Movie of the Week: Dead Ringers

-Swinebread

The Oscars… a Few Observations

Best Acceptance Speech:
Tilda Swinton “Michael Clayton” – She was totally shocked that she won and still had the wherewithal to make comments about her agent’s butt and George Clooney acting like Batman on the set.

Best Emotional Reaction – A tie between Marion Cotillard “La Vie en Rose” and Glen Hansard “Falling Slowly” from “Once” (best song)

Best Joke:
That’s’ the most arrogant guy I’ve ever seen (or something like that) John Stewart talking about Glen Hansard.

Best Joke Runner up
"Democrats do have an historic race going. Hillary Clinton vs Barack Obama. Normally, when you see a black man or a woman president an asteroid is about to hit the Statue of Liberty. How will we know it's the future? Silver unitards, that can't be all?"

Most Predicted win:
Daniel Day-Lewis in “There Will Be Blood”

Best Flub Recovery:
Cameron Diaz

Best Slip:
Colin Farrell

Best Joke that went on too long:
The Halle Berry and Judy Dence thing

Best Loser:
George Clooney “Michael Clayton”

Most disappointed look:
Hal Holbrook, “Into the Wild” (Of course he could just be old.)

Best Presenter:
Helen Mirren, I love it when an woman of her caliber says “Cojones”

Best Walk off:
Marion Cotillard and Forest Steven Whitaker

Most Stunning Pregnant Woman:
Cate Blanchett

Most Irony:
A movie about gay rights (Freeheld”) announced as the winner by the military

Best Ah Ha moment:
Hey, all of the actor winners were European.

Best Goth Chick:
Diablo Cody, “Juno”

Best Homoerotic Moment:
Daniel Day Lewis kissing George Clooney

Best Inscrutable Look:
Cormac McCarthy

Best Mea Culpa:
Bringing Marketa Irglova back out

-Swinebread

2nd Season of Jericho has a time slot

Tuesday February 12, 2008.


Mark your calendars!

My understanding is that they've shot two different season finales. The first is a cliffhanger if the series gets renewed for a third season and the second ending will wrap-up the plotlines if Jericho is cancelled.

Can’t ask for more than that especially since it was resurrected from the dead.

Season 2 Promo:



-Swinebread

Last Tango in Paris

Last Tango in Paris is one of those shocking must see films that until recently I hadn’t gotten around to viewing. Well, I just watched it today… …although it was only the R rather than the NC-17 version. Is it the great film everyone says it is? Hell, don’t know, I’m just a simple guy and not attuned to the subtle aspects of art but I do see how it could have been both scandalous and a breakthrough for 1972 especially since it stars Marlon Brando. Regardless of what you might think of the film and its infamous butter scene, it has some of the best lines of any script I’ve ever come across.

Paul “If you look close, you’ll find me hiding behind my zipper”

Paul “Even if a husband lives 200 hundred fucking years, he'll never discover his wife's true nature. I may be able to understand the secrets of the universe, but... I'll never understand the truth about you. Never.”

Jeanne “What are we doing here?”
Paul “Let's just say we're taking a flying fuck at a rolling donut.”

Paul “Anyway, to make a long, dull story even duller, I come from a time when a guy like me used to come into a joint like this and pick up a young chick like you and... call her a 'bimbo'.”

Paul “I could dance forever! Oh, my hemorrhoid.”

Jeanne: “Let's drink a toast to our life in the hotel.”
Paul: “No fuck all that! Hey listen! Let's drink a toast to our life in the country.”
Jeanne “You're a nature lover? You didn't tell me that.”
Paul: “Oh, for chrissa-, I'm nature boy. Can't you see me with the cows and the chickenshit all over me? Huh?”
Jeanne “Oh, that's right. To the cows!”
Paul: “Cow.”
Jeanne “I will be your cow too.”
Paul “I get to milk you twice a day. How about that?”

Great stuff huh?

I think this scene kinda sums the whole film up for me (and for the love of god, it's definitely not work safe):


Remember ladies if a guy asks you to cut only two of your fingernails you know what he wants.

-Swinebread

Bionic Woman

I was in need of a good sci-fi action adventure so I watched the first episode of the Bionic Woman remake On Demand. I found it mildly entertaining. It premieres “for real” on NBC this coming September 26th, or you can download it.

David Eick who (along with Ronald D. Moore) developed the new Battlestar Galactica, created this show and like BSG, this is a reimagining of a '70s program in this case the original Bionic Woman (duh). So if you like BSG you might like this. It stars Michelle Ryan in the role of Jamie Sommers. Mood wise, Bionic Woman is a cross between Heroes and Alias with a touch of Dark Angel. It’s got potential but in my opinion it’s gotta’ get more science-fiction-y or superhero-y if it’s gonna survive. The fact that the Jamie character has cool powers is the big draw of the show but in the pilot that is all downplayed for angst and drama.

Here is what I liked in no particular order (spoilers):

The pilot was under one hour. I’m glad it wasn’t stretched out into some boring made for TV move style deal. Tell the story and get it done.

Sometimes Bionic Woman is dark and creepy in the style of grim and gritty superheroes and vampire movies. I liked the scene in the rain quite a bit. It reminded me of Blade Runner for some reason.

Our heroine has a supervillain-like enemy.

The struggle between military and civilian interests.

Jonas Bledsoe as the hard-ass director of the bionics program. Usually I hate these kinds of stock characters.

The writers kept things moving despite some lame dialog and exposition.

The fact that a regular person was uploaded with military combat programs reminded me of Deathlok. I like Deathlok.

Nanotechnology

Here is what I disliked in no particular order (spoilers):

I wanted Jamie’s accident to be a real accident.

The show needed to present more use of powers.

Bionic Woman is trying too hard to be cool with hip music and a dance club atmosphere.

The characters are all too interconnected. Sometimes things just happen.

There is a dark conspiracy going on that… blah, blah, blah…

Vancouver is getting really old as a stand-in for the US and Sci-Fi shows in general.

I did I mention some lame dialog and exposition (but nowhere near as bad Flash Gordon).

Jamie's recovery was too fast. She didn’t seem very surprised at her newfound powers.

She could have been a little more grateful that her boyfriend saved her life.

Future Opportunities:

There better be a bionic dog, Fembots, and a guest appearance by Lindsay Wagner coming down the pike.

Trailer:

Jericho Update

Haven’t made an update about Jericho in awhile, so I thought I’d post a few odds and ends. As you know, Jericho was saved after it was cancelled because fans sent in huge amounts of nuts to CBS.

First up is the “thank you” vid that was presented at Comic Con. There's great behind the scenes shots along with some footage from season 2 and the extremely happy cast and crew members. From wikipedia:

On August 2, 2007, a video was released on YouTube showing clips from the first day back at work for the Jericho cast and crew. It shows clips of the first season, explaining the cancellation, followed by brief clips from the second season premiere and a "thank you" from the cast and crew to the fans for their efforts to revive the show

The official Jericho website has all kinds of new content and this time the producers have free reign to post what they want. Check out their production blog here.



If you want to find out why the Jericho fans were so crazy about the show then drop 50 bucks and get Season One, which comes out on DVD October 2.

Now if they could just get a Jericho comic book going…

-Swinebread

My father says "What the Fuck, Over"

I finished the 10th and final episode of John From Cincinnati.

Ahhh…

Although I viewed the whole series, I still couldn’t tell you if it was any good, very absurdist stuff here. The show has something to do with surfing, family pain, miracles, and the end of the world. It’s impossible for me to describe John From Cincinnati. It was cancelled right after the season finale… that seems appropriate because from now on it will never any make sense...

...as if it ever could.

-Swinebread

Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles

Recently, I watched Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles. I hadn’t paid attention to anything Robotech for quite sometime. The only thing I’ve seen since the original TV show was Macross Plus. Anybody who’s mildly into anime would have heard and probably seen this direct to DVD release already, but for those of use who enjoyed Robotech and then forgot about it, The Shadow Chronicles is pleasant surprise. This movie brought back many memories and helped conclude some unfinished storylines while jumpstarting a whole new adventure.

Robotech was one of the few sci-fi soap operas that worked. Somehow the show just struck the right balance between romance and outer space action and thus appealed to both boys and girls. A lot of it had to with the episodic nature of the show and the growing sophistication of American audiences for Japanese anime. In fact, I’d be willing to bet it was Robotech that really helped Japanese animation breakthrough into the mainstream. Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles carries on this great balanced storytelling and also uses new technology to really provide amazingly animated visuals. Newcomers to the franchise might get a little lost while watching Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, but the story and action are so compelling; I think most folks would be intrigued to seek out the original.

I was going to say that The Shadow Chronicles is heavily influenced by the new Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5 but as the original Robotech came out before these shows maybe it was the other way around. The Shadow Chronicles is as highly entertaining and visually arresting as your gonna get with a space adventure. Check it out.


From wikipedia here:

The storyline is a direct continuation from the 85th (and final) episode of the original Robotech television series, and the first third of the movie runs concurrently with the events at the end of the TV series - albeit from different points of view. The plot revolves around the Robotech Expeditionary Force's final battle with the Invid on Earth, and the fallout from the events of that battle. An old enemy of the Invid is making its presence known, and is determined to wipe out all protoculture users, including humanity. The production is a mixture of 2D animation and cel-shaded CG mecha animation.

It’s official… Jericho Season 2

An open letter from CBS confirms it’s coming back for season 2.
Originally posted at TV GAL

To the Fans of Jericho:

Wow!

Over the past few weeks you have put forth an impressive and probably unprecedented display of passion in support of a prime time television series. You got our attention; your emails and collective voice have been heard.

As a result, CBS has ordered seven episodes of "Jericho" for mid-season next year. In success, there is the potential for more. But, for there to be more "Jericho," we will need more viewers.

A loyal and passionate community has clearly formed around the show. But that community needs to grow. It needs to grow on the CBS Television Network, as well as on the many digital platforms where we make the show available.

We will count on you to rally around the show, to recruit new viewers with the same grass-roots energy, intensity and volume you have displayed in recent weeks.

At this time, I cannot tell you the specific date or time period that "Jericho" will return to our schedule. However, in the interim, we are working on several initiatives to help introduce the show to new audiences. This includes re-broadcasting "Jericho" on CBS this summer, streaming episodes and clips from these episodes across the CBS Audience Network (online), releasing the first season DVD on September 25 and continuing the story of Jericho in the digital world until the new episodes return. We will let you know specifics when we have them so you can pass them on.

On behalf of everyone at CBS, thank you for expressing your support of "Jericho" in such an extraordinary manner. Your protest was creative, sustained and very thoughtful and respectful in tone. You made a difference.

Sincerely,

Nina Tassler

President, CBS Entertainment

P.S. Please stop sending us nuts : )

The fans did it. I'm sure the cast and crew are really happy as well.

-Swinebread

Jericho Fans go Nuts… Save the Show?

It seems that Jericho might get renewed after all. Thanks to a tip from Dean Wormer, this newsie item from TV Guide lays out the down low here.

Multiple sources are telling me that CBS is thisclose to sealing a deal to bring Jericho back for at least eight episodes, possibly at mid-season

I knew there was a big letter and email campaign from the fans but I took little notice as these things rarely work. Plus, I think I ignored the whole thing as I didn’t want to be disappointed. But this time the fans took some inspiration from that show itself and sent CBS truckloads of peanuts. See in the final episode of Jericho one of the characters references General Anthony C. McAuliffe famous line “Nuts” from the Battle of Bastogne, as inspiration to defend their town. So Fans of the show began buying huge loads of Peanuts from Nuts Online to send to CBS. Jeffrey Braverman of nuts online was amazed at the response.

Braverman thought about one of his favorite television shows, "Lost," and how he would feel if suddenly ABC pulled it off the air like CBS did with "Jericho." That's when he realized his company would do whatever they could to help fans of "Jericho" make a statement with its "Nuts to You, CBS!" campaign. And Tuesday morning, the network's New York offices will have more than 1,000 pounds of peanuts -- enough to make more than 2,000 people quite satisfied -- sitting in its mailroom.

from here

According to this thread at TV.com they're up to 38,000 POUNDS or 19 TONS O' NUTS already! Wow, that’s alotta’ nuts. CBS is coming to the realization that they blew it by putting Jericho opposite American Idol. If the show does come back, it’s very cool that desperate situations both real, the soldiers of Bastogne, and imagined, the defenders of Jericho, motivated it. Regardless, My hat’s off to the fans. It looks like you may have done it.

-Swinebread

Jericho Cancelled

While almost nobody cares, I thought I would pass along that Variety announced here that Jericho is gone for good. Although it seemed inevitable because of the poor ratings, Jericho appeared like it might survive and be allowed time to find a new audience. But alas, it’s not to be. I think I knew this was coming, but it’s still a mild downer considering the show was one of the few things I watched on network TV.

The fact that Jericho was picked up for a full season originally demonstrates that there was an audience for a post-apocalyptic drama but Jericho somehow lost it along the way. While the balance between soap opera dramatics, survival, and thriller heroics wasn’t always even, it might simply be that the predicable storytelling doomed the series. It was really the actors and the terrorist conspiracy that held the show together. Maybe the producers sensed that Jericho was gone and that's why they killed off Gerald McRaney’s character. It really would be a different show without him anyway.

Oh well, if a show seems like it’s working early on maybe the suits shouldn’t put it oppsite a ratings powerhouse like American Idol after a too long hiatus. That’s a recipe for cancellation if I ever saw one. Maybe that was the point? CBS wanted Jericho to croak. Hmmmm…

-Swinebread

Jericho on the Edge

Jericho 1 season ended with a big cliffhanger and an apparent new direction. While I was never an über enthusiastic fan of the show, I enjoyed it well enough to see it through, probably because I like post apocalyptic sci-fi so much. Jericho became grittier as I was hoping it would. The dire situation of the town eclipsed the soap opera aspects or at least cast them in the light of survival. Food is scarce, folks die and the rival town of New Bern begins its invasion to seize farmland. Plus, over the 2nd half of season 1, much of the plot behind the terrorist bombers is revealed. Thank goodness for that.

Part of the appeal of the show is the sense that Midwest values are being put to the test. Norman Rockwell’s America is bloodied and sullied. Can it survive? That’s a question for the both the townsfolk of Jericho and for the folks at CBS as the show hovers between cancellation and renewal. Strangely, I’ve read that it’s sure to get a 2nd season and that it’s gone for good, so I have no idea. Some fans seem pretty angry at the death of Gerald McRaney’s character. Maybe that’s a sign that the writers decided to go for broke in the finale but it may prove to be a mistake. If Jericho does get a second season cloak and dagger themes will apparently permeate the show as the bad guys have zeroed in on Hawkins (the guy hiding a nuclear bomb) along with usual small town drama.

One of the most interesting elements of the finale was the flag displayed by “federal” troops. This bizarre vertical striped flag both confirms the rumors that the states are not united and that a new Civil War is occurring across the continent, which was most likely the terrorists intent. A quick look-see on wikipedia ties this flag to the mythical United States Civil Flag. Interesting… Hopefully we’ll get a 2nd season to see this and other storylines play out and maybe the introduction of Colonel Hoffman, the leader of these oddly bannered troops, might soften the blow of McRaney leaving the show. We’ll have to see…

Call of Cthulhu the Silent Movie

Two years ago at the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival there was a lot of buzz in the air about a new independent film titled The Call of Cthulhu based on the original 1926 Lovecraft story. This weird horror tale has often been called unfilmable. Usually, the alien god’s name, Cthulhu, gets sprinkled into crappy to mediocre films for flavor but any serious depiction of him or the story he exists in was notably absent. Fans of Lovecraft’s style of horror have lamented the lack of good adaptations of his work and have had settle for merely Lovecraft inspired shows. Well, with the release of The Call of Cthulhu Film in 2005 a tipping point was reached and a threshold passed. The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society (HPLHS), a media company dedicated adapting his works, presented their two-year effort. I found the project both entertaining and faithful.


What made the unfilmable story filmable was the HPLHS’s conceit of making a silent picture. Here the cast and crew would recreate The Call of Cthulhu as if it had been produced when the original story came out in the 1920s. This was a masterstroke of inspiration in my opinion. The black and white film approach solved many technical problems while evoking the time and space of the short story. Also, Lovecraft’s words didn’t become underwhelming with the delivery by actors but are enhanced with the use of text on the screen. Many places and effects needed in The Call of Cthulhu are created using models and film trickery of the silent era which makes the viewing much more authentic. A few folks have expressed disappointment with the monster Cthulhu in the film but I rather liked his depiction. To me, he looked like a representation of what makes him so awful, plus some bloated CG effect wouldn’t have worked either. In this case representational is better than realistic… how could somebody make Cthulhu, look realistic anyway.

At that film fest in October 2005, I vowed to pick up a copy of the film someday. Well, at the Emerald City Comic Con I did. I watched it again with much joy (and fright). If you are a Lovecraft fan this is the real deal. The Call of Chtulhu finally achieves the desire for a good movie adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft’s work.

Here’s the Trailer:


-Swinebread

Of Ancient Rome and Spaceships

As this week and month wraps up I was struck by the timing of both Battlestar Galatica and Rome finishing up their seasons on the same day and the same time, that being ten o’clock on Sunday. Of course I couldn’t watch both at the same time so I caught BSG on-demand the next day. I’ve been trying to come up with some angle to compare and contrast these two shows but nothing really occurred me.

Rome is a historical drama set during the turbulent years when the Roman Republic was transformed into the Roman Empire. All your favorite figures are there, like Ceasar (season one), Octavian, Brutus, Cleopatra, and Antony. It’s highly detailed and has several fictional characters that help flesh out the time period. Folks with no familiarity with things Roman might get a little lost with the huge historical scope but the deadly politics and family secrets are sure to please. If you like costume dramas, politics, sex and family shenanigans, you’ll like Rome. The show presents a realistic environment and helps shed light on what life may have been like for the people of that time and place, but some historical inconsistencies will jump out. If you know your history there are no real surprises as to the fate of the major characters however the fictional characters like Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus leave some room for discovery. Rome is really a two season mini-series as that was all that was ever planed for. I genuinely like that show but I could have had a little more combat, and there was a little too much British slang for my tastes. Hearing a Roman say “bollix” kinda’ pulls you out of the program if you know what I mean.
Battlestar Galactica did what it does best during its 3rd season finale, meaning: it gives you a huge cliffhanger and you want more (not moore Yuk Yuk). As the ratings have tanked, Scifi must have decided to throw out some major plot twisters. I don’t want to ruin it for anybody but I will say that the final episode for this season tries to put the show back on track with the get to earth storyline and adds some other major reveals. One thing I will say is that the whole Lee Adama hates his Daddy borefest has come roaring back and it culminates in this episode. The constant burning of bridges on BSG gets really old. The concept of apocalyptic survival is so much more interesting than the continued dredging of interpersonal conflicts. I wish the creators had gone for that rather than the syrupy show we’ve got. But hopefully, BSG is getting back to basics. I saw a suggetion on RPG.net that maybe they're all cylons... that would make a lot of sense.
So one show (Rome) concludes it's run with a ending that you knew was coming, and the other (BSG) ends it’s season with surprising plot twits that you knew were coming to keep it interesting. Oh wait, I just thought of something, both of these programs depict struggles between the civilians and the military, with huge allegories to current geopolitical issues of our day. Now that sounds like and interesting topic for a blog post.

-Swinebread

Jericho Where Art Thou?

Basically, I haven’t been following any primetime TV shows. I’m not doing Lost, Heroes or CSI. Yeah, yeah, but life gets in the way. The one thing I am watching is Jericho, CBS’s post-apocalyptic drama. Sounds funny to have the words post-apocalyptic and drama in the same sentence, but essentially that’s this program’s shtick. It is really bizarre to juxtapose unrequited love and adultery with nuclear fallout and social disintegration but, hey, maybe that’s the appeal for me. I’m what I call a dissonant type of guy. I enjoy putting two seemingly unlike things together just to see what you get. Kinda’ like that Hegel dialectic if ya know what I mean. So, CBS is trying something different, and that is good, right? Sure, I guess.

The show is set in a small Kansas town that looks nothing like Kansas, with residents that struggle to survive the nuking of several major U.S. cities. Jericho’s characters are in the dark about what’s happening outside their one pickup truck berg while interpersonal relationships are pushed to the breaking point. Several characters have shadowy pasts, like Jake, played by Skeet Ulrich, and Hawkins, played by Lennie James. My understanding is Jericho is very Lost-like, but obviously the stakes are much higher as we’re dealing with a huge attack on the good old US of A and not events on some forgotten island. Although, I would say the creators have decided to go light on the nuclear holocaust in favor of soap opera sentiment. In other words, Jericho is like Party of Five meets The Day After.


While trying to do two very different genres in the same show, Jericho just manages to come out on the plus side despite some problems. Strangely, the love and angst tend to be rather predictable and there isn’t enough atomic horror for my fanboy tastes. What holds the show together at this point is the conspiracy of the who, the what, and the why, of the attacks and how the town fits into the scheme of things. Jericho will have to be careful with this though, as an audience can tire of hidden plots that string one along too slowly or for too long. Maybe that’s the reason the show’s creators are infusing it with so much drama. I do think the patience of the audience was finally rewarded with the 12th episode. I now have much more reason to like or be interested in these characters as some secrets and relationships have been revealed in this flashback episode.
The show may fail but I don’t buy “it’s too depressing” line that critics are spouting. After 9-11 and the Iraq debacle, I think Americans can handle a heavy premised program like this. Jericho earned a full season so apparently some folks want a “downer” of show. I genuinely like the actors, especially Ulrich, so if the plots and dialog tighten up we could be in for a good ride. Also, I have a sense after watching episode 12, CBS is willing to spend a little more on the budget. So, maybe I’ll get more of that atomic horror I’m looking for. As big post-apocalyptic fan I’d like this show to succeed. Maybe that’s why I watch it over other programs… …or maybe it’s because CBS had the sense to put it on demand.

-Swinebread