Plum Crazy

What If?

What if Monster Abraham Lincoln and Monster Thomas Jefferson decided to get together and attack Washington D.C.?

Quickie Movie Reviews

With Oscar season in full swing, I've been making it a point to see as many of the contenders for major awards as possible. In short order, I've seen 6+ films. Thought it would be an interesting exercise to run down the list in order and provide thumbnail reviews.

Notes On A Scandal: taut, riveting drama with superb performances by Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. Both deserve nominations for best actress.

Babel: best story is the one about the deaf mute Japanese girl. Neatly links together four story threads that show how the smallest moments ripple throughout the globe, and how, despite the interconnectedness of the world, we really still can't communicate with each other.

The Queen: lighter fare than I expected. Quiet and dignified with an excellent Helen Mirren actually making Queen Elizabeth II a likable, sympathetic figure who is not sure how to mesh tradition with the demands of the modern world.

Little Miss Sunshine: thankfully rented this one through pay per view. Could stomach maybe only half an hour of this utterly depressing movie that made me cringe. Would like to make it through the whole thing, but I don't know if I can.

Pan's Labyrinth: no light fairy tell this one. A dark, grim movie, oftentimes brutal, but a top notch story demonstrating how we all need escapism from the real world. Deserves a nod for Best Picture period, not just Best Foreign Language Feature.

Venus: Peter O'Toole remains vibrant and charming, yet it's a highly disturbing story that is difficult to bear.

Letters from Iwo Jima: on a par with Babel and The Departed as a best picture candidate. In its quietness, despite the subject matter, it's similar to The Queen. Deftly humanizes the faces behind the war and makes you care deeply about the Japanese soldiers who are doomed from the start. It's amazing how Clint Eastwood has transitioned from star to one of the best directors of the last 15 years.

How To Beat The Movie Concession Stand

Step 1: on a cold winter day, wear an oversized down parka

Step 2: stuff two cans of diet coke into each pocket of the coat

Step 3: open and drink one can during movie number one (Notes On A Scandal)

Step 4: in between movies, leave the theater, cross street, buy a candy bar, and eat bar before reentering theater

Step 5: open and drink second can during movie number two (Babel)

Total cost: $1.35 $1.65

Marginal cost: $0.75 for candy bar

I Wish I Had An Oscar Golden Statue

Shakespeare's Sister wants to know:

Fill in the blank: When the fuck is ___________ going to win an Oscar?

She fills in the blank with Don Cheadle. I fill it in with Peter O'Toole.

Yes, that's right. Peter O'Toole has never won an Oscar.

No, that lame-ass "Lifetime Achievement Because We Should Have Given You An Oscar Oh Only About 7 Times Now" award doesn't count.

"Lawrence of Arabia"
"Becket"
"The Lion in Winter"
"Goodbye, Mr. Chips"
"The Ruling Class"
"The Stuntman"
"My Favorite Year"

I'm pretty sure he's going to be nominated this year for "Venus". My prediction is that he'll win it out of the "Holy shit, we've fucked this up so many times before" guilt factor, much the way Paul Newman finally won for "The Color of Money". Which is not to say that O'Toole will deserve it for this particular role. But fuckin' A, you morons at the Academy cannot let him die without winning a real Oscar.

Portions for Foxes

I admit that I don't get or particularly care for the video, but the song and lead singer are hot.

Check it out:

Portions for Foxes

UPDATE: Embedded video removed to prevent it from screwing up Mac browsers and auto-playing in Windows browsers. Link to video is above.

Psyched!

Read an article in today's NY Post that the Sci Fi Channel is developing a prequel to Battlestar Galactica. Set 50 years in the past, Caprica traces the development of the Cylons, those mean nasty toasters that have the human race on the run in BSG. It's touted as a family drama, not a sci-fi show; still, I can't wait for this to air. BSG is awesome!

Who Dies?

I was going to do a post that I'm glad Lt. Gaeta didn't get bumped off on Battlestar Galactica and is back in the fold (not that I really thought it would happen), but something else caught my attention on the show's video blog: Who dies? Apparently one of the top 7 or top 10 characters will be killed off this season and various actors on the show postulate whom it might be. First order of business, who are the top 7 characters on the show. Here's my spin:

The first three are easy.

1. Admiral Adama
2. President Roslin
3. Gauis Baltar

Now the going gets tough.

4. #6 (she and Baltar are tied at the hip; can't have one without the other)
5. Lee Adama
6. Colonel Tigh
7. Boomer

Would be interested in hearing other takes on this. Cue Lesley.

As for who might be bumped off, Aaron Douglas (Chief Petty Officer Tyrol) speculates that it might be Lee, and that makes sense. He's not critical to the show - the top 4 are the only ones critical to the show - and it would set up a nice subplot in which Admiral Adama has to deal with the death of his other son. He gets my vote as the most likely to be bumped off. The next most likely in my book is Tigh. He's a major character and would be another big hit for Adama. Otherwise, the list is endless. Boomer, Starbuck, Helo, or the Chief, to name a few. My bet is on someone key, though they did knock off Billy last year. Stay tuned.

Update: On second thought, it could be Starbuck. Adama is closer to her than Tigh. He loves her like a daughter.

The Doctor

Doctor Who?

Exactly.

5 episodes into the 10th Doctor, and I'm fairly sure that David Tennant is my favorite Doctor ever*. Up until this season, the 4th Doctor, aka Tom Baker, was, unoriginally, my favorite Doctor. Christopher Eccleston, the 9th Doctor, was my second favorite.

There's just something about David Tennant's portrayal, however. He's got some of the goofiness that endeared Tom Baker's Doctor to me. But by his third episode, he had managed to keep that, yet work it into something more mischievous, something more transcendent. He's taken episodes that should be as cheesy as any other Doctor Who episode, but, IMO, managed to rise above that and take the entire episode with him. Part of the fun of Doctor Who is its cheesiness (really, aliens that resemble silver traffic cones with plungers sticking out their heads are wonderful), but Tennant's managed to retain those elements while turning them into something better.

Spoilers will be brought forth, so if you don't want to know, don't go below the fold.

You start to see this in Tooth and Claw. Now, if you're a Doctor Who fan, you might be thinking "Queen Victoria. Evil, fighting monks. An alien cum werewolf. How can this not be as cheesy as anything that doesn't contain Daleks?" Somehow, though, it isn't. I'm not going to go as far as to say it's really good television, but it does manage to transcend the cheesiness of that plot. Part of this is David Tennant's obvious fun at playing the role and speaking with a Scottish accent. Since he is Scottish, the latter shouldn't be a great surprise. It may well have just been easier for him to speak with a Scottish accent than the more proper English accent he adopts as the Doctor. Regardless, it works.

Tennant really starts to come into his own, though, in School Reunion. The subplot with the intelligence-sucking aliens (it's a bit more complex than that, but leave it as is for now) is somewhat annoying. However, the main plot - the reunion of the 4th Doctor's primary companion, Sarah Jane Smith, with the 10th Doctor and her ultimate bonding with the "competition", Rose - is fantastic. Tennant manages to portray the Doctor's mix of emotions at seeing Sarah Jane again astonishingly well. His joy at being reunited with her. His pride in her achievements. His sadness at knowing that she will continue to age and, eventually, die while he remains alive. His ability to get Rose to really understand that one day, she will no longer be his companion either. It's here that you first begin to see what will define the 10th Doctor. The joy of time travel, of exploring the universe, sweet yet bitter as intermingled with the loneliness of being the last Time Lord in a universe where all other creatures, all other friends, will eventually die. In a way, this makes him the most rounded of all the Doctors.

The Girl in the Fireplace cements this incarnation of the Doctor. It has been the best episode of this round of episodes. Again, the bare plot wouldn't lead you to think that. A seemingly deserted spaceship with a series of time windows onto the life of Madame de Pompadour. Clockwork creatures in 18th century French costume trying to scavenge her brain to power their broken spaceship. The Doctor appearing through these time windows to save her. On the face of it, it sounds quite silly. But it isn't. It's haunting. In part, the music that plays under the scenes between Madame de Pompadour and the Doctor contributes to that feeling. In part, the portrayal of Madame de Pompadour by Sophia Myles (who was great in Art School Confidential) contributes. The most important element, though, is David Tennant's ability to play sheer exhilaration always tinged with loneliness.

The only criticism I have of the episodes with Tennant is not one against Tennant himself. It's that the characters of Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith become increasingly irrelevant as Tennant plays against his guest stars. I think that Billie Piper and Noel Clarke just can't stand up against him. I almost find myself wishing that the 10th Doctor would travel without companions, freeing him up to interact with the people he finds without the distraction of his companions. That, though, would not be true to what Doctor Who is. As Billie Piper is departing the series after this season, here's hoping Freema Agyeman, her replacement, can stand up to David Tennant's Doctor.

Long live the 10th Doctor!

*Other than an abiding affection I have for Rowan Atkinson's portrayal of Doctor Who in a Comic Relief sketch. Of course, it's not serious, but the thought of Edmund Blackadder flitting about through time and space fighting plunger-headed aliens and Jonathan Pryce as the Master is awesome. This particular sketch had the added benefit of Joanna Lumley becoming the final incarnation of the Doctor, the first, and likely only, female Doctor. She and the Master ran off together.

A Productive Day

I had a most productive day yesterday. The third season of Battlestar Galactica starts this Friday, and I wanted a refresher on the first two seasons. Granted, there's a disk - Battlestar Galactica: The Story So Far - that would do a nice job in refreshing my memory, but for a SciFi geek like me, that's not good enough. Instead, I want to watch the first two seasons again. Married life, the marriage and honeymoon, and Rosh Hashana last weekend left me far behind, having seen only the miniseries so far. So yesterday, I decide on a marathon: the first six episodes from season one. I started the day first by catching up on Stargate Atlantis - I missed the final three episodes of the season - and then segued into BSG. I managed to sneak in a total of seven episodes yesterday and could have done the whole season - no TV burn out here - if not for dinner plans last night. Today shall be equally productive. Another episode down, four more to go, which I will find the time to get in. Then season two is up!

The Groovy Thing about iTunes

You can hear that Brian Wilson got the win for the San Francisco Giants one night and be listening to the Beach Boys Greatest Hits the next night.

Cross posted on THTRB.

Rockstar: ???

So apparently the supergroup formerly known as Supernova will have to change its name, after a court injunction was issued in favor of the original punk band Supernova.

Regardless, did I tell you that the supergroup formerly known as Supernova was one I was destined to dislike? They didn't choose Toby after all. They went with Lukas, the one I liked least. So now I can feel totally free to completely ignore them. In fairness, I probably would have done that anyway.

Except Jason, dude? You're still metal. I look forward to the day you leave them and return to your roots.

Chapter 2180

In which I confess my embarrassing love for the reality show "Rockstar: Supernova".

Let me make one thing clear right from the start. Supernova is a band I am destined to dislike. Consider the following:

Gilby Clarke. OK, so Gilby did some interesting things back in the day. The day meaning the time before he replaced Izzy Stradlin in Guns 'n Roses. But since then? Look, I never liked Guns 'n Roses, and that's the genre he seems most into these days. I wish he'd go back towards the punk genre he started in. He was so visibly excited when Dilana said she was going to sing a punk rock song. He clearly loves it. But it doesn't seem to be what he's performing these days. Therefore, strike one.

Tommy Lee. Ah, Motley Crue. Yep, never liked 'em. Tommy is a funny guy, but he's not getting paid to talk in Supernova. He's getting paid to make music, and I do not like his music. Strike two.

Jason Newsted. Dude, what are you thinking? You were in Metallica! You are metal. You are awesome. You do not belong with Gilby Clarke and Tommy Lee. This saddens me. However, since your last stint with a straight-up rock band lasted for, oh, about a year, I have doubts about how long you'll actually be able to stick this out. The metal. She is calling you. Heed the voice of your love. But you are not strike three. Not by a long shot.

Their original music. They've played a few songs now on the show, and I haven't liked one of them. I'm under no illusion that my taste in music is any predictor of mainstream success. No, I take that back. It may well be negatively correlated. If I don't like a band, it could be an indication of high potential for mainstream success. I'd have to run the numbers. Back to the point of this paragraph, though. I just don't like their music, and that, my few, my happy few readers, is strike three.

So, given that I will dislike Supernova, why do I watch this show? Why do I love this show? The good news is, I mostly don't have to listen to Supernova. I get to listen to some talented singers sing non-Supernova songs. And Dave Navarro. Dave Navarro scores high on my awesome meter. He's not Henry Rollins or Joey Ramone (sadly no one is Joey Ramone anymore), but he is up there. Look, I know some of you are going to point out that he wears mascara and nail polish. That his fashion choices can best be summed up as "satanesque". To which I reply: Your point? He's hot, deal. It's fair to say that devilish androgyny works for me. Back in my wayward youth, I totally crushed on the lead singer for Dead or Alive. Just thinking about how he looked back then... And Tim Curry in fishnets and a teddy..

But I digress. On Planet Lesley, Dave Navarro = hot + awesome = woo hoo! [Maths quiz for you all. If Dave Navarro = hot + awesome, what does Jason Newsted equal? Reread my paragraph on Jason to help you solve this equation. Answer below the jump.]

On to the performances themselves. Generally, I enjoy watching these. I'm not a fan of "American Idol", since it contains two things I don't like* - singers who can't sing and people singing Whitney Houston songs. Singers who can't sing singing Whitney Houston songs is a geometric progression of things I don't like. It becomes a thing I hate. "Rockstar: Supernova" is not like that. All the performers are professionals. They've recorded and performed regularly with their own bands. They've just never made it big. Further, they also (pretty much) sing rock songs. Not much pop. No country, or at least not country that is un-rocked up. No Broadway show tunes. No one's insisting they show their "range" in order to sing with a band that won't be performing, you know, pop, country, or Broadway show tunes. Just singers who can sing singing rock songs that I mostly like. This is A Good Thing.

Now that we're into the final week, let me address the remaining rockers. First, in one way I was sorry to see Storm go last week, as I think she's quite talented and has a good stage presence. On the other hand, she is not the right person to front those three guys. That is not an insult (see also my explanation of my destined dislike for Supernova).

Lukas. OK, see post below for my thoughts on Lukas. I just don't care for the guy. I know he's got hordes of screaming fans and, you know, fine. He's definitely got edge and a stage presence. But his musical stylings just don't work for me. If any rabid Lukas fans happen here, good on you. This is a personal preference. You're totally entitled to love the guy and think he's the greatest thing since the vibrator. I know you're out there, and I don't think you're nuts or stupid or anything insulting for it. So don't tell me on my blog how stupid or whatever you think I am. Go to one of your happy little message boards and tell the world about it. I don't think he'll win, but IMO, he's the second most likely to do so. The band reacts well to him.

Toby. Not my cup of tea. But he's got a good voice and people seem to react well to him. I think he's going to win this contest. He's a good time rocker, and Supernova is heading in that direction (again, see my destined dislike for this band). So, to quote Toby, "Evs".

Magni. Magni rocks. Love him. Love his musical choices. Great voice. Muted stage presence, though, so not right to front this band. If they ever do "Rockstar: Coldplay", though, he is totally their man. Or "Rockstar: Live", because if he shaved the goatee, he and Ed Kowalczyk would be like twins.

Dilana. Wow, I love her voice. She doesn't have the greatest range, I'll grant you, but neither does Mick Jagger, so what does that mean? No one's asking her to sing outside her range. She also has phenomenal stage presence. She really works well with the band, too. She is hands down my favorite of the rockers. For weeks, I thought, "She's the one." In many ways, I still think that. But her reaction to the disastrous press clinic kills her chances, IMO. She really freaked out afterwards. Unfortunately, if you're going to front a high-profile band, the media pressure is going to be enormous, and I don't think she can handle it. Most people couldn't, so that's not an insult. It does, however, have to be a big factor in deciding who you're going to put in that position.

In order of likelihood of winning, IMO: Toby, Lukas, Dilana, Magni. We'll find out on Wednesday if I have any grasp of Supernova "reality".

*If you are an "American Idol" fan, do not take that as an insult. My likes or dislikes are precisely that - mine - and are not intended to cast aspersion on those who disagree. Unless I explicitly state otherwise. In this case, I do not.

Jason Newsted = Dave Navarro - hot

Showing my work:

Dave Navarro = hot + awesome
Dave Navarro - hot = awesome
Jason Newsted = awesome
If Jason Newsted = awesome, and awesome = Dave Navarro - hot, using the transitive property of equality, Jason Newsted = Dave Navarro - hot

Sci Fi Totally Hooked Me Up

geek

10 original webisodes of Battlestar Galactica! Sweeeet! Plus the teasers for Season 3 look awesome!

/geek

King Stephen

The only problem with picking up a Stephen King book is that you have to put it down at some point. Unless you park yourself on the sofa early in the morning and read all day. Today's a perfect day to curl up with the King book I'm reading, Dreamcatcher. Gloomy outside. Nothing better than a spooky book in the gloom and doom of a tropical storm.

Snakes On A Movie Review

What can I say about Snakes on a Plane? Perhaps that it achieves levels of awesomeness that only a movie featuring Samuel L. Jackson fighting snakes on a plane could achieve. Few things could be more awesome. Maybe Christopher Walken fighting snakes on a plane. Or, even better, Samuel L. Jackson fighting Christopher Walken and the snakes that Walken put on the plane. Either you will appreciate this, or you will not. If you won't, you will hate this film. Don't see it. But if you will, buy yourself a ticket.

If I were to level one critique at this film, it would be that the writer and director forgot that there is only one reason to see this movie. To see Samuel L. Jackson fight snakes. On a plane. They spent far too much time setting up the action. And for what? This isn't a great plot. It's not even a good plot. So why waste time trying to get it to make sense? It just doesn't. No criminal mastermind is going to try to bring down a plane by putting snakes on it. Cut right to the part where Samuel L. Jackson fights the snakes on the plane. No one cares why the snakes are on the plane; it makes just as much sense, and it gives the audience what it's waiting for sooner. But once you wade through the too long set up, the movie pays off on its selling point in spades.

BTW, best line in the movie is not, in fact, "Enough is enough! I have had it with these muthafuckin' snakes on this muthafuckin' plane!" No, it is not that. It is the line Samuel L. Jackson utters after the poisonous snake expert tells him that someone put a pheromone on the plane to drug the snakes and make them act aggressively. "Great. Snakes on crack."

UPDATE: Forget what I have to say about Snakes on a Plane. If you don't care about spoilers, go see what Geoffrey Chaucer has to say about it.

No Thank You

I took a pass on United 93, and despite the positive reviews from the NY tabloids, I will take a pass on WTC as well. I lived through 9/11 and don’t particularly want any reminders of that awful day, at least not yet. Too soon. May always be too soon. I probably feel the same way that people who lived through it feel about Pearl Harbor movies. At a distance, born twenty-four years after Pearl Harbor, I have no problems seeing movies about it. I suspect that my Mom and Dad and other people of their generation would or did.

Check It Out

I just snagged the two Spiderman flicks and the first two Superman movies on Amazon.com for $35 total. These are new DVDs. I haven't explored to see how wide this blow-out sale extends, but worth checking out.

Superman Returns

Awesome (though not as good as the original). Seeing it in IMAX 3D, mindblowing. More to follow.

Will I Return?

I have decidely ambivalent feelings about Superman Returns. On the one hand, I love larger-than-life superhero pictures. From X-Men to Spiderman to Batman Begins to the first two Superman movies, my favorites of all times, I crave the excitement, the world-is-ending story lines, the special effects - the whole spectacle. The buzz so far is positive for Superman Returns. However, the first two were so good - and so different than the current incarnation, which appears X-Men like - that I'm not sure about seeing the movie when it opens next week. For me, Christopher Reeves will always be Superman and Gene Hackman will always be Lex Luthor. I don't know whether I can handle a serious verious as opposed to campy and humorous take on the comic legend and an evil instead of funny Luthor. The tipping point may be that Superman Returns will be playing in IMAX and 3D. Like Cars, which I decided to see after learning it was playing in DLP at the Ziegfeld Theater, I may not able to the resist the lure of Superman in such an eye-popping format. My mind will be made up next week when the first true reviews come in and the movie is in front of me.

Dear J.J. Abrams

If, in fact, rumors are true and your planned Star Trek movie will center on the early days of Kirk and Spock at the Space Academy, the idea of casting Matt Damon in the Captain Kirk role is, well, ludicrous. Matt Damon is almost 36. William Shatner was only 38 when he first started playing Captain Kirk. So that 2 year age difference? Yeah, so not going to work. Try an actor in his 20s.

Thanks for your kind attention to this matter.

Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together

No, I reference not chocolate and peanut butter, although they are two great tastes, and they do taste great together. However, today I am talking about Superhero movies and Bollywood movies.

Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings at a single bound -- look, up there in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane, it's ... Krrish?

Movie insiders say the film is set for huge success because not only can the eponymous hero tackle villains and save the world, but he can also do so while singing and dancing -- a talent Hollywood superheroes such as Batman and Superman have kept hidden under their supercloaks to date.

I so have to see this movie.

Age of Consent

So yesterday I'm watching the trailer for "Marie Antoinette", and all I can think is "Wow, so New Order predates the French Revolution. Sweet!"

Seriously though, how good could this movie be if the trailer consists solely of scenes featuring Kirsten Dunst running around to a New Order song? No dialogue is heard. So unless the entire movie consists of a soundtrack of 80's New Order music and Kirsten Dunst, which, to be fair, seems unlikely at best*, I'm guessing this will not be a good movie.

*Although if it does, I'm so there just for the New Order soundtrack. On the other hand, I could just play my New Order songs on my stereo. Yeah, never mind.

Hello, My Name Is Inigo Montoya

Hooray, The Princess Bride is coming to DVD on 6/13. It's too late for me to wax poetic about this wonderful and charming movie. I will let Roger Ebert's review do all the talking. One movie I must own.

Because What Isn't Improved...

...by having a drunk, sarcastic robot?

Yay! According to Fry Billy West, 26 more episodes of Futurama are on the way.

Hey, A Sci Fi Meme!

The Countess points me to a list of the 100 science fiction books you have to read. She then lists the ones she's read and the ones she wants to read. So in lieu of actual thinking right now (I'm giving myself a facial mask, which is not conducive to seriousness), let me do the same. Listed below the fold.

Books I've read:

• Foundation by Isaac Asimov (actually I've read all the books in that series.)
  
• Dune by Frank Herbert (ditto for the books in that series actually written by Frank Herbert. Twice.)
  
• Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
  
• Ringworld by Larry Niven
  
• The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
  
• Heritage of Hastur by Marion Zimmer Bradley (again, read all the books about Darkover.)
  
• The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
  
• Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
  
• I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
  
• Brave New World by Alduous Huxley
  
• 1984 by George Orwell (this still stands as the most depressing book I've ever read.)
  
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
  
• Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
  
• Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (I am surprised to see this on a list of sci fi books, although it's a personal favorite.)
  
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (along with all the other books by Douglas Adams.)
  
• The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
  
• Hyperion by Dan Simmons (a matter of preference, as I did not like this book at all.)

Books I want to read:

• All the books on the list by Robert Heinlein
  
• All those by Philip K. Dick
  
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
  
• Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (I've read and loved all the Amber books, so I figure I'd like this.)

Any suggestions for others on the list I haven't read or named as books I want to read?

What have we learned? That I haven't really read any Robert Heinlein, and how can I call myself a sci fi fan and not have read any Robert Heinlein? I must rectify.

The Withdrawal Begins

It just hit me now. No new episode of Battlestar Galactica tonight! What's a girl to do?*

*Oh, all right, hush. I went out both Wednesday and Thursday nights. I'm going out tomorrow. I am way too tired to go out tonight. It's a book or DVD for me.

Inquiring Minds. . .

. . . want to know. Who's the basis for Bob Dylan's Positively 4th Street? Who pissed him off that much?

Party On

I do want to see Dave Chappelle's Block Party. It's gotten solid reviews - NY Daily News loves it and Roger Ebert likes it - but I think I'll wait for it on DVD. Chappelle made me a fan with his brilliant comedy in Undercover Brother. Yet I'm not 100% intto his regular shtick. I could never quite get into his cable show. So I'll wait for the DVD. In the meantime, I need to get around to this year's Oscar contenders. I've only seen two of them - Munich and Good Night, and Good Luck - and I'd like to see Syriana, too.

Mr. Lutor

Says here that Kevin Spacey is playing Lex Luthor in the upcoming Superman Returns. Well, he definitely has the hair line for it, but phooey. Although he can camp it up, he's probably going to play the role straight. There is only one Lex Lutor (how Ned Beatty's character pronounced Luthor) and that's Gene Hackman. He was a riot. All he wanted was a little beachfront property: Australia.

Beam Me Up Scotty

First chewing gum. Then bone chips. Or first bone chips. Then chewing gum. Among celebrity items that have become collectibles in this mixed up world. You can now add William Shatner's kidney stone to the list. He sold it for a cool 25k to GoldenPalace.com, an online casino that plans to include the stone in a tour of unusual items. Granted it, he sold it for charity, but this piece of drek sold for more than my fiancee's engagement ring was apprised for. What a world. What a world.

Yet Another Reason to Hate the Record Labels

Their insane licensing fees. Because, you know, there's nothing like stifling the desires of consumers to really make them want your product.

More often, though, skyrocketing music-clearance fees are becoming major stumbling blocks for DVD reissues, often delaying or even completely derailing releases. Take "WKRP in Cincinnati," for example: The 1970s sitcom used so much classic rock that it would cost 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment a mint to clear the tracks. Fox has suggested that it still is considering releasing "WKRP," but others are not optimistic that the comedy and similar shows of its kind will ever make it into the market.

The record labels really need to get over themselves. There is no right for them to make outsize profits in perpetuity.

Music for the Masses

There's a transit strike. It's cold(ish) outside. And I'm sitting at my desk at home listening to music. I want to share. So enjoy (please don't stream).

Playground Love by Air.

This will expire.

Idol Thoughts

I frequently have the same conversation with Lesley about American Idol. Of the rock stars of the last fifty years, who would actually have stood a chance in their younger days to win. The show is all about looks, voice, stage presence, and the ability to sing a wide variety of music. There are certain Hall of Fame rockers who never would have gotten past the first round while there are others who probably would have won hands down. Here's my take on who would have gotten the shaft and who would have made it through.

Losers
Bob Dylan - can't sing and ugly
Bruce Springsteen - can't sing
Paul Simon - too short and not good looking enough
Rod Stewart - bad voice and not especially attractive
John Lennon - doesn't have the looks or the voice
Neil Young - no voice, no looks, and the original grunge artist

It goes to show you the fallacy of American Idol. Some of the greatest and most successful artists in rock history, not to mention the most talented (Stewart excluded), couldn't cut it in today's world of teen idols.

Winners
Paul McCartney - looks and voice
Elvis Presley - ditto plus great presence on stage
Cher - voice, looks, and personality
Judy Collins - voice and looks
Michael Jackson - a true pop phenomenon in his younger, saner days
Roger Daltrey - looks, voice, and charisma

On the Cusp
Mick Jagger - ugly as sin but great charisma
Joni Mitchell - beautiful voice but average looks

Anybody I missed?

Waltzing Jon

Cool. Thanks to my Fun Cash dollars from the Columbia House DVD club, I am getting The Last Waltz for shipping charges only. All in all about $4. Perfect.

Friday Random Ten "We Have the Technology" Edition

Finally, I have broadband internet access, telephone service, and cable television in my new apartment!

The Race - Yello
Canon - Pachelbel
Union City Blue - Blondie
I Don't Care - The Ramones
Dead End Street - The Kinks
Why - Bronski Beat
Brand New Low - Treble Charger
Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits
Let Me Sing and I'm Happy - Michael Feinstein
Riders on the Storm - The Doors

Window on the World

Never doubt me about all things John Hiatt. Yesterday, a co-worker was listening to a song - Window on the World - that I immediately recognized as a John Hiatt tune. It wasn't Hiatt singing, but I commented that it was a Hiatt song. My co-worker insisted not. I insisted yes. This morning, I dug up the tune on Hiatt's Beneath This Gruff Exterior cd. Monday I get to say I told you so.

A Real Junkie

It's been ages since I listened to the Cowboy Junkies. I lost sight of them for years, but a co-worker has a best of CD, and it's in the player right now, reminding me again of what I enjoy so much about the group. I really like their mellow, bluesy band of rock and roll - it's a funky sound - and the voice of Margo Timmins. Might wind up listening to it all day.

Miscasting?

Already dubious about seeing Leonardo DiCaprio in the upcoming Martin Scorsese movie The Departed, I have more reason to doubt. DiCaprio stars opposite Matt Damon in the movie, playing an undercover cop who has infilitrated the Boston mob and is beginning to become unglued. Damon, on the other hand, plays a mobster who has infilitrated the police. I really think Scorsese has the roles backwards. I much more see Damon, who is the more accomplished actor, as the cop in too deep and trying to maintain a grip, while DiCaprio, who comes across as a punk, seems better cast in the less demanding role of a hood. Of course, going against the obvious could be a master stroke. It worked wonders in Showtime's drama Street Time, in which Rob Morrow was cast as the hood rather than the cop and Scott Cohen was cast as the conflicted and dark cop rather than the hood. Time will tell.

Quid Pro Quo

I avoid Leonardo DiCaprio movies like the plague, but assuming that my current girlfriend is still in my life next year, which is a safe bet, I will have no choice but to see him in Martin Scorsese's The Departed. Judy wants to see the movie because part of it was shot in the bar owned by the family of a child she teaches. Because the parents live in the same building as the bar, she has been in the bar on numerous ocassions, most recently on Sunday.

There, however, will have to be a quid pro quo. We must see at least one, preferably more, George Clooney movies. Judy doesn't like Clooney because not enough of the money he and other celebrities raised for 9/11 families went to the families. She saw him making excuses why on a talk show and hasn't been a fan since. Well, tough luck, I say. He's a much better actor than DiCaprio and much more likable. He's also cut his teeth directing two movies, including the stellar Good Night, And Good Luck, and owns a piece of Section 8 productions with Steven Soderbergh. Thus, when Syriana opens, we are seeing it, unless it gets putrid reviews.

Friday Random Ten "Budget Season" Edition

Budgets still consume my life.

Super Freak - Rick James
Blue Skies - Betty Hutton
Junco Partner - The Clash
Dear Prudence - Siouxsie and the Banshees
Avalon - Roxy Music
Autumn Shade - The Vines
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - Sylvester
1977 - The Clash
Downtown - Petula Clark
I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow - John Hartford

The Hills Are Alive...

...with the sound of crying.

Yes, Julie Andrews haters, suck it up. The opening to The Sound of Music makes me cry every single time. I see Julie Andrews on the hill top, arms spread wide, twirling around while the music swells, and the waterworks just start. You're all heartless, heartless I say, to hate her and this movie! How did my readership ever attract such a high percentage of Julie Andrews haters anyway?

Another one that gets me is the singing of the Sabbath prayer in Fiddler on the Roof. Also at the end where they're singing about Anatevka. Even thinking about it makes me misty.

In Honor of the Weather

Wow, it's actually not raining today! So in honor of the ray of sunshine (it's not exactly sunny, but still), I bring you:

Go Sailor - Ray of Sunshine