Cars 2 Teaser!

I've been wanting to blog about this for a while now, but I wanted to get the pomp and circumstance of my 2000th entry out of the way.  That's done, so let's get to it!

My beloved Pixar just released the first trailer for their animated blockbuster of 2011, Cars 2.








I've already told everyone I know my extreme disappointment with this.  First up, I'm very upset with the whole "animated films as franchises" concept.  That largely stems from the fact that Shrek 2 was the first movie I found so terrible that I wanted to throw things at the screen.  And lets face it, DreamWorks is really running the "animated film as franchise" concept into the ground.  We've had a total of four Shreks with a prequel in development, and we're getting Madagascar 3, Kung Fu Panda 2, and How to Train Another Dragon.  So I don't like how Pixar seems to be following this formula right now, with Toy Story 3 this year, Cars 2 next year, and Monsters, Inc 2 in 2012.

And secondly, out of all of Pixars films, why the hell did Cars 2 demand a sequel?  It is on record as Pixar's worst reviewed and lowest grossing movie.  (Bear in mind, with Pixar, "worst reviewed" tends to mean it only got 3.5 out of 4 instead of a full 4, so Pixar on a bad day is still pretty good.  Argh!  I'm a Pixar apologist!)  Well, actually, I think another blogger hit it on the head.  Despite low grosses and lukewarm reviews, Cars is Pixar's #1 film...in terms of merchandise sales.  Every little boy goes through a phase where they're all about Hot Wheels, and the Cars franchise ties into that quite nicely.

The plot has our hero of the first film, Lightening McQueen (once again voiced by Owen Wilson) participating in a series of races around the world.  Meanwhile, his faithful sidekick Mater (once again voiced by Larry the Cable Guy) gets mistaken for a secret agent and gets embroiled in all kinds of espionage adventures. 

The director is longtime animated film producer Brad Lewis, who's last production was Pixar's Ratatouille.  Cars/Toy Story/A Bug's Life director/head of Disney animation John Lasseter is co-directing.  It hits theatres June 24.

My 2000th Blog Entry!

Around 10 years ago I was reading an advice columnist in the Edmonton Journal.  The young lady writing in for advice said she recently went on a date with someone, in which this date mentioned he had a blog.  This young lady went home, read this blog, and wasn’t too impressed with some of the things this man had written.  The question:  should I dump this guy, based on what he wrote in his blog?  The answer:  dump him immediately, because anyone who has a blog is an attention-starved loser. 

Words that hit home for me because I’d been blogging for about six months at that point.  And because of those words, around every six months or so I take a good hard look at this blog, and now, the entire world of my online footprint, and try to figure out why I keep putting out there what I keep putting out there.  No matter what I decide, I ultimately choose to keep going, and I have for at least 11 years now.  It’s been going on for so long that now I’ve hit this, my 2000th blog entry.  2000 entries!  2000 things that have been burning in my mind that I just needed to share it with the world!  

Latest Targ's Up!

Guess who's back...back again. I wound up taking a longer break than expected from U62: The Targ, but I'm back from holiday and making radio shows again!

For Episode 4.05: The Turkey Hangover, I tell you how I spent my Thanksgiving vacation, sample the KFC Double Down, and discuss the Oilers cheerleaders! And in my regular features, I finally tackle one of the films that I started doing Fishing in the Discount Bin for.

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Tron and Brave Stuff

As I've said to many friends this year, about the only movie that I'm 100% excited for is Tron Legacy, aka the 28-years-after-the-first-one Tron sequel.  And yesterday, Disney finally unveiled the final movie poster for Tron Legacy! 

Of course, part of the appeal of this poster is it's designed to mimic the art and poses of the movie poster for the first one. 

December 17 can't come soon enough! 

And, we've got some eyebrow-raising news from the world of Pixar.  The upcoming Pixar film Brave just lost its director. 

The original director was Brenda Chapman.  The announcement that she was directing was quite a high-profile announcement for Pixar, as she was the first woman directing a Pixar film.  Chapman also helped develop the story, drawing on her own knowledge of Scottish folklore.  No word yet on why she's been removed from the project, just the cryptic announcement that she's no longer with Pixar.

The new director is Mark Andrews, whose last directing credit is the Pixar short One Man Band. 

Again, directors getting shuffled around on animated films happens all the time in Hollywood.  Pixar also did this with Ratatouille, when original director Jan Pinkava was replaced with Brad Bird.  Disney also did similar director shuffles with Bolt and Tangled.  But, again, as I mentioned, with the high-profile announcement of Brenda Chapman as being Pixar's first female director, this is getting a little more coverage. 

Brave follows the adventures of a rebellious princess in medeival Scotland.  Celebrity voices include Reese Witherspoon, Emma Thompson, and Billy Connolly.  It hits theatres Summer 2012. 

Mark Doubles Down

As I've blogged several times in the past, I love fast food.  I'm always on the search for the newest and best fast food tastes.  And one fast food I've always had a soft spot for is Kentucky Fried Chicken.  When I was a kid, KFC was symbolic of being too lazy to cook and the family all gathered in front of the TV.  Working the most hellish job I ever worked, KFC provided a welcome break on the rare times I earned a lunch break.  And when I was in Japan, most of my colleagues thought me homesick because I ate at KFC whenever I could.  Maybe I was genuinely homesick, but I just loved the fact that there were three within walking distance of my apartment.
KFC, of course, made headlines back in the spring with the introduction of their now-infamous "Double Down."  Two chicken breasts, and smushed in between are two strips of cheese, two strips of bacon, and a dollop of special sauce.  Announced on April Fool's Day and only meant to be a lark for the month of April, overwhelming popularity convinced KFC to make it a permanent addition to their menu in the USA.  And thanks to overwhelming curiosity up here in Canada, KFC announced at the start of this month that they were bringing it to Canada for a limited time.   I knew I had to try one.  I knew I had to be there when they went on sale yesterday.

So, yesterday afternoon, after work, I hopped in the car and drove to the nearest KFC, down in Westlock.

The KFC sign juts towards the gray October sky in Westlock.

After my long drive to Westlock, I took a moment to really drink in what I was about to do.  Many food critics have quickly dubbed it one of the worst fast food items ever created.  But I knew I had to sample it.  Eating a Double Down is one of those things you have to do just once in your life for the experience, like skydiving or visiting a nude beach.  I ventured into the restaurant...and into the great unknown.

A gigantic floor display of the Double Down.  An enormous picture of the Double Down dominated the display.  The caption reads "The Double Down is Here, Canada.  Take one down before it's gone." 

Stopping to take a picture of the floor display tipped off the clerk as to what I was there to order.  As I've learned from prior experience, the Westlock KFC is always very quiet at 2:30 on a Monday afternoon.  (What can I say?  I make the trip whenever I have a serious case of the Mondays.)  There was no line as I walked up the till and placed my order.  I made smalltalk with the clerk as I waited for my Double Down.  Apparently, they weren't selling too quickly at the Westlock location.  Eventually, my order came, and I found myself a nice little corner booth.

I peel back the wax paper wrapper to reveal the Double Down.  The two slices of cheese are sticking out from between two chicken breasts.  The chicken breasts are a golden brown, covered with Colonel's trademark 11 herbs and spices.

I stared at the steaming "meat glorb."  My destiny was staring back at me from that wax wrapper.  I knew it was now or never.  I knew it was onward and upward.  I knew it was time to swallow my fate. 

I picked up the foodstuffs.  Even through the wax wrapper, I could feel grease oozing out of the chicken as I gently squeezed it.  I closed my eyes and took a bite. 

This was, by far, the saltiest thing I have ever eaten.  No wonder one of the health warnings is that you get a full day's serving of sodium from this thing.  You don't taste chicken.  You don't taste the cheese.  You don't taste the sauce.  All you taste is salt.  It's just one big mass of salt held together by processed chicken.  And that was just after one bite.  I paid $8.95 for my combo meal, and I was going to finish this! 

I took a sip of my Pepsi and went in for another bite.  It was still nothing but salt.  After about six or seven bites, you start getting used to the salt, and you can start detecting the other flavors.  But again, after the saltiness started going away, all I tasted was the chicken.  The bacon, cheese, and sauce was completely drowned out.  Was the cheese and bacon even on it?  Well, it must have been because I have photographic evidence.

It was about halfway through that I started feeling queasy.  Not the, "Oh my God, I'm getting food poisoning!" kind of queasy, but the, "I have eaten far too much and if I have any more I'm going to puke" kind of queasy.  Let me put this into perspective.  Because of the hours I work, I ate breakfast at 4AM.  I skipped lunch that day because I knew I was planning to do this.  I wound up having my lunch/supper at 3PM.  I hadn't eaten anything in 11 hours, and I was starting to feel full just halfway through this thing.  But damn it, I was going to finish it!

And I did.  I finished off my Pepsi to rinse the rest of the salt out of my mouth.  I rose from the table and took my trash to the wastebasket.  I felt...full.  I didn't feel sick or any ill effects.  Just full.  I started making my way to the car and the long drive home to Athabasca. 


Now that it's been a full 24 hours since I've eaten this, I can quite honestly say this is the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten.  The grease just oozes out from every where, and the salt!  I just can't get over how salty it is.  The salt just overpowers any flavour this thing might have.  But I have done it.  I have done it just once for the experience.  And the next time I visit KFC, I'll just stick with my Twister, thank you very much. 

Various Sunday Morning Rants

Just another Sunday morning, hanging around the house, reflecting on things in pop culture that crossed my path.

For example, last night on TV, I managed to catch a few minutes of the epically forgettable teen comedy National Lampoon's Senior Trip.  I've mentioned to friends in the past that there's one aspect of this movie that I've always found interesting.

One member of the cast is a certain Tara Strong, here going by her maiden name of Tara Charendoff.  Being a lover of cartoons, I'm familiar with Strong's extensive career as a voice actress.  So, first you've got the novelty of finally placing a face with the voice.  In the film, Strong plays the high school slut, and there's a rather lengthy sequence where she tries to get laid at party and starts talking dirty to just about every guy that walks past her.  Now, my fellow fans of DC Comics animation will instantly remember that Strong was the voice of Batgirl for a lot of productions.  And whenever she breaks out the dirty talk in National Lampoon's Senior Trip, she lapses into her Batgirl voice!  So if you've ever wanted to hear Batgirl talking dirty, this is your movie! 

But then, for the few minutes I caught on TV last night, my eye was drawn to something that I'd forgotten about.  Nicole de Boer is in this film, too.  de Boer, of course, known to my fellow sc-fi geeks as Ezri Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and as one of the stars of The Dead Zone.  In National Lampoon's Senior Trip, de Boer is credited as "the token lesbian," and in the scenes I caught on TV, she spent the whole time in background making out with other women. 

So you've Batgirl talking dirty and Dax making out with other chicks.  Why more geeks don't know about this movie is beyond me. 

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Like a lot of lazy Sunday mornings, I'm spending a lot of time doing some online window shopping.  I frequently find myself browsing through the Warner Archive Collection.  This is a great concept.  As you probably know, there are thousands of movies in this world that aren't available on DVD yet.  The folks at Warner Brothers realized that they have a lot of movies in their archives that, while there is a minimum public demand for them, it's not really worth it to slap together a mass-produced DVD and ship out to stores.  Hence, the Warner Archive Collection.  They've got all these old movies ripped off VHS and stored in their massive computer.  You place your order for one of these obscure films, they burn it to DVD, and send it to you.  Universal Pictures and Sony Studios have followed the model and now offer their own variations on the Archive Collection.

But Warner Brothers was the first one, and the one I still find myself browsing through the most.  I mean, these aren't all B&W classics from the 1930s.  There are movies in here from my lifetime!  For example, I noticed today that they have what's usually considered one of the worst superhero movies ever, the film that destroyed Shaquille O'Neil's film career, Steel.  They also have the TV movies Genesis II and Planet Earth, two failed sci-fi pilots from the 1970s, notable in that they were both created by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. 

Another one on there that I'm always tempted to get is the animated TV movie Yogi's First Christmas.  Yogi Bear awakens from hibernation one December and has to help save the Christmas festivities at Jellystone Park from the dastardly Herman the Hermit.  I remember being a kid and watching this with my cousins at my uncle's house, and getting so pissed off at my parents because it was time to go before I saw the end.  I would buy this on DVD just to see the end.  I don't know why I have to buy it on DVD to see the end.  I think this film has become a holiday staple on YTV. 

And most of the DVDs are a reasonably priced $20.  About the only reason why I haven't bought any is they don't ship to Canada yet. 

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Holy moly!  Can you believe that CTV still shows The Littlest Hobo in reruns as part of their Saturday morning line-up?  Seeing as to how everything is getting a gritty reboot these days, I started thinking that it's time we do a remake of The Littlest Hobo. 

Not so gritty, though.  My idea for a reboot is you make it a cartoon.  Make the animals talk.  Maybe Seth Rogan can do the voice of Hobo.  A simple idea, to be sure, but just enough to bring it into the 21st Century. 

So, come on CTV!  Get on it! 

DC Showcase: Green Arrow Review

Backstory:  Yeah, I'm mixing things up a little in this review, because I think it'll make things flow better.  For their series of direct-to-DVD movies this year, DC and Warner Brothers have been trying a neat experiment.  For bonus features on these DVDs, they've launched a series called DC Showcase, which is a series of 10-minute short films focusing on some of the DCU's B- and C-list heroes.  For the second last film in the series, they decided to focus on one of the biggest B-listers the DCU has....

DC Showcase:  Green Arrow

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos

Starring the voices of Neil McDonough, Malcolm McDowell, Steven Blum, Grey DeLisle, John DiMaggio, and Ariel Winter

Plot:  Oliver Queen is on the way to the airport to pick up his girlfriend, when all heck breaks loose.  Also arriving at the airport that night is the young Princess Perdita of Vlatava, and Queen soon finds himself in the middle of an assasination attempt.  After a quick change into Green Arrow, he soon finds himself protecting the princess, battling his old foes Merlyn and Count Vertigo, and still trying to pick up his girlfriend on time.

What I Liked:  This is nothing but action as we're treated to epic superhero battles all throughout the airport.  Plus, there's some nice Easter eggs that you'll need to freeze-frame to see (love who Green Arrow has on his speed dial).  And, of course, it's very awesome for Black Canary to provide some deus ex machina at the end. 

What I Didn't Like:  This kind of illustrates how DC is starting to drop the ball with their animated projects.  Green Arrow could easily carry his own DTV animated film, but no.  He gets stuck with a short film. 

Final Verdict:  A highly entertaining look into a superhero's life.

3 Nibs

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse Review

Alright!  Now that the long weekend has finally arrived, I can finally sit down and watch the new DVDs I ordered online TWO WEEKS AGO, but didn't arrive until back on Monday.  So let's get going with one that I was eagerly awaiting for ever since I heard about it, the latest in the DC/Warner Brother DTV series of original animated movies....

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

Directed by Lauren Montgomery


Starring the voices of Kevin Conroy, Tim Daly, Summer Glau, Andre Braugher, Susan Eisenberg, Ed Asner, Julianne Grossman, and Rachel Quaintance

Backstory:  OK, so the DTV movie that came out around this time last year, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, turned out to be the biggest selling DVD in this series so far.  It was so big, that Warner Brothers actually ordered a sequel to it.  Since Public Enemies was based on the first storyline in the Superman/Batman comic, it only made sense that the sequel be based on the second storyline in the comic.  The second storyline was called Supergirl, and it made ripples in the DC Universe for finally giving us a post-Crisis Kara Zor-El.  But, because Wonder Woman was the lowest selling DVD in this series so far, they weren't going to call it Supergirl.  So, they gave it the more action-packed title of Apocalypse.  With me so far?  Cuz here we go!

Plot:  Following the events of Public Enemies, Gotham City is still being pelted with leftover meteorites.  However, one of those meteorites turns out to be a spacecraft, and inside, in suspended animation, is Kara Zor-El, cousin of Superman and the last daughter of Krypton.  Young Kara is awakened, and begins to adjust to life on Earth.  But the rest of the superhero community is trying to figure out what to do with this young lady.  Superman immediately goes into "overprotective big brother" mode and tries to gently ease her into the world.  Wonder Woman argues that Kara's place is with the Amazons, where she can learn to use her powers responsibly.  Batman just plain doesn't trust her.  Then along comes the evil New God Darkseid, who's convinced that Kara would make a perfect addition to the Female Furies -- his all-girl hit squad.  And in the middle of this all is a scared young girl who just wants to be free to choose her own destiny.  What will Kara choose? 

What I Liked:  Well, just like Public Enemies, I found a lot of the Superman and Batman banter to be priceless.  I really must pick up the original graphic novels someday.  And I was really glad to see Wonder Woman given such a prominent role.  As I've said before, I think Wonder Woman is the best of these DTV films to date, and so more Wonder Woman is always a plus in my books.  Speaking of women of the DCU, Big Barda is also featured quite prominently in the film, which was also really cool.  The action scenes, as always, are amazing.  Superman/Darkseid throwdowns have been the highlights of Bruce Timm's tenure in DC animation.  And the voice acting, as always, is amazing.  Summer Glau (still best beloved as River Tam on Firefly/Serenity) does a top-notch job as Kara.  And Krypto!  Krypto's in this!  Who doesn't love the Superdog?

What I Didn't Like:  Well, the plot does seem to be quite reminiscent of the whole "overprotective parents try to save their child from the wrong crowd" stereotype.  You know, with Superman and Wonder Woman as the parents and Darkseid as the wrong crowd.  And there really needed to be more Superman/Batman banter.  And the common complaint I'm starting to have with a lot of these...it was just too short!  Barda must have a fairly significant subplot in the original graphic novel, and here, we just get frustratingly brief glimpses of it. 

Final Verdict:  A very satisfying addition to the franchise, but still nowhere near as awesome as the best in the series, Wonder Woman.

3 Nibs

Bonus Features:  I've got me the Blu-Ray!  On the Blu-Ray, you get a featurette on the history of Supergirl, a featurette on the history of Darkseid and the New Gods, two featurettes on the most prominent New Gods heroes of Mr. Miracle and Orion, a preview of the next DTV animated film All Star Superman, 4 bonus episodes of Superman: The Animated Series, and the third and final installment of the DC Showcase short films, Green Arrow.  I'll review Green Arrow in the next blog entry.

Double Down comes to Canada!

Of course, big news in the fast food world today with the announcement from KFC of Canada that they are bringing KFC's infamous Double Down sandwich to Canadian KFC locations!

The Double Down made headlines when it was first being test-marketed around this time last year, and then added to the KFC menu as a limited time item back in April.  All it is is two chicken breasts, made with the Colonel's 11 herbs and spics, and in between they put two kinds of cheese, bacon, and a special sauce.  It was immediatly branded one of the least healthy fast food offerings ever.  But, it proved so popular, that KFC added it to their regular menu.

And now, according to stats released by KFC, 90% of Canadians are curious enough about one to try one.  So it comes to KFC in Canada on October 18, and will be around for about a month. 

Despite being branded one of the unhealthiest fast food items ever, it actually has around the same amount of calories as a McDonald's premium chicken burger.  And the American Heart Association does warn that it contains an entire day's worth of sodium.  KFC themselves have gone on record as calling it an "occasional indulgence." 

But man o man, I can't wait to try one!  I haven't been this excited about a fast food offering since the last time McDonald's brought back the McRib.  I'm already planning to head off to the nearest town with a KFC on October 18 to try one!

Now if I can only convince KFC to introduce that Indian Chicken Sandwich they had at their Japanese locations.  A chicken breast smothered in curry sauce, toppped with lettuce and a dollop of mayo, and served on naan.  I tell you, that was the greatest fast food offering ever.

Computer Animation Milestones on DVD

Back in May, when Avatar first hit DVD, I was telling people NOT to buy it, because all of my DVD websites were reporting that a super-special edition with all kinds of bonus features would be out in time for Christmas.  And...our patience was rewarded. 

Avatar: Extended Collector's Edition drops on November 16!  This 3-disc special edition will have THREE versions of the film!  You get the original theatrical version, the special edition that hit theatres at the end of August (9 minutes lonter than the theatrical version), and a new "extended cut" created for the DVD (16 minutes longer than the theatrical version).  In something that I think is kind of silly, they also added in the "family friendly audio track," which is the option to have all the swears bleeped out.  There'll also be a feature-length documentary on the making of the film, called Capturing Avatar, and more than 45 minutes of deleted scenes!

And that's just the DVD!  If you spring for the Blu-Ray, on top of all that, you also get 17 featurettes, scene deconstructions where you get to see the entire film before the animation and effects were added, the trailers, a whole database explaining everything that the planet Pandora has to offer...and just so much more.

Hmm...it drops on November 16.  That's that weird time of year where I don't know whether to buy it for myself, or just heavily hint to family and friends that I want it for Christmas. 

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And speaking of milestones in computer animation, one of my favourite DVD sites, TVshowsonDVD.com, is reporting that Shout! Factory has just signed a deal with Rainmaker Digital to bring ReBoot: The Complete Series to DVD!

ReBoot, of course, one of those fabulous relics of the 1990s.  It was the first computer animated TV show, taking place in a computer as the heroic guardian Bob battled the malicious computer viruses Megabyte and Hexadecimal.  Needless to say, because of its place in computer animation history, and the fact that it made lots and lots of subtle pop culture references, it's become a huge cult following.  I was a huge fan when it was fresh and new and I was in college.

Shout! Factory is bringing it to DVD, and they did those fabulous boxed sets of G.I. Joe: The Complete Series and The Transformers: The Complete Series.  Shout! Factory has already said they hope to do that model again...start off with a massvie, beautiful boxed set of the entire series, and the dole out the individual season sets later. 

In case you're wondering who this "Rainmaker Digital" is, that's what Mainframe Animation (the studio that made ReBoot) changed their name to about 5 years ago.  They seem to have shifted their focus from animation to special effects, doing some of the effects on Stargate and Smallville. 

Still no word on when this'll hit DVD...Shout! Factory has simply said, "Some time in 2011." 

Superman Returns!...again

Yesterday, the news broke that 300 and Watchmen director Zack Snyder has just gotten the gig to direct the next Superman movie!

Our story thus far:  so, while Bryan Singer's Superman Returns didn't exactly tank at the box office, it was a super-mega-global-worldwide hit either.  And lukewarm reviews from critics led Warner Brothers to think that they should maybe go in another direction.  Meanwhile, across the hall, Christopher Nolan and his crew were kicking ass and taking names with their reboot of Batman.  While sitting around, brainstorming ideas for the sequel to The Dark Knight, Batman Begins and Dark Knight co-writer David S. Goyer said, "Well, I'm still not sure what I want to do next with Batman, but here's what I always wanted to do with Superman...."  After he heard his idea, Nolan said, "That...was...AWESOME!  Let's pitch that idea to the bosses!"  They went and pitched it to the bosses, and the bosses said, "That...was...AWESOME!  It's the next Superman movie!"  So, Christopher Nolan was signed on to the film in a "godfather" role, and Batman Begins and Dark Knight writers David S. Goyer and Jonathon Nolan got to work writing it.

But the big question was who was going to direct it.  About a week ago, a short list was being circulated, saying that directors being considered included veteran action director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide), Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In), and, of course, Zack Snyder.  And yesterday, Mr. Snyder got the job!

Yesterday, it was also announced that villain will be that evil Kryptonian, General Zod.  This, I'm somewhat disappointed in.  Thanks to the success of the Christopher Reeve films all those years ago, it seems like the only villains ever considered for a Superman film are Lex Luthor or General Zod.  What, no Braniac?  No Doomsday?  Not even Metallo?  Oh, well.

I'm very interested to see the take that the Batman crew has come up with for Superman.  Many fear that they'll go the dark and gritty route, because that's worked very well with Batman.  But, in the comics, they've tried to take Superman down a grim and gritty route a few times, and it just doesn't work with him. 

No word yet on when this Superman reboot hits theatres.  Zack Snyder's next film, Sucker Punch, hits theatres in March.  Sucker Punch is Snyder's first original film...that is, it's 100% his own creation, not based on a comic book or anything. 

Latest Targ's Up!

Still tweaking with my new format for U62: The Targ, but it seems to be coming along pretty good!

I've pieced together Episode 4.04: The Saddest Little Boy in a Helicopter, in which I share the news of Star Wars in 3D, celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Flintstones, and check out these new Lego board games!

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Latest Targ's Up!

I'm seem to be doing pretty good with this week's episode of U62: The Targ!

This week, I've thrown together Episode 4.03: Falling into Autumn, where I share my excitement on the next DC animated film, share my thoughts on the Katy Perry/Sesame Street controversy, and get giddy on the new season of Hell's Kitchen!

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TV So Far

Of course, this is a very exciting time in television.  It seems like just about every new TV show is premiering this week, and returning shows are having their season premieres, and I've been able to catch a lot of it.  So, just wanted to share my thoughts on what I've caught so far.

First up, as part of the kitchy, gimmicky stuff I love so much, had to sit down on Monday night and watch the big CBC special The Queen in 3D.  As the legend goes, the only existing footage of the coronoation of Queen Elizabeth II is the grainy, early black and white TV footage.  Well, as it turned out, the Queen's coronation was actually filmed in 3D, with the intent of showing it in theatres shortly after her coronation so you could have the experience of actually being there.  Well, what actually happened, back in 1953, once it was announced that the Queen's coronation would be televised, the whole of the UK actually experienced a massive boom in TV sales so people could watch it on TV.  With darn near everyone having watched the coronation on TV, the 3D footage was filed away in an archive and forgotten....

...Until last year, when some heroic archivists discovered it.  So of course, the footage was cleaned up, they shot some new 3D footage of the Queen when she visited Canada earlier this year, and the CBC made a 1-hour documentary about the Queen's previous visits to Canada.

I don't know about this one.  First complaint:  the 3D didn't look too good on my TV.  Seriously.  Even with the 3D glasses on, the whole thing looked as 2-dimensional as regular TV.  Second complaint:  they were advertising how it would be full of rare footage of the Queen's previous visits, such as visiting Expo 67.  All that rare footage was crammed into a 2-minute montage in the middle of the show.  Third complaint:  that 15-minute section about the history of 3D film was out of place. 

All in all, a good try, CBC, but it came off as too gimicky. 

Next up, it was what surveys said is the most anticipated new TV sereis of the fall season...the remake of the classic cop show, Hawaii Five-0.  Part of the appeal to me is the creators of this remake are Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman.  These two are currently some of the hottest writers in Hollywood, having written the big screen versions of Transformers and the new Star Trek.  (They also wrote Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but I still blame director Michael Bay for that one being so bad.) 

So, yeah, basic detective show set-up.  Steve McGarrett is a dedicated Navy SEAL fighting terrorists around the world.  When the terrorists kills his father in an act of retaliation, McGarrett returns home to Honolulu, where he's appointed the head of a new police task force to take down terrorists and all other kinds of dastardly criminals setting up shop in Hawaii.  He's quickly joined on his task force by Detective Dan "Dano" Williams, a New Jersey detective who recently moved to Hawaii to be closer to his ex-wife and daughter; Detective Chin Ho Kelly, a childhood friend of McGarrett's who was drummed out of the police force on false charges of bribery; and Detective Kono Kalakaua, a recent police academy grad, and Kelly's hot surfer girl cousin.  In addition to creators Orci and Kurzman, it gets geek cred by having Kono played by Grace Park, who played Boomer on the recent Battlestar: Galactica remake. 

The pilot was your basic cop show action/drama formula.  Nothing really too remarkable.  They uncover the plot thread that McGarrett's father -- also a Honolulu detective -- was investigating some massive conspiracy that may have contributed to him getting killed, so that'll be our recurring "mytharc" to be sure.  But yeah.  Despite the hype, I found it to be a fairly routine action show. 

From there, it was on to the season premiere of House.  For those just tuning in, the season finale cliffhanger for House, saw longtime characters House and Cuddy finally hooking up after six season of some rather antagonistic flirting.  I'm a little wary of this.  Seeing characters hook up like this is usually seen as a "shark-jumping" moment for a longrunning TV show, so it'll be interesting to see how this plays out this season. 

I know that House usually gets a lot of flak for being a farily formulaic show and sticking to its episode formula pretty closely, so I'm always glad to see episodes completely break from its formula.  And that's what the season premiere was.  A complete break from the formula as House and Cuddy decided to take the day off work, just hang out, indulge in some passionate lovemaking, and just talk about their feelings and figure out if a relationship between the two could work.  Some great character stuff.

And the subplot brought some good comic relief, as Cuddy's absence and a few remarks from House result in the hospital almost being shut down, and House's staff frantically working to keep the hospital open.  It also generated some mystery, as the season finale saw Thirteen requesting a leave of absence, and staying mum on her reasons why. 

The real reson why Thirteen is taking a leave of absence is because the actress who plays Thirteen, Olivia Wilde, needs some to finish up Tron: Legacy and Cowboys and Aliens.  She is not leaving the show.  In the episodes ahead, Amber Tamblyn, still best remembered as Joan on Joan of Arcadia, will be joining the show as a sharp medical intern that House takes on his team as Thirteen's substitute.  Big changes this season!

And that brings us Tuesday, where I caught the season premiere of The Rick Mercer Report.  Always solidly funny.  And, as always, it'll be fun to watch The Rick Mercer Report devolve throughout the season as Mercer burns through his travel budget.  The first few episodes of the season are always in some exotic, far off location, and by the end, he's stuck to places in the Greater Toronto Area.

Last night's season premiere:  "Tonight, on The Mercer Report, we're in Shanghai for Expo 2010!"

$5 says this is the season finale:  "Tonight, on The Mercer Report, we're in the CBC break room playing foozeball with George Strombolopolis." 

And then after Rick Mercer I made the mistake of watching This Hour has 22 Minutes.  I'm sorry, but I find This Hour has 22 Minutes to be one of those TV shows that stopped being funny a LONG time ago.  I blame Mark Critch.  I find Mark Critch so unfunny I want to punch him in the face.  I just find him too bitter and cynical.  I have this theory about Mark Critch.  Critch was just a writer for 22 Minutes back in its glory days of the late-90s/early-00s, when Rick Mercer was on the show.  I think Critch and Mercer had some kind of falling out, and Critch is trying to show the world he was the brains behind Mercer.  But sadly, Critch just comes across as a bitter jerk trying to do Mercer's act.  All I'm really trying to say is Mark Critch sucks. 

And that's the new TV season so far.  This Wednesday night, we've got the season premiere of Law & Order: SVU, which I still watch even though I think it's starting to get ridiculous and sensational.  We've also got the season premiere of Cougar Town, which I actually find pretty funny, and my reality TV show addication, Hell's Kitchen.  Stay tuned....

The DC animated movie is....

Well, the next DC Comics straight-to-DVD animated film, Superman/Batman: Apocolypse, comes out at the end of the month, and as is the custom, it has now been learned what the next film after that one will be.

And the next in the series is...

All Star Superman!

The multiple-award winning, critically acclaimed chronicle of Superman's final days will be adapted into a 75-minute animated film.

For the celebrity voice cast that's been lined up:

• James Denton, one of the stars of Desperate Housewives, will be voicing Superman. 
• Christina Hendricks, currently starring on Mad Men, will be voicing Lois Lane.
• Anthony LaPaglia, formerly the star of Without a Trace, will be voicing Lex Luthor.
• And acting legend Ed Asner will be voicing Perry White.

Following the schedule that they follow with these DC films, it'll probably be coming out in the Spring...most likely March.

I actually have not read this yet, but I've heard nothing but good things.  Even my best friend -- who is NOT a DC guy -- says he loved the hell out of it.

Time to read this!  I'm heading over to my library's website to check this out. 

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Various Animation Ramblings

I can't believe that I didn't notice that my favourite Disney animated film, The Black Cauldron, just got a brand-new, 25th anniversary special edition DVD!  And it came out on Tuesday! 

Reading the tech specs, it doesn't sound like too much of an improvement over the original "Gold Collection" DVD.  It's finally in anamorphic widescreen, and for new bonus features, they added a deleted scene and an interactive game. 

Sadly, the deleted scene isn't the most famous deleted scene.

Here's the most famous deleted scene from The Black Cauldron:  the evil Horned King unleashed his Army of Cauldron-Born...you know, your basic unstoppable army of the undead.  There's this eerie green mist that surrounds them.  The Cauldron-Born encounter one of the Horned King's, you know, living warriors.  The Cauldron-Born leap on the warrior and



The green mist strips the flesh from the warrior's bones, turning him into one of the Cauldron-Born



Now a Cauldron-Born, the warrior leaps out of the green mist and joins the ranks of the Cauldron-Born.

According to legend, the scene was deleted because Jeffrey Katzenburg just became head of the Disney Studios, and when he saw the scene, he was mortified that such a graphic image was in a Disney animated film.  So he ordered it cut. 

It does exist.  I've seen screen grabs online.  It's shocking that such a thing exists, but The Black Cauldron  was Disney's infamous attempt to create an animated film for adults. 

Actually, there's a similar scene in my favourite DC Comics direct-to-DVD animated film, Wonder Woman.  In the film's climax, Ares has gained all the powers of the gods.  The Amazons unleash an attack on him.  Using his powers, Ares raises from the dead ever Amazon that's ever fallen in battle.  So, we have Amazons vs. undead Amazons. 

In the battle, one of the undead Amazons slays an Amazon.  The Amazon falls to the ground, dead.  Her skin shrivels up to the dull, grey skin tone of the undead.  Her eyes snap back open, the dead, soulless eyes of the undead, and she starts fighting alongside the undead Amazon that killed her.  A very chilling scene.

Have I mentioned that Wonder Woman is my favourite of the DC animated films?  It's so good!

Switching gears to Star Wars now, I read an interview the other day that made me laugh.

I'm not a big fan of the Clone Wars cartoon.  I saw the movie, and the movie was just so bad, that it killed all desire to see the series.  Well, I just read an interview Dave Filoni, the supervising producer on the Clone Wars cartoon, and what I read made me laugh. 

The interviewer asked that, now that the series has grown and evolved and is so drastically different from the film, if he could go back and change the film, would he?  Filoni said he loved to, and has even asked George Lucas about doing it.  Lucas said, "Sorry, dude, the film is done.  You have to let it go."

"C'mon man, let me do a special edition!" said Filoni, and George Lucas just gave him an icy glare. 

So, there you go.  Apparently, George Lucas doesn't like anyone changing Star Wars...unless it's him. 

New Tangled Trailer

Well, Disney just released the new trailer for the next animated blockbuster, Tangled, and as always, it's leaving people scratching their heads.

A lot of Disney fans think Disney is messing up the marketing on this one.  See, last year, Disney gave us The Princess and the Frog, and even though it was beloved by critics and a hit at the box office, it didn't meet Disney's financial expectations.  The experts say it's because the marketing for The Princess and the Frog focused too much on the princess and the romance and the fairy tale, and thus, boys found it icky.

So, the knee-jerk reaction was the marketing for Disney's next film, their animated take on Rapunzel.  They changed the name to Tangled, and now they're focusing on the prince, his exploits, and trying to make it look more like an action movie...and thus, boys won't find it icky, they'll drag their parents to it, and Disney will make more money. 

Anywho, here's the trailer.  Mandy Moore voices Rapunzel and Zackary Levi voices the prince, Flynn.  It hits theatres November 24.

Billie Mae Richards

Some tragic news came across my desk that I felt I must share with the world.

Back on Friday, Billie Mae Richards passed away.

Richards was a highly acclaimed Canadian actress and singer.  She was, however, best known for her work as a voice actress.  She started as a voice actress in the CBC radio drama department, where her specialty was voicing children.  Back in the 1960s, when she got her start, the CBC radio drama department was regarded as being the best group of voice actors in North America, and she got to do a lot of cartoon voices.  She did many voices on the original 1960s Spider-Man cartoon and Rocket Robin Hood.  In the 1980s, she did the voice of several Care Bears characters...most notably Tenderheart Bear in the first two movies, and Brightheart Racoon in the subsequent TV series.  In fact, according to the IMDB, her last credited role was reprising the voice of Brightheart Racoon for a direct-to-DVD Care Bears movie about five years ago.

But perhaps her most famous role is the one we hear every Christmas.




That's right, she was the voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  Apparently, she could do Rudolph's voice right up until her dying days.  When her great-grandkids friends didn't believe that she was Rudolph, she would do the voice, and the kids would be gobsmacked. 

She was 88 years old. 

At the Movies Returns!

This news is actually about a week old...I just haven't had a chance to blog about yet.

About a month or so ago, like a lot of movie geeks, I was lamenting the loss of At the Movies, that classic movie review show started by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert all those years ago, and known as Siskel & Ebert during its heyday.  After 35 years on the air in one form or another, it was canceled this past August due to declining ratings.

Well, for over a year now, Roger Ebert has been mentioning at his blog that he was seeking other avenues to resurrect the show and bring it back to its roots.  Ebert, and many others agree, that in this growing age of digital downloads and pay-per-view and so many ways to get your movies, there still exists the need for some kind of program that tells you if movies are good or not. 

And so, last week, Roger Ebert announced the creation of his new TV show, Roger Ebert presents At the Movies.  He really is going back to his roots.  Just like the very first seasons of the show, it'll be produced by and air on PBS. 

The new critics on the show will be Christy Lemure of the Associated Press and Elvis Mitchell of NPR.  Regular contributors and occasional guest hosts will be film bloggers Kim Morgan and Omar Moore.  Ebert himself will appear in a regular segment called "Roger's Office," in which Ebert will geek out over one of his favourite films...either something new, or an overlooked classic. 

In addition to movie reviews, there'll be regular segments classic films, on-demand viewing, and genre films.

The series will also the return of the classic "Two Thumbs Up" rating system made popular by Siskel & Ebert.  The whole "Two Thumbs Up" system is actually owned by and a registered trademark of Roger Ebert and the Estate of Gene Siskel.  The original At the Movies program stopped using it when Ebert and Disney (the produers of At the Movies) got into royalty dispute.  Others say Ebert stopped letting Disney use it when Ebert didn't like the direction of the new show.  Either way, Two Thumbs Up is back.

The new show will be premiering on PBS stations all across the USA this January.

Here's Ebert's official announcement from his website.