Tuesday, September 25, 2007 Rant Archive
There was some sad news reported on
eonline.com today; Charlie O’Connell from THE BACHELOR and his pick, Sarah Brice, have called it quits. Many of you may not even remember these two because they actually settled into a real life together without seeking the spotlight. Of course Charlie is actor, Jerry O’Connell’s, brother as well as an actor in his own right, so he didn’t really need to grab an extra 15 minutes of fame by capitalizing on his Reality TV romance. This couple actually looked like they were going to make it and for two years they did. But, as Sarah tells “In Touch,” “there were some things between us that we couldn’t resolve.” It looks like this romance suffered from the painful – yet mundane – problems of many other non-Reality TV couples.
At this point, I’ve lost track of how many bachelor’s there have been, but I do know that so far only two have actually made it to the alter. Even better news; Trista and Ryan just had a baby boy. That’s wonderful for them, but that seems to be more of a fluke, based on this show’s track record. And actually, at the rate those two were going after self-publicity, I’m surprised they didn’t allow the birth to be televised. I’m just as romantic as the next girl, and in the beginning I thought this show was onto something. Now, I just feel misled and duped every time one of these couples announces they’ve split up a mere two weeks after the finale has aired.
It looks like Halo 3 is poised to race past SPIDERMAN 3, with its projected sales. And if the $125 million gross for Halo 2 is any indicator, I’d say it’s more than likely. Oh, and that $125 million was earned within the first 24 hours of its release. And I though the money some of the high-budget movies were making was mind blowing. Then again, gaming has struck at the hearts and minds of adults and children alike ever since the classic video game, Pong, came out. But I don’t think anybody envisioned a world where more than a million copies of a game would be pre-ordered, 30 years ago. Moreover, who could have imagined seeing grown men and women waiting in line for days on end just to make sure they got their game the first day?
The answer to that is Bill Gates.
Starpulse.com says “Microsoft Corp. seems confident of outdoing the SPIDERMAN 3 summer blockbuster that grossed $151 million in its opening weekend.” But sales of the game are just one component. There is also major mass marketing going on with connections to soda bottles, comic books and action figures. That means you can add millions more to Halo 3’s earning potential … all for a game. Granted, these aren’t your mother and father’s games ... heck, they aren’t even you older brother and sister’s games. With technology just getting better and better, your new video game is outdated months after you buy it. Still, I doubt a re-release of Donkey Kong would break any sales records. Then again, with all the new technological advancements, who knows?
According to
BBC News, a special effects technician has been killed during a stunt test run after a 4x4 truck hit a tree.
The man (whose identity has not yet been publicly released), perished when the camera platform vehicle crashed whilst following a stunt car (possibly the Batmobile).
Emergency services pronounced the man dead at the scene in Longcross (about 30 miles southwest of London).
According to various sources, a Warner Bros spokeswoman said no actors were involved and the accident did not happen on set or while filming was taking place.
She said: "Warner Bros Pictures and the entire cast and crew of The Dark Knight are deeply saddened by this tragedy and their hearts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones of the deceased."
A Health & Safety Executive spokesman confirmed two vehicles had been involved in a "filming production exercise" when the crash happened. A joint investigation by local police and the HSE has been launched.
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT, made by Warner Bros Pictures, has been filming in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Chicago and the UK and is set for worldwide release next summer.
News of this type brings back unwelcome memories of the TWILIGHT ZONE and THE CROW accidents. How real do we want it? How close to the action do we actually have to be? Who’s to blame? How do we prevent these things from happening again?
After a brief one-episode hiatus, CALIFORNIATION is starting to heat up again – in more ways than one. This time out of the gate, the show is a perfect mix of sex, humor and pathos, especially the last.
Hank Moody’s daughter Becca (Madeleine Martin) is not particularly optimistic about life. She reads her dad a Robert Frost poem she likes because of its message, “How nothing good ever lasts. It all turns to shit like you and mom.”
Moody (David Duchovny) wants her to hold on to the possibilities. “Happy endings may get a bad rep” he tells her. “But they do happen.”
In fact, he’s hoping for one himself. “Action between him and Karen (Natascha McElhone) heated up a tad in the last episode, and this time around, he tells her, “I hope to get to second base.”
Moody is not the only one who may be getting action this week. His agent Charlie (Evan Handler) has not been doing the nasty with his wife Marcy (Pamela Adlon) of late. Partly this is due to the guilt he feels for spending office time spanking his assistant, Dani (Rachel Miner), but a solution may be at hand. To spark things up, Marcy wants to try a threesome – and with Dani no less.
Even Moody looks like he’s getting closer to Karen. She’s an architect and he arranges a really great commission for her. To celebrate, he may have a threesome of his own – Hank, Karen and Becca for dinner. And Becca has to go to sleep some time.
Thomas “Tip” O’Neill was a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts for 34 years, including 11 years (1977-87) he spent as Speaker of the House. He kept getting re-elected because he served his district well. As he put it himself, “all politics is local.”
That applies to everything. Consider the economy. If a million people are unemployed it’s a recession. If you’re unemployed it’s a depression.
Well, it’s the same thing with war. It is Ken Burns’s particular genius to tell the story locally, from the point of view of four communities around the nation and some of the veterans from there who served in the conflict.
For one thing, their comments give you a different impression from the ones most of us have about war, from movies and TV shows and such. What they have to say is interesting, of course, but seeing them spiffed up in 60-year-old photos and now is as fascinating. They were children sent off to slaughter. The cause was right, but they were still children.
This episode covers 1943, and at that tome Pvt. Charles Mann of Luverne, Minn., served in North Africa. “We didn’t know what to do,” he said. The soldiers were simply unprepared for battle and their unnamed commander was apparently a coward who kept his headquarters 20 miles behind the front lines.
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We may now know who will be flying the friendly skies in her invisible plane. There has been wide-spread speculation as to who would be filling Linda Carter’s boots as Wonder Woman in the upcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE movie, and today it looks like we have an answer … Jessica Biel. Yes that’s right,
Variety.com is reporting, “Jessica is in serious talks to lasso up in Warner Bro. All-star superhero film.” The studio won’t confirm or deny stating, “it prefers to announce an entire cast rather than piecemeal deals.” That being said, if the studio didn’t leak the news, who did? Something tells me more casting news will be coming shortly.
WONDER WOMAN was one of my favorites growing up, and it will take a special woman to step into that role. Jessica Biel, who is best known for her roles in 7TH HEAVEN, BLADE: TRINITY and THE ILLUSIONIST appears to be well qualified. Not only does she resemble Linda Carter, which is important to many die-hard fans, she’s a strong yet feminine woman, which is just how we like our heroines to be. However, there are many people that are disappointed with this casting news. Fans of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER and ANGEL were hoping for Charisma Carpenter to slip into Wonder Woman’s bracelets. I have to say, that would have been a good fit as well.
The biggest problem I have with WEEDS is that it’s only a half hour show. There is so much going on, the show moves so quickly and offers so cynical a sense of humor perfectly attuned to the times – or at least my times -- that I just can’t get enough. And frankly Mary-Louise Parker is brilliant. And I would say that even if I didn’t have a crush on her.
Where to begin? Perhaps because it’s easiest, let’s start with her television family. Brother-in-law Andy (Justin Kirk) gets a job catering at a porno shoot, but his food gives the star flatulence and the runs. The result, he has to interrupt the shooting of the potential classic Peckers of the Caribbean to attend to private matters.
Son Silas (Hunter Parrish) has hooked up with Tara Lindman (Mary-Kate Olsen), a Jesus freak who will take care of all his needs except one; she is saving her virginity for her husband. I assume you understand what I mean there. If not, let me know and I’ll be more specific.
Son Shane (Alexander Gould) may also have landed himself a shiksa. He’s attending what turns out to be an evangelical summer school. He begs his mother to take him out, but she doesn’t heed his pleas. In the school, his fellow students are so anxious to spread Christ’s message that they are prepared to beat him up until he accepts Jesus. He’s saved (from the bullies) by an attractive fellow students who wants to save him (from hell). Shane doesn’t need to be saved, but would like his needs taken care of, too. But their lunch plans go awry when she meets someone who needs saving me even more than he does.
As told by James Hibberd over at
TV Week, raucous animated show Family Guy, which featured a hilarious parody of Star Wars this past week, may try for the trilogy’s next film, The Empire Strikes Back. Hibberd further hints that such cinematic parodies may eventually become an annual event for the show, much like The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror” episodes, which air every Halloween.
Just thinking of all the possible points of parody in The Empire Strikes Back makes me already crack a smile. According to sources the show was discouraged from playing up the Luke/Leia kiss in the original film because they wanted to play up the incest angle (doubly gross, since it would have meant Chris making out with mother Lois.) One point of definite hilarity in spoofing the second film then, would be the Han/Leia romance that begins to heat up. With husband/wife Peter and Lois spoofing Han and Leia, some definite raunch would be in the works.
With the thought of a second Family Guy Stars Wars episode looming in my future a few questions beg to be asked: which character will spoof Yoda? How many phallic jokes can you slip into the Hoth Battle?? What hilarity will ensue from the moment Chris/Luke learns that Stewie/Darth Vader, normally his younger brother, is also his father??? I can already imagine a joke where the pair pause in mid lightsaber duel to review a family tree in confusion. Ha! (I’m def missing my calling as a TV writer.)
HEROES is far too complicated a show to surmise an entire season, so I’m just going to say this. Last year, we found our heroes in Manhattan ready to save the world. Peter (Milo Ventimiglia) couldn’t control the nuclear power he’d absorbed from Ted (Matthew John Armstrong), and Claire (Hayden Penettiere) braces herself to kill him if necessary. At the same time, Sylar (Zachary Quinto) shows up for a showdown with Peter and all the heroes present take a shot at Sylar. In the process, Matt (Greg Grunberg) gets shot by his own bullets, and Hiro (Masi Oka) is thrown and teleports into 17th-Century Japan, but not before he stabs Sylar leaving Peter to cope with his impending doom. We all recall the lackluster ending as Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) flies Peter up into the sky for the brilliant explosion hundreds of miles away.
Now, this season starts four months after all that.
Claire and Noah Bennett (Jack Coleman) are now Claire and Noah Butler, brand new residents of California. Noah tells his daughter to keep a low profile and not do anything that may make her stand out in any way. For a girl like Claire, that might as well be a death sentence. Especially when she meets West (Nick D'Agosto), the hot guy in her class that has secret powers of his own.
I spent the majority of last season, and the season before, wishing death upon T-Bag (Robert Knepper). This season, the honors go to Bellick (Wade Williams). First of all, I’m not too keen on seeing poor Bellick limping around Sona prison in his dirty tighty-whiteys. I’m also just getting really sick of the man. He’s gone from a conniving half-wit of a bounty hunter to a--quite literally--slimy, conniving half-wit of a prisoner.
In a desperate, albeit justified, attempt to get clothes, food, and water, Bellick decides to play nice to everyone who will listen at Sona. In last week’s episode, he delivered a message for the mysterious Whistler. It turns out knowing Whistler’s whereabouts is a good commodity. First, he shares the info with Michael (Wentworth Miller) in return for a little water. Second, he shares the info with T-Bag in the hopes of getting some clothes and food from big man Lechero (Robert Wisdom). Soon, Whistler, the prisoner who’s been successfully hiding from an entire prison for God knows how long, has been revealed to at least ten guys.
It turns out there’s a price on Whistler’s head. Any prisoner who kills him will receive a get out of jail free card. So Bellick giving up the man’s whereabouts to whomever he pleases puts Michael’s little plan of escape in a bit of a bind. Gee, Michael’s escape plans aren’t going as smoothly as he hoped? Wow. I’m so surprised!
The premise of CBS’ newest sitcom The Big Bang Theory is simple: nerds Leonard (Johnny Galecki, a.k.a. David from Rosanne) and Sheldon (Jim Parsons) are brilliant physicists sharing an apartment. They spend their days solving complex derivative equations and playing Klingon Boggle (you heard right!) with their equally nerdy friends. However their geek utopia gets all shook up when bubbly blonde beauty Penny (Kaley Cuoco of 8 Simple Rules…) moves in across the hall. Suddenly Leonard is pining for Penny’s affections, much to the chagrin of Sheldon, who seems to have little interest in both girls as well as socialization with those not fluent in nerd-speak. Of course comedic situations ensue as Leonard and Sheldon struggle to conquer the one problem they can’t seem to solve: how to get a girl to perform “coitus” with them.
The pilot episode offers very little in way of plot: the show opens with Leonard and Sheldon meeting Penny; they manage (with great difficulty and little hilarity) to invite her over for lunch (yay!); the three converse for a bit (riveting!); Penny, in true porno fashion, takes a shower at their place since she is ‘all sweaty and gross from moving,’ (ok, promising…); Half-naked Penny cajoles smitten Leonard and reluctant Sheldon into retrieving a television from her meathead ex-boyfriend and, echoing every nerd vs. jock TV cliché, the boyfriend sends the Leonard and Sheldon back to Penny humiliated and stripped to their underwear (not as funny as it should be. ) Of course heart-of-gold Penny takes pity and offers to treat the boys to dinner (an awkward and abrupt conclusion.) Somewhere in there Simon Helberg and Kunal Nayyar try (and fail) to inject some levity into the situation, as the other half of Leonard and Sheldon’s nerd squad.
I have been looking forward to this show all summer long. When I began seeing the clips, I immediately thought it was a take on the amazing book “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” but now that I have seen the show, it also brings to mind one of my all-time-favorites, QUANTEM LEAP. The show centers on journalist Dan Vasser (Kevin McKidd) who begins to mysteriously travel to the past and alter the paths of people’s lives. The kicker here is the fact that these alterations aren’t always for the better. Add to that the fact that he has to somehow explain his absences, which can last up to days at a time, to his loving wife and son. And you thought you had it rough because you have to explain to your wife why you were two hours late getting home last night.
In tonight’s premiere episode, Dan is inexplicable transported to the 1980s. Actually he travels in time but not in space, because he wakes up in his own home, only it’s his home 20 years in the past. As you can imagine, the family living in it at the time aren’t too happy to see a strange man wondering around their house in his pajamas. Of course they aren’t nearly as confused as poor Dan is. Traveling back to 1987 had to be a shock to his senses as well. I mean how would you like to go back and revisit that era’s fashion? I know I personally burned all of my bangle bracelets and day-glo attire. Let’s just hope bringing back artifacts from the past isn’t part of his experience.
It was old Willy Yates who said, “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold,” and although it was in a poem called “The Second Coming,” he could have easily been talking about New Orleans in the modern era. That’s the overwhelming theme of K-VILLE, Fox’s latest police drama, and our heroes Marlin Boulet (Anthony Anderson) and Trevor Cobb (Cole Hauser) waste no time in getting into the fire.
The Orleans Parish Jail has had a jailbreak, and there are three dudes on the run. Our boys help snag two of them, only to lose them to the Parish sheriff. Unfortunately, both escapees get killed on their return, making our heroes suspect that something far more screwy than a simple jailbreak’s amiss, especially as it turns out the last escapee has been in the jail for two years on a simple misdemeanor. Not only that, but the boy’s loaded, which quickly raises the question of why was he in so long and what motivated him to boogie the way he and his friends did.
Boulet and Cobb go to Orleans Parish Jail to try and shake loose some answers, but that’s a tough mission on its own; as viewers discovered last week, Cobb was a former guest in that institution who escaped during Katrina, disappeared into the military and took advantage of the chaos around the city to start up a new life. Between corrupt officials, a dangerously overcrowded jail and ghosts that just won’t stay dead, Boulet and Cobb have got all the work they can handle headed their way.
OK, let’s recap the first three seasons of HIMYM in 20 words or less: Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan) just got married, Ted (Josh Radner) and Robin (Cobie Smulders) just broke up, and Barney (Doogie Hows … er, Neil Patrick Harris) is their scumbag friend. The whole premise of the show is Ted telling his kids (in the year 2030) how he and their mother got together through narrated flashbacks to the present.
Sounds simple enough, no? And the big twist through the first two seasons was that you thought Robin would eventually be the mother, but as we enter the new season, they’re totally broken up and Ted is back on the prowl.
So as we embark on a new season, Robin’s back from her trip to Argentina with a new boy-toy (Enrique Iglesias) who massages, wind surfs and sings. And as if that wasn’t enough almost-star cameo power, Ted goes out and has a wild fling with a biker chick (Mandy Moore) who eventually convinces him to get a butterfly tattoo on his lower back (his own personal “tramp stamp”).
Geeks are chic this new fall TV season. Fads don’t usually sustain themselves for long but then fads don’t always produce a show of the quality of CHUCK. Here’s hoping this new entry rises above the rest to stay with us a while. Funny, slick, charming and face-paced, CHUCK is a definite winner.
Chuck is your aimless everyman who works at Buy More with the tech support team the Nerd Herd- hard to spot the satire, I know. The show opens with Chuck and his best friend and co-worker Morgan trying to escape Chuck’s birthday party. His sister threw it for him and invited (ulp!) girls. A forced introduction and a lengthy explanation of the girl who broke his heart and left him for his college roommate, Bryce Larkin, and Chuck is left alone. As usual.
Cut to Bryce Larkin now, super spy, as he raids a government super computer, his tux covered in super blood. A fast download, a few handheld explosive devices to fend off the faceless government goons and Bryce is sending the stolen data to his old buddy Chuck. The sequence is up-tempo, violent and well shot. This is not the 8 pm show of old where the dispatched crawl away barely dazed. There were bones crunching and blood spurting. Bryce meets his end but the baton is passed.