New episode up... and some television thoughts

Stephanie didn't to catch "Lost" and "ER" by the time we filmed so we didn't get to cover it on the show.

"Lost" this week was actually a really good episode that sort of answered a big question. I say sort of because "Lost" has a way of making us think we have the answer but down the line the answer is different.

And even then there is some argument as to what the answer actually means. For me the question of who was the "Big Bad" on the show and who really was the good guy was answered tonight. There is no doubt, to me, that Benjamin Linus (Heh, I almost wrote Lyons...) is as evil as they come. He killed a few people in this episode and is obviously out only for himself.

On the other hand it appears as if Charles Widmore is a good guy, helping Locke try to get the Oceanic Six back to the island. It also appears as if Widmore had a hand in getting Locke to the island to begin with.

Kristin, my frenemy, from E! thinks the exact opposite of me: http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b101738_lost_redux_casualties_of_war.html

She is, of course, REALLY wrong (as usual).

"ER" Thursday was a return to form for me. I haven't regularly watched since Noah Wyle first left. It was great to see Carter back working in the ER, being smart, outsmarting Neela and moving his arc forward. There was a great scene between him and Angela Bassett, that explained what was going on with him (kidney trouble) and ended with me almost falling off the couch laughing.

'Top Chef' season 5 finale

With the competition down to Carla, Hosea and Stefan, season five of "Top Chef" came to an end last night.

Going into the finale Stefan was the hands down favorite, having won a majority of the quickfires and elimination challenge. Carla has been building momentum with wins in the last few weeks and Hosea has been consistently solid throughout the competition.

For the finale judges asked the chefs to cook their best three course meal. With no restrictions, the contestants were let loose in New Orleans' legendary Commander's Palace.

Stefan served up his usual classic European flavor with a side of unfathomable cockiness, Hosea won a surprise Mardi Gras challenge a gave Stefan a giant screw you by making him cook alligator and Carla had perhaps the worst finale of any contestant in the show's history.

With Carla's bad luck taking her out of the running, it came down to mortal enemies Stefan and Hosea.

In the end it was Hosea's progression of flavors that won him the title. Stefan had a few moments of disbelief when his name wasn't announced and went on and on about how he should have won, giving new meaning to the term sore loser.

It was definitely the most exciting and interesting of all the show's finales. However, it seemed obvious to me that if Carla hadn't made a couple of bad choices she would have been crowned Top Chef.

Hosea, while a nice guy and a dependable chef, will go down in history as the Taylor Hicks of "Top Chef."

The new Green Lantern

It was announced that Martin Campbell will be directing the new "Green Lantern" movie.

He is known as a spectacular, innovative director, so it's definitely a step in the right direction.

Now that we have a director it's time to start thinking about a star. This film will seemingly focus on Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern. When Jordan was given the ring that made him a green lantern, he was described as "utterly honest and without fear."

With these parameters in mind I have a few suggestions on who should play the Green Lantern.

First Choice: Nathan Fillion-Known to fanboys as Captain Mal of "Firefly" and "Serenity" fame, his action hero credits and movie star good looks make him perfect casting. He is also the perfect blend of charm and all-American boy next door.

Second Choice: David Boreanaz-As Angel we got to see his dark side and as Seely Booth we are treated to his lighter side. This range is important because Green Lantern is a superhero who covers all ends of the spectrum. Boreanaz also brings the added experience of having previously voiced the character in the animated movie "Justice League: New Frontier."

Third Choice: Common-If producers decided to go with their original idea of centering the story around John Stewart, they could re-sign Common to play the role.

Putting words in Tim's 'mouth?'

In the last episode of the show, and two blogs ago, I talked about how "ER" is winding down and I was afraid they were going to kill off Dr. John Carter.

I was really afraid of that happening. It makes it even weirder that the character of Carter was based on Michael Crichton, who died in 2008.

So the first thought that popped into my head was that E!, TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly all have interactive Web sites that take reader's questions on television shows and answer them in regular columns.

I figured I would stick with Kristin on E! who I somewhat regard as a good television host, I don't throw the word journalist out for just anyone, and she always seems to have the best answers.

I emailed the site Thursday evening in anticipation of Monday's "Spoiler Chat" with the following: "Are they going to kill off Carter on ER?"

Late last night I checked the site to see the following:

Tim in Riverside, Calif: Are they going to kill off Carter on ER? Please find out!

I can tell you that Carter was definitely hooked up to a dialysis machine—not a chemotherapy machine or some other device, which I would say means his prognosis is better than average, at least.

First, freaking awesome that she picked my question and gave a good answer.

Second? I don't remember putting "Please find out!" in the email.

I guess I should just be happy that the prospect of killing Carter off looks less likely.

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b101254_spoiler_chat_does_izzie_have_textbook.html

Best acceptance speech EVER!

So Sean Penn won the Oscar for Best Actor after all.

But, the real winner of this awards season is Mickey Rourke. And it's not a comeback, "Sin City" was a comeback. "The Wrestler" was/is bringing him back to the A-game.

If you've seen Viewpoints On... you know I am a HUGE fan of "The Wrestler" and Rourke's performance.

This season every time Rourke won an award, he gave a great speech. He's not fake. He is as real as it gets. And he doesn't give a crap.

I wanted to embed the video of his acceptance speech at the Independent Spirit Awards, but the sheer awesomeness of it would break almost every AP Style guideline known to man.

So, if you are not afraid of cussing and someone who is truly happy about winning, then check out the link below (Fair warning):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-VAz-4x9hc

He doesn't need the Oscar. He's back with a mother-you-know-what vengeance!

New episode up... and two "ER" theories

Last night's "ER" had the return of Dr. John Carter and it wasn't all hugs and puppies. When he was alone he had this look of pain on his face and I even remarked to myself "What is wrong with him?"

Seems he is having kidney issues. The weird timing thing of tonight's episode was that it was Valentine's Day. Well, it was also the Valentine's Day episode, many years ago, where Carter was stabbed and got the kidney issues to begin with. Way to connect things.

The episode also dealt with a woman needing a heart transplant, but she has Type O blood.

Well, a quick Google search told me that Carter has O blood as well.

So either they are going to be killing Carter off. And that's how they are getting all the cast back... for a funeral.

Or, this woman is going to die and Carter will get a brand new kidney out of it.

Either way it will make for great television.

Prepping for our big Oscar show

So, right now I am knee deep in research for the Academy Awards episode of "Viewpoints On..." Lots of statistics and figures. A ton of information.

I am going to put a lot of it, or try, into the show. But, since there is literally a million different things to discuss here is an interesting topic:

"Great directors who never won a Best Director Oscar" and I am not counting "Honorary" ones.

And the list will shock you.

• Robert Altman
• Cecil B. De Mille
• John Frankenheimer
• Alfred Hitchcock
• Stanley Kubrick
• Akira Kurosawa
• Sidney Lumet
• Orson Welles

And here are a few contempory directors that have never won:

• Tim Burton
• Spike Lee
• Michael Mann
• Brian De Palma
• Ridley Scott
• Peter Weir
• DARREN ARONOFSKY! (Robbed for a nomination this year)
• David Fincher (At least got a nomination this year)
• Chris Nolan

Yeah I left Tarintino off the list. All complaints can be sent to Stephanie Holland care of Viewpoints.

Also, Gus Van Sant... yeah I'm talking to you. You lost me at "Elephant."

Tim's ten word response to 'Lost' tonight

To quote The Riddler: "Too many questions, not enough answers."

(Not counting toward the ten and to explain, it's from "Batman Forever.")

New song could be genius, insanity

Editor's note: This is the clean version, search around YouTube if you like cussing.



A lot of people like to say that Tina Fey has "saved" "Saturday Night Live," especially recently with her Sarah Palin impression.

But, I counter with this video as evidence that, Andy Samberg and The Lonely Island have really saved SNL in the last few years.

Their digital shorts are always something I look forward to. From the start with "Lazy Sunday" to "Iran so Far" and "J in the P" (my abbreviation, if you don't know what that means then you don't want to know what that means.)

So, The Lonely Island (Samberg along with SNL writer Jorma Taccone and "Hot Rod" director Akiva Schaffer) just released a new CD "Incredibad," which has most of the musical Digital Shorts included. I told my friend David about the CD and he went out and got it. This was his reaction, via email, about the CD:

"DUDE I LOVE THE CD!!!!! OMG ITS SO FREAKING FUNNY!!!
i cant help but walk around and randomly scream. "IM ON A BOAT!"
Everyone I show the video to instantly falls in love with it. So that tells me something. That it is amazingly funny.

Or I know way too many weird people.

"Dollhouse:" My first impressions

Having just watched the premiere episode of Joss Whedon's new show "Dollhouse," my first impression is that nobody knows how to create characters and stories like Whedon.

The show centers around a mysterious organization that takes normal people and wipes their personalities so they can give them new ones for their various paid engagements. Sometimes they're assassins and sometimes they're someone's girlfriend for the weekend. The assignment depends on the client.

Eliza Dushku stars as one of the "dolls," named Echo. In the opener she is turned into a hostage negotiator to help a billionaire get his daughter back. It is during this assignment that we learn how the programmed memories work.

According to the programmer, the actives are given an amalgam of personalities that are culled from real people. When Echo has a memory from one of these people it puts her mission in jeopardy. Everything works out in the end, and when it's over Echo has her mind wiped and once again becomes an innocent "doll."

The only plot that felt a little awkward was Tahmoh Penikett as the FBI agent investigating the Dollhouse. Hopefully, after a few episodes that story will work its way into the main plotline.

Overall I felt this was strong introduction to the characters and world that Whedon has created. The man continues to create the most interesting shows on TV. Unfortunately FOX will probably cancel it after six episodes and leave us hanging, so we may have to wait for "Dollhouse: The Movie" before all our questions are answered.

American Idol: Early predictions

So now that the 36 semi-finalists have been announced, it's time for some early predictions. With the show returning to its original format of having the top three vote-getters advance, every performance is life or death. This turn of events makes the show unpredictable again.

My early picks include:

Von Smith-reminds me of Broadway star Sam Harris, look up Harris on YouTube it's worth it
Ann Marie Boskovich-is very likable and has a understated voice, don't underestimate her
Michael Sarver-is a rocker with soul, a mix of Chris Daughtry and Josh Gracin
Ju'not Joyner-his soulful rendition of "Hey There Delilah" made me forget I hate the song

My top three from Tuesday night's first group of singers is: Michael Sarver, Ann Marie Boskovich and Danny Gokey.

Also singing in that group is crazy Tatiana and producer favorites Anoop Desai and Alexis Grace.

Let's hope that talent perseveres over craziness and montages of sad stories.

February - Dead zone for movies?

Everyone knows that summer belongs to big budget blockbusters and the fall belongs to Oscar bait (films trying really hard for an Academy Award.)

But, what about the winter?

Considering that the first big hit of the season was "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," it means it's hard to find a good movie out there nowadays. The No. 1 movie in America right now is "He's Just Not That Into You." Yeah...

So, in looking at Rotten Tomatoes today to see what is out in theaters and on DVD this week it became a little clearer.

Three wide releases in theaters: "Friday the 13th," "The International" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic." All three are considered "rotten," with favorable percentages under 60 percent. "The International" is very close at 56 percent, with the other two in the 20's.

The releases on DVD aren't fairing any better. "W," "Nights in Rodanthe," "Soul Men" and "Miracle at St. Anna" are all in the "rotten" category as well.

The only "Fresh" release of the week is the Oscar nominated "Frozen River."

One good film to see against seven not so good movies is not a good percentage to have if you are bored.

I guess the morale of the story is to go buy a good book this week.

New episode up... and a 'Lost' thought

So, tonight's "Lost" shed some light on the ever creepy Smoke Monster. Apparently it lives in this weird temple and messes with people's minds who go into its lair.

Finally we are getting some answers!

24: Day 7 so far

"24" has always been one of my favorite shows, so when the writer's strike caused last season to be canceled I wasn't sure how I was going to deal.

However, Jack Bauer has triumphantly returned to the small screen to once again save the world.

Of course the big news of the season was that Tony Almeida would be returning to be a bad guy this time. How would Jack react to news that his presumed dead best friend was now one of his enemies?

This being "24" there was more to the story and it turned out that Tony was working undercover to find an even bigger bad guy.

Everything that has happened this season is a continuation of the storyline that started in "24 Redemption," the TV movie Fox aired to bring audiences up to speed on what Jack had been up to since we last saw him.

The plot centers around the African nation of Sangala and the new president's efforts to intervene in a genocide that is taking place there.

Jack and Tony, accompanied by Bill and Chloe have spent much of this season chasing down an African terrorist named Dubaku. While the plot has been slow to get going, seeing our old friends back together again is like seeing your favorite band on a reunion tour.

There have been a few moments where we have gotten to see why Jack Bauer is so awesome. In last night's episode when the president asked why she should trust him, Jack replied, "ask around." I got chills.

The hunt for Dubaku seems to be winding down so I'm hoping that once that portion of the plot is wrapped up, the writers will really let loose and we'll get to see Jack in full-fledged save the world mode.

Two year anniversary and 100th post!

So today, Feb. 9, marks the two-year anniversary of this blog Inscape'd. It has been a wild and interesting adventure. I wanted to use this special 100th post to take a look back at our blog and some of the more interesting posts.

Two years ago we wanted to stand out and try something new. We created two blogs; one entertainment and one general interest.

No one really knew where to start. At the time we were working on the first issue of the semester and the big entertainment story was the upcoming Academy Awards. We had written reviews of the Best Pictures nominees and put them together in a nice package. The review I did was for the film "The Queen." I had actually written a lot more for the article, but had to cut some down due to space issues.

Thus, our first blog post was born and I did a review of my review:

http://inscapeblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/review-of-queen-review.html

Interesting behind-the-scenes tidbit - Dan and then editor Josh didn't think I should post that blog, they both said it was a little personal.

Another blog that was fun was going to see Tyler wrestling:

http://inscapeblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/all-karnage-and-mayhem-at-merrit.html

Not only was it a great time, but also a great group event for the staff. And some great pictures too.

It was in the summer of '07 that Tyler, Dan and I tried something with the blog. We would take one topic a week (or so) and each of us would come up with a blog about that topic. One in particular, "Worst movie going experience," actually provided, in my eyes, one of the best blogs we ever posted:

http://inscapeblog.blogspot.com/2007/06/my-worst-movie-going-experience-orthe.html

Stephanie Holland and I recently started what I hope is to be how the blog will work from now on, a post a day. It is a big commitment, but something that shows this is a serious blog. Well, you know what I mean.

I wanted to drop a quick thanks to Daniel Segraves, Tyler Davidson, Sandra Diaz and Stephanie Holland for keeping Inscape'd going.

Here's to another 100 posts and many more years!

New episode up... and some random thoughts

This was filmed a few hours before the last episode of "Lost," so the next issue will have our updated thoughts.

Editor's note: We are breaking our streak of blogging every weekday, but for a reason! This post is No. 99, so we planned to do a special look back at the history of our blog. In my research I noticed that we started this wonderful blog on Feb. 9, 2007. So in order to kill two birds with one stone, we are going to do a special 100th post/Two year anniversary on Feb. 9.

Yay!

American Idol: Season 8 so far

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I am a huge "American Idol" fan. I love the idea of finding someone like Carrie Underwood or Fantasia, who, without the show would have never been discovered.

I consider myself a serious fan, so I don't get very excited about the parade of freaks that we are subjected to in the opening weeks. My favorite part is Hollywood week where the weak are separated from the strong and the future superstars are separated from the future lounge acts.

Now that we are smack in the middle of Hollywood week some real talent is starting to emerge. Once the 36 semi-finalists are announced, I'll be singling out my favorites and when the live shows start I'll be writing regularly about the performances.

Until then I'll just leave you with this thought, NO MORE BIKINI GIRL!

Weirdest advertisement ever

So, I came across this little gem of a public service announcement today:



A few observations of note:

1. "Starship Troopers" and its sequels are very violent. The first film had people being torn apart and blood everywhere. A violent film promoting child abuse awarement.

2. The first film came out in 1997 and the two sequels went straight to DVD. Is this relevant enough to catch people's interest?

3. Casper Van Dien. 'Nuff said.

Watch the video, it's kind of sad and funny at the same time. In the end, though, I guess anything that can promote a good cause is a good thing.

'Heroes!'

"Heroes" is back tonight and many are considering this as a last chance for the show. It has burned a lot of people and they are giving it one more episode before they stop watching.

Me? Well, since the news that Bryan Fuller is coming back to the show came out I decided to stick around until his influence is felt. This new episode is No. 14 and Fuller starts with No. 19, so I might be stuck with five crappy episodes.

At least "24" is on at the same time so I have an alternative to sitting around picking my nose.

In some web surfing today I came across an interesting tidbit. The comics site Comic Book Resources does a regular thing where they host a Q&A with some writers/producers of the show. http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19804

I found this bit a little strange...

“When Hiro goes back and takes the catalyst upon himself, Arthur shows up shortly after and takes the catalyst from him, as well as his powers. My question is this: how on earth did Arthur know that Hiro and Claire had gone back in time, and that they were where and when they were? Is Arthur omniscient?”

This is actually something that we can tell you is going to be on the DVD. There was a scene where Arthur found Molly and stole her ability, using it to find Hiro and Claire in the past. However, the scene just seemed overwhelmingly, what’s the word? Disturbing.

So that's really an excuse to not make any sense and have a giant, glaring plot hole in the show? This just further proves my point that these people have no clue what they are doing. At all.

Not even the "Heroes" apologists can argue with that.

Go ahead, try.

Avert your eyes!

I saw something that almost made me cry today:

http://defamer.com/5142838/leaked-gi-joe-art-suggests-movie-actually-being-made-by-8+year+olds

To start, I loved "GI Joe" as a child. I loved the cartoon and got the toys (almost all, my mother refused to buy the bathtub sized aircraft carrier.)

The best part of "GI Joe" was the personalities. Each person had their own, unique, look and special part of the team.

For weeks we have seen the black supersuited "Joes," all dressed almost exactly the same in leather-type outfits. OK, that was bad enough. Scarlett in black? Wha?

http://defamer.com/5140501/gi-joe-posters-still-hiding-joseph-gordon+levitt-as-gawky-cobra-commander

So the reveal of the bad guys puts the final nail in the coffin for me. Especially since "The Doctor" is Cobra Commander.

LAME.

The characters themselves are iconic. Looking blindly, out of all of them, I could only recongize Snake Eyes (because of the visor and sword) and Scarlett (red hair kind of a giveaway). Without knowing who plays who I would never know that Zartan, Ripcord and Destro are in the movie.

I was willing to give director Stephen Sommers a chance. I kind of liked the "Mummy" movies and "Deep Rising" was OK. Plus, I met him once and he is a nice guy.

One less Summer movie to see now.

"Lost" and confused

After watching last night's episode of "Lost," I honestly don't know how much longer I can stay on the bandwagon. All this time travel is starting to make me dizzy.

At any one time the show takes place at three or four different points in time. You would think that with all that ground to cover they would have one interesting storyline.

Sorry, you would be wrong.

When the dust settled after all the various time jumps last night, the only thing I found remotely fascinating was the back story on Richard Alpert.

I want to see a whole episode explaining how he either never ages or jumps through time consequence free.

Other than that my interest in "Lost" is seriously waning.

New episode up... and an editor's note

Just got done watching tonight's "Lost."

Still confused.

And lost.

Less commercials=happier Tim

One thing I loathe is commercials. I hate sitting through them. I hate having them break up super interesting moments during the show.

I even started hating them playing now before movies at movie theaters.

One of my favorite new shows "Fringe" does something a little different. Most shows' commercials are around two minutes 20 seconds long (average). With "Fringe?" 60-90 seconds.

Plus at the start of the commercial break it tells you "Fringe will return in 60 seconds." Which tells me that I have exactly one minute to run into the kitchen to get my drink and make it back.

So for each hour there will only be about five minutes of commercials, which is more than half the normal time. Check a DVD of hour long shows, it states episodes as being 44 minutes each. That's 16 minutes of commercials.

Less time for commercials and more time for the show. More enjoyment for the audience. And, if you think about it, better for the advertisers. Wait, what? Yeah, think about it. With fewer commercials the audience is more likely to remember the ads that ran.

Tonight there was a trailer for "Friday the 13th" and a few phone companies (Verizon and Metro PCS). Yeah, normally I couldn't tell you that.

Fox is calling it "Remote-Free TV" as this quote from the Fox up fronts in May 2008 explains:

"It's a simple concept and potentially revolutionary," said Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori. "We're going to have less commercials, less promotional time, and less reason for viewers to use the remote. We're going to redefine the viewing experience."

Redefine the viewing experience and make me love Fox just a little more.

New episode up... and some random thoughts

First off, I am man enough to point out my mistakes and, in this episode I totally forgot the name of the actor that starred in the movie I talked about "Dedication." It is Billy Crudup, who also starred in other films like "Big Fish,""Almost Famous" and "Mission Impossible 3." And will be seen in "Watchmen."

Something else I forgot to do on the show is talk about some Tim-Oscar statistics. I did some research on the last 20 years of Academy Awards and came up with some interesting numbers:

• Out of the 100 nominees for Best Picture, I have seen 38 of them.
• Out of the 20 Best Picture winners, I have seen eight of them.
• Out of the 20 Best Picture winners, I have agreed with three of the choices ("Rain Man," "Dances with Wolves" and "Silence of the Lambs.")
• There has only been two years where I have seen all five nominated films (1989 and 1994).

Life without TiVo

About a week ago I experienced some technical difficulties with my main television, a big screen in the living room that has all the bells and whistles. This is the TV that is hooked up to the HD cable box with DVR. That means I've been without a TiVo for a solid week.

To be honest with you I'm wondering how I lived the first half of my life without digital recording. Not only am I missing my recorded shows, I find myself constantly wanting to rewind a program so I can watch certain scenes again, and on regular cable that isn't possible.

I'm also stuck watching commercials, a practice I loathe. Plus, the other night I had to try and watch "Bones" and "Smallville" at the same time and trust me it didn't quite work. Luckily "Smallville" was a little boring this week.

My other problem is that many HD channels run on east coast time, which means I can watch several shows three hours early. Without the choice of an early viewing I had to choose between "Battlestar Galactica" and "Psych."

These issues have got me wondering what I did before DVR. I remember recording soap operas in the daytime, but how did I ever watch all of my primetime programming without a TiVo handy.

With February sweeps looming and award season in full swing be assured preparations have been made and a repair man will be in before week's end. However, I'm still left asking myself if I may be a little too dependent on my DVR?

Who am I kidding, I lost my battle with my television set a long time ago.

Happy Birthday MacGyver

In case you were wondering, today is Richard Dean Anderson's birthday. Anderson is of course better known as MacGyver, the investigator who knows everything and can do anything.

He would often get out of various jams by using only the items he could find laying around. For example, he disarmed several bombs using toothpicks, chewing gum, string and of course, his trusty Swiss army knife.

I know you're thinking that this could be the most unimportant information you've ever been given but if you're a person of a certain age, you learned all of your survival skills from MacGyver.

I just thought that when you consider all of the lives that have probably been saved because someone use to watch "MacGyver," we should stop and celebrate the man who brought him to life.

'Previously on...'

Most times those two words are annoying to hear when you start to watch a television show.

You rushed to make sure the popcorn was done and you were in front of the TV right at the top of the hour only to have a few extra minutes to waste while the show catches people up on what happened previously.

I am guilty. I get really annoyed sometimes.

That is until Jan. 20. The last new episode of "Fringe" to play previously was more than a month ago. That, plus it showing after "American Idol" meant a lot of new viewers were going to watch "Fringe" for the first time or a lot of us have forgotten what happened.

It starts... with no catchup, just right into the show. As the show progressed I kept asking myself "Who is that?" "What happened to him before?"

Now I have seen every episode and I was kind of lost, imagine new viewers.

Note to self: Stop complaining about stupid, simple things because it might come back to bite you in the butt.

DVD of the week: "Moonlight" The Complete Series

If you needed more proof that CBS dropped the ball when they canceled "Moonlight," look no further than your local Best Buy or Target.

When I woke up this morning I was still buzzing about yesterday's events, but more than that I knew today was the day that I would finally be purchasing the long awaited DVD collection of "Moonlight."

For the uninitiated "Moonlight" is the excellent show starring Alex O' Loughlin as tortured vampire Mick St. John. The show follows Mick as he uses his vampire abilities as a private investigator and teams up with a reporter who he shares a unique history with.

What makes the show great is the way it focused on developing the relationship between Mick and his love interest Beth. It also featured a fantastic supporting cast of vampires who came from all walks of life.

A fan favorite was the friendship between Mick and his best friend, Josef Kosten, an ancient playboy vampire played by Jason Dohring of "Veronica Mars" fame. Mick and Josef may be polar opposites but they would do anything to protect each other.

The show was unceremoniously canceled by CBS after a single season, however it features one of the most rabid fan bases, so I knew I would have to be quick to get my copy.

However, I thought that the Inauguration would provide me with a one day cushion. I was wrong, as several stores were already sold out.

I wonder if this run on the DVD is giving executives an incentive to resurrect the show, it's not like they're showing anything else besides "CSI" and "NCIS."

Odd observation

While we wait for Thursday to see if "The Dark Knight" gets an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, I had a thought about the history of the Batman films.

Apparently, villains in those movies all die in the same exact way. Yeah, I have noticed this before, but with all the hype and talk surrounding "The Dark Knight" and its awards chances it really stands out.

Let's take a quick look:

"Batman" (1989) - Joker falls off a REALLY tall building after Batman hooks his leg to a statue.

"Batman Returns" - Penguin dies after falling through the top of the aquarium building. He eventually dies from those injuries. Also, Catwoman's first life is taking by being pushed out a window of a tall building.

"Batman Forever" - Two-Face, about to kill Batman, flips his coin, to which Batman throws a bunch of fake coins in the air, confusing Two-Face, who then falls to his death.

"Batman Begins" - Ra's Al Ghul, fighting with Batman on a rail train, is killed when the train falls off the high tracks and explodes. I do count this because he was in the train when it fell that long distance. Still counts.

"The Dark Knight" - Taking a page from "Batman Forever," Two-Face again is about to kill when he flips his coin and is distracted enough for Batman to knock him off the side of a building. The Joker almost dies from falling off a building before Batman saves him.

So, morale of the story? If you are a Batman enemy... don't fight him near any building or anyplace high up.

Fight him in the desert or something.

Goodbye Grissom

The last episode of "CSI" was also the last episode for William Peterson, who has played Gil Grissom on the show for nine years.

As someone who has watched the show since day one (when it was on Fridays at 9 p.m. after the remake of "The Fugitive") and never missed an episode, it is a big loss to the show. He was the glue that held the show together and it will take a while for the show to recover.

But, I am not going to jump ship and stop watching. Why? Because of the way they handled Grissom's exit. On most other shows they come up with some lame reason for a character to leave (or die) or just not explain it at all. The producers made sure to make the first part of this season all about Grissom and building toward his exit.

The producers might have planned the exit for a couple of months, but if you look at the entire run of the show the exit for the character has been building since episode one.

• Remember in the pilot, the brand new Crime Scene Investigator Holly Gribbs was murdered on her first case. Grissom had to deal with that.
• Nick Stokes was kidnapped and buried alive, while Grissom tried to save him.
• Sarah Sidle (Grissom's girlfriend) kidnapped and left for dead.
• Warrick Brown murdered, Grissom always looked out for Brown (even saving his job a couple of times.).
• Greg Sanders, who almost died twice. Once beaten by a gang of thugs and the other time blown up in the lab.
• A "relationship" of sorts with Lady Heather, a dominatrix, who Grissom had a connection with. For many episodes he had to help her through some really horrible things.
• Murders who became his arch-nemesises of sorts and proved to be on the same level or higher than Grissom. Good examples include "The Wet Paint Killer," Paul Millander (who fooled Grissom in the pilot episode and two more after that.) and, of course, the "Minature Killer" who was responsible for Sidel's kidnapping and lasted 10 episodes!!

Now if all that crap happened to you in your current job, you would have left too! Probably after the first couple. So it makes a lot of sense.

And... SPOILER SPACE!

Grissom got a happy ending with Sarah.

Perfect.

Battlestar Galactica fraks me up

Last night marked the triumphant return of "Battlestar Galactica." It has been quite some time since we last saw our friends from the Galactica.

SPOILER ALERT: First things first, this post features several huge spoilers from last night's episode, so if you haven't watched yet, STOP READING NOW.

The last time we saw them the Colonial fleet had finally made their way to Earth. However, their joy was soon tempered by the fact that Earth was completely destroyed. We were also left with the question of who is the final cylon?

Producers Ron Moore and David Eick wasted no time, they immediately brought us right into the character's despair and desperation as they discovered that Earth was a nuclear wasteland demolished by war. Then they dropped the bombshell that Earth was a planet of cylons, featuring both "toasters" and "skin jobs."

As if that wasn't enough they decided to give us the heart-breaking last day of one of the show's best supporting players, Lt. Anastasia "Dee" Dualla portrayed magnificently by Kandyse McClure.

When Dee and her ex-husband Apollo hinted at the possibility of reconciliation I knew her time left was limited, but I assumed she would die in battle or in some horrible accident. Her day was just going too well and in the BSG universe that means bad things are about to happen.

The twist came when after experiencing what she admitted were her happiest moments in years she put a gun to her head and pulled the trigger. It was so unexpected and earth shattering that I was left speechless throughout the commercial break.

It seemed so senseless but at the same time so logical. The morale of the fleet was so low that even the President was at a loss. The only thing keeping them together was the promise of Earth and now that was gone.

McClure's restrained portrayal of Dee's transition from hopelessness to acceptance was nothing short of spectacular. When Dee had to will herself to keep it together while flying away from Earth that should have been a sign of things to come. Dee took what she thought was the rational way out of a unsolvable problem.

The other major story of the night was the reveal of the final cylon. After years of clues and guesswork, the winner is: Ellen Tigh. Really? Ellen Tigh. I don't think anyone had her on their list and frankly there are so many new unanswered questions that I'm not convinced she is the magical fifth cylon.

Other revelations that came up last night:

Starbuck crashed landed on Earth at some point and it was her beacon that led them back. In a very biblical scene, she had to burn her own corpse.

Apparently we are the descendants of cylons, because the war that destroyed Earth happened 2000 years ago.

"Battlestar Galactica" is the rare show that features all the bells and whistles of any great geeky sci-fi show, while at the same time providing stories so richly developed that it can take you on a complete roller coaster ride of emotions.

Judging by last night, these final episodes will keep fans riveted and guessing as the show takes its final bow.

A few moments with The Office

In last night's episode of "The Office" Andy finally found out about Dwight and Angela's affair. The revelation resulted in a hilarious confrontation that culminated in a ridiculous duel.

The genius of this show is the way the ensemble works together. We all know that Michael, Dwight, Jim and Pam are the stars, but, at the same time there would be a huge hole if there were suddenly no Creed, Meredith or Stanley.

Last night's best quote came when Meredith said, "I've had two guys fight over me before, but usually it's over who holds the camcorder."

I fell off the bed laughing.

In other great news coming out of the show, Tim's favorite Amy Ryan is returning as HR rep Holly. The producers have her signed for the finale, but, they really want to keep her around on a more permanent basis.

Also joining the cast in a short arc is Idris Elba. He will be playing a serious Dunder-Mifflin rep who is evaluating Michael and the Scranton gang. Elba is best known for his work in the HBO series "The Wire" and stars in the upcoming film "Obsessed" with Ali Larter and Beyonce. He is an extremely accomplished actor who hasn't shown his comedic skills yet, so I'm excited to see what he brings to the show.

"The Office" is the funniest show on television right now and these additions along with the anticipation of the post Super Bowl episode are just enhancing its already legendary status.

New episode up... and an editor's note

OK, in this episode I talk of my "Slumdog Millionaire" frustration. I didn't have a lot of time to go into a lot of specific detail on why I didn't like it. So, to be open and honest, here is the e-mail I sent to Stephanie about why I didn't like the movie:

*Editor's note: We usually hold off on telling each other specific details or opinions as to get a genuine reaction out of each other. In this case Tim couldn't contain his feeling or wait until a new episode was filmed. So, to show the true story, Stephanie's reaction will be posted as well. SPOILERS to follow*

I didn't like it at all. It was waaay too predictable. The most annoying part? The answer to every single question he was asked on the game show was directly related to some super important part of his life. My eyes hurt from rolling so much. Then when the finale question came I let out a sound of disappointment so loud that people turned around in the theater to look at me.

Throughout the movie he kept talking about the "Three Musketeers" and how him, his brother and the girl were the three musketeers, but they never knew the name of the third one. Well, guess what the freaking last question was? It had a scene that was worse than the one in "Zack and Miri," the little kid had to escape a portapotti by jumping in a vat of crap then was running around covered in crap for a while. Yeah, that moment led to an answer to a question too.

It really wasn't a love story at all, it was more a story of two brothers and their relationship. The girl just so happened to keep getting between them. So, false advertisement.

I read a great quote that someone said. This movie is a Hipster version of "Forrest Gump." Exactly right. Don't believe the hype.

Stephanie's e-mail response:

So you didn't like it then?

Sad day to be a nerd

Jan. 14, 2009 will go down in history as the day nerds and geeks everywhere had a reason to be sad.

Early in the morning the news was reported that Patrick McGoohan, who most nerds would know from the 60s sci-fi television show "The Prisoner," died the day before. He also starred in "Braveheart." Most newer nerds might remember that episode of "The Simpsons" where Homer started his rumor Web site and was sent to a weird island. Yeah, that's "The Prisoner." McGoohan even reprised his role for that episode.

He now will not see the upcoming remake of "The Prisoner" being put together by AMC starring Jim "Hey, I played Jesus" Caviezel and Ian "Magneto" McKellen. Well, that might not be a bad thing...

Another classic geek icon died today, Ricardo Montalban, who played KHAAAAAAAAAAN! in both the classic "Star Trek" series and the movie sequel "The Wrath of Khan." Every geek who loves "Star Trek" loves "The Wrath of Khan." It is such a great film in the franchise and Montalban is a big part of that. He played a great villain and foe for Kirk. Other nerds might love him from "Fantasy Island." The original, not the crappy remake.

And then we had the biggest, Earth shattering, bring out the Kleenex, sad news of the day...

Wait...

Spoiler alert!

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Today, Batman died. Bruce Wayne, the dark knight himself, died heroically stopping uber Superman foe Darksied. This all went down in "Final Crisis" No. 6. Darksied had enslaved the Earth and most of mankind.

Darksied was almost unstoppable.

But, as every "Batman vs. whoever" debate goes, Batman always wins. Just as Darksied unleashed his "Omega Sanction" (super powerful eye beam blasts), Batman fires a gun carrying a God killing bullet. Darksied falls first, Batman has the last laugh then gets fried by the "Omega Sanction."

Superman finds the body and, boy, is he pissed.

As with most comic deaths, Wayne will be back eventually. But, for now the world will need a new Batman. Of course DC Comics is ready with its storyline "Battle for the Cowl" with many Batman supporting characters aiming to be the next Batman.

Time for a nerdy moment of silence.

Stargate Atlantis: The Final Mission

Friday night I watched with great sadness as one of my favorite shows ended a spectacular five year run.

"Stargate Atlantis" aired its final new episode on the Sci-fi channel, bringing an end to the adventures of the crew operating the ancient city of Atlantis.

For five years I have traveled with Col. John Sheppard and his team as they have explored the Pegasus galaxy.

The episode was centered around protecting Earth from a powerful and evil alien race know as the Wraith. The show featured the series' best ever special effects as the entire city of Atlantis was flown back to the Milky Way to engage the Wraith in an awesome space battle.

There was never any doubt that our heroes would defeat the Wraith, however, there were several questions about how the characters would fair.

In a very anti-climatic finish no one died and there was no big cliffhanger. This may be because the producers are planning to continue the story in a series of TV movies.

The show also felt rushed since producers were not given very much time to plan for cancellation. I imagine they had a more complex finale in mind.

The "Stargate" franchise has been a part of the Sci-fi channel for almost 15 years so I think they could have given the fans a real send off.

For five years these characters have excited us with action, broken our hearts in tragedy and kept us laughing through it all with a wicked sense of humor.

To the cast and crew of "Stargate: Atlantis" I say thank you for all the thrills and can't wait to see what comes next.

Globes pre-shows

For more on my thoughts on the actual awards show itself, watch the next episode of Viewpoints On...

But, I wanted to take a second to talk about the Golden Globes pre-shows on E! and NBC.

The one on E! was two hours long so I caught a little of it before the real pre-show started. I don't expect much out of Ryan Seacrest, especially in the journalistic integrity department, and he didn't disappoint. E! is really good at kissing famous butt. How about you just interview the people? Or Giuliana Rancic proclaiming "Slumdog Millionaire" the greatest movie of the year in the presence of the film's stars.

And of course "Viewpoints On... D-bag of the year" Ben Lyons had to show up and annoy me.

The best, and sad, part was Seacrest doing his best stalker impersonation trying to "score" an interview with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They ignored him so much that he was standing there on camera just calling their names (a foot or two away from them) until he just walked away. NICE. Then after that debacle, Rancic, announced on camera that "Brad and Angelina" were right behind her and she had to go try to get them to come over.

Try and guess what they did?

As the "official" NBC pre-show started I kept repeating "Please no Billy Bush, please no Billy Bush." Of course Nancy O'Dell had to host it. Brooke Burke was also a host, I know she has a little bit of experience interviewing people so that was alright. And then she went to Tiki Barber, "great, a football player" I thought.

Boy was I wrong. He was the best interviewer of the night! He kept eye contact with each person he was interviewing, didn't keep looking at his note cards (coughhahanancyo'dellcough) and had a great personality to interact with each star. He really made O'Dell look bad.

And in turn, made me happy.

Golden Globes pre-thoughts

I won't bother with predictions. The Golden Globes and I are never on the same page and I hate being wrong. I think Stephanie made some brave choices and also some safe bets.

Rather than predict, I will just name some that I THINK deserve to win:

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama:
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Angelina Jolie – Changeling

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
In Bruges

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Colin Farrell – In Bruges

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight

Best Television Series - Drama
House (FOX)

Best Television Series - Musical Or Comedy
The Office (NBC)

So, I look forward to being completely wrong when the show is over tonight, except for Heath Ledger winning of course.

The People's Choice Awards Part 2

I also watched the People's Choice Awards and it occurred to me that it was a very star-studded event for a show so low on the award show totem pole.

I can't say with absolute certainty that the winners are notified in advance, however, it seemed a little suspicious that every big name star showed up to accept their award.

I too wondered about all the awards for "The Secret Life of Bees" since Queen Latifah was hosting. I also wondered how "the people" were voting on movies that have literally just come out.

I know it's just the People's Choice Awards, but come on, they could at least try to look legitimate.

The "People's" Choice Awards?

So the other night I attempted to watch the People's Choice Awards on CBS. I usually don't bother because most times the things nominated are stupid and the winners are even worse.

Well, this year's show didn't disappoint!

I was really jazzed that "The Dark Knight" won a bunch of awards, it deserves every single one. But, a movie that made $500+ million dollars domestically is pretty popular. Hence, the people's choice. No surprise there.

That line of thinking went right out the window for "Favorite Leading Lady" which, by the way, I don't know the difference between "Favorite Leading Lady" and "Favorite Female Movie Star." Sounds like the same thing to me. Other than the fact that there were different people nominated in the two categories. "Ah ha! Instead of getting three famous people to show up to our awards, we can get six!"

So "Favorite Female Movie Star" had Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon and Cate Blanchett.

The "Favorite Leading Lady" category had Anne Hathaway for "Rachel Getting Married," Kate Hudson for "My Best Friend's Girl" and Queen Latifah for "The Secret Life of Bees."

Really?

REALLY?

Never mind that Latifah was hosting the awards show, which made the nomination a little dubious, but only one of those movies was a"hit" in the general sense.

"Rachel Getting Married" has made a little more than $10 million, "My Best Friend's Girl" made $19 million and "The Secret Life of Bees" made $37+ million (budget was $11).

I can KIND OF see Hathaway, but maybe for "Get Smart" which made $130+ million!

Hudson won, shocking considering the Rotten Tomatoes rating for "My Best Friend's Girl" was 16% (ouch.)

So either no one really voted or the people would have voted for Hudson even if she starred in "Crap: The Musical!"

Yay! and Nay!

Just a bit ago Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor at the Critics Choice Awards! Woot!

But, then "Slumdog Millionaire" won Best Picture. Boo!

New episode, kinda, up!

Golden Globes predictions

With the Golden Globes fast approaching I thought it was time for a few predictions. Keep in mind that I am predicting who I think will win, not who I am necessarily rooting for, (cough"30Rock"cough.)

Remember predictions are based on a complicated system that includes hours of endless TV watching, hundreds of dollars spent on delicious movie theater popcorn and of course, guessing.

Best Picture Drama: "Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Actor Drama: Mickey Rourke-"The Wrestler"

Best Actress Drama: Angelina Jolie-"Changeling"

Best Picture Musical/Comedy: "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"

Best Actor Musical/Comedy: Dustin Hoffman-"Last Chance Harvey"

Best Actress Musical/Comedy: Emma Thompson-"Last Chance Harvey"

Best Director: Ron Howard-"Frost/Nixon"

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger-"The Dark Knight"

Best Supporting Actress: Viola Davis-"Doubt"

Best TV Drama: "Dexter"

Best Actor TV Drama: Hugh Laurie-"House"

Best Actress TV Drama: Kyra Sedgwick-"The Closer"

Best TV Comedy: "30 Rock"

Best Actor TV Comedy: Alec Baldwin-"30 Rock"

Best Actress TV Comedy: Tina Fey-"30 Rock"

Writer's Guild nominations surprise

Just a few minutes ago the Writer's Guild of America unveiled the nominations for its Writer's Guild Awards and there are some surprises, both good and bad, in the list of nominees:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• "Burn After Reading," Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• "Milk," Written by Dustin Lance Black
• "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Written by Woody Allen
• "The Visitor," Written by Tom McCarthy
• "The Wrestler," Written by Robert Siegel

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen Story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord; Based on the Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
• "The Dark Knight," Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan; Story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer; Based on Characters Appearing in Comic Books Published by DC Comics.
• "Doubt," Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley, Based on his Stage Play.
• "Frost/Nixon," Screenplay by Peter Morgan, Based on his Stage Play.
• "Slumdog Millionaire," Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, Based on the Novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup.

So, that sure is a wide variety of films there. The best one, of course, being "The Dark Knight" which really needed a WGA nod to help it's chances of getting an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. It missed out on the Screen Actor's Guild equivilant of Best Picture, but scored a Producer's Guild nomination for Best Picture. The clincher will be the Director's Guild nominations, announced tomorrow. If Christopher Nolan is nominated then "The Dark Knight" has a really great chance of getting a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards. Just think about that for a second, a comic book movie nominated for Best Picture.

Bad surprises; I fully expected to see "In Bruges" get an Original Screenplay nod. The script was the best part of the film. Maybe the Guild didn't like the "One F-word every 1.18 minutes" ratio. Well, f-that.

I was happy with the nominations for "The Wrestler" and "The Visitor," which I saw last night and it was good.

In Adapted Screenplay, "Doubt" scored a nomination and maybe shouldn't have. That was my main problem with the movie was the script. Well, that and the funky camera angles. "Slumdog Millionaire" is riding a wave of hype all the way to the bank and that doesn't make me happy. Watch the next episode of Viewpoints On... for my feelings on the film. Just a hint, it's not in my top ten (or 15) of 2008.

So, I have seen five out of the 10 nominees. That is pretty good for me. That number will go up by one, hopefully, if "Frost/Nixon" ever gets released around here.

Visual Effects finalists

So, the Oscars just announced the seven finalists for the "Best Visual Effects" award. Yeah it's a little odd the way they do it, but it's good to see their way of thinking.

“Australia”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“Iron Man”
“Journey to the Center of the Earth”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

This list will be narrowed down to the final three official nominations when the entire list is announced on Jan. 22.

A few thoughts:

I have seen four films on that list; “The Dark Knight,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” “Iron Man” and “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”

“The Dark Knight” should be on there, I bet it will make it to the final three.

“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” has really great costume and creature designs, but when it comes to the CGI-fight scenes they look CGI. That is a bad thing in my book.

“Iron Man” is a strong candidate. I watched some behind the scenes footage from the film and there were parts of the movie, like Robert Downey Jr. just standing around in parts of the armor which I thought were not CGI, but a really good costume design person, but turned out to be total CGI. I was really impressed. The only downside is the scene where he really uses the armor for the first time against the terrorists. That scene didn't have the greatest CGI, the filmmakers probably didn't send in that scene to be judged. Smart move.

“Journey to the Center of the Earth” is the weakest of the four, in my opinion. There were some clever moments, but mostly everything was overly colorful and bright. My eight-year-old niece loved the movie, I was just somewhat impressed.

One major omission is "Cloverfield" which I thought had the best CGI this year. My whole arguement is that normally is has to be hard to make good special effects on normal movie cameras. How harder is it to make great effects on handheld cameras?

Other films taken off the original 15 movie shortlist; “Quantum of Solace” (Which had good CGI),
“The Spiderwick Chronicles,” “The Incredible Hulk,”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (The CG gophers killed it I bet), “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” “Hancock” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.”

Worst movie of the year explanation

In our most recent episode of "Viewpoints On..." (coughlookbelowcoughcough) we ran down our best and worst things of 2008.

To refresh some memories, or for you lazy folk, Stephanie and I stated that "Indiana Jones" and "The X-Files 2" were the worst movies of the year. We both had many, many reasons for those claims and I am sure many moviegoers would agree with us.

But, what about "The Hottie and the Nottie?" Or "Disaster Film?" Those movies HAD to have been worse than both of those picks. I will give you that. And I am sure there were dozens more that stunk up the box office in 2008. There is only one problem... we didn't see those movies.

I can't speak for Stephanie, but I can most times see a bad movie coming from a mile away. Did anyone really think that "Over Her Dead Body" was going to be an instant classic? Or that "The Love Guru" was going to make $400 million dollars?

I know I didn't.

So when I say this is the worst movie of whatever year, what I am really saying is "This is the worst movie I SAW this year."

And no I didn't see "Saw" this year...

New episode... year end edition!

In this episode Stephanie and I discuss the good and the bad of Pop Culture in 2008. We had a lot to talk about and there was some good stuff that we just couldn't fit into the show (You can see by the show being four parts is one example.)

So, over the next week or so we'll be blogging about some of our other best and worst of 2008 thoughts. But, for now, and as promised in the episode, a few more of Dan's 2008 thoughts.

Worst movie of 2008: "Hellboy 2"

I took my girlfriend to see it, building it up: "I sear, the first one was really cool! It was fun! There was this ninja made of sand, and Ron Perlman was really funny, and it was just awesome! You'll like it, I promise!" Well, lo and behold, Guillermo Del Toro must've dropped acid with Tim Burton and Frank Miller, because this movie was a hefty, never-ending pile of crap. As they trudged through reintroducing EVERY CHARACTER, my girlfriend stared at me. "No, no, it'll get better, they have to do this for people who didn't see the first one." Then they hammed up the dialouge, threw in some random characters like a German doctor made of smoke (ripping himself off??) and a legless demon and... well, it was just a never-ending onslaught of useless garbage. By the time Hellboy killed the giant monster that turned into flowers, covering the street in greenery like a Nissan commercial, I was standing, yelling at the screen "Why would you do this to me??!!" So, all in all, Hellboy II makes you wonder why an original that was good but only got mediocre fanfare would inspire Del Toro to make another, but so... so so so much worse.

Best TV of 2008:

"LOST"- Of course. This was my first season watching it on TV since I was shown the light through a week-long intensive of the first three seasons. And I wasn't disappointed! This show still has the best writing on TV, and some of the best acting. Michael Emerson (who plays Ben) came in on Season 2 and has really stolen the spotlight as the enigmatic and always crafty Benjamin Linus.

"HOUSE"- Another show I recently picked up the adddiction to. It's consistantly interesting, educational, and hillarious. At times, it can get formulaic, but with the addition of a new staff last season, including Kal Penn, the show knows how to keep it fresh. Hugh Laurie is most likely to win a Golden Globe for being the most consistantly amazing actor on TV.

"HEROES"- It only gets number three for coming back from a horrible season 2. I'm not saying it's by any means fantastic, it's still running on "E" and the car's shaking, but it just might get to the gas station in time. I don't know where Tim Kring is getting his actors, but if I had to hear Papa Petrelli READ another line, I would've put one between his eyes to. Once again, Sylar saves the day. :-) ** Tim and Stephanie note: The island sun must have fried Dan's brain a bit. "Heroes" not only was running on empty, but also ran someone over, went off a cliff and exploded. **

"FRINGE"- Thank God there's at least one new show with potential! I've been watching at a slow pace, btu I've come to the conclusion that if a stronger storyline is formed, Fringe could be the next X-files. By the way, did anyone else notice that the kid from the Mighty Ducks is in it, and his dad sounds like Hans? ** Tim note: I agree. **

"THE OFFICE"- For a show that's NEVER really been bland, The Office is kind of juggling the ball. It still gets about one roaring laugh from me every now and then, but with Pam going away for a while, Angela getting married, etc, too many changes start to take th elife out of the show. Very nice bombshell in last week's episode, though! ** Tim note: Referring to the outing of Angela/Dwight having sex **

New episode up and an issue with movie soundtracks

In this episode I talked a bit about "Yes Man" and how I enjoyed the music in the movie, especially the Zooey Deschanel parts. I knew she could sing from "Elf" but I had no idea singing was going to be a part of her character in this film.

Here is an example of one of the songs from the movie:



Funny stuff. But, here is my main issue with actors singing in movies. If it rocks and is cool, why aren't the movie companies releasing these songs ahead of time? Put them on some radio stations or release them as ITunes singles. Get some real buzz going. Heck, put out an official YouTube video and watch the hits rack up.

This move would have been perfect for "Walk Hard," but it wasn't until after I saw the movie that I fell in love with the music. Who knew that John C. Reilly could sing like that? I didn't.


I first felt this way with this gem of a video from the Hugh Grant movie "Music and Lyrics," which we watched in the newsroom at least two dozen times (a lowball estimate):



Click on the video to take you to the main page and look at the number of hits on that video alone: 5,764,723! A vast majority of those hits were AFTER the movie was released. Imagine how much more money "Music and Lyrics" would have made then?

Just a thought.

New Viewpoints On... videos!

Here are some of our recent episodes of Viewpoints On... (The first parts, following the links while watching for other parts.)

Tim's thoughts on Leno in primetime

We ran a little long in the show today and had to cut some stuff on the fly. One bit was my main issue with Jay Leno getting a prime time 10 p.m. slot Monday-Friday on NBC.

Really?

NBC is so far is last place that this is its big idea?

How about stop making crappy shows? Yeah, "Kath and Kim" I am talking about you.

And while we are on the subject of crappy and NBC, that stupid chime thing they do to promote the different shows is BEYOND stupid. Like someone thought "Hey, that's cool, I guess I'll watch 'My Own Worst Enemy' after all!"

They made it a point to say they know Leno won't beat shows like "CSI." Well, why bother then? Since when do we do things to not be first place? "I know we'll be last place, but it'll be a funny last place!"

And either the "Law and Order" shows are moving to 9 p.m. or getting cut.

The other issue I have is that no matter what he says, it is a giant slap in the face to Conan O'Brien who is set to take over the Tonight Show in a few months. So you expect people to watch Leno, then a half hour of local news, then watch O'Brien? And boy is Jimmy Fallon screwed. He was set to take over O'Brien's old time slot.

So, bad move NBC. Be more creative.

Tim's Black Friday memories/pickups

I hate Black Friday shopping with a passion. I used to work for Wal-Mart in the electronics section and always had to "open" on Black Friday, which meant I had to wake up extra early and deal with throngs of deal seeking "people." I use that term loosely because for some reason cheap TVs and other crap bring out the worst in people. I have seen it all from yelling, fighting, tugs of war over clothes to shopping carts being rammed into heels for people not moving fast enough.

During one year you could hear the rumbling of feet and carts coming from the front of the store. It sounded like a stampede, as if it were the Perris California running of the bulls or something. Another year all I did was fill the row in front of the department with 19 inch televisions, go to the back, load up more and repeat... for 3 hours. And, I apparently, wasn't going fast enough.

This, and an aversion to super large crowds, has helped me avoid going out for Black Friday door busters or sales only from 5 a.m. to noon. One exception is Target, who has done away with door busters in favor of two day sales. Meaning I can stroll in say around 10:30 a.m. get what I want and leave, without having to wait in line... like what happened this morning.

I picked up season 2 of "Psych" for $13.98, which I believe, is a great deal. The Target receipt says it normally costs $39.99. A good basis for comparison is the uber-cheap Web site Deep Discount DVD, which lists "Psych: Season 2" for $39.96. I'll take a $25 savings any day.

Another good deal, sort of, was the "I Am Legend" DVD for $3.98. I say sort of because it is the bare bones version with no real extra features other than some comics. Target lists it as originally costing $13 and Deep Discount DVD has it for $6.58. So I saved about $3.


Now you must excuse me so I can go watch Shawn and Gus perform "Shout."

Goodbye to the best show on television

So last night was the series finale of "The Shield" and wow it was a blockbuster of an episode to end the seven year run of the show.

For a show that started with one cop killing another in cold blood, "The Shield" is known for not pulling any punches and shocking viewers by going further than most shows would dare.

Last night was no different. If the shocks and plot twists throughout the span of the show were slaps across your face, then last night was a steel toe'd boot kick to the gut (including the wind being knocked out of you).

Characters died, some in shocking ways, and in the end everyone got what they deserved. For the real main characters (The Strike Team members) who were just bad people, well, they were basically really evil people, each in the end went out in ways they probably deserved.

I won't spoil it for those who watch it on DVD or have it saved on DVRs, but the last few minutes are both reflective and satisfying.

At a time where there isn't much on television that is worth watching (Yes, I am talking to you NBC) "The Shield" is a reminder that great television is possible and that there is Emmy worthy acting in strange places.

Best Bond girls

To many a Bond girl is just the woman James Bond sleeps with on his way to catching the bad guy, but the best Bond girls are the ones who can hold their own against Bond and don't always fall right into his arms.

Hands down the best Bond girl ever is Honor Blackman in "Goldfinger." She could win just for her name alone, Pussy Galore, however, she is also a pilot for Goldfinger who isn't charmed by Bond. She's not a blind follower of the villain, she just enjoys being paid well. You can't help but admire her independent spirit. She does eventually succumb to Bond's charms, because, well, he is James Bond.

Running a close second is Michelle Yeoh in "Tomorrow Never Dies." She plays Bond's Chinese counterpart Wai Lin. Yeoh is probably the only Bond girl to kick butt better than Bond. When she uses her extensive martial arts skills to take down several bad guys in a Chinese safe house, it is one of the best Bond fight scenes ever.

Finally there is Famke Janssen as Xenia Onatopp in "Goldeneye." As villainous Bond girls go, she is the best. She uses her sex appeal to lure unsuspecting victims and she takes a lot of pleasure in her job. When she and Bond face off, he gets the upper hand, but I always assumed it was because she wanted him to have it. She completely steals the spotlight from Izabella Scorupco.

I'm sure there will be plenty of arguing, but then again, it's not exactly a bad topic to argue about.

Bond, Bauer or Bourne

There was a time when James Bond was the only secret agent that mattered. However, now his crown is being challenged by new heroes Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne.

So the question is, who's the best secret agent? Let's start by examining their qualifications.

James Bond is a oo-agent with MI6, he has a license to kill, a gadget for every occasion and can make any woman change sides with just a wink or a smile.

Jack Bauer is a former Counter Terrorist Unit agent who has stopped assassinations and nuclear threats and has sacrificed himself and his family for his country.

Jason Bourne was an assassin for the CIA, since losing his memory he has used his skills to evade the government and get at the truth behind his past.

Best Kill: Bourne, he once killed a guy during a fight with a magazine. Honorable Mention: Bond has the most kills, so he does have the longest list to choose from.

Best Interrogator: Bauer, if you need information from the enemy, nobody tortures a guy like Jack. Honorable Mention: Bond's techniques are more fun if a woman is involved.

Best Undercover Agent: Bond, he will always find a way to infiltrate the villain's organization, whether it's by sleeping with the bad guy's girl or just knocking someone out and stealing their uniform.

Best One-Liners: Bond by a mile, Bauer takes himself very serious and Bourne doesn't even talk half the time.

Better Villains: Bauer, in this new world, his bad guys are more realistic.

The Winner: Bond, while Bourne and Bauer are a little single-minded during their missions, Bond always has time for some romance or maybe a little gambling.

His ability to multi-task while saving the world makes him the clear choice, plus he has the experience having been a spy a good 40 years longer than the other guys.

He should watch his back though, because Bauer and Bourne are closing in on him.

Best James Bond villains

As much as I enjoyed Goldfinger in "Goldfinger," my favorite old-school James Bond villain is Jaws from "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker."

He was superior to Bond in both size and strength which made him a menacing opponent, much more than Mathieu Almalric's screaming like a girl Dominic Greene from "Quantum of Solace." Plus, as a child I was scared of Jaws' metal teeth. Those kinds of things stay with you. Yes he was a bumbling idiot, but he also was sort of Jason Vorhees like where no matter what happened to him like falling from great distances he would always just get up and keep going.


More recently, I would say that Sean Bean's Alec Trevelyan from "Goldeneye"
was my favorite. He was a former 00 agent like Bond and was a formitable foe by being Bond's equal in brains and athletic ability. I think that is what the Daniel Craig versions are missing, one main person to stand up to Bond and not get killed in a few seconds. And no Mr. White does not count.

Best James Bond movies

Without a doubt my favorite James Bond movie is "Goldfinger." Great action, plot, Bond girl, henchman Oddjob and evil villain Goldfinger. It was the most well-rounded of those pre-90s Bond films. It also has one the coolest deaths and iconic scenes in the Bond films where Shirley Eaton was covered in gold paint. So iconic in fact that the new Bond film "Quantum of Solace" does their own version of that scene.

Of the more recent films I like "Goldeneye." Seems as if I have a facination with gold in the titles. Note to producers, make the next Bond film have the word gold somewhere in the title.

Best James Bond Actors

For me you can't really beat Sean Connery at all. But, I believe that Pierce Brosnan gets really close. His performance in "Goldeneye" was great and he nailed it right out of the gate. He could pull off the action and make you smirk at the things that were kind of funny.

Sure "The World is Not Enough" is a stinker of a Bond film, but it was not due to Brosnan as Bond. He did the best with what he had to work with, kind of like George Clooney in "Batman and Robin." He also had great chemistry with the Bond girls and Judi Dench as M.

Let the hate mail begin!

'Heroes!'

This week on "Heroes" we saw...

Wait, really, I am just going to bash it again.

Is there a point of continuing to kick someone while they are down? Beating a dead horse?

'Happy' Halloween?

I don't know if it's just me, but wow has Halloween changed since I was a child.

Sure we still carve pumpkins and people still hand out candy, but everything else just seems to be wonky.

Some Halloween night observations from me sitting out in front of my house:

1. A lot of children/teenagers with no costumes trick or treating. I even saw two 10-12 year olds with no costumes, but chatting on their cell phones. Can have a cell phone, but no costumes?

2. Two older ladies trick or treating, no costumes.

3. A teenage girl wearing a skimpy maid outfit. She wasn't carrying a bag, so she lifted up her skirt up to carry the candy around. Very inappropriate. Sad thing? Her parents were with her...

4. A car pulls up, a kid in a "Scream" outfit jumps out and runs up to get some candy. He runs back to the car, the car pulls away and stops two houses down. Rinse and repeat a few more times. My jaw was on the floor. I have never witnessed lazy trick or treating before.

5. Wearing a mask over regular clothes is NOT a costume!

One thing that did impress me was the amounts of "Thank you's" that I got. That, for sure, made up for all of the above annoying things.

Viewpoints on... "The Office'

Check out the staff members of Viewpoints take on the latest episode of "The Office." Join the funniest panel of writers covering the funniest show on television! And not sad funny like "Heroes."

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Viewpoints on 'Heroes'

Check out the staff members of Viewpoints take on the latest episode of "Heroes." Nothing is safe from making fun of, even time traveling heroes!

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E for All Video Game Expo

I'm live from the E for All gaming expo where the emphasis this year is on accessories. Don't get me wrong there's plenty of video games to be found, but it seems as though manufacturers have decided accessories are where the money is at.

All the top games are represented here somehow, with "Guitar Hero 3" and "Rock Band 2" being the most popular. These games are made for someone like me who likes to hang out and play with friends, but has no hand-eye-coordination.

As a matter of fact I just tried out "Guitar Hero 3" and it was loads of fun. It includes a lot of the songs that you always wished were on "Rock Band." For about three and a half minutes I really thought I was the lead singer of Bon Jovi.

E for All isn't just about playing games, there are several colleges here with information on Gaming development and graphic design programs. There is also a full day of career seminars about breaking into the gaming industry.

Apparently in these uncertain times one thing never changes and that is the public's desire to become a rock star and blow stuff up.