Be sure and Digg the article and write the Sony rep.

Another one of the Blazing Saddles greats has left us. Heddy, err, Hedley Lamar, otherwise known as Harvey Korman, has passed. May you enjoy the afterlife finding your froggy, reminding people of their secretaries, snatching land from its rightful owners, hating cliches, snacking on Raisinets, and remembering that yes, you are in fact armed. You'll be missed.

Darius Rucker's first solo album away from Hootie? Not so hot. Even as a die-hard Hootie fan, it was a mess. His second has potential, and I hate country. First single can be heard here, another song snippet can be heard in the video, and a performance of many of the upcoming songs can be found here. Grandpa Campbell is really catchy (10 minutes into the last link).

Thanks a lot Paramount. A week to the day you release Cloverfield on DVD, you announce it's coming on Blu-ray June 3rd. That's bullshit. Kind of convenient that you had no Blu-ray plans prior to today, and then suddenly, multiple recent DVD-only releases are getting the HD treatment. I want my $15 back for buying Cloverfield on DVD. We had damn well better be getting a coupon, rebate, or some solid exclusive extras.

On the other hand, if you haven't seen Cloverfield, you need to. Don't expect the tired monster movie cliches. Expect one hell of a fun ride.

This from Engadget: "In an attempt to clear their shelves of dead HD DVD weight, retailers are taking the obvious step of slashing prices. Others, like play.com are renaming the players."

I guess Circuit City is doing the same thing now too.

It sure is a good thing that Toshiba made the HD DVD format backwards compatable with DVD, otherwise they would really have a lot of dead weight laying around that could not be sold. Hit that link for picture and Google Cache proof. Pretty funny, and genious marketing. 

We now know that Blu-ray has won the "format war." Is this Revenge of the Betamax? Who knows, but the dust has settled and HD DVD has taken a bow now that Toshiba has made it official today. Sony took a gamble and put Blu-ray in the PS3. Me, being an early adopter to the PS3 (for games, of course) am one of the many gamers that are glad they did.

As an aside to my full review soon to be posted on Blogcritics, I had to get this out. This movie isn't just violent. It creates it's own category for sheer brutality. It's not the type of shock that you see in Saw or torture junk. This IS pure, unquestionable VIOLENCE. I don't even know another way to put it. Off the top of my head, you'll see:

A guy completely exploding after stepping on a mine
A kid tossed into a fire while still alive
A guy severed in a half by turret fire
A .50 cal rifle popping heads like a zit
Innocent kids shot at point blank, or roasted by a flamethrower
A man strung up while being eaten by wild boars
A gang rape on three women by 50+ drunken soldiers
A mans intestines spilled after being gutted alive (then being kicked down a hill as his innards leave a trail)
A man's throat being ripped out - slowly - with Rambo's bare hands
An arrow through an enemy's head, only to knock him onto a mine causing him to explode

This all comes after actual footage of the Burma Civil War that has loads of carnage and dead bodies (some in various states of decomposition). It's unreal, and definitely not for anyone even remotely squeamish. The movie definitely builds its villains, and when the time comes, they definitely get theirs and you'll see every detail. Oh, and the camera doesn't just cut away, it lingers or repeats shots for the full effect. How the hell this got an R I'll never know. The inevitable unrated cut will be worse, I'm sure.

Holy shit was this violent.

Now, in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings.

Did that just sink in? The RIAA is saying that it it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

What. The. Hell. This is simply going too far. I mean the RIAA is well known for spreading FUD, but this is a new low for them. It is like the DMCA times infinity bad, or something.

I pray for the human race a little more each time I read something like this.

What? Pirates is already out of Blu-ray? No not that film, silly. Digital Playground is going to release their Pirates smut film on Blu-ray Jan. 4, citing requests from PS3 owners.

This is the same Digital Playground, if you recall, that tried to tell everyone that Sony did not want porn on Blu-ray, that all Blu-ray Disc copying facilities in the United States refused to accept his business. That is obviously not the case.

However I do find it odd how porn has not been the deciding factor in stopping the BD v. HD DVD battle so decisively as it did in the Beta v. VHS days.

This is simply an incredible archival job by someone who spent A LOT of time digitally recording these episodes. Nearly every review ever done on TV by Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Richard Roeper, and guest critics is accessible online.

If anything, it makes you remember how good Siskel was as what he did. Not to take away anything from Ebert who I greatly respect (despite his "games are not art" rants), but Siskel truly loved film. He hated the business aspects of the industry, and focused on truly great cinema, but also knew how to have a great time. These reviews prove it.

Absolutely classic live TV here. Moore rips Wolf Blitzer a new one, completely off topic and on, and it ends up completely entertaining.

I don't have many complaints about this film. It was a lot of fun. I will say this however, I was not psyched to see it. I did not go into the theater with huge expectations. But I am glad I saw the film.

The CG work done by Industrial Light + Magic is once again absolutely amazing. I had no idea that Dreamworks farmed the work out.

The story line was well crafted. It had some Men In Black overtones with the Sector 7 agents. The movie had some great humor, very campy. School of Adam West campy. The one-liners were good, but almost too much.

But my problem was not the humor. Hugo Weaving voiced Megatron (to which he did a great job) and has a line in the final battle with Prime that sounds as if Agent Smith is talking to Neo in The Matrix. It is unmistakable to the lore of The Matrix, and was easy to pick out. The line just bothered me, and it was worse that it was Hugo Weaving.

My biggest gripe is the scene where the Autobots are "hiding" around Sam's house. BumbleBee even trips on a power line. It is just one of those "look ma, we animated this because we can" scenes and could have been cut down in length, or cut entirely.

It really did nothing to further the story.

My last problem was the new look of Megatron. He just looks weird in this movie. Who decided to make him look like that for the film? Boggles the mind.

Back to the animation for a moment. One very hard aspect of CG work is conveying weight and mass. Another hard one to tackle is emotion. ILM really nailed the weight and mass of the Transformers. They really felt like they were interacting with the environments, even with the flowers next to Sam's house.

They managed to be successful with emotion by giving the Transformers mouths, and facial expressions, including some rather intricate eye animations.

Bottom line - this movie is worth seeing a second time, especially for the CG work, not to mention Megan Fox

Everything about this movie, besides the title (I really have a problem with that name), was a solid summer movie going experience. We all know that Bruce Willis can escort people around (16 Blocks) and Mac Guy Justin Long does a good job at being the funny dumb guy.

The cyber-terrorism plot seems fitting for the entire post-9/11 sympathetic angle.

Kevin Smith gives a good performance. Jordan and I saw the 7 PM showing and it sounded like everyone was enjoying it. We give it two thumbs up.

Is it just me, or can you not shake Cliff Curtis' role in Collateral Damage out of your heard?

Be sure to look for the stereotypically "good guys have Mac, bad guys have PC" shtick. At the beginning of the movie Justin Long's Matt Farrell character has an Apple Cinema display. He is running Linux, and no Mac was shown, but it was an Apple Cinema display, looked like the 20" or 23" model.

In one the later scenes, one of the bad guys picks up an Alienware laptop. At least the shot of the Apple monitor was just a camera pan, the Alienware laptop was practically framed in the shot.

Other product placement, there was just tons, was Palm and Nokia phones. The Palm Pilots used seemed antiquated, actually. Poor choice if you ask me.

The screen graphics department for this film must have used half the budget. Considering the plot, it makes sense that you would see a lot of computer screens doing a lot of things, but man, tons of screen graphics.

Finally, a summer movie I am not disappointed I saw (see: Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third, Pirates 3, Fantastic 4 2). Die Hard 4.0, err, Live Free or Die Hard, was the best movie I have seen this summer, better than Oceans Thirteen. Now I can't wait to see The Borne Ultimatum.

They took a big risk -- Willis is 52 -- but I think its gonna pay off. Lots of great explosions, a few good laughs and thank The Lord no cliffhanger at the end.

Now the big question is: will Rambo come through next year?

On a total side note, does anyone remember Die Hard Trilogy on the PS1?

Oh yea, Timothy Olyphant just doesn't seem right to play Agent 47. He looks too young (with a shaved head).

We have a brand new enormous Super Wal-Mart in Bowling Green. Do you think they have Blu-ray movies?

Night At The Museum
X-Men 3
Ghost Rider (Sold Out)

Yep, thats it. No Casino Royal, no Pirates 1 or 2. It is really quite sad.

This is the summer of thirds in a movie series. Maybe they can make a special Oscar for that at this year's Academy Awards.

The movie was good, better than Ocean's Twelve. Good humor, Pacino was wonderful. And hell, it cost me $2 at The Small (Woodland Mall).

Recommended.

How many times do I need to see the same commercial for your original shows during the NBA playoffs? Just for the record, I will NOT be watching the four shows you're relentlessly pushing DURING EVERY COMMERCIAL BREAK, shows whose name I won't mention here to further promote them. I'm sick of them all already. It's beyond absurd, and you're not even presenting a variety of them. It's the same ads repeatedly.

It's becoming difficult to sit through a full game. Commercials are fine, but this is quite possibly the worst display of self promotion I've ever come across on a cable network. Do you think the audience is forgetting about these shows in the span of 10 minutes?

Give it up. It's disgusting, annoying, and aggravating.

One of the all time fan favorite pro wrestlers was found dead on Friday. Glen Boyd has a superb writeup over on Blogcritics on what he'll be remembered for.

Actually, there are a couple of Godzilla flicks up on YouTube, and yes I mean the entire movies. However, 1984 is my all time fave and I can't resist the chance to post this one as it's the Japanese version, not the bastardized US cut. Nothing against Raymond Burr, but his scenes weren't even close to fitting in when the movie hit theaters here in the states. Enough blabbering though. Start here and work your way down the sidebar in order and see the movie like it was meant to be seen.

Better yet, watch it on your Wii with the browser. Sure, I have this one on DVD three times, but I like the idea of having my Wii associated with Godzilla in more ways than one.

From notmtv.com. Big announcement in there too that Darius wants to retire in five years from live shows.

Too funny to miss from what I believe is Robot Chicken. What happened after the Death Star went down? Vader had to call the emperor and explain himself.

Actually, rather than review X-Men: The Last Stand, I have an interactive simulation of watching the movie for you to try at home.

1) Take all your X-Men comics, all your old classics and the new ones, and put them in a big pile. If you have copies of the cartoon or the first two movies, throw those on the pile as well.

2) Set the pile ablaze with some fantastic pyrotechnics -- sparklers, cherry bombs, roman candles, whatever you have. Say some cheesy one-liners as it all burns.

3) Once the flames die down, take a giant crap on top of the ashes. Bury the whole mess under ten feet of dirt.

4) Charge everyone $10 to see it.

This is just a classic review of an abysmal movie. I thought it was awful enough to be hilarious all the way through, but this guy puts it best:

"Have you ever seen that old black & white footage of the two kitty cats in a tiny boxing ring wearing little boxing gloves wailing away on one another? The actual komodo vs. cobra smackdown makes those boxing kitties look like a fight scene from Ong Bak."

Kudos to the guy who wrote that one!

While it isn't saying much of anything, the special effects in A.I. Assault manage to be above par for a direct-to-cable Sci-Fi Channel schlock piece. The metallic pods, eerily similar to those in Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, do some believable damage to a small group of suckers stuck on an island inhabited by no one. It's almost a shame people had to be in this movie to spout off ridiculous dialogue and fire guns that never need to be reloaded instead of giving us extra A.I. cheapness.

Most Sci-Fi Channel disasters fall into the unbearable category. They're not funny, serious, or entertaining. Then something like Komodo vs. Cobra rolls along and you can only imagine being on the set as the actors spout off some of the most unimaginative dialogue ever put on film. This is a hysterically funny movie, whether intentional or not, and has every reason to become a classic for fans of horrible cinema.

I still think "The Die! Vinci Code" would have been a better title.

But. Here is a clever review at The Reverse Shot.

Sample excerpt: "For those who have read Dan Brown's eloquent, Faulkner-esque novel, the rest won't come as much of a surprise. Dave is killed for being the monk who knew too much--that Jesus impregnated Mary with a child, who grew up to be....no no, I can't give it away, but let's just say he was one of the cast members in Cast Away."

It's even funnier than Toledo Blade critic Christopher Borrelli's assertion that Monty Python lurks behind the movie, which is destined to become the next Rocky Horror.

While it has the unique blend of Rear Window and a creature feature, Abominable doesn't succeed in doing much right. It takes forever before things being moving into the horror territory the audience expects, and even then, the goofy grin on the monster suit fails to be terrifying. Anything leading up to that is sheer boredom.

As soon as those familiar chords started up over the company logo sequence, I knew we were in business. Here's the breakdown:

• Presentation: 6/10.
I'm including the $10 ticket price in this, though you might find it for cheaper. What that bought me, besides a big empty theater with no other players, was a series of promos I could not skip through no matter how hard I mashed the buttons, and then another 20 minutes of unskipable introductory exposition Hideo Kojima would have been proud of. Also at that price, I could not afford any peripheries like, say, popcorn.
• Graphics: 10/10. As Ken said when we saw it at WalletRape Cinemas in Perrysburg, "It's like watching it on the PS9!" Everything was crisp, dark and creepy, and loadtimes were not a problem - which is good, because this movie is 80% cutscenes.

Finally, after years of fanboy whining, the masses get what they wanted: Star Wars on DVD. Yes, I know what you're thinking. You bought it, and you'll be buying it again because these are the originals, not the edited and re-visited versions. So, please, Han shoots first, and in all honesty, I don't care. It's the same damned movie.

Mongs.

At the least, director Tim Cox knows this is an awful idea. Mammoth strives for campy from the opening moments, milking the comedic style all the way through. With only a little time spent on the reasons for a frozen Wooly Mammoth to actually come alive, there should have been plenty of screen time left for entertainment. That's not how this ended up.

The spot where Raymond Burr would film his scenes to be intercut into the original Godzilla film has been forever marked. A plaque dedicating the site will stand testament to the best "Americanization" of a Godzilla film.

What a night for the WWE. This year's Wrestlemania reminded us all why we pay extra for the event. Unforgettable spots were so numerous, they could open RAW tomorrow night using nothing but clips from this pay-per-view. Its few downers were in no way enough to ruin the night, and the impressions left by some of the insanity will take years to slip from our minds.

False hope is an awful, awful thing. It's about the only thing SS Doomtrooper provides too. An opening aerial dogfight is the film's highlight, and easily one of the best all time special effects sequences in the history of Sci-Fi Channel movies. The rest of them on the other hand, well, they're going to rank down there with junk like Gargoyle.

I first wrote about this movie in September, as it was already chugging along and I had only just heard about it. Being a large fan of the comic, I was both excited and apprehensive about a Hollywood treatment. Having seen the movie last night, I do believe I can say it lived up to Alan Moore's politically relevant anarcho-dystopian vision.

He compares it to comics from 60 years ago with Superman and Captain America punching Hitler, but I have reservations about Frank Miller's planned 200-page graphic novel for next year about Batman going after bin Laden when Gotham is attacked by terrorists. I kind of prefer my superheroes not to live in the same world as me... but after Bush vowed vengeance on the "Axis of Evil," I guess the lines are blurred.

There's a crucial mistake to avoid when making a disaster flick. Don't use stock footage. Ever. It's a bigger crime than totally unbelievable special effects, which at the very least show a little concern and effort towards the cause of entertaining the audience. The cheaply titled Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York falls into both traps, though even without the cheapness, its unbelievable premise and aggravating directorial "style" kill it in the first few minutes.

Taking two of the writers from the original mess that was House of the Dead, this sequel that no one in their right mind would ever ask for ends up being mildly entertaining. It has one thing going for it this time out: House of the Dead 2 knows it had no chance of succeeding, so the entire movie plays out as hilarious camp. It doesn't always work, and it's still an awful piece of schlock, but at least someone had the idea not to take this seriously.

Download the MP3 because it answers a few things. My question was answered: Ed Catmull is now President of Animation. Considering he was President of Pixar, that seems fitting.

It’s been over 30 years since Jaws found its way onto movie screens, and yet, people in small towns continue to have public events in the midst of a genetically altered wasp invasion. History has obviously taught them nothing. If you decide to close beaches because of a shark, why do these town leaders continually put their own people in the path of certain death? It makes the scripts writers job easier, duh.

This one was buried on Hootie's site, and until I went through the forums, I didn't know it was there. Mark Bryan's voice is pretty weak, but the lyrics are just incredible (including a few shots at Bush). Check out Say Goodbye, but be sure to read the description first (the other songs, except for the abysmal Divided States of America, are all on Looking for Lucky). You should have a copy if you've ever visited the site given all of my plugs.

And yes, it looks like hell, but it's crunched in a frame when you actually see it on the site and this was the only way to link it.

Mickey Mouse and Nemo are now corporate cousins. Walt Disney has announced that it is buying Pixar, the animated studio led by Apple head Steve Jobs, in a deal worth $7.4 billion.

Wow. With Michael Eisner out of there (thank god), things are very different. Of note:

John Lasseter ... will rejoin the House of Mouse as chief creative officer for the company's combined animated studios and will also help oversee the design for new attractions at Disney theme parks.

Soon we will be seeing Buzz Lightyear and Woody along side Mickey and Minnie in the Disney theme parks, and I think that is pretty cool.

I am sure Jobs will fire up the Disney board - and it needs it. As Jobs was the largest shareholder in Pixar, he is now the largest individual shareholder in Disney. Not a bad spot to be in.

What I would really like to find out is what Ed Catmull will be doing now. I am sure he will be an important part of Disney/Pixar, but I have no idea to what extent.

Some history: Steve Jobs bought the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd. from George Lucas in 1986 for $10 million. Pixar is born. Twenty years later Steve Jobs sells Pixar to Disney for $7.4 billion. Disney is reborn.

Return on investment, anyone?

I am not even going to link to her site. This song is that bad.

I was going through my movie soundtracks tonight and found that I had the soundtrack for Armageddon, I forgot I even had it. By the way, that is not an odd assurance, I have a large digital music collection so I find stuff I never knew I had all the time.

Anyways, Chantal Kreviazuk sings a remake of Leaving On A Jet Plane. There are a lot of people who have covered this song. I have not heard all the covers, but this cover by Chantal Kreviazuk is utterly atrocious--make my ears bleed--bad.

I just thought I would tell you that. Other then this song, and the "Animal Crackers" track, it is an OK soundtrack. Sadly I know this was a CD I actually bought in the physical form years ago. Why? I have no idea. Maybe it was from one of those BMG or Columbia House deals and I had to pick some filler.

Some artists should only be allowed to record their original work - and Kreviazuk is one of them!

At some point, it needs to be considered what's worse: terrible looking CGI creatures or terrible looking CGI volcanoes. Both are disastrous, but not for the reasons intended. That said, Magma fares better than expected given the effects and re-used set pieces.

After losing nearly their entire gaming demographic with the abysmal and blatantly corporate sponsored Spike TV Game Awards, it's hard to imagine the station sinking any lower. In fact, Game Head isn't half bad, hosted by Geoff Keighly and featuring actual content. Sadly, that's not what will be reviewed here. Instead, this is Fresh Baked Video Games.

SAN FRANCISCO – The infamous and controversial domain Sex.com has officially been sold to Boston-based Escom LLC for a reported $14 million, XBiz has learned.

(Yes, this Web page is safe for work.)

Well I am glad that law suit has been settled. I can now sleep easier at night. $14M though! Wow. I need to sell spoiledlittlebitch.com. Hell, I would take only $1M.

It's not a new concept to rip-off the latest Hollywood blockbuster with a direct-to-video movie of a similar name. Released alongside 2005's theatrical summer hit War of the Worlds, distributor Asylum's video release H.G. Wells War of the Worlds fails to offer any of the gripping action of Spielberg's epic. With a meager $1 million to work with, creating a special effects masterpiece is not a feasible expectation for director David Michael Latte. However, there's still the expectation of being entertained, and that's what's missing.

Now here is a piece of Flash that is useful. It is actually very cool, falling under the "Interactive Art" moniker if it were at, say, SIGGRAPH. You type in some song lyrics and it spits them out, word by word, using famous singers voices. It is all very cool until you get "I" in there a few times. It appears that the algorithm does not have multiple instances of the same word - a major bummer. Words not in the database are also a show stopper. But you can submit songs that have those show-stopping words in them.

What a great project! The artist is Erik Bünger.

From the site:

Write your own lyrics and let some of the world's greatest stars give voice to it.

From their site:

While the first single, ONE LOVE from the band's album LOOKING FOR LUCKY, remains in the Top 10 at Mainstream AC, GET OUT OF MY MIND, will ship this week and will go for adds at HOT AC January 30th, 2006.

If you want a peak of my fave from the new album, Yahoo's annoying site has the video, which was recorded LIVE. I had to use Netscape of all things to view it, but it was worth it.

Vince McMahon's WWE Raw has pulled some classic stunts over the twelve years I've religiously watched it, but tonight, well, this one is probably going to end up everywhere.

During a hilarious and stupid "live sex" act, WWE Diva Lita's breast made it on screen for a whopping split-second fully exposed. They immediately cut to a blank screen and used the classic "It's live TV" excuse. Surely one of the "parent groups" will be all over this explaining how it's destroyed our country and the children are traumatized. They'll also tell you how offended you were even if you didn't watch it. Don't call me psychic, I just know those groups are beyond stupid. So, we'll get it out of the way now:

IT'S A NIPPLE PEOPLE. Grow the hell up. Thank you.

Read Matt's full article over at Blogcritics.

I'll also add that this made it to Fark, and as I make this edit, it's broke the 60,000 hits barrier.

He really does. So much so he had to put together a rather detailed eight point rant about it. And I would have to agree with everything he said, including commenter #1. My biggest peeve is the fact that there has to be a long animation before the DVD menu shows up, with no way to skip it.

If Caved In is any indication of the garbage Sci-Fi Channel will be pushing onto its fans this year, it's going to be a long one. Copying last years disaster Centipede, Caved In gives the world another meaningless giant insect flick, with zero redeeming value. If you're looking for entertainment, you're watching the wrong network on Saturday night.

Wow this looks like a winner. If you think you recognize Kasumi it's because you do, she is Devon Aoki (Sin City). The movie doesn't really have anyone else famous in it. But then who wants to be in a movie about a video game notorious for its bouncing boobies.

One of Ted Turner's more controversial moves, colorizing movies was an idea that was created before the technology was ready. That didn't stop him from purchasing entire movie libraries with full plans to "update" them from black and white. With King Kong, about the only thing it does is make the special effects stand out unnaturally while ignoring everything else.

Great idea, and they have the Toledo show I was at. I would have sworn they did I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You, but apparently not. It's a meager $10 for nearly 90-minutes of music in great quality. I wish they'd seperate the songs into tracks (it's one long track as it stands), but I'll take it. Now it's just a matter of getting the cash to get the rest of the performances!

Impossibly beating all odds, destroying every bad memory about the 1976 remake, and setting a new standard for creature features, King Kong is a remarkable film. It's intense, brutal, and draining on every emotion. You're actually tired after leaving the cinema. Peter Jackson's remake is a $207 million gift for every Kong fan in the world, and except for a few ugly spots, it's hard to imagine a better way to resurrect one of cinema's all time greats.

Manticore begins with false hope. Set during the current war in Iraq, the film opens with a great firefight between US troops and enemy insurgents. The direction, style, and action starts things off with a better than usual style. It seems like the budget has been raised a little higher, and things just may end up entertaining.

The book Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a turning point in the series. Things are no longer bright and cheery. They're mysterious. They're dark. They're deadly.

Actor Pat Morita, who offered the famous advice "wax on, wax off" to a young karate student in his performance as the wise Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid" has died. He was 73.

(Full article; sorry this is Yahoo news but I couldn't find anything else and it has some good links/lists of his work... he was with Mr. T in something? I never knew...)

I am enjoying the fruits of some SA labor just now and thought you might like them too:

"NEScover," 8-bit synth remixes of classic rock songs.

Track list:
01 REM - Losing My Religion
02 Europe - Final Countdown
03 Radiohead - Karma Police
04 Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
05 Survivor - Eye of the Tiger
06 Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven
07 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Sweet Home Alabama
08 Led Zeppelin - Kashmir
09 Slayer - Angel of Death
10 David Pomeranz - Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now
11 Coldplay - Yellow
12 Rick James - Superfreak
13 Semisonic - Closing Time
14 (Silence)
15 Hidden NESmix Intro
16 Zero Wing (Opening Theme) (4x4 Remix)
17 Tetris (Music A) (Piano Practice)

If you've ever read a review of a movie like this and thought, "I think I read this before," don't blame the critic. There are only so many ways to pick apart a quick, cheap, and generic bug movie. That's of course the category Locusts: The 8th Plague falls into.

Herbie: Fully Loaded is on DVD starring Lindsay Lohan, and we have a copy to give away! The rules are quite simple:

1. Name ONE surviving actor from the original 1968 version of The Love Bug.

2. Reply to this post with your answer, one per person. If you enter twice, all of your entries will be deleted.

3. You have one week to do so. This contest will end at 12 noon EST on Wednesday November 16th.

4. The winner will be chosen at random from all the correct answers. Make sure you have a valid e-mail address so you can be contacted if you're the winner.

Tip: If you want a second chance, you can always reply to a second contest of the same type we're running at Blogcritics!

He jumps and smashes a plane while on top of the Empire State Building. Nothing more needs said.

Ok, fine... I'll keep typing. Look at the hair. It's been lengthened quite a bit since the first teaser, and you can see debris in it. The level of detail is stunning. The tension in the T-Rex stand off is remarkable, and this is just a trailer. The brief glimpses of the New York attack just continue to impress. I'm still in awe.

Picking up right where Locusts left off, Lucy Lawless returns as Maddy Rierdon to combat another menace, Vampire Bats. This made for TV quickie is mild fun without an original idea to carry it. If you've ever seen a killer bat movie, than you've seen this too.

Given that the Sci-Fi Channel has dug up just about every creature known to the human race for their Saturday night features including (but not limited to) pythons, centipedes, gargoyles, dragons, raptors, pterodactyls, killer bees, snakehead fish, megalodons, the chupacabra, loch ness, spiders, saber tooth cats, and cockroaches, it was only a matter of time until the network began to reach. This brings us to Cerberus, a creature flick that could only come from this cable channel. This is unbearable dreck, one of the cheapest, ugliest, and far reaching of their monster roster.

Note: With four hours of Sci-Fi Channel original "entertainment" to get through in one night, it's impossible for one person to take that much in one sitting. As such, help has been called in. Chris Beaumont covers the first of the films this week, and as is the norm, I take on the second.

Return of the Living Dead 4: Necropolis Review by Chris Beaumont

It's been a long time since I've seen any of the Return of the Living Dead movies, to be honest, I can't even recall if I've ever seen Part II. Being that my last viewing is a bit of a fuzzy memory, so my grasp of details is a little slim. Anyway, the returning dead are back for another go around, the first since 1993. There are 2 new sequels, Necropolis and Rave to the Grave. I am here to take a look at the first one, Necropolis.

Unabashedly taking the concept of Michael Crichton's novel Prey, Sci-Fi Channel original Path of Destruction is a bland little $2 million movie. It has moments, but the biggest problem is the catalyst. The nano-bots are hardly a significant threat, and they're never shown to as brutal as the movie makes them out to be.

I've heard their new single One Love performed live at least 15 times now, and this was their best. Real Player required.

The premise is here. Man with the Screaming Brain puts Bruce Campbell into the role of a rich pharmaceutical company owner who ends up with only half of his brain after being killed. The other half comes from a Russian cab driver.

Also just learned of an impending film version of Philip K Dick's "A Scanner Darkly." Not my favorite of his stories but the diaspora of talent (it may be that I use the term loosely) working on it may make for an interesting combination.

Ok people. You know you have a copy of Cracked Rear View. It sold 16 million copies, so just admit it. Now, their new album, Looking for Lucky, it's not doing so well. In a month, less than 40,000 copies have been sold. That's bad, and this is their best since their major debut. The lyrics are powerful and timely, and it's still that classic Hootie sound. This isn't a popularity contest, it's about music. In case you need some refreshing and want to buy it (and you do), here's some links:

Interview with Mark Bryan
Totally biased album review
Totally biased concert review
Their website
Amazon link
Best Buy link
Hootie Store link

I feel a little late noticing this, but I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to find out a movie based on Alan Moore's 1980s dystopian-anarchy short series "V for Vendetta" is soon to be released, directed by the Wachikowskis no less.

BOSTON (AP) -- The Rolling Stones left the Boston Red Sox in need of some serious grass.

I just have to laugh at these type of stories. No kidding they are going to kill the grass! I remember a Jimmy Buffet show at Jacobs Field that left the outfield dead.

I don't know if it is the stage, the beer, or the people, but I am sure its the combination of the three that kills the grass.

Pterodactyl opens with the single greatest gore sequence in the short history of Sci-Fi Channel originals. As one of the resurrected title creatures swoops down, it picks off a hunter right at the waist, leaving half of his body on the ground, the other half in the creature's claws. It's unmatched, and right around (if not over) the decency line for standard cable.

This is funny (you'll need to register to read it all). Apparently, parents can't figure out that Deuce Bigalow European Gigolo isn't for their kids, because the billboards that advertise it don't show the rating (the ads were made before the MPAA handed down their ruling). The Leaning Tower in the ad is "conveniently" placed too, let alone the title of the movie.

Unlike so many other Sci-Fi Channel cheapies, Alien Express had some small potential. It's goofy fun until the effects take over (and these are mercifully done practically for the most part), which showcase the budget in the worst way possible. It's a somewhat enjoyable low budget schlock, but only for those used to this type of movie.

If Hootie and the Blowfish have any chance to be back in the position they were in 12 years ago, Looking for Lucky is it. This is their most enjoyable, addictive, and easy to listen to album since the criminally under appreciated Musical Chairs. It's not going to create a new audience, but for those who have stuck with them and those who may have forgotten, this is the album the band needed.

Tidal Wave is one of those movies that might have worked as a single episode of an hour-long TV show. Drug out into feature length, this 1997 direct-to-cable flick becomes a dull, uninspired mess. It's predictable, the characters are uninteresting, central logic is lost, and even the few destruction sequences don't provide much in the way of entertainment.

Mark Bryan is the lead guitarist for Hootie and Blowfish. He has released his own solo album (30 on the Rail) and composed a short downloadable album titled State Your Peace available on their website. The band is currently touring in promotion of their latest album, which comes out August 8th, Looking for Lucky. I had the opportunity to interview him over the phone before a Tennessee show on August 4th about the band, his solo career, and the new album.

Hootie makes sure they end up in Toledo every time they tour the country, and always at the Toledo Zoo Amphitheater. It's a great outdoor venue as far as audio is concerned, even for an older structure. Barring the heat (in the 90s, and staying there for most of the show), everything went smoothly as the band mixed both old and new flawlessly.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie are stuck together for another season of "The Simple Life" -- even if they're not speaking to each other.

Oh thank heaven! I mean, I was losing sleep over this one.

For as illogical and incompetent the other Nature Unleashed films have been, Volcano is somewhat tolerable. The key problem is that it misses one key aspect: a volcano. You'll need to make it through the entire movie just to see why you're watching this.

Sigh. Smackdown is filmed on Tuesday. It airs on Thursday. Last week, it featured a terrorist angle involving the Undertaker, and unfortunately, it fell on the day of the London bombings. They constantly flashed a warning on the screen that some people may not be ready for it. It was hardly offensive material, with a group of masked guys choking the Undertaker. Some people though, have nothing better to do, and decided to watch despite the warnings. No controversy here, but with ratings beginning to increase, it's time for the immoral attacks to begin again.

Why it's on CMT is anyone's guess (it's hardly country, at least not all of it), but it's here for everyone to hear. This is likely to curb those who put it up for download a few weeks back (and those us who have downloaded, not that I did that or anything). This is one of the band's best, save for a slightly dry finish. Get out of My Mind is their best song in years.

Oliver Stone, the Oscar winning film-maker and occasional bete noire of the American establishment, has announced plans for a film based on the September 11 attacks in New York.

You knew it was going to happen. But is America, and the world, far enough removed from the events of Sept. 11, 2001? I guess if anything they have a built in audience.

You don't start watching a Sci-Fi Channel flick and expect to see something new. This time out, with Attack of the Sabretooth, they gave us that something: New movie rules. It's not going to revolutionize horror movies, but it does present a new ways for idiotic, no name characters to die.

*Small spoilers inside

It's hardly fair to judge this big budget adaptation of War of the Worlds based on the plot holes. The 1898 book is a classic (and it should be), so by ripping this Steven Spielberg piece, you're also ripping the H.G. Wells novel. There are parts of the film, including the horrible, incomprehensible ending, that make it a bare that are the filmmaker's fault. The rest of the time, it's one of the best alien invasion movies in decades, and that's simply because it closely follows the story as written in a new era.

Bill Murray is top notch in this oddball movie about an oceanographer that plans to exact revenge on a mythical shark that killed his partner. The Life Aquatic has a great cast including Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Owen Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Anjelica Huston and a bunch of B list actors.

This movie kind of grew on me. At first I did not really get into it at all. It has some great comedy though, and that is what kept me going.

The art direction is really great. All the pseudo marine life is surreal.

The other reason I really liked this flick is because of the cinematography. The camera angles were very creative.

A great rental.

Holy. Freakin'. Hell.

With the exception of looking too digital at times (look at the beach seqeunce), this trailer is better then the whole of the '76 remake. If that link goes bad, Kong is King should have it archived.

At the very least, this is a movie involving a shark, and it's not a Great White. Then again, it's not exactly a Hammerhead either. This is a stem cell born beastie with the features of a Hammerhead and a human. It seems that DNA experiments gone wrong aren't "in" anymore; it's time to enter the era of stem cell experiments gone wrong.

I am not ashamed to say that "Jagged Little Pill" was one of my favorite albums of my teen years. It was that time when I was really starting to discover music. I listened to a lot of different music back then. My musical tastes had a broader scope at that time. But more then anything, I still love the music of those years of my life.

This acoustic album is much better then what was planned - a re-mastering of the original 1995 "Jagged Little Pill." On first thought, this acoustic album seems like MTV Unplugged, rehashed. After listening through the entire album a couple times, this is much more then "Unplugged," and it is anything but rehashed. You sing along to every song on "Acoustic" and you do a double take. Did she change the lyrics? Are you serious? Morissette actually put effort into this album? Indeed she did. In a time when artists are becoming lax with their music - with "Best Of" albums that are merely re-mastered - Morissette delivers a new "Jagged Little Pill" that seems to have even more kinetic energy then the original some 10 years ago.

I hate music. I always have. I never owned a stand-alone CD player. I haven't owned a tape player since I was ten. I have zero use for an I-Pod or other assorted MP3 player. I own about 20 CDs at the most, split across video game soundtracks, Godzilla soundtracks, Weird Al and... Hootie. And movie soundtracks... with Hootie on them. Bootlegs... with Hootie on them. Singles... with Hootie on them. Imports... with Hootie on them. DVDs... with Hootie on them.

Now Hootie is back again, and their new single off their first non-studio album seems to be getting more airplay than ANY of the songs on their previous few albums (which is partially a crime). I don't know what it is about Hootie and his oddball band of Blowfish, but they're the only band I've ever enjoyed just listening too.

They're new single, One Love, confirms they still have it, and I've only heard half of it. The brief teaser clip on their site is really starting to tick me off. It's not fair. August 9th is the day, and I'll be outside Best Buy before they open (though some local smaller shops put it out earlier...). You should be too (or in Ken's case, be online at some MP3 site with one of his 29,000,549,068 music gadgets ready to download).

Dan Nied wonders if Michael Jackson walked away from court a free man simply because he is Michael Jackson.

Continue reading "The ultimate defense"

Worth the price of a ticket? Yes
Going to see it a second time? Yes

I need to get some sleep. But Batman Begins was absolutely amazing. The best movie I have seen in months. I have a review 3/4 written (in analog form no less). I will post it tomorrow once I have polished it a bit.

I was surprised how good a Batman movie could really be. Batman Begins surpasses even Tim Burton's 1989 Batman.

Go see this movie.

Did you see Into the West this weekend on TNT? Yea, neither did I. I am boycotting it. Matt and I implore you to do the same.

Since TNT has been running both the marquee overlays during the NBA Finals games, and long commercials for Into the West and Closer, I am fed up, and refuse to watch.

Its such a shame that Game 2 of the NBA Finals was on ABC tonight when Into the West was on TNT. Darn.

Let me tell you how nice it was to watch Game 2 without the annoying-as-hell TNT marketing tactics.

Imagine "Rocky" if it were true.

Imagine a movie that tugs your heartstrings, inspires you to beat your chest and do your Tarzan yell, brings you to the point of tears and makes two hours and 45 minutes fly by.

"The Cinderella Man" is that movie.

Continue reading "Cinderella Man Review"

If there's something the vast majority of Americans don't understand, it's Godzilla. If you're reading this, chances are the usual "It's a guy in a rubber suit knocking down cardboard buildings while people talk via bad dubbing" thought process is going through your mind. Animal Planet knew this, but they also understand there's a very large, dedicated fan base out there, and showcased that perfectly on Animal Icons.

A blatant waste of food? Sure. But hey, it's got a lightsaber fight between a cucumber and a potato. What else do you want?

According to the advertising for Broken, this 15-minute short contains 100 special effects shots in less than 15-minutes. Youll have to take that as truth. Theres no possible way to count them. Why? They're done so well, you cant even tell they're effects in the first place.

Absolutely hilarious (direct link).

It's not as if they're known for originality, but the Sci-Fi Channel films at least try to do something different, even if it rarely works. That's not the case the deplorable Descent, a straight knock-off of 2003's The Core. Though a few discernable differences are here, this is, for the most part, a carbon copy of a film that wasn't even enjoyable to begin with.

With a title like the Fallen Ones, you're probably expecting a documentary on World War II. Maybe you're imagining a movie about past and deceased baseball players. Would you guess it's a movie about a 42-foot tall mummy that eats people? Could you possibly guess it's the best 42-foot mummy that eats people movie ever? Well, it is, and even if it doesn't sound like it, that means something.

This weekend I watched Shaun of the Dead (IMDb, Amazon). I should have caught it in theaters. It would have been worth it. What a great comedy. I highly recommend this movie. It was defiantly nothing like I expected, and it was better for it.

If you love British comedy, this one has it in spades. It also has some nice editing. There is one long steady-cam shot that seems to go on forever. Cool editing and selection of shots all around.

Godzilla struggled his way through the low-budget 70s, the occasionally generic 90s, and an awful 1998 American version. He even survived a nuclear blast to become king of the monsters. All of that to end up in Godzilla: Final Wars, Toho's supposed last gasp for the series before putting it on hiatus due to dwindling ticket sales and a celebration of the 50th anniversary. Not even the Big G himself can fight his way out of this disaster.

The one thing any good horror creature feature needs is a monster that has the ability to evoke terror from its audience. If it can't do that, then you simply don't have a creature feature worth watching. Now, with Man-Thing, we have a walking pile of swamp gas, leaves, moss, and branches. It doesn't matter how red this things eyes get or how many people it rips apart. The entire thing is laughable, and that's probably why the full reveal is held off until the final half hour.

A completely fan made Star Wars movie with special effects on par with the recent films? Yep, and it's free and legal. It's worth a download, especially for the incredible Tie Fighter battle. It runs for about 40 minutes total. You need to keep the fact in the back of your mind that it only cost $20,000 to make. The official site and download are available here.

If you recall, we ripped on Warner for this one a while back, and so did a lot of fans. In fact, one of them posted the funniest flash movie we've ever seen. Well, some kid took it all to heart, Warner noticed, and now they're toning it all down. It's still doesn't seem perfect, but maybe, just maybe, they can be saved yet.

Finally, a direct-to-TV creature feature that got it right and it's not on the Sci-Fi Channel. The premiere of "Locusts" was way beyond the junk CBS produced a few weeks back with "Spring Break Shark Attack." That's not saying this is quality filmmaking, just a cheap, quick blast of fun for those interested in the genre. Cult TV fans get Lucy Lawless in the starring role, which is probably the big selling point.

It has been a while since I have seen a movie before it hits DVD. And I must admit, I had fairly high expectations for “Sin City” after hearing all the hype. Per the norm, I was let down. “Sin City” is a good movie that would have been great if only the story did not come across as convoluted as it does.

In 1,000 years, a scientist will find a time capsule buried deep in the ground. He'll open it to find a copy of this Sci-Fi Channel original, "Snake King." Even with years of study, he fails to comprehend just how something made in the year 2005 can possibly have worse special effects than something like "King Kong" from 1933. That just doesn't make sense. However, we're in the present and we have the advantage.

In an agreement reached with 47 states plus Washington DC, the company has agreed to fork out US$630,000 to settle claims of deceptive advertising. That means customers who claim to have been misled (or didn't read the fine print) will be given refunds for movies inadvertently purchased and restocking fees.

Blockbuster will also need to change its marketing slant in its "no late fee" advertising as a result of the settlement.

This thing is everywhere. On tonights episode, Kenny gets a PSP but dies and leaves his new system to Cartman in his will. BUT... when Kenny is brought back to life and put on a feeding tube, Cartman fights to have the tube removed for obvious reasons. It's a VERY touchy subject, but credit is deserved for Trey and Matt for having the all-out balls to tackle the subject of Terry Schiavo in a fantastic manner, bringing forth both sides and showcasing the husband as an idiot. Expect a ton of controversy from this one and you can catch it again Saturday night at midnight.

Even if you're not a pro wrestling fan, there's no denying their advertising for their "Super Bowl" this year has been fantastic. Taking classic movie moments, popping in their superstars, and tossing in a little advertising, each one of these is worth a look (though the Pulp Fiction one was highly dissapointing). Personal faves are Taxi Driver and Basic Instinct. Check them all out here and you can even vote for your favorite!

If you're about to embark on filming what you simply have to know is going to be an awful movie, you can do a few things right. It should be campy, it should be littered with horrid special effects, and if you really know what you're doing, you get Bruce Campbell. That's about the only saving grace to "Alien Apocalypse," a movie that at least tried a little bit to be entertaining unlike some of the other dredge Sci-Fi has cooked up recently.

Leave it to Dannon. This is a great little Punch-Out knock-off. Nintendo seems content to just let this series die on the Super NES, so here's to corporate America for keeping it going! Oh and if anyone can take down the champ, let me know if there's an ending. I took everyone out until I got to him and his damn cream cheese killed me.

Can you survive an attack?

I barely made it out alive with a 65%.

Who said Sci-Fi is the only station on TV turning out B-movie schlock? Seems that CBS now wants a piece, starting with this week's feature, "Spring Break Shark Attack." The title is correct in that it features both spring break and sharks attacking people, but it fails miserably to combine both or come out with anything worthwhile.

Wow. If you follow DVDs at all, you know it was coming. The first release was bare bones, this one looks incredible. How about 400 hours of footage being available for this set? The Digital Bits had a brief interview with James Cameron too. Comparisons to the "Lord of the Rings" sets look to be already relevant.

Tilt has been a good series, it has kept me interested each week. The acting has not been too over the top. The amount of cameos has been unreal. It sure helps to sell the series to have real poker players like David Williams, Daniel Negreanu, and Phil Hellmuth. Throw in the humor of Norman Chad, and that faux telecast look, and Tilt has some lofty production values. Michael Madsen is always a solid actor, and plays yet another great antagonist. Good acting all around, really.

So, let's look at what humans have been turned into over the years. Human-like Alligators made an appearance in the "Alligator People," John Agar fought against "The Mole People," man turns into giant mutant-thing in "War of the Colossal Beast," and now we have man turned radioactive mosquito in the hideously titled "Mansquito." Nothing more than standard Sci-Fi Channel fare, this is a basic creature feature that's only going to be enjoyed by those who found any of the above-mentioned films enjoyable or those looking for a few laughs.

I don't have anything on this poor guy in this Java based physics demo. Pick "The Wall" course for maximum enjoyment. There was another version of this on a recent episode of the Screen Savers that involved boulders and it had better graphics. If anyone knows what it was called, or better yet, where to play it, do tell. A google search came up short for me.

Maybe classic isn't the word that will be going through your mind when you're done traveling down memory lane, but you can't pass up an opportunity to watch the Super Mario Bros. Super Show now can you? Oddly, the episodes they have include the Lou Albano segments which were cut from most of the DVD releases. Go figure. If Mario isn't your thing, check out Zelda, Inspector Gadget, and other stuff I've never heard of, all streaming and all free.

Credit has to be given to actors and/or actresses who star in a movie like this. To get through even a short shoot without cracking a smile on a screen has to be brutal. No one in their right mind could take a movie like this seriously. It doesn't even matter how old you are. This insipid piece of work is, almost without question, the worst thing to happen to the Sci-Fi Channel since Farscape fans started writing hate mail.

For many TV shows, costs to license the original music for DVD are prohibitively high, so rights owners replace the music with cheaper tunes, much to the irritation of avid fans. And some shows, like WKRP, which is full of music, will probably never make it to DVD because of high licensing costs.

I don't want to get off on a rant here (sorry, I don't have the time) but the speeches from tonight's 77th Annual Academy Awards were pathetic. I don't want to hear a speech about speeches. Hearing about how you were thinking about this speech since you were 5 is not exciting. One guy (I cannot remember who) started a small rant himself on how short his speech time was, thus wasting a good portion of his time in the spotlight. He gets the award for the moron of the night.

There were a few group awards and only one person got the the mic. It looked like others would have liked to speak. Share people. Then get off the stage.

Yelling over the orchestra is also just not very classy. Hilary Swank, you may have a million dollar body in that blue dress, but take your lumps like everyone else. This awards show has gone 4 hours before, it was about 3 hours and 45 minutes tonight. There is a reason they play a chime, have a counter, and push that applause button.

Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood were two examples of classy people when they delivered their speeches. Short, sweet, and to the point. I really enjoyed hearing about Clint's mother.

On a related note: I am really sad to see that Martin Scorsese did not get his nod this year. I think he had a chance with Gangs of New York, and when The Aviator started sweeping tonight, I thought it would include the Best Director award as well. I know I was not the only one hoping for Martin Scorsese either. Maybe next time?

I also would have liked to have seen Bill Plympton win. He is one of my personal favorites.

Oh, and Chris Rock hit it out of the ball park. The joke on Catwoman 2 was great.

Some directors have a great idea in their heads; they just can't find someone to finance them. In the case of Robert Stadd, a special effects producer for some great films, he has "Alien Siege." This is a film that wants to be large in scale and scope. In some areas he was able to realize what he wanted, but it's obvious the budget just doesn't allow it.

Talk about extreme makeovers. Take a look at what's happening to Daffy and Bugs.

Hoping to breathe new life into its animated Looney Tunes franchise and prop up the WB television network's slumping Kids' WB line-up, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. is planning to launch a new cartoon series this fall based on "re-imagined" versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tasmanian Devil, Lola Bunny, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.

Warner Bros. has created angular, slightly menacing-looking versions of the classic Looney Tunes characters for its new series, dubbed "Loonatics" and set in the year 2772.

I was a fan of Looney Toons when I was a kid, and I still enjoy turning on Cartoon Network to see them now. I think that Warner is just trying to cash in on the Anime craze.

I will wait to pass judgement to see official images of these new "angular, slightly menacing-looking" Loonatics. I hope it goes well for the kid market. I think us "old" folks will stick to the good old Looney Toons.

Lots of big remakes coming in the next year from Hollywood including "War of the Worlds" and "Willy Wonka," but Peter Jackson fans have to know that "King Kong" is shaping up to be something truly special. After the disaster that was the 1976 remake, Jackson looks to be on track to really pull it off. Fans have the opportunity to see just about every detail that has gone into the production at Kong is King. The production diaries are must views, just make sure to do it in order to see the film really come alive piece by piece. It's better than a stack of DVD extras. The original is really a special piece to me so it's easily one of my most anticipated movies ever.

Attorneys general in at least 35 states are looking into Blockbuster Inc.’s new no-late fees-policy, focusing on potentially deceptive practices because of the “restocking” fees and disparities between national advertising and franchisee practices...

The inquiries are focused on two potentially deceptive practices...

False advertising has been under fire a lot lately. Ask Listerine how they feel about it.

Back in college, I was assigned a research paper to write. This was just a few years ago and the catch was that none of the research could be done on the internet. I knew exactly what I wanted to do but still had to cite sources. Since my topic has very little written in book form, it was a little irritating. I didn't understand why exactly the internet was so bashed by professors. Now I can firmly say I do.

Chances are if you work anywhere that sells TV's, you've been busy for the past few weeks with the Super Bowl being such a huge selling point. Fox did a fine job presenting the game in Hi-Def to all those who bought new sets and to those who have one for a while. Toss in Dolby 5.1 support and it seems like Fox lives up to their claims of being the worlds best standard, but misfires were noticeable.

"Chupacabra: Dark Seas" is the type or movie reviewers hate to review. No, it's not that the title is a pain to spell out. It's that no thesaurus has enough adjectives for the word "awful" in it to cover an entire review. This is more pitiful dredge from the Sci-Fi Channel, plain and simple, and there's hardly an explanation for its existence.

CANNES, France (AP) -- It's a bit disorienting: slip on a set of headphones, turn up the volume and, while you move about the room, the music stays put -- as if coming out of five speakers stuck on a wall.

Software engineers in Germany who developed the widely used MP3 audio file format have taken the technology to a higher level with a next-generation format that delivers cinema-like multichannel audio.

Now this just sounds cool!

Every once in a while, creature fans are rewarded for their patience. After suffering through countless duds, Sci-Fi has finally produced something tolerable, even entertaining, which is really saying something. "Larva" doesn't break any new ground and it is of course horribly formulaic. That doesn't mean this one isn't fun.

(CNN) -- Johnny Carson, host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" for nearly 30 years, died Sunday of emphysema.

IMDb has his biography and a photo album.

I can remember when in 1992 he gave up his late night post to Leno. The Leno vs. Letterman thing was huge. Would Letterman's viewer ratings be better if he had The Tonight Show's name? I think so. After all, Johnny left that post for Letterman to have.

Its amazing. I was 13 when Johnny left the air in 1992 and yet I remember so many of his skits and jokes. He had a lasting impression. He always will. It is a very sad end to an era in entertainment.

I just cought this great movie on TNT. Tell me, what is the use of the tiger growls during every explosion scene for? What does that sound effect add?

Blockbuster video is rolling out the ads, proudly proclaiming their lack of late fees. It's a lie, a blatant use of false advertising and marketing gimmicks to revive their struggling business. They have single handedly made this once simple, easy to understand industry confusing, ridiculous, and misleading.

I sure hope the National Gambling Association doesn't get their panties in a bunch about ESPN showing the seedy underbelly of cheats in the poker world. We shall see.

I would have much rather sat down to season 2 of Playmakers last night, but Tilt will have to do.

I enjoyed the premiere. As predicted it has great production values. The cameos were great, Norman Chad adds that bit of fake realism too. I will admit that this first episode was a little hard to follow. I ended up watching it twice. The second time I watched it was the time I figured everything out that was happening. But this was no doubt the pilot, and they had something to prove.

All in all I think this will be a great series, putting ESPN that much closer to becoming the MTV of the sports world.

If you want a comprehensive review, there is a good SI article. Now the really funny thing here is that I googled a Tilt review after I wrote this, Scouts Honor (our views are similar).

The NFL fines Randy Moss a cool $10,000 for his "mooning" incident, but only fined Eric Barton a mere $7,500 for the forearm to the head of Drew Brees.

Tell me, which one of those acts is worse for the welfare of the NFL players? A forearm to the head could have been a very serious injury. Bodily injury should receive a fine far above an end zone dance.

$10,000 is not a lot to these players, its not a drop in the bucket, as Moss said, he will pay in "Straight cash, homey." So take a guess at what a fine of $7,500 feels like to Barton.

Do you know why all these NFL players do their crazy end zone dances? Take a guess. The guys operating the cameras (the Networks, the "Media") are shooting it. The NFL is more then a sport, it is entertainment, and these end zone dances are the entertainment. Sometimes they go too far, but sometimes they are just plain funny. Moss's mooning was just plain funny.

These people would stop doing it if the Networks would stop taping them. But that is not gonna happen anytime soon. That would not sell ratings.

Do you think CBS really cared about Janet's boob? Its all a ratings game.

LOS ANGELES, CA, January 11, 2005 - G4, the only 24/7 television network dedicated to video games, screeches into 2005 with announcements of a new name, look and feel as well as two new series, "Formula D" and "Girls Gone Wired." Charles Hirschhorn, Founder and CEO of the network, announced the channel's official name as G4 - video game television - earlier today at the Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour. The name change and new network look and feel will take effect on February 15, 2005.

By now we know what the hell happened. A moment of silence, please, for the best geek Cable TV station that was dismantled in a matter of months.

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Three months after comedian Jon Stewart attacked its format and sparred with co-host Tucker Carlson, "Crossfire" has become a casualty of the evolving CNN.

Sure, it wasn't Jon Stewart's fault, he just sped up the decision process a little. Too bad the "dick" of Crossfire, Tucker Carlson is also out. I always liked the bowtie.

Well it took you long enough. It seems the masses have finally embraced widescreen DVD's. This excerpt is taken from the outstanding www.widescreen.org:

"So, I'm very pleased to announce that the widescreen releases for the Star Wars trilogy and many other movies continue to sell and rent far more than their pan-and-scan counterparts. Every week I check the sales and rental numbers. It's clear that widescreen continued to gain the confidence of the majority of American movie watchers. In fact, the pan-and-scan - sorry - full-frame version of the Star Wars trilogy was consistently ten places behind its widescreen counterpart."

After amassing the largest pot of winnings in TV game show history -- more than $2.5 million -- in a "Jeopardy!" winning streak that began way back on June 2, Jennings is brought down tonight after he flubs two Double Jeopardy responses and then blows the Final Jeopardy round, according to a report circulating yesterday.

Of course we knew this since September, if you read Kottke.org that is.

Will the Fox fanfare be the next film studio logo paired with Pixar Animation Studios bouncing Luxo lamp? According to one recently retired 20th Century Fox executive, it should be a done deal.

Submission by Chris Browne, thanks Chris.

It's kind of hard to imagine a creature that hasn't been mutated in some way in order to crawl across our movie screens. The lowly centipede is one of the select few to get a pass. The closest we've ever come is in the Japanese classic "Rodan," but those were called Meganura and you're never really sure what they are. The Sci-Fi channel has come to the rescue with their latest presentation, "Centipede!" That exclamation point was entirely their idea.

Someone should ban the use of CGI in movies. What was once an innovative, realistic, and excellent tool for filmmakers has turned countless movies into schlock. Suffering the worst are those films that go direct to video or to cable. The Sci-Fi Channels latest, "Gargoyle: Wings of Darkness," would have failed miserably with or without traditional effects, but here they just make an awful movie into an unwatchable one.

Watch Eminem's Mosh video.

Directors Note: Most Americans are well aware that in 2000, the presidential election was decided by 537 votes. From hanging chads to the hourly updates of the manual recount, this story was obsessively covered by the mainstream press. However, what wasn’t covered was what journalist Greg Palast discovered that thousands of primarily minority voters were scrubbed from the voter registry in Florida and prevented from potentially changing the course of America’s turbulent last four years.

This is a great Eminem song, and an even better video.

Wow, this is bad.

Cara Zavaleta truly is the girl next door — assuming you live in a neighborhood full of naturally beautiful twentysomething coeds, who get unnatural amounts of enjoyment from knitting, star in two reality TV series and get paid to party it up in bars and nightclubs across the country...

Zavaleta will meet the public Wednesday, Oct. 27 to sign copies of the November 2004 issue of Playboy at the following times and locations: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Leo’s Book Store, 333 N. Superior St.; 4-6 p.m., Mike’s Party Mart, 834 S. Main St., Bowling Green.

Yes indeed there is more to Bowling Green then corn.

Biggest U.S. record retailer battles record labels over prices.

Wal-mart wants every CD you buy to cost less than ten bucks. And the nation's largest retailer -- which moved a quarter of a trillion dollars' worth of goods last year -- usually gets its way. Suppliers who don't accede to Wal-Mart's "everyday low price" mantra often find their products bounced from the chain's stores, excluded from being sold to the 138 million people who shop at a Wal-Mart store every week.

Every generation needs a giant snakehead fish movie. Luckily, we'll go down as the first. In fact, we now have the good fortune to receive two snakehead fish movies in as many months. Fresh off of the "Snakehead Terror," Sci-Fi Pictures proudly presents the next evolution of horror in "Frankenfish." Then again, maybe not. In fact, scratch all of that.

Sunday at 9 PM (EST) USA Networks has their premiere of their original movie Frankenstein. It looks like someone got a press kit and has a review online already. We usually get press kits like this at The BG News but this one we didn't get anything on.

USA usually puts on a good show with their original movies, and the trailers look great for this one. There is a well done Flash site for the movie with some behind the scenes and interview video to watch.

Michael Eisner said he plans to step down as Walt Disney chief executive when his contract expires in September 2006. Former Disney board members Stanley Gold and Roy Disney, who tried to oust Eisner earlier this year, went on the record in February saying that Apple and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs would make a great choice to run Disney after Eisner. Both Gold and Disney resigned last year in a dispute with Eisner, who has been criticized for numerous company missteps, most recently for not reaching an agreement to extend its partnership with Pixar.

Source: MacMinute

Bye bye Eisner, hello Jobs? I doubt that. I am glad to see Eisner go. Go read SaveDisney.org some time.

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Jonathan Demme's remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" is scary. I don't mean scary like "Showgirls" was scary. Demme's a brilliant director, as evidenced by Academy Award winners like "Silence of the Lambs" and "Philadelphia."

This movie is far better than Demme's last effort, which was also a remake, "The Trouble With Charlie," cf. "Charade." But that's damning it with faint praise.

The original, directed in 1962 by John Frankenheimer, was a taut suspense film that came chillingly true the next year when a Communist sympathizer (and ex-Marine) killed President John F. Kennedy, depending on who you believe. In fact, rumor had it Lee Harvey Oswald watched the movie shortly before the assassination.

But the remake is scary in ways the original could never be. If the original was scary because it was ahead of its time (would "Three Days of the Condor" or "The Parallax View" ever been made without it?) and came true, the current one is scary because it's already true.

Huge multinational corporation with influence in the halls of power throughout the globe? Check.

Brain implants? Check.

People talking seriously about a presidential election that could decide the fate of the world? Check.

Liev Schreiber plays the title role, Raymond Shaw, a Medal of Honor recipient from Desert Storm and U.S. Congressman from New York. He's being considered as a vice presidential nominee, due largely to the machinations of his U.S. Senator mother (Meryl Streep).

Manchurian in this version refers not to the region as in the original (which used Korea in place of Desert Storm) but to a multinational corporation with a no-bid contract to rebuild war-torn countries and plans for a private army to relieve U.S. troops in combat.

As Shaw is nominated for vice president, the other men in his outfit are starting to have dreams that challenge what the record said happened leading to Shaw's Medal of Honor.

Denzel Washington's the commanding officer of the unit who's trying to get to the bottom of it.

Jeffrey Wright is wasted as one of the soldiers whose mind has gotten the better of him. Jon Voight is Schreiber's rival for the vice-presidential nomination. Keep an eye peeled in the beginning and ending scenes for B-movie king Roger Corman, Demme's mentor (he also cast him in "Silence of the Lambs" as the director of the FBI). Al Franken makes an amusing cameo as a TV news talking head.

First, the comparisons:

Schreiber makes the role his own. He's got the same vacant stare as Laurence Harvey had in the original, but instead of being "unlovable," as Harvey was, Schreiber's just not there, remniscient of the line about Michael Huffington: when you look into his eyes, you see the back of his skull.

Meryl Streep's the Stage Mother from Hell. She's a U.S. Senator from New York who works behind the scenes to get the men in her life in power. But she's not based on Hillary Clinton.

Angela Lansbury was nominated for an Oscar for this role in the original. Meryl Streep probably will as well, but then again, her home movies would get her nominated. Streep, as always, is brilliant, and doesn't even have to resort to an accent. Her character, like Lansbury's in the original, makes you feel all right to be in touch with your inner misogynist.

Washington (in the role originated by Frank Sinatra) is a little more unhinged than in the original, diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome. In general, the movie's kinder to the mentally ill than a movie in 1962 would be.

The movie hangs together well, with no seams showing. The changes made to update the film fit well into the plot for anyone familiar with the original.

But those same changes might make the movie TOO topical. It's very easy to forget now how scary Communism was in the early 1960s and how ruinous McCarthyism could be (the original "candidate," played by James Gregory, was a McCarthyesque red-baiting senator). How well will this version age?

On the other hand, a remake of a 35-year-old song was used over the opening credits. Wyclef Jean gives his rendition of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son," and the words are just as true today as they were then.

Originally posted to 210 West. Read this and other reviews at 210west.com.

Looking for a recipe for dissension? Comcast has it. Take two cable networks designed for technology enthusiasts with very different bents -- newbie G4 for young gamers and veteran TechTV for computer geeks of all ages -- and merge them. Fire the staff of TechTV, the network you bought, and be sure to drop the show that has some of the most fervent fans and a host with a cult following. For good measure, take the network's widely linked archives offline for weeks... Ken Edwards, a 26-year-old database specialist at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, has been watching since ZDTV launched. He claims to own every current game console but only watched one show on the old G4. He tracks some of the backlash to the cancellation of Call for Help and the uncertainty over Laporte's future. Edwards and others are bemused but pleased that Laporte's show has been picked up by G4techTV Canada and may eventually reach the United States through syndication...

Seeing as though I am not Jewish, I probably would not understand the sentiment of fear this movie allegedly engenders, BUT I have read some/partly/most of the Bible and from my understanding ~ SPOILER ALERT~ the movie is just like the Book.

SAN ANTONIO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 2004--Clear Channel Radio has suspended the broadcast of Viacom's Howard Stern show, consistent with its Responsible Broadcasting Initiative announced earlier today. After assessing the content of yesterday's Howard Stern show, Clear Channel worked with local market managers to take swift and decisive action.

"Clear Channel drew a line in the sand today with regard to protecting our listeners from indecent content and Howard Stern's show blew right through it," said John Hogan, president and CEO of Clear Channel Radio. "It was vulgar, offensive, and insulting, not just to women and African Americans but to anyone with a sense of common decency. We will not air Howard Stern on Clear Channel stations until we are assured that his show will conform to acceptable standards of responsible broadcasting," Hogan said.

LOS ANGELES, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Radio station giant Clear Channel Communications Inc. said on Wednesday it was dumping nationally syndicated shock jock Howard Stern from its stations under a new "zero tolerance" policy toward indecency.

In dropping Stern from its six radio outlets that carry his show, Clear Channel (NYSE:CCU - News) cited his interview on Tuesday with Rick Salomon, the man who was filmed having sex with hotel heiress and TV reality star Paris Hilton in a video widely distributed on Internet porn sites.

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When Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, walked onstage with Sigourney Weaver to announce the nominees for the 76th Academy Awards, few thought that a low-budget and little-seen Brazilian film (“City of God”) would rake in two major nominations. Fewer still thought alleged shoo-ins Nicole Kidman (for her solid work in “Cold Mountain”) and Scarlett Johannsen (for her lovely turns in “Lost in Translation” or “The Girl with the Pearl Earring”) would get the shaft. And even fewer still, most of them likely being fired from Miramax Pictures’ marketing department, thought “Cold Mountain” would go without a best picture nod.

It’s an interesting list of nominees, with some glaring omissions (“Kill Bill”) and some terrific additions that add up to what could be one of the most intriguing Oscar races in years. Not since the mid-90s when pictures like “Pulp Fiction” and “Fargo” were considered viable contenders have so many smaller, low-budget films been recognized. That’s not say that the Academy has forgotten about Hollywood spectacle-“Return of the King,” racked up 11 nominations and “Master and Commander” scored 10-but even these pictures have a depth to them that typical Hollywood fare lacks. If anything, for all their massive battles, they are interior epics, more concerned with internal conflict than blowing shit up real good.

Does this indicate a shift in Academy taste? Most likely not, but it does bode well for a lot of smaller pictures to gain some much needed attention.

Here’s a look, with commentary, at the major nominations.

BEST PICTURE

• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• LOST IN TRANSLATION
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• MYSTIC RIVER
• SEABISCUIT

Thanks to a huge publicity push by Universal Pictures, "Seabiscuit" swept in and picked up what Miramax probably considered a lock. In many ways "Seabiscuit" represents the "crowd-pleaser" slot that has been filled by the likes of "Chocolat" or "The Cider House Rules." Whatever the reason, it's a big moment in Oscar history as it marks the first time in 11 years that Miramax hasn't had a film nominated for the top prize.

So how to explain "Cold Mountain's" snubbing? The best bet is a Hollywood backlash towards Miramax. After Miramax earned a degree of infamy for its alleged dirty tricks campaign against last year's nominees, this may be a warning shot fired in the direction of Miramax's hardball tactics. Coupled with the release of Peter Biskind's excellent book, "Down and Dirty Pictures," which paints a highly unflattering portrait of some of Miramax business strategies, this could be a way of serving the company its just desserts or at the very least an attempt to ratchet them down a notch.

As for the other nominees, all are obvious choices, with "Return of the King" clearly the movie to beat after sweeping the Golden Globes on Sunday. While my affection for the "Lord of the Rings" films is lukewarm at best, they are grand achievements and impeccably made epics that have nabbed the zeitgeist. Still my heart lies with Sophia Coppola's remarkable "Lost in Translation," a deeply moving almost-romance. And Clint Eastwood's "Mystic River" still retains its power as a poetic street-level opera about the cycle of violence and the scars it leaves on generation after generation.

BEST DIRECTOR

• Sofia Coppola, LOST IN TRANSLATION
• Clint Eastwood, MYSTIC RIVER
• Peter Jackson, THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• Fernando Meirelles, CITY OF GOD
• Peter Weir, MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD

Once again “Cold Mountain” was snubbed, with director Anthony Minghella being overlooked in favor of Fernando Meirelles of “City of God.” It is clearly the year’s most surprising choice, considering the picture barely received release earlier this year. I’ve yet to see it (it played theaters near 210 West’s central Ohio offices for under a week), but the word is overwhelmingly positive. Still, it doesn’t have a chance, but ultimately the attention it gains from this nomination will have to be reward enough.

As usual the director and best picture nominees don’t sync up, which means “Seabiscuit” won’t likely win best picture. The odds of it happening are rare, but not without precedent-Steven Spielberg took best director in 1998 for “Saving Private Ryan” while “Shakespeare in Love” ganked best picture and last year “Chicago” got best picture while Roman Polanski received best director for “The Pianist.”

Coppola will take the original screenplay award and the honor of being only the third woman and first American woman ever nominated for best director. Not only that, but her win will make her one of the great Hollywood success stories: scion of a Hollywood dynasty goes from acting infamy in "The Godfather, Part III" to well-respected writer/director in a little under 15 years. It's prime fodder for a Hollywood anecdote, and in this case, her work is more than deserving of the accolades.

This category boils down to Eastwood and Jackson. I think Jackson is about as close to a sure thing as can be. His work on the trilogy is almost unparalleled in Hollywood and it’s been pretty clear that by making “Lord of the Rings” the bridesmaid for the last three years the Academy has been waiting to honor the final film as a cumulative achievement. But don’t count Eastwood out. “Mystic River” is regaining momentum thanks to a successful re-release and his professionalism and craft on that film is superb and in many ways could be a factor in priming the pump for an upset.

BEST ACTOR

• Johnny Depp, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
• Ben Kingsley, HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
• Jude Law, COLD MOUNTAIN
• Bill Murray, LOST IN TRANSLATION
• Sean Penn, MYSTIC RIVER

After Bill Murray’s win at the Golden Globes he’s close to being the front-runner. His work in “Translation” is stunning, but all signs point to Penn taking the Award. Penn is an actor who has consistently given great performances and his work in “Mystic River” ranks as one of his best.

While none of the nominees are all that surprising, Johnny Depp’s nod is a bit unexpected. It is a brilliant comedic performance, and made the overlong, underwritten “Pirates” watchable, but Depp’s Oscar will come somewhere else down the line. The most glaring oversight is Paul Giamatti in “American Splendor.” Along with Penn and Murray it was one of the year’s best performances.

BEST ACTRESS

• Keisha Castle-Hughes, WHALE RIDER
• Diane Keaton, SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE
• Samantha Morton, IN AMERICA
• Charlize Theron, MONSTER
• Naomi Watts, 21 GRAMS

In the interests of full disclosure, I admit that of all the nominees I’ve only seen Diane Keaton in “Something’s Gotta Give.” It’s a stellar comic performance, and that will be its jinx, unless she triggers a groundswell of nostalgia.

All signs point to Charlize Theron and her transformation into serial killer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster” as being the performance to beat. The nomination for “Whale Rider” is especially surprising, considering Castle-Hughes is only 13, which in some ways might work in her favor a la Anna Paquin in “The Piano.” And while it may seem funny to some, Uma Thurman deserved a nod for her graceful, hard-assed performance in “Kill Bill.”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Alec Baldwin, THE COOLER
• Benicio Del Toro, 21 GRAMS
• Djimon Hounsou, IN AMERICA
• Tim Robbins, MYSTIC RIVER
• Ken Watanabe, THE LAST SAMURAI

Robbins has got the momentum after his Golden Globe win, and his work as the victim of childhood abuse in “Mystic River” is outstanding. His choice to play his character as a dead man walking, shell-shocked by violence was a wise one, and he has several moments that will break the heart of all but the strongest of souls.

Though a long shot, it would be great to see Baldwin take the Oscar for his ferocious work in “The Cooler.” Over the last decade Baldwin has slowly been finding his niche as a tough-guy character actor and superb comedic actor, and “The Cooler” is the end result. It’s a brutal, funny, and weirdly charming performance.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Shohreh Aghdashloo, HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
• Patricia Clarkson, PIECES OF APRIL
• Marcia Gay Harden, MYSTIC RIVER
• Holly Hunter, THIRTEEN
• Renée Zellweger, COLD MOUNTAIN

The supporting actress category is generally where the Academy surprises. Marcia Gay Harden pulled an upset when she was honored for “Pollock” a few years ago and pretty much everyone remembers Marisa Tomei’s unexpected win for “My Cousin Vinny.” It makes this category that much more difficult to predict, even if Zellweger seems to be the expected winner. That said, don’t be shocked if Aghdashloo or Clarkson walks away with the nod.

The most stunning omission is Scarlett Johansen’s subtle work in “Lost in Translation.” Odds are she split the vote with herself between her work in “The Girl in the Pearl Earring” and “Translation.” She may be out now, but she’s building the kind of career that gets its honors down the road.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS - Denys Arcand
• DIRTY PRETTY THINGS - Steven Knight
• FINDING NEMO - Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds
• IN AMERICA - Jim Sheridan, Naomi Sheridan & Kristen Sheridan
• LOST IN TRANSLATION - Sofia Coppola

The surprising nods for "Dirty Pretty Things" and "Barbarian Invasions" aside, this is clearly Coppola's award. Her quiet, gentle writing for "Translation" wisely utilized silence and atmosphere and had an inherent understanding of the unnerving feeling of romantic and geographic displacement. And "Finding Nemo" is a well-deserved nomination as it was one of the year's most cleanly written and witty mainstream pictures.

The biggest rip here is Quentin Tarantino's writing for "Kill Bill" being passed over. Sure it was a Grand Guignol of grindhouse violence, but "Bill" is an elegantly structured work of B movie genius. Perhaps it's because Tarantino played Solomon and sliced his movie into two parts and the Academy is waiting to honor part two next year, but most likely it's because "Kill Bill" is such a unique piece of work that no one knows quite how to take it.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• AMERICAN SPLENDOR - Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman
• CITY OF GOD - Braulio Mantovani
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING - Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson
• MYSTIC RIVER - Brian Helgeland
• SEABISCUIT - Gary Ross

Despite “City of God’s” other surprise nomination, the adapted screenplay category is “Lord of the Rings’” to lose. It’s nice to see “American Splendor’s” structural innovation recognized, and it’s clearly the best-written piece of all the nominees, but at this point, even with no acting nominations, “Return of the King” is a hobbit-powered steam roller that will take home pretty much everything it’s up for.

Copyright © 2003 - 2004 210 West, All Rights Reserved

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood's greatest fear became a reality on Tuesday as film industry officials said a digital version of an Oscar "screener" was seen on the Internet after months of industry squabbling over whether sending out the videos to Academy Award voters would lead to movie piracy. A copy of Sony Pictures Entertainment's "Something's Gotta Give" that was sent to an Oscar voter was found to be downloadable from the Internet to a home PC, a spokesman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, said. "Sony let us know late last week that one had appeared on the Internet," Academy spokesman John Pavlik told Reuters.

Do you think Peter Jackson will direct the prequel? I am not sure The Hobbit would fit into a 3 hour movie. And considering how liberal he has been with Tolkien with this trilogy, I am not sure a movie would do The Hobbit justice. Unlike LoTR, I did read The Hobbit when I was a kid, and I can just see myself sitting there in the theater cringing. Now that I have seen the LoTR movies I have read (well, OK, listened to) the books. and I now cringe when I watch the movies again.

And do you think Jackson will think of some odd reason why Arwen needs a role in the movie version of The Hobbit? (Yes, I am referring to the LoTR trilogy, Arwen, if you read the books, does NOT have such a large role, but thats show biz.)

So, do you think we will see The Hobbit in the next few years?

Well I must say that I made it through the entire movie without having to take a potty break. I am quite impressed with myself. My "conditioning" played off.

I am sitting here at our local Waffle House at 4 AM, but that is ok, I am a nocturnal animal. This being the case, this might need some revising later, but I wanted to jot down my thoughts while still fresh in my mind.

My buddy Mike had to take photos for the Sentinel-Tribune, so he could not watch this masterpiece. He had to input photos and get ready for a full day of assignments tomorrow. So later this week he is going to want to go see this movie, and I will gladly see Return of the King again, even if it is a solid three and a half hours sitting in the theater.

This movie is more then worth seeing again, for so many reasons. Coming from 3D modeling schooling I was most impressed with the enormous amount of animation mixed with live action (I always notice the CG work first, that’s just me). They blending of the live action and CG were handled very well, and most all the animation was very smooth and with a great amount of detail and blur where appropriate. But I am just a nut when it comes 3D animation. The huge elephants were my favorite, but I do not want to spoil the experience for anyone so I will not go any further on about the animation. Just to say that I was mighty impressed with the progression it has made since The Fellowship of The Ring. They were not kidding when they said The Battle of Helm’s Deep was nothing in comparison to what is in Return of the King. Seeing Massive (the fuzzy logic software built to handle the colossal hordes of men and orc in all the breathtaking battles in this trilogy) handle all the battles in Return of the King was a magnificent experience.

I have not read, or listened to, Return of the King. Since I had not done the same for The Fellowship of the Ring or The Two Towers, I did not want to jade my experience of this third installment. I am glad I have not read Return of the King, as I may have been disappointed in what I did, or did not see.

Humor aided in a larger part of the story this time around, and as Return of the King is by far the darkest of the three movies, it was welcome. There were many moments when the entire theater busted out in laughter. There are some funny moments, more memorable then the rather conservative humor in the last two films.

I do not see how people like my father fall asleep in the middle of watching these movies, the acting, the writing, the visual effects, the landscapes, it is all too much for the senses.. I cannot remember the last time I wanted to see the final chapter to such a good story in a long time.

The Fellowship of the Ring was a very straightforward story, with very little sub plotting. The Fellowship broke apart, and in The Two Towers we had three distinct stories plodding through the lands of Middle Earth. This was all an exercise in out collective attention span as Return of the King jumps from one splinter of the story to the other. But, it never leaves you guessing what happened to who, the pacing is very well shot, or edited, as the case may be.

Musically I think that the various themes, such as the Shire theme, for example, were mixed into the mood and plot points a little more smoothly then in Two Towers. We got the soundtrack to Return of the King a few weeks back, and I have been listening to it. I enjoy it much more then The Two Towers soundtrack.

I could go on to so many points I found astonishing to the senses, but I want you to experience this last journey through Middle earth yourself, not read about it here: go see this movie! You will laugh, you will cry, and three and a half hours later you will, for some strange reason, not want it to end.

The Hobbit anyone?

The tune that the team sings at the table in the film's trailer, is the theme from the original TV series.

*drools on keyboard*

Oh yea, November baby! Remastered "frame by frame" and in 5.1 audio. and a 4th disc of extras! I cannot wait!

Here is a great, yet a little dated, link posted by Jake. Thanks Jake.

I just read in a short interview in Maxim with Harrison Ford that they are still working on the script. Ford said they do not have an ending yet. So who knows when it will be coming out.