D23 expo: The ABC's of Disney

Day one of the D23 expo featured a presentation by ABC, which highlighted some of their shows for the fall TV season.

The panel was hosted by Tome Bergeron from "Dancing With the Stars" and Stephen McPherson, president of ABC entertainment group. The hour focused on ABC's Wednesday night block of comedy programming, the new drama "FlashForward" and "Dancing With the Stars."

"FlashForward" is about what happens when everyone in the world blacks out for two minutes and 17 seconds and is given a vision of their future. The show has been among the most buzzed about new series and seems to follow in the mysterious path of ABC hit "Lost."

"Hank" stars Kelsey Grammer as a CEO who loses everything and moves his family back to his hometown to start over. This fish out of water comedy felt stale and received only polite laughs and pity applause.

It's really a shame because Grammer is a genuinely funny actor who deserves a stronger show than this.

"The Middle" is supposed to be "Roseanne" for a new generation, but Tim pointed out that it's just a rip off of "Malcolm in the Middle." It stars Patricia Heaton as a midwestern mom with a crazy husband and three wacky kids, stop me if this sounds at all familiar.

Perhaps the only stand out of the night is "Modern Family," starring Ed O'Neill. This single camera comedy is about three very different families and how they navigate the problems that new families face.

The show is shot in the style of a mockumentary, giving it a acerbic tone and making it stand out from the rest of the lineup.

Closing out the night is "Cougar Town with Courtney Cox as a recently divorced woman ready to get back in the dating game. Cox plays the role with no ego and her well honed comedy timing may help out with some of the more cliched jokes.

Following the video presentation all four stars appeared on stage and discussed what brought them back to television and why they picked these shows.

The panel closed with a performance by "Dancing With the Stars" pros Cheryl Burke and Derek Hough, plus an appearance by new contestant Donny Osmond and his partner Kym Johnston.

I was hoping for a little information on returning favorites like "Lost" and "Castle" but they seemed to really be pushing the new stuff. Unfortunately some of it wasn't worth waiting for.

D23: Opening Day

This weekend we've got special coverage from the D23 expo, which is Disney's very own version of comic-con.

The company will be filling in fans and media on everything they have planned for movies, TV and theme parks.

Today is the first day of the expo and it was opened by the president of the Walt Disney Company, Bob Iger. He introduced a video of upcoming projects and explained how the company was evolving in the next year.

The audience was then treated to a surprise screening of the first half hour of the newest animated classic "The Princess and the Frog."

The film takes place in New Orleans and features the first black princess in Tiana. She is then caught up in a very "Nawlins" take on the classic fable "The Frog Prince."

Following the screening, guests were treated to a performance by Tony award winning actress and the voice of Tiana, Anika Noni Rose. She brought the house down, which was no surprise, however, when Iger informed the crowd that she was suffering from bronchitis, it made the performance even more spectacular.

The panel was the closed with a surprise giveaway of a one night stay in the Disney Dream Suite in New Orleans Square. The winner was a fan from Marrieta, CA whose father was once a street sweeper on Main Street in Disneyland.

It was a very Disney way to open the expo.

With presentations planned on every major upcoming project make sure to check back for updates straight from the expo floor.

Box office Tuesday

This box office included the special Labor Day holiday, so the weekend numbers are a bit larger than normal.

In a surprise move, "The Final Destination" held onto the No. 1 spot with around $15 million, bringing its two week total to $50 million. Its budget was only $40 million, so its a hit.

The new films that attempted to dethrone "The Final Destination" included "All About Steve," "Gamer" and "Extract."

"All About Steve," with some really horrible reviews (sitting at five percent at Rotten Tomatoes), managed to be somewhat critic-proof pulling in around $14 million. "Gamer" starring Gerard Butler came in at No. 4 with $11 million.

"Extract" didn't fare too well only pulling in around $5 million and at the No. 10 position, behind movies like "G.I. Joe" and "The Time Traveler's Wife."

A survivor from last week "Halloween 2" only dropped 56 percent from its first week, a far better percent than the first Rob Zombie "Halloween" which saw its second week drop a staggering 63 percent.

A bright spot this weekend was another film passed the $100 million mark, the nineteenth film to do so, "District 9." With the budget at $30 million this is a big hit of not only the summer, but the year.

Another big thing was "Transformers 2" passed the golden $400 million mark. With a budget of $200 million, this is a monster movie money making machine (gotta love alliteration!). Its worldwide total is a jaw dropping $830 million! Wowza. Point of reference, last year's No. 1 "The Dark Knight" made a little over $1 billion worldwide and 2007's "Spiderman 3" did $890 million.

One last maybe-milestone: The new "Harry Potter" film is about $2.5 million away from breaking the $300 million dollar club.

"Transformers 2" is the lonely at the top, it needs company.

New episode up...

Fall TV Preview: Monday

For most people fall is about the leaves turning and the weather changing. However, for Tim and I, it's about fall TV premieres. Over the next week we'll be analyzing the new season night by night. First up, Monday.

• CBS: Their lineup is almost unchanged with "How I Met Your Mother"moving to 8 p.m. and the new Jenna Elfman comedy "Accidentally on Purpose" following it at 8:30 p.m. Critics have not been kind to this surprise pregnancy comedy, so if you're interested you may want to tune in early, as it may not last long.
• ABC: I suppose they figure if ain't broke don't fix it. They're sticking with the "Dancing With the Stars," "Castle" combo which includes "The Bachelor" taking over when "Dancing" crowns a winner.
• FOX/CW: The CW keeps the same programs and just flip flops the time slots, while FOX has "House" staying at 8 p.m. and "Lie to Me" airing at 9 p.m. Though it hasn't been officially announced, "24" usually takes over the 9 p.m. time slot in Jan.
• NBC: "Heroes" will be desperately trying to get back to its first season brilliance at 8 p.m., with new show "Trauma" at 9 p.m. For me this show is just the new "ER" or "Third Watch," which I already watched so I don't feel any motivation to watch again. At 10 p.m. is "The Jay Leno Show" which we've already written about, so I've nothing left to say on that subject.

Watch: "How I Met Your Mother" and "House"

DVR: "CSI: Miami" and "One Tree Hill"

Skip: "Accidentally on Purpose" and "Heroes"

Box office Monday (on Tuesday)

Well Tim called it, "The Final Destination" was the number one movie of the weekend, pulling in $27 million. Apparently the extra dollars generated by 3-D screenings pushed it over the top.

Coming in second with $19 million and a 49 percent drop off was "Inglorious Basterds." Like most Tarantino films it seems to be splitting viewer reaction right down the middle.

In third was "Halloween II," who lost the battle with "Final Destination" and could only pull in $16 million. However, since it only had a $15 million budget everything it makes from now on will be profit. Plus movies like these tend to do very well on DVD.

Rounding out the top five were "District 9" which added $10 million to its $90 million total and "G.I. Joe" with $7.7 million. At a total of $132 million, "G.I. Joe" has still not even come close to its $175 million dollar budget, so while those numbers don't usually add up to failure, in this case they do.

This week's big releases are "All About Steve," a Sandra Bullock-Bradley Cooper romantic comedy, "Gamer," a Gerard Butler action movie and "Extract," the latest workplace comedy from Mike Judge starring Jason Bateman and Ben Affleck. With none of those generating a lot of buzz it's really anybody's guess at what will be next week's number one.

I'm thinking Bullock will win the weekend with wives and girlfriends making their men pay for three straight weeks of "District 9," "Inglorious Basterds" and "The Final Destination."

Disney buys Marvel, nerds start riot

This morning came the stunning announcement that Disney had bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. This acquisition opens up a whole can worms about exactly what's included in the deal and how it affects Marvel's various properties.

Right now Disney plans to respect all current deals Marvel has with other movie studios. However, you can imagine that they're trying to find a way to work these deals to their advantage. A company like Disney is not going to have all these hot properties and let other companies make money off of them.

Tim pointed out that somewhere right now Disney lawyers are locked in a room going over the Universal, Fox, Sony and Paramount contracts with a fine tooth comb.

There is also the idea that you could be walking through Disneyland and have your picture taken with Wolverine or the Hulk.

The best news is that Tim's dream of a Pixar "Runaways" movie could really become a possibility. Word is that John Lasseter had to be told to slow down in the meeting where this news was delivered because he had so many ideas.

The possibilities coming out of this story are mind bottling. They literally put your mind in a bottle.

I'm sure as this story develops we'll continue to stay on top of it. Be sure to watch this week's episode of "Viewpoints On..." for a more in depth analysis of this story.

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

Two clarifications: One, "The Final Destination" IS rated R. So Stephanie was right.

Two, "Community" is premiering at 9:30 p.m. then moving to the earlier time slot when "30 Rock" returns. So we were both kind of right.

Me and an 8-year-old agree

I really, really like "The Soloist."

Not just because it is a journalism movie.

Or that I have met Steve Lopez.

I like it because it is a great movie that makes you feel good to be a human being. It has a great message that everyone has a story and we shouldn't just walk past and ignore people we see on the street.

As of right now it is near the top of my "Top films of 2009" list.

On Monday we took my niece (she's eight) to Disneyland for my father's birthday. On the way there she was telling us about how her parents rented "The Soloist" and how much she liked it.

She told us that it was a great movie and she really liked it. I told her about how the homeless people in the film were not actors, but real homeless people that the director wanted in the film not just for realism, but to help them out.

Her review of the film made my father want to see the movie, so I rented it for him.

Guess what? He enjoyed it too.

A look at the queue

Starting a new feature here where I'll share my viewing experiences with Netflix.

What have I watched recently? What is in my queue waiting to be watched?

We'll start with the renting of "Dollhouse" disc four, which was all the special features of the Fox show. Anyone who watches "Viewpoints On..." or reads the blog knows how much Stephanie and I both like "Dollhouse."

On this disc was the unaired episode "Epitaph One" and the first version of the pilot episode. Both were excellent episodes with "Epitaph One" showing a dark future where the power of taking over people's minds has spread around the world, causing an almost apocalyptic, "Mad Max" style world.

The unaired pilot was the one that Fox didn't really dig and made Joss Whedon re-do. I could see why. While I still enjoyed the episode, it gave away a lot of information and spoilers that were eventually told over the course of the entire season.

While on a Whedon trip, I rented "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog." Stephanie raved about it and I thought I could trust her.

She's wrong. I didn't like it at all. I even fast forwarded through a bit of it. I am just not into musicals as much as I thought I was. Plus, I don't get the whole everyone loves Felicia Day thing.

Other films in my queue waiting to be rented are:

1. "A Face in the Crowd"
2. "Punisher: War Zone"
3. "Hard Candy"
4. "Run, Fat Boy, Run"
5. "Sunshine Cleaning"
6. "State of Play"
7. "Hulk Vs."
8. "Wonder Woman"
9. "The Rise and Fall of WCW"
10. "Nothing But the Truth"

Box office Tuesday

Killing Nazis was profitable this weekend as "Inglourious Basterds" took the No. 1 spot at the box office with around $38 million. It has a budget of around $70 million, so the next week drop off will be a good indicator of if it will make its money back.

I did see the film over the weekend and will have a review, of sorts, on Friday's "Viewpoints On..."

The other new films of the week "Shorts," "Post Grad" and "X Games 3D the Movie" didn't even break the top five with earnings of $6 million, $2.6 million and $800 thousand dollars.

Last week's No. 1 "District 9" had a 51 percent drop off from last week, pulling in $18 million bringing it's total to $72 million. Remember it already made its money back from its $30 million dollar budget, so this is all good money from here on in.

In other box office news "Transformers 2" is within striking distance of earning $400 million. As of today it has earned $398 million. It should be able to push past the 400 mark in a week or two.

If Weezer was wondering if I wanted them to, I want them to

My favorite band has another album coming out, and I couldn't be more excited.

On Aug. 16 the first single off the new CD was leaked on the internet. The song, with a really long title, "(If you're wondering if I want you to) I want you to" was uploaded onto YouTube and ready for the world to hear it.

My initial thoughts were that the song was alright. It is for sure a different sounding approach for Weezer, something I am totally fine with. I liked the "Red Album" because of how much they went in a different direction, especially with the other band members providing lead vocals on a few songs.

The chorus of the song is really catchy. Not as catchy as "Pork and Beans," but slightly more catchy than "Beverly Hills" which was a huge hit for the group.

In case you are interested, here is a link to a place where you can hear the song:

http://rockitoutblog.com/2009/08/16/new-weezer-leaks/

The other news was the name of the album was announced: "Raditude."

As in the words "Rad" and "Attitude" merged together. Very clever and I like it.

"Raditude" is set to be released on Oct. 27.

The return of "Project Runway"

Finally life can begin again as Tim, Heidi, Michael and Nina return to my television. Following a year long absence, "Project Runway" returned last night on Lifetime with a three and half hour premiere night that left hardcore fans like me giddy.

I knew I was missing it, but I didn't realize how empty my life had been until I heard Tim tell a designer to "make it work."

The evening started with the "All-Star Challenge" featuring past contestants returning to compete for $100,000. Participants included Korto, Daniel V., Sweet P, Uli, Jeffrey, Mychael, Chris March and Santino.

The alums returned to show off how they had improved in their time away from the "Runway." Apparently Santino hadn't learned how to not make a fool of himself, because whatever small amount of fame he had gained from the show had turned him into an even bigger d-bag than he was before. Though I must admit he had some competition from Jeffrey who seemed to be trying way too hard to get noticed.

Ultimately after two hours of sewing drama it came down to Daniel and Korto, who is one of my all time favorites. This seemed poetic since they were both runners up during their respective seasons. Much to my and Korto's chagrin, Daniel was proclaimed the winner, thus paving the way for the main event.

To the delight of fans, Lifetime didn't try to reinvent the wheel and left the show completely intact. We started with introductions to the designers and the first challenge, which was to design a red carpet outfit that would show off their style.

It's always hard to get to know the contestants in the first few episodes but there were a few who stood out.

Johnny

A recovering addict who had the first breakdown of the season five minutes into the challenge when he couldn't make a decision. Following a Tim Gunn peptalk he did pull it together enough to create a nice red gown that almost got him the win.

Mitchell

A fashion school graduate who seemed to forget that a huge part of "Project Runway" involved thinking on your feet. So when his original dress didn't work out, instead of "making it work" he made his model basically wear a sheet down the runway and threw her under the bus for the first outfit not fitting properly.

Ari

A complete and total kook who doesn't sketch and threw "a diaper with a halter" (thank you Michael Kors) down the runway. She was even too crazy for guest judge Lindsey Lohan and was the first to hear the dreaded auf Wiedersehn.

The last half hour was the slightly less interesting "Models of the Runway" which follows the models through their half of the competition. The show picked up minutes after Ari's elimination and concluded with the designers selecting models for the next challenge.

Unfortunately for Mitchell's model, who he again bad-mouthed, she was the odd woman out and was the first one eliminated.

All in all it was a great relief to have "Project Runway" back where it belongs and to once again enjoy all the cattiness and craziness that only happens when you have a workroom full of designers making clothes out of placemats and stainless steel scrubbing pads.

"Dancing with the Stars" forgets the stars

Earlier this week the new cast for "Dancing with the Stars" was announced and it occurs to me that they seem to be stretching the boundaries on who can be called a star.

The cast includes: Aaron Carter, Ashley Hamilton (son of George), Chuck Lidell, Debi Mazar, Mya, Donny Osmond, Joanna Krupa, Kelly Osbourne, Kathy Ireland, Louie Vito, Macy Gray, Mark Dacascos, Michael Irvin, Melissa Joan Hart, Natalie Coughlin and Sen. Tom DeLay.

Out of those 16 names I'm sure the average person may recognize four, maybe five of them. That leaves at least 11 or 12 people who no one has any idea who they are.

Since the show is called "Dancing with the Stars" and is extremely popular you'd think they would be able to reel in some bigger names. Even with all the useless pop culture information clogging my brain, I had to look up a couple of names to see who they were.

The thing is, at this point the professional dancers are more famous than the so called celebrities they're partnered up with. I guess that means the "stars" in the show's title is really referring to the pros and not the contestants.

Me on E!... again

On Tuesday I headed over to E! Online to check out its weekly "Spoiler Chat" where they answer people's questions regarding television shows.

Much to my surprise, here is what I saw:

Tim: What does the departure of David Maples from In Plain Sight mean for his wife, Holly Maples? Is her character, Eleanor Prince, still going to be on the show, maybe as a regular? Her interactions with Mary have been some of the best parts of the show this season.

Agreed. Sadly, a USA Network rep says, "It's too early to address any casting questions for the upcoming third season." And outgoing In Plain Sight executive producer David Maples himself says, "I have been completely out of the loop on what's happening next. I know that they are making some changes. As far as Holly goes, she was not under contract last year; she was a guest star that was there from episode to episode. Thus far, nobody has contacted her, so I don't know what their plans are." Consider this the beginning of our campaign to keep Holly Maples as Eleanor on In Plain Sight. She's been the perfect addition to the Witsec office, and we need to keep her!

Sure, there are a lot of Tim's running around. But, here is what I posted on E!'s site more than a week ago when the news of David Maples' "firing" was reported.

Tim Sun, Aug 9, 2009, 12:04 PM
What does this mean for Holly Maples? Is she still going to be on the show, maybe a regular? Her interactions with Mary have been some of the best parts of the show this season.

First off, yes my question (re-written a bit). Second, I am glad they took notice of it since it might be a deal breaker for me. I, 100 percent, think that Holly Maples stole the show this season. Having the show without her now would be horrible. And I might not watch.

Also, on a weird note...

The reporter at E! who wrote the "In Plain Sight" article and contributed to the chat, Natalie Abrams, is someone I met at Comic-Con.

We were both in the press room typing away, her sitting behind me, and she was coughing almost non-stop. Part of me was annoyed, as I was trying to work, and part of me was trying to be nice so I got up and got her a glass of water. Yes, I am really a nice guy. Don't roll your eyes.

We chatted for a bit, then back to more work.

New episode up...

"True Blood:" So good it broke my TV

It's been such a busy summer that I haven't had a chance to talk about "True Blood." However, with last week's awesome episode and last night's heart-wrenching installment, it has been my must watch show of the summer.

Last week we finally got some closure to the Fellowship of the Sun storyline when Eric rescued Sookie from the evil anti-vampire church. The episode ended on a fantastic cliffhanger when a suicide bomber attacked the vampire lair.

This week, as a consequence of this attack, Sookie was tricked into sucking Eric's blood. Which means that they now share a bond and it led to the best scene of the season, with Eric and Sookie sharing a steamy yet sweet bedroom talk.

This was the scene so hot, it broke my TV. For the rest of the night my TV was just a little bit off. Of course that was a small price to pay for seeing Alexander Skarsgard at his best.

With all due respect to Bill and Sookie fans, Eric and Sookie have an undeniable chemistry that must be explored.

Last night also provided Skarsgard with a chance to really showcase Eric's tender side as he said goodbye to his maker Godric, when the 2000 year old vampire decided he'd had enough and waited on the roof for the sunrise.

The two vampires shared an emotional goodbye that capped off the episode brillantly.

With two episodes left this season, "True Blood" has really hit its stride and will hopefully continue to provide must watch television as it explores the next chapter of these characters stories.

A 'District 9' quick comment

*The new episode of "Viewpoints On..." has been delayed until Monday due to technical issues*

Today I went and caught the first showing of "District 9" at the Riverside Plaza theater. I'll hold off on my full review until Monday's show, but in the meantime I have a few thoughts on what I saw.

First off there were children in the audience, like young children. My niece is eight and the children were smaller than her. This is not a film for kids AT ALL. There are lots of people getting blown to bits, limbs being ripped off etc. When will parents learn?

Second, this movie has a reported budget of $30 million dollars. And the effects are jaw-droppingly amazing. It's sad when I look at a movie like "G.I. Joe" and see crappy CGI effects and know it's budget was $175 million. The aliens are almost all CGI, but blend so well into the real backgrounds and interact with the real people seamlessly.

Third, the director of this film, Neill Blomkamp has never directed a full length feature before. Wow, way to come out of the corner swinging. You would think someone who has been directing for years and years made this film. Another noticeable thing was the acting of the lead Sharlto Copely, who I thought did a fantastic job. As soon as I got home I looked him up on IMDB.com to see what other movies he has been in. I normally do this with actors I am not aware of.

Come to find out he has never acted before this! Amazing!

This is for sure a good way to end the summer movie season. Very original.

'Blackest Night' burns bright

We don't cover comics around here much, so I thought a change of pace would be nice.

The big event right now at DC Comics is the Green Lantern crossover series "Blackest Night" which is its own eight issue series along with numerous themed issues of other comics such as "Superman," "Teen Titans" and "Batman."

The event follows the creation of the Black Lantern Corps, which are dead heroes and villains brought back to "life" to wreak havoc on the DC Universe.

I was already digging this whole concept, but Comic-Con (and meeting Geoff Johns) has only magnified this.

Yesterday was a milestone event for me. I actually went to a comic book store on the day new books came out. I haven't done that in maybe five years.

I just needed to read the new issues that bad.

First up was "Blackest Night: Batman" which shead some light on what exactly the Black Lanterns are through the character of Deadman. Deadman is a man who was murdered and now walks around as a spirit who can possess people's bodies. In this issue we see Deadman's corpse become a Black Lantern while his spirit looks on. So, technically, there are two Deadmen running around.

The other big development is that the Black Lanterns have chosen both Tim Drake (the former Robin) and Dick Grayson's (Old Robin, new Batman) dead parents to be Black Lanterns. That can only mean big trouble for both characters.

The giant news out of "Green Lantern Corps" No. 39 is that every single dead Green Lantern has now become a Black Lantern. There is no exact number, but a big two page spread shows a ton of them... all wanting "flesh."

And in the parent comic "Blackest Night" No. 2, more big things are in store. I am not a spoil sport, but more Black Lanterns are chosen, including a popular hero who was alive prior to this issue. Other big moments include Mera (Aquaman's former wife) kicking butt and taking names against a group of Black Lanterns, a Black Lantern ring unable to get to a dead hero because he is "at peace" and an awesome Hal Jordan and Barry Allen team up that made me smile.

Spoiler sport alert time

As I talked about on Monday, "District 9" has been getting great buzz and some really good reviews. On Monday it had 15 good reviews and zero negative reviews.

Today on Rotten Tomatoes I noticed it was now at 96 percent, with 25 good reviews and only one negative review.

I clicked on the link to take me to the collection of reviews. As the page loaded I thought to myself "he wouldn't" and "there is no way he's going to do this again."

I scrolled down to see who the negative review came from and like getting socks on Christmas the realization came true.

Armond White was the negative reviewer.

Of-bloody-course. White, throughout the past year (that I have been following) seems to be the first person out of the gate to give a bad review to a movie that everyone likes ("Star Trek") or give a good review to a film that everyone dislikes ("Dance Flick"). He has become predictable in a very evil way.

On Rotten Tomatoes it posts a one sentence segment from the review to give you a sense of what the critic was thinking. Here is White's:

"District 9 represents the sloppiest and dopiest pop cinema -- the kind that comes from a second-rate film culture."

Now let's just look at a sample of what another, notable, critic said. This time let's look at the Associated Press' Christy Lemire (who's rumored to be working on the new Ebert/Roeper show):

"This is one intense, intelligent, well-crafted action movie — one that dazzles the eye with seamless special effects but also makes you think without preaching."

I posted this because it seems to be the common thought among the other critics, the film is smart and looks awesome.

My journalistic curiosity got the best of me and I clicked on the link to read his full review.

Oh, boy.

One thing you'll notice when you read a White review is that he likes to compare films to things... a lot. Check out how he ends his review and yes, this is how he ended it.

"Fools will accept District 9 for fantasy, yet its use of parable and symbolism also evoke the almost total misunderstanding that surrounds the circumstance of racial confusion and frustration recently seen when Harvard University tycoon Henry Louis Gates Jr. played the race card against a white Cambridge cop. Opening so soon after that event—and adding to its unending media distortion—District 9 confirms that few media makers know how to perceive history, race and class relations."

I think we might have to take a crack at this on Friday during "Viewpoints On..." The material is just too good to pass up.

To close I want to post a few of the responses that White's review got on Rotten Tomatoes, funny stuff:

DPK99 writes: HaHa! Of course. I only wish that I could gamble in Vegas with the same success I have at predicting when Armond is going to give a bad review. I would be a very rich man.

Ryan D. writes: the ol' devil's advocate!! what a d-bag.

omilio writes: I don't see a single movie unless Armond gives it a bad review. I pray he never has a fresh fruit next to his pic otherwise I'll never go to the movies again.

Wait... there's more.

I was getting ready to log off when I noticed he posted a review of "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra."

If you had a million dollars, you would know where to bet it... he liked it.

" G.I. Joe must be understood as an authentic measurement of our cultural values. Its appeal to the pop-commercial synapses also demonstrates livelier filmmaking than such utter banality as Iron Man and Star Trek and Harry Potter’s Half-Blooded Chintz."

Yes, he said "G.I. Joe" was better than "Iron Man, "Harry Potter" and "Star Trek."

My head hurts.

It's "Light's" out

Today is a sad day for anyone fascinated by television history. "Guiding Light," the longest running show in broadcast history, taped its final episodes today.

The CBS soap opera began airing as a 15 minute radio program in 1937 and moved to TV in 1952. For 72 years it has entertained fans with weddings, pregnancies, deaths, people coming back to life, kidnappings, royal intrigue and even clones.

Unfortunately, it couldn't find a clever soap opera plot to deal with the economy and was canceled by CBS.

"Guiding Light" is not the first soap canceled and it probably won't be the last, with many saying that sister show "As the World Turns" is on the bubble. However, the shock and sadness for soap fans is the cavalier attitude CBS has displayed in making this decision.

The network doesn't seem to be giving the show the sendoff it deserves. When a show has brought viewers to your network for 57 years, the least you can do is give it a little fanfare on the way out.

And by the way CBS, I don't think your "Let's Make a Deal" remake is going to inspire the same level of loyalty as a program that enthralled, educated and entertained consistently for 72 years.

So even if CBS won't say it, I will, thank you to the cast and crew of "Guiding Light" for all the fantastic years of storytelling.

Box office Monday

As expected "G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra" won the box office with $54 million dollars. I was going to lead off with a clever, funny war or fighting comparison, but since the filmmakers didn't really bother with the film, I won't bother with the lead.

Its only real competition was "Julie and Julia" which cooked up (see!) around $20 million dollars.

"G.I. Joe" needs to be a little afraid. With a 40 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a little bit of bad buzz (see Stephanie's post a few ones down) and a budget that was reported at $175 million dollars (a few Web sites are also reporting the marketing budget was $150 million, making it have a budget of $325 million!) it is going to have to have a great second weekend to even think of making money.

And with "District 9" coming out on Friday that is going to be tough. "District 9" has a LOT of good buzz going for it right now. It also has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 100 percent, but that percent is based off of 20 reviews. Compared with "G.I. Joe" with 120 reviews. Expect more reviews in the next day or so.

Other things that might hamper "Julie and Julia" and "G.I. Joe" this Friday:

"The Time Traveler's Wife" - A big time romance that is based off a very popular book. Should have a good sized female audience, plus any men that get dragged along.

"Bandslam" - My first reaction to this movie, a musical about a rock band, was that no one is really going to see this. Then I heard the new "Twilight" trailer is going to play in front of it. Remember when the new "Star Wars" trailer came out and people paid full price to see the movie it was playing with... then promptly left. This is going to happen again.

Other movies opening include "The Goods" and "Ponyo" both with different audiences. This is a jam packed week. Check out the next episode of "Viewpoints On..." for more in depth analysis of what the box office might be next week.

New episode up...

Today is a great day

On a personal note, I have been a little down lately. Call it the "after Comic-Con blues" or something.

Nothing really exciting to keep me going or happy.

Until today...

http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/08/05/at-the-movies-shakes-up-hosts/

As regular viewers of "Viewpoints On..." or readers of this blog might know I am not the world's biggest Ben Lyons fan. In fact, I really don't like him.

I think he makes a joke of journalism and gives young people who are trying to be good journalists a bad name.

I am so beyond happy that Disney has fired him. Not only that but replaced him and the other Ben, who I kind of feel sorry for, with two great film critics: Michael Phillips and A.O. Scott. Both appeared with Richard Roeper when Roger Ebert was out sick from his show.

Phillips was also supposed to be working on a new show with Ebert and Roeper.

These two excellent newspaper journalists will bring "At the Movies" back from the grave.

More on this topic tomorrow with the new episode of "Viewpoints On..."

"G.I. Joe:" The fall of an icon

As we prepared for our trek to the nerd mecca that is Comic-con, Tim and I noted the huge absence of "G.I. Joe." If ever there was a place for Paramount to promote the film it was Comic-con.

We had already heard a few spoilers about the alleged horrendous plot, but still it is Comic-con, everything even remotely nerdy has a presence there. We found that absence to be very telling about what the studio thinks of the movie. Keeping it away from the promotion heavy convention can only mean that they were terrified of bad buzz.

Now comes word that critics will not be reviewing the film in advance. That usually only happens when the studio knows it has a real stinker on its hands.

The really sad part about all of this is that for so many of us "G.I. Joe" was a huge part of our childhood and we couldn't wait for it to get the Hollywood treatment. Unfortunately, these days the Hollywood treatment means completely rewriting the known origin story and not capitalizing on the franchise's rich history.

With Stephen Sommers ("The Mummy") directing and a strong cast starring, it seems unfathomable that Paramount still found a way to ruin it, but apparently they did.

In light of the film's almost certain failure, I can only hope that one of the various cartoon channels decides to air a marathon of the original kickass cartoon so that today's youth can see what all the fuss is about and know that "G.I. Joe" is really a great American hero, because knowing is half the battle.

Jeremy Piven's new role

It's no secret that I'm a huge wrestling fan. I watch "WWE Monday Night Raw" every week and order all the big pay-per-views, I even attend shows when they come to town. So imagine my excitement when it was announced that this week's guest host of "Raw" would be Jeremy Piven.

Piven was on to promote his new movie "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard." As host he got to set matches and do skits with various WWE personalities.

The show started off strong with Piven earning cool points for entering to Public Enemy's "Can't Trust It" and for being accompanied by Ken Jeong, fresh off his scene-stealing appearance in "The Hangover" and his co-star in "The Goods." Though last night his wrestling name was Dr. Ken.

Jeong was dressed in a ridiculous leopard print coat that can only be described as pimp wear and spent the night completely committed to his crazy character.

Piven demonstrated a passing knowledge of WWE happenings but didn't seem as involved as last week's host Shaquille O'Neal, who is known to be a long time wrestling fan. At one point he even referred to the upcoming event "Summerslam" as Summerfest. However, that all changed at the end of the night when he perpetrated a classic double cross on John Cena and gave his opponent several advantages.

He ended the night trying to hit Cena from the top rope, unfortunately, he was caught midair and was used as a weapon against other wrestlers. Jeong then attacked Cena with his pimp cane, only to end up being thrown outside into the waiting arms of three wrestlers who didn't catch him enough causing him to hit his head pretty hard.

Despite this blunder I want to salute the wrestlers who have to work extra hard providing cover for the celebrities who come into their arena. It can't be easy to make Seth Green look like he can even phase a 200 pound man.

I have to say that Piven and Jeong appeared to be having fun and were in on the joke but I expected a little better acting from a three time Emmy winner.

Box office Monday

In the last episode of "Viewpoints On..." Stephanie and I both predicted that "Funny People" would be the No. 1 film when the box office returns came in today.

What we didn't predict was that it didn't make a lot of money.

When the official returns came in this afternoon the tally for "Funny People" was $22.6 million. It's budget is $75 million. Now compare this to "Knocked Up" which had a $30 million dollar opening.

Not really a big hit right out of the gate, but if the good word of mouth keeps up it could have legs. Especially considering that "G.I. Joe" is the next big release.

In other breaking box office news, the list of the top grossing films of the year got shaken up with two films, "Harry Potter" and "The Hangover" overtaking "Star Trek" pushing it to No. 5. "The Hangover" has grossed $255 million!

A huge deal.

The No. 1 and two positions seem locked in for the rest of the year with "Transformers 2" and "Up" with comfortable leads over all the other films. "Harry Potter" may have a small, small chance to sneak in, but will not go near "Transformers 2."

New episode up... and one last Comic-Con note

This is our big Comic-Con show, enjoy.

Another note I wanted to add about Comic-Con is a little movie that somehow got a majority of the buzz at the convention.

Everyone knew that "Twilight" and "Avatar" were going to be awesome (well, the "Twilight" people knew that it would be awesome...), but one movie came out of nowhere... "District 9."

From the look of the trailer it looked like a sci-fi drama, then after the panel with Peter Jackson and a special screening at Comic-Con, all people could talk about was how awesome "District 9" was.

I heard it on the floor, in panels, in lines for panels, outside the convention... everywhere.

So, I think "District 9" wins the award for best word of mouth buzz at Comic-Con

How Jimmy Fallon is saving summer?

I know what you're thinking, you're reading that title and saying what? However, it's true Jimmy Fallon has saved my summer.

First, let me say he's done a surprisingly good job with his new talk show and The Roots are always a delight, but the real surprise of the summer has been his continuing series "Seventh Floor West."

A hilarious parody of "The Hills," it stars Jimmy as a talk show host trying to make it in the drama filled world of the seventh floor of Rockefeller Center. The clips feature all the classic "Hills" gags like backstabbing, monologues, a douchey villain and of course, drama.

They've been airing every Monday during the summer and are absolutely worth staying up late for. I often find myself laughing out loud at the situations Jimmy finds himself in and the hilarious drama that ensues.

So for anyone who needs a serious laugh and wants original summer programming, I suggest you head over to seventhfloorwest.com and catch up on all the latest episodes.

Another day, another 'Batman' rumor

Unlike the real "Batman" news of the week from Comic-Con, where Gary Oldman indicated that the new film will be shooting next year, today's "Batman" rumor is ugly, scary, stupid, moronic and downright lies.

Apparently (saying that with a grain of salt) Miley Cyrus of "Hannah Montana" "fame" "auditioned" for a role in the new "Batman" film... as Batgirl.

Even though Gordon's children are all... children in the series.

The "newspaper" The Globe says she dressed up in a batsuit and wrote her own dialogue to impress studio execs at Warner Bros.

How many times do these magazines and newspapers need to print lies about the "Batman" sequels before everyone just blows them off right away.

Remember Cher as Catwoman?

Eddie Murphy as The Riddler?

Christopher Nolan is not going to do this. Trust me. No one is going to do this.

'Sha na na na, sha na na na...' again

It was announced today (by many sources, read it in at least five Web sites) that Ben Silverman, who is in charge of NBC is leaving to do... something else.

To be frank I stopped caring after the sentence that said he was leaving.

I have been screaming it for months that he needed to go. NBC is basically in the toliet ratings and creative wise. Most of its new shows were horrible. "Kath and Kim" anyone?

Ugh, now I'm gonna have nightmares.

NBC hasn't done anything great, other than "Saturday Night Live" in a long, long time. Yes, "Heroes" I am looking at you.

I am a firm believer that if your company is doing horrible in the ratings and the content of the shows is beyond weak that the person is charge should be fired. But, NBC has been keeping him for months while it loses tons and tons of money.

Of course Silverman's hands are all over this season so it might take a while to see the full effects of him leaving. Maybe by midseason NBC can start turning around.

The new guy in that position, Jeff Gaspin, has a lot of work ahead of him. On the plus side Gaspin has been managing the cable networks like USA and Bravo. So he already has a few extra points on his side with me.

Tim's 'I told ya so' moment of Comic-Con

Last week I blogged about how they were going to have a panel for the new Patricia Heaton sitcom at Comic-Con.

I wondered why. What in the history of Comic-Con told these people that this was a good idea. It doesn't fit any demographic for Comic-Con AT ALL.

Today, this story came out:

http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/07/patricia-heaton-comic-con-.html

My first reaction was that of a little sadness. It has to be embrassing for something like that to happen, but really, what did they expect?

It wasn't even in the convention center, it was at a hotel across the street. During the WB panel and "Battlestar Galactica" panel!

For sure one of the bombs of Comic-Con

Sunday, near the end

There were really no panels I was dying to see Sunday. I was going to try to get into the "Smallville" panel, but the line was beyond insane (people must have gotten up really early, not "Twilight" early though...).

So I started the day with sitting in on the panel for the cartoon "The Spectacular Spiderman" and ran into actress Kelly Hu. She is beyond gorgeous in person.

I haven't really seen much of the cartoon, but the crowd seemed to be really into the clips shown and the answers given about future content. Most of the questions asked were if a certain character was ever going to appear on the show. Lots of "maybe" and "hopefully" answers. Did find out that Hu likes voice acting because she can go to work in her pajamas and she would like to do that for the rest of her career.

Later I walked by Ballroom 20 and saw they were letting anyone walk right in for the "American Dad" panel. I passed. Have you seen the show?

Most of the rest of the day was spent walking around the show floor, just chilling. Truth be told I was tired and really ready to leave, but I wanted to finish out the con.

I ended the week with a panel called "Sunday Conversations" with the Dan Didio from DC Comics. What the panel ended up being was Didio walking through the crowd just talking about comics. He told the crowd that his mother died that week, but he wanted to be here today JUST for this panel. And he was right, it was great. Everyone was laughing so hard there were tears as the crowd and Didio talked about great moments in comics to the most ridiculous moments ever. It was great to be in there with so many people that just love comics.

A great way to end a five day adventure marathon.

Ugh, not the best day ever

After being grumpy with the "Lost" panel I was hoping to cheer myself up with a few different things.

I was set to interview the cast of "Fringe," then I was going to try to get into the panel then finish the night off with a "City of Heroes" game panel.

Right after the "Lost" panel I headed for the press room to type everything up. I noticed that I had a little bit of time before the interviews were set to start so I headed over to the DC Comics "Blackest Night" panel.

The panel started late, of course. By the time they really started going, and talking about the different philosophies of the different corps I had to run to the interviews. OK, it's cool, I am leaving something cool to do something cooler.

But, "Fringe" wasn't in the press room that they told us. "The Cleveland Show" was. And there were a bunch of journalists sitting around wondering what was going on. After a good while someone told us that the "Fringe" interviews were moved to another room... halfway across the convention center.

Walking fast I take off toward the room, by the time I got there 15 minutes had already passed and the room was PACKED. Not a seat to be had. And if you didn't have a seat, no interviews. Plus, half of the interviews were already over. I was beyond mad. I just walked out.

Add to that the line for the "Fringe" panel was insane and obvious I wouldn't get in. Plus, the "Iron Man 2" panel was at the same time and I knew I couldn't get into that either.

OK, that's cool, I'll just head to the show floor. BIG, big mistake. Words can't describe the sheer amount of people on the floor. It was worse than the worst traffic on a freeway. There were points where I was standing still for minutes trying to get through.

The "City of Heroes" panel wasn't for another hour, but I thought I would just sit in on whatever panel was happening before and just get a good seat.

Enter Jeff Katz and his company "American Original" or as I like to call it "Ow my head hurts."

Katz is a comic book writer and movie producer and if you didn't know that he'd tell you over and over. It was one hour of patting themselves on the back with news of what their company was going to do. I think they are a comics company, but also a PR business, but it was hard to figure out. "Hey, we're cool! I know movie people!" He also called Blair Butler from G4 one of the leading women in the comics movement. I wanted to throw my phone. Really painful.

Thankfully the "City of Heroes" panel was good, so not a complete waste of a day.

Mixed feeling for 'Lost' panel

Remembering how early I got in line Friday for the Warner Bros. panel, I got up just as early for what is called the last "Lost" panel at Comic-Con.

I rushed to get to the line about 7:15 a.m. and there were already about a hundred more people in line than yesterday. But, in my rush to get out I left all reading material.

And the panel didn't start until 11 a.m.

So I literally just sat there for three hours. Doing nothing. It was almost unbearable. Thankfully the weather was great, because if it was sunny and hot I might have just got up and left. By the time they started letting us in I was a little on the grumpy side. Sitting there bored for three hours will do that to anyone.

As we entered they handed out materials for something called "Lost University," http://lostuniversity.org/, which looks to be another of ABC yearly internet related promotions of the show.

Onto the panel itself. People went crazy when Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof came out and they did a little skit about taking the final pages of the series finale and locking them in a box, only to reveal what's inside on Jimmy Kimmel the night of the finale.

This started something that annoyed me. Lots of skits, all while dozens and dozens of people waited in line to ask questions. They had comedian Paul Sheer "ask" a question, which turned out to be a horrible, horrible skit that went on about five minutes too long.

Then Jorge Garcia appeared to ask a question that lead into a long skit between him and Michael Emerson. While funny, still wasted a lot of time.

There were a few news bits to come out; Juliet and Farrady will be back, Dharma won't have much of a presence this season and there won't be any more time travel or flash forwards.

They also showed a few clips that really hint toward what this season will be about: Oceanic Airlines saying they haven't had a crash in 30 years, Hurley owning a chicken place with a new special he got while vacationing in Australia and an "America's Most Wanted" clip where Kate Austin is wanted for killing her step-father's co-worker and escaping from a federal marshal.

That prompted Lindelof to say "Interesting, I thought Kate DID kill her step-father."

To me, it looks like Jack's plan DID work and they never crashed on the island.

The panel was only one hour and could have, and probably should have, been two. Everyone left happy, but me. I was still a little grumpy.

Meeting Geoff Johns

I was just walking around the convention floor Wednesday night, not really looking for anything.

It was packed and I really just wanted to get a few topics for some blogs and get out of there. I walked past the DC Comics booth and glanced over at some people gathered around a table. I did a quick double take as I saw "Green Lantern" writer Geoff Johns signing autographs.

Now, I came to Comic-Con to cover it not geek out all week. But, I told myself I could geek out a couple of times as long as I got a lot of work done too.

I geeked out as I jumped into the line. You see I foresaw that this exact thing might happen and brought my hardcover copy of "The Sinestro Corps War" with me... just in case.

Everyone else in line just had Johns sign the free copies of "Blackest Night" No. 0 they had sitting out.

Johns was very cool, shaking everyone's hand and greeting them warmly. I handed him my book and he smiled, opened it up and did this:

Yes, I got a special drawing to go along with my autograph. The people behind me were jealous.

Warner Bros. rocks Comic-Con pt. 2

Continuing with the two and a half hour Warner Bros. movie panel was Richard Kelly's ("Donnie Darko") new film "The Box."

Now, I had been excited about this film when I first saw the trailer a few weeks ago. It is about a couple who receives a strange box, then an offer. If they push the button two things will happen. One, someone in the world who they don't know will die. Second, they will get $1 million dollars in cash. The movie then turns into some weird, crazy sci-fi thriller. Both cool and kind of scary.

Cameron Diaz and James Marsden both were on hand for the panel. They talked about why the film is set in the 70s. The reason made sense. If the film was set in current times, everyone is connected with Facebook etc. Plus the couple could just Google things to get answers, which is one scene Kelly said he didn't want to film.

Another interesting point is Kelly said there is not one single swear word in the film. Diaz was asked about the film's look and said it has a very "Kubrick/Hitchcock feel" which is really evident from the trailer.

The next film was "Jonah Hex" and the row of teenage girls behind us were already starting to scream for the thought of Megan Fox coming out. Shouldn't the guys be screaming for her? Strange.

Well, she did come out... and everyone freaked. I don't get it, but to each their own. Star Josh Brolin also showed up and both seemed very excited for the film. The trailer was pretty cool with the western backdrop to the film surrounded with a supernatural feel. One part saw a crow climbing out of Brolin's mouth. Very disturbing, but slightly interesting as well. They talked about how the budget was very small, but you really couldn't tell from the trailer. Something I would agree with. They really stretched each dollar it seems.

I really can't quote a lot of the panel since they were all cussing up a storm. Like sailors I tell ya. Another bad thing, at one point a guy with a camera asked Fox if she would make a sex tape with him. He got in big trouble (and boo'ed). Turns out he sat behind me. Security came over and grabbed him. Turns out he was wearing his mother's Comic-Con badge. Imagine having to explain why you got in trouble to your mom for that...

As Fox was posing for photos after that Robert Downey Jr. appeared on stage and the crowd exploded! You have thought he was giving away money to everyone. A giant standing ovation and people screaming like crazy.

And I thought Bruce Campbell was the king of Comic-Con. Sorry Bruce, you just got dethroned.

Downey was there to show clips of his new film "Sherlock Holmes." Most of the clips were the same as the trailer released a while ago, but with new shots added in. There looks to be a big fight taking place on a bridge being constructed and a good amount of CGI.

The film looks to have a good mixture of action and comedy. It comes out Christmas day.

Warner Bros. rocks Comic-Con pt. 1

Corrine and I got up early to get in line for the big Warner Bros. movie panel happening in Hall H Friday. Hall H is huge and holds around 6,700 people.

We got to the line, which was outside, about 7:30 a.m. for the 10 a.m. panel. There were already a few hundred people in line. I didn't see a need to either camp out or get up earlier. We waited in line for about two hours before they started letting people in. The time went by fast as we were still talking about what to see and do for the rest of the convention.

The first movie that Warner Bros. presented was "Where the Wild Things Are," and the star Max Records was on hand to introduce some clips. The coolest part of watching the clips was how dead silent the crowd was. These clips had everyone just staring at the screen in awe. We got to see the monsters and Max playing around and joking. It's not everyday that you get to see such a beloved children's book adapted so well to the big screen. I told Stephanie that by just what we saw I can see an Academy Award in this movie's future. It gave me goosebumps.

The second film was "The Book of Eli" which had a rough start as they showed a motion graphic novel first without any explanation. I looked at Corinne a few times as I was confused a bit. From what I gathered it seemed to be a prequel of the film's villain and his back story. Then they showed the trailer (which I didn't know was also showing today during showings of "The Orphan"). It stars Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman and takes place 30 years in the future with Washington's character walking around a post apocalyptic future with the key to saving humanity, the book it's assumed.

Washington was the best part of the trailer. He was in full on action hero mode, kicking butt and taking names. I was really impressed with it. They then introduced Oldman and Washington to the crowd, who came out to wild, crazy applause.

Like with Dule Hill and James Roday from "Psych," Washington and Oldman had a great chemistry together. Both said the main reason for doing this film was to work together. They both were gracious and funny. They should make an excellent team when the film is released.

The third film that was given the spotlight was "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and based on the crowd reaction, the one everyone was waiting for. The trailer was shown, the first time an audience had seen it and it was amazing. I am an semi-old school horror guy. I liked the original "Nightmare" series, the early "Friday the 13th" films etc. I didn't like the remake of "Friday the 13th" this year. At all. And the same guys are making this one.

But, I think, based on the trailer that they got this one right. The back story of the parents killing Freddy by setting him on fire is the same, as well as him coming back for revenge against the children is the same. One thing I think they did great was not give us a clear full on look at Freddy. Perfect. He needs to be hidden in the shadows and that's what makes him scary.

I beg them to not show him at all in trailers, posters, photos etc. Let that surprise be when we sit down to watch the film. Back to the trailer which is full of scares and teenagers about to die, just what every "Nightmare" film is all about.

The filmmakers talked about how this Freddy is more scary and terrifying, than the later versions of Freddy who was more joking around and having fun. I'm fine with that. They also said that original Fredd, Robert Englund, was not going to have a cameo in the film, which was met with some boos from the crowd. They explained that Englund, though, has been supportive of the new Freddy, "Watchmen" and Academy Award nominated Jackie Earle Haley. The film comes out April 30.

How disappointment turned to excitement

So, Thursday was our big day. Two panels Stephanie and I both wanted to see and two sets of interviews to be conducted.

We had the chance to interview the casts of "Psych" and "Burn Notice." But, the scheduling was a complete nightmare.

First was the "Psych" interviews, but they were going on at the same time as the "Burn Notice" panel. Right after that was the "Burn Notice" interviews, but they were going on at the same time as the"Psych" panel. Gotta love great planning.

Stephanie and I worked it out that I would handle "Psych" and she would take "Burn Notice," although I'm not sure if Michael Shanks being at the "Burn Notice" stuff helped her choice or not.

So, Stephanie got into Ballroom 20 for the "Burn Notice" panel and I went to interview the cast of "Psych." I had a blast. Everyone was so funny and nice.

Finally got what they think of "The Mentalist," which is basically a dramatic version of "Psych." Steve Franks, creator and producer of the show, basically called "The Mentalist" a generic version of "Psych," which I kind of agree with. Sorry Simon Baker.

Dule Hill and James Roday are probably the best duo on television today and sitting down to talk with them only proved that fact. They seem to have that friendship and chemistry like they do on the show. They played off each other during the interview so well.

And don't get me started on how beautiful Maggie Lawson is in person...

I asked the network people if there was a way for me to get into the "Psych" panel that was happening in just a few minutes, since a huge line had formed while I was interviewing the cast.

"Run really fast," she told me. Lovely.

I get out of the interviews and the sheer amount of people in line tell me there is no way I'm getting in there. I call Stephanie and we work out that she'll just stay in the Ballroom while I do the "Burn Notice" interviews too. I felt bad, I did. This was supposed to be a two person job, but there were really no other options.

Of course it's common knowledge that Bruce Campbell rocks. I got breaking news from Campbell and creator Matt Nix that they are working on a television prequel movie about Campbell's character on the show Sam Axe. That was cool.

Campbell was also asked what part he would play in Sam Raimi's "World of Warcraft" movie that was just announced.

"Probably a garbage man," he said.

It was a great few hours to be had and Stephanie even enjoyed the panels. I wouldn't say we both won, but the best was made out of a crappy situation.

First panel of Comic-Con

I was going to have my first panel of Comic-Con be the Entertainment Weekly's Wonder Women one, but saw that Ballroom 20 was near empty for the panel right before that one with "Quantum Quest."

I thought "Well, at least I'll be able to sit down..."

"Quantum Quest" is a CGI animated film that is based around real scientific space data about surfing protons.

Yes, surfing space protons. With dreadlocks.

From what Stephanie tells me, almost the same exact panel was shown last year, with the same special video clips by Neil Armstrong and Chris Pine being shown at last year's Comic-Con too.

Three things that stood out during this panel:

1. The filmmakers are really pushing that they want this film to not just entertain, but educate children about science. I have an 8-year-old niece, she won't want to see this movie. I can guarantee that.

2. The movie does have one thing going for it, it has voice work by two Darth Vaders (Hayden Christensen and James Earl Jones) and two Capt. Kirks (Pine and William Shatner). Which, no matter what I think of the film, is still pretty freaking cool.

3. Actors Doug Jones ("Hellboy") and Robert Picardo ("Star Trek: Voyager") both are really funny men and should do a buddy movie together. I would pay good money to see that. I think if they were not on the panel it would have been very, very boring.

Comic-Con: Day one or Tim LOVES crowds

So, preview night of Comic-Con has come and gone.

And I survived... barely.

The convention opened up from 6-9 p.m. to gives attendees a sneak peek of what the week's events. And a crap load of people came out.

I'm not kidding, there were thousands and thousands of people waiting in line and milling around when I showed up at 4 p.m. to check in.

The checking in process was painless and I spent the remaining waiting time in the press room.

Some highlights of "Preview Night:"

I met "Green Lantern" writer Geoff Johns and had him sign my copy of "The Sinestro Corps War" TPB. Also got my hands on a Black Lantern ring.

Also met "Wonder Woman" writer Gail Simone. She was awesome and very nice. She signed my copy of "Villains United."

More to come...

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

This episode we talk about the Emmy nominations, what's coming to theaters this week, the best and worst of the year so far and Stephanie makes a bold attempt to stump Tim.

Also, remember starting Wednesday evening we'll be at Comic-Con with live coverage. There might be some Lego Rock Band action, maybe a celebrity interview or two (or three) and of course "Twilight" mania runs wild in San Diego.

What not to see at Comic-Con

Next week this blog will be taken over by a massive wave of Comic-Con goodness. Seriously, I am thinking about my total lack of sleep next week and it's scary.

But, hey, I'm a committed journalist. And maybe after all the madness I will be a journalist who is committed.

Over the past week Stephanie and I have been pouring over each day's schedule and making plans (and plan b's). Trust me when I say there is a TON of things to see and do there. I could just sit through panels alone and be busy the whole time, not counting the show floor and any hands on demonstrations.

There is, though, a few things that I do not want to see. Things I couldn't get paid enough to see.

One show that I used to love, "Heroes," is going to have a panel afterall, but it is offsite at a nearby hotel. Now I wouldn't have walked a few feet to see a "Heroes" panel, so I am not going out in the hot sun to hike over and see one. Once you lost Bryan Fuller, you lost me. Apparently Stephanie's friend IS going to the panel. I wonder how much I can offer her to ask Tim Kring why he still has a job after running the show into the ground. Scratch that, running the show underneath the ground.

For my next choice, I'll just paste what is in the schedule and let it speak for itself:

12:00-1:00 The Middle Special Pilot Screening— Emmy winner Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond) makes her Comic-Con debut to introduce a special screening of The Middle, a new comedy about raising a family and lowering your expectations. Frankie Heck (Heaton) is a superhero. Well, no, not an actual superhero—but sometimes it seems as though getting her kids out the door for school every morning is a superheroic act. Middle aged, middle class, and living in the middle of the country, this harried wife and working mother of three uses her wry wit and sense of humor to try to get her family through each day intact. The Middle will air Wednesdays at 8:30 PM ET/PT on the ABC Television Network this fall, premiering September 30.

Yeah... how does this appeal to any demographic at Comic-Con? Seriously.

Be on the lookout over the next week for more prelim Comic-Con stuff.

Analyzing the Emmy nominations

This morning the Emmy nominations were announced and while most of my wish list was snubbed, a few new names were added to the recycled list of nominees.

Simon Baker as lead actor in a drama for "The Mentalist" and "Flight of the Concords" and "Family Guy" for outstanding comedy series were among the surprise nominees.

The domination of cable programming is particularly evident in the drama series category, as only two shows, "House" and "Lost," are from broadcast networks.

Even though the television academy did recognize a few new names, there were some very deserving shows and people left off the list. How could they not nominate "The Shield" and stars Michael Chiklis and Walton Goggins for the fantastic work they did on that show's finale?

Also snubbed was "Battlestar Galactica" and Mary McDonnell for that show's last season. The academy traditionally ignores sci-fi, but come on those final episodes were ridiculously good.

I'm also a little disappointed that they didn't recognize "ER" one last time. I'm not usually a fan of sentimental nominations, but in this case I'll make an exception.

Those are my only real complaints, all in all it is a solid list of the best TV has to offer, although I'm still completely perplexed by the appeal of "30 Rock." Oh, and Charlie Sheen was nominated again, so there are some flaws in the system.

The Emmys will air live on CBS on Sept. 20 with nominee Neil Patrick Harris serving as host.

For the full list of nominees, which includes "Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog" and two Justin Timberlake nominations for hosting "Saturday Night Live" and co-writing "Motherlover," click here.

Who deserves Emmys?

Tomorrow morning the Emmy nominations are announced and while we will discuss them at great length in the show, I thought I would take a minute and give my list of perfect nominees in a few of the categories.
Outstanding Drama:

• "Battlestar Galactica"
• "24"
• "ER"
• "Burn Notice"
• "The Shield"

Outstanding Comedy:

• "Chuck"
• "How I Met Your Mother"
• "The Office"
• "psych"
• "Eureka"

Lead Actress in a Drama:

• Mary McDonnell-"Battlestar Galactica"
• Mary McCormack-"In Plain Sight"
• Kyra Sedgwick-"The Closer"
• Cherry Jones-"24"
• Connie Britton-"Friday Night Lights"

Lead Actor in a Comedy:

• Alec Baldwin-"30 Rock"
• Colin Ferguson-"Eureka"
• Tony Shaloub-"Monk"
• James Roday-"psych"
• Zachary Levi-"Chuck"

As you can see my choices heavily favor cable shows, reason being cable is producing television that is so much better than the networks. Unfortunately, these nominations are a pipe dream because the Emmys tend to nominate the same people year after year.

If the academy really honored the best shows on TV, they wouldn't keep nominating "Two and a Half Men."

Once again enjoy our full coverage of the Emmy nominations on the next episode of "Viewpoints On..."

200 posts, who saw that coming?

How quickly time goes by? This post is our mind-bending 200th entry.

In that time this blog has undergone a lot of changes, but one thing hasn't changed, our fearless leader Tim Guy.

Tim started this blog and recruited the rest of us to participate. I just thought that I would use this post to say thank you.

I have the great pleasure of working with Tim on a daily basis and he is responsible for not only the growth of this project, but, the high level of journalism that we strive for. Now I know when he reads this he'll think I wasted an entry talking about him, but since it's my day he has no choice.

So to my partner-in-crime, the Murtaugh to my Riggs, or perhaps the Shawn to my Gus, thanks and congratulations.

Ok, enough emotions, tomorrow we will resume our regularly scheduled program of nerdy observations and time consuming pop culture analysis.

Box office Monday

As predicted "Bruno" took the No. 1 spot at the box office earning around $30 million dollars. "Ice Age 3" was close behind with $27 million.

It's kind of hard to compare Sacha Baron Cohen's first film "Borat" to "Bruno" because when the first film opened in 2006, it was only screened on 837 screens, compared to "Bruno" on 2,756.

A $30 million dollar opening weekend is still a good chunk of change no matter what. I'm sure somewhere Cohen is laughing and plotting his next move into the big screen.

Also, as predicted, "I Love You Beth Cooper" couldn't crack the top five and had to settle for No. 7 with a little less than $5 million dollars.

One interesting thing that is developing is that "The Proposal" starring Sandra Bullock is still making good money and is on track to become her highest grossing film (with her in the lead role). Her No. 1 film right now is "Speed" at $121 million. "The Proposal" has about $8 million to go and should have no problem doing that in less than two weeks (My guess-timation).

New episode up... and some breaking news

In this episode we talked about the casting rumors of the new "Green Lantern" movie. Well, just a little while ago, the Hollywood Reporter reported that Ryan Reynolds has gotten the lead part of Hal Jordan.

Wasn't our first pick, but it is by no means a horrible pick. Should be interesting to see if he can pull it off. This might have to be more "Smokin Aces" aka more action and drama and less "Wolverine" which was a lot of action, but mostly comedic relief.

Check back Monday for a more in-depth look at this choice.

My summer show picks

To start, I have not seen a lot of the new offerings for the summer television season. "Hawthorne" is still sitting on my DVR and "Nurse Jackie?" Well, even I can't go there. Even for journalistic curiosity.

So my two picks for good things to watch over the summer are "The Philanthropist" and "Top Chef Masters."

I know Stephanie didn't dig "The Philanthropist" too much, but I did. I like that Jesse L. Martin is back on television and even Neve Campbell is good. Sure, it can get a little preachy now and then but what show doesn't nowadays.

The visuals are excellent, including the first episode where the backdrop was a flood in Africa. James Purefoy, who you might remember from the first "Resident Evil" movie, is great. He is sort of a Bruce Wayne/Batman type character, just without the tights and super kung fu moves. He has some rough edges, but doesn't mind spending tons of money to help out those who need it.

It is inspiring also. It is much better than just watching murder and death all night.

I also really like "Top Chef Masters" mostly because it is devoid of that manufactured reality show drama. I want to see talented people cook, not talking about each other in coffessionals or long scenes of them away from cooking. These top chefs, very famous ones, are there for charity so they don't act like idiots.

Plus, some of their food actually looks good.

Summer TV so far

With a few new shows and some old favorites, summer TV has become as complex as fall. Here is a recap of how the season is going so far.

"The Philanthropist"-With a strong cast, I had high hopes for this show, but the first two episodes were slow and unfocused. James Purefoy is charming as the title character but his transformation feels forced and with shoots taking place in international exotic locales this show seems way too expensive. Verdict: Don't get too attached.

"Warehouse 13"-This new sci-fi show features charming leads with good chemistry and a fun premise, however, it has a long way to go to become appointment television, which is what every great sci-fi show aspires to. Verdict: Still out, the jury's not done deliberating.

"Hawthorne"-Jada Pinkett Smith as a tough nurse, working around the system to help patients. Though it's definitely a star vehicle for Smith, the supporting cast is helping this show hit its stride. In particular the producers should really take note of the chemistry between Smith and Michael Vartan. Verdict: Another strong hit for TNT.

"The Closer"-This show just gets better every season. The way the squad works to solve crimes and the balance that Kyra Sedgwick brings to her character makes this one of the best show's on TV. Verdict: The best of summer.

With more favorites like "psych," "Leverage" and "Project Runway" premiering later in the summer, look for more updates coming up.

Box office Tuesday

A day late, yes, but the Michael Jackson story bumps everything it seems. Plus, Stephanie makes a real important point that everyone should read and understand.

Now, onto the box office!

"Transformers 2" took the weekend again, barely, defeating "Ice Age 3" by a little more than $600 thousand. Yes, that sounds familiar to a few weeks ago when "The Hangover" just narrowed out "Up." Another thing the two movies have in common is they are the only films of the summer, so far, to hold onto the No. 1 spot for two consecutive weeks. It should also cross the $300 million mark soon, making it the first film of the year to do so.

"Public Enemies," the other new release of the week scored third with $25 million for the weekend and a total of $40 million (It came out on Wednesday.) It's budget is $100 million, so it has a lot of work to get there. It has an OK rating at Rotten Tomatoes, 65 percent and early Oscar buzz. Should help a bit, maybe.

As predicted on Friday, "The Hangover" crossed the $200 million mark making it one of the most successful movies of the year. Domestically it has made $205 million with a $35 million dollar budget.

"The Proposal" almost made it to $100 million, making a total of $94 to date. It should cross the mark by either the start of the weekend or Sunday for sure.

Another film about to cross another milestone is "Star Trek" which is within striking distance of $250 million. Another week should throw it over.

Check out the next episode of "Viewpoints On..." for more indepth coverage and a look at what's being released this week.

Let Michael rest in peace

As a longtime, loyal Michael Jackson fan I have to say I'm ready for the media coverage to move on. Without getting into the debate about how he should be remembered (I choose to honor the music) I think we can all agree that the coverage has become repetitive and more of a guessing game than solid journalism.

I know the memorial is tomorrow and that it will consume the news cycle, however, once it's over I think it's time for the media to move on.

As a fan, I'm finding it hard to deal with my emotions with the constant news coverage populating my television. I can only imagine how this must be affecting his family. As a journalist I understand the need to stay on a story this big, but at this point the media is just speculating and prolonging the grieving process.

So for the sake of Jackson's children, family, friends and fans, CNN, Access Hollywood and all the rest need to let the man rest in peace, which is all he ever wanted when he was alive.

New episode up... and some box office predicitions

OK, before we get to the episode I wanted to post some predicitions of what the box office might look like by Monday afternoon.

1. "Transformers" will overtake "Up" as the No. 1 movie of the year. Poor "Up" only had about a week at No. 1.

2. "The Hangover" will cross the $200 million mark. Most likely making it the most successful movie of the year (In terms of budget to gross ratio).

3. "The Proposal" will either cross $100 million or make it REALLY close. Hey Sandra Bullock, you're baaaaack.

Now, onto the show:

The Emmys: NPH edition

Following last year's disastrous show, in terms of both quality and ratings, The Emmys have made a move to make this year's awards, legen-wait for it-dary.

That's right, it was announced today that Neil Patrick Harris will be hosting The Emmys this year. This is a step in the right direction for show producers. I understand that they were trying to be edgier by having five different reality hosts emcee last year's awards, but we can all agree it was just bad.

Fresh off the tremendous jobs he did with The TV Land awards and The Tonys, NPH is pretty much the perfect choice. He's funny, can sing and dance and understands the job of a host is to basically keep the trains running on time while not boring the audience.

Way to go, television academy, let's hope the nominations and awards are as popular as this decision.

How long is too long?

A few days ago, Tim sent me an e-mail about Bryan Fuller leaving "Heroes," and he asked if I would still watch. My answer was I don't know.

On one hand, "Heroes" hasn't been up to par in a while, but on the other hand, I feel like I've invested so much time and energy, I have to keep watching in case it gets good again.

The more I thought about it, I realized I have the same problem with "Lost" and "Smallville." I have watched both shows since day one and while they may not be as strong as they used to be, I have to see them through to the end.

Unfortunately, this creates a backlog on my DVR and creates more shows that I have to keep up with. So my question is, how long is too long? When is it time to give up on a show and move on.

Don't get me wrong, I have no trouble giving up on shows when they go bad, but with sci-fi and serialized programs if you miss too much you'll never be able to jump back in. So it always comes back to what happens if I stop watching and the show suddenly gets good again.

While I don't see "Heroes" suddenly turning things around, there's the tiniest bit of doubt. I guess what it really comes down to is what else is on and how much DVR space I'll need.

Maybe Tim would like to share what shows he knows he should give up on but can't because he's invested too much.