regular alarm clock sounds.

Guess human nature is now what it was in the 1960s.

Will let you know how the series turns out.

DVPeaves

What is it with people who make DVDs?

With purchaser expectations of extras and higher picture quality than what one gets on VHS, one would think that DVD manufacturers would take the customer service ethic seriously and make their DVDs as easy to use and non-annoying as possible.

But sometimes they do inexplicably frustrating things, particularly when putting TV shows on DVD.

Here are a few rules all DVD manufacturers should follow:

  1. Print the episode titles on the DVD so that the user doesn’t have to look at the box (which he won’t want to keep if he puts his DVDs in space-saving binders) to find the episode he wants. (Got that, Babylon 5?)
  2. Print the titles large enough that they are legible, so the user doesn’t have to squint. (Understand, Voyager?)
  3. Don’t have a looooong opening sequence that plays before the main menu EVERY TIME the user puts in the DVD and that CAN’T BE SKIPPED THROUGH (Capice, Next Gen?) In fact, make whatever opening you have skippable (Kudos to B5!).
  4. Make sure that there is a chapter break immediately after the opening credits so that the user can skip them and not end up way far into the story. (Why, after releasing seven seasons on DVD, haven’t you figured that out, Stargate SG-1?)
  5. Make sure that pressing PLAY has the function of making an episode . . . well . . . play. Having to hit ENTER to make and episode play when the PLAY key is dead is just stupid. (You savvy me, everybody?)
  6. Minimize the number of clicks that the user has to play the next episode. Don’t get so wrapped up in zoomy graphical menu designs that you force the user to push three or four buttons to navigate to the next episode. (What were you thinking, DS9 ?) or change the combination of buttons that need to be pushed (ditto, Voyager!).
  7. Having a "Play All" option is okay (nice try, B5), but how many users are really going to want to commit to sitting in front of the tube for three hours straight? Do the sensible thing and have NEXT EPISODE/PREVIOUS EPISODE options that immediately start playing the desired episode. (Why hasn’t anybody figured this out?)

And that’s my Andy Rooney moment for the day.