I am forever Changed!!

I have always been a fan of Les Miserables. As you may know, the original story was a novel by Victor Hugo, published in the 1860's.   I loved the movie version with Liam Neeson as Jean Val Jean.  The story touches me in ways I have had a hard time explaining. It has been a novel, a mini series on the radio produced by the great Orson Welles, TV Miniseries, musicals, even a Japanese TV series called Inochimoyu. The story has been done over and over. So when I went for my Christmas present, I wasn't sure what to expect.

I went on Wednesday as a Christmas gift from my 15 year old son. Through out the experience I was constantly crying.  At one point I looked over at him, he too had tears in his eyes reflected by the light on the screen. He hates things emotional. What 15 year guy doesn't?  So after the experience I asked him what he thought about it.  He told me it was the best movie he ever saw. High praise for a guy that loves Call of Duty: black ops or Assassins Creed III. He said that it was powerful. So we talked about it for awhile afterward. He loved the character of Jean Valjean, my son wants to be a really good man.  It changed his view about religion too. He normally questions it with his scientific mind. He saw how powerful on a persons life it can be. He watched Bishop Myriel restore Jean Valjeans faith, and forever change his life. Nick was angry and touched by Fantine's journey in trying to care for her daughter and how she was mistreated. So if I had no other feelings for the movie, that would have been enough for me.

That said, I was so moved by the movie it affected me the rest of the day.  The movie it's self is so well done, it should have more than 4 Golden Globe nominations.  It will be a contender for Oscar night too.  I think definitely Ann Hathaway as Fantine and Hugh Jackman as Jean ValJean should be named. Russel Crowe did amazing job as the nemesis Javert. A surprise for me was in the performances of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as Thenardier and Madam Thenardier, the corrupt inkeepers that cared for Fantine's daughter Cosette. They were one of the lighter parts of the movie, and there were not many. They registered stupid more than corrupt. Samantha Barks played Eponine their daughter. That actress did an amazing part as the girl who loved Marius (Eddie Redmayne), while he pined for the 17 year old Cossette (the wonderful Amanda Seyfried).  The acting in this movie was superb as was the singing.  In fact Amanda Seyfried was trained vocally in the technique she used to make her voice sound so young. It was beautiful.

There is another part of the movie for me that was thrilling, and moving.  The struggle of Jean Valjean to be completely transformed to a loving, caring honest man after all he had experienced. Like my son I was motivated by his journey, and the quality he tried to have. I also thought he was able to reinvent himself over and over because of his faith in God and his ability to go back to the convent as needed. It was as if he could go home again and recharge his batteries. The reason for this being thrilling to me is that when I hear of transformations now, they are usually being said about some new age philosophy. As a new-ager I think we forget that our greatest journeys are about how we treat our fellow beings and what kind of humans we are. It is one of my struggles also.

So the movie was magnificent. the music was good, the actors brilliant and the story timeless. If you have a chance to, go see it, I think it could remind you of what it is to be human. I have known humans that on the outside look good to the world, but on the inside they are unkind and judgmental.  Javert reminded me why being with the law is important, but being human and flawed is where the joy and love are.

One More Time A Christmas Story

So now the night is winding down.  It has been A Christmas Story all day long, like background music. The narration of Jean Shepard who wrote the Book "In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash", takes on us on a family vacation to Hohman, Indiana in 1949.  The war was over, Americans were making babies, buying cars and houses, and living the American dream. Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.  With every authority at Christmas repeating, "You'll Shoot Your Eye out".  

The cast is wonderful, with the toe head blond, be-speckled 10 year old boy retelling the story of his family Christmas. His father is played by the reknown Darrin McGavin, and though McGavin is no longer with us, he will live on as the cursing father of Ralphie Parker.  The man enamored with a cheap the looking plastic leg lamp, and net stockings. His mother is Melinda Dillon who I best remember in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. She is the long suffering wife and mother, who never gets a warm bite of food and protects Ralphie from the wrath of his father when he beats up the school bully. She is first to tell Ralphie "you'll shoot your eye out". When he answers her question as to what he wants for Christmas.

His little brother Randy (Ian Pretella) runs along behind him encased in a snow suit that allows no movement not even the dropping of his arms to his sides. Randy won't eat so his mother engages him in eating "like the piggie does" allowing Randy eat off his plate like an piggie, snorting and laughing through dinner.  The "old man" as Ralphie refers to his father as, has his head in the paper not seeming to care about the goings on of his family during dinner. His job is sneaking turkey, introducing the word Fragile (pronounced by the old man as Fra Jill lay) to the world and hitting the ailing furnace.

Ralphie has 2 side kicks, Flick (Scott Schwartz) and Schwartz (R.D. Robb). Schwartz is the genius who is "triple dogged dared" to stick his tongue to the flagpole to see what happens. The next scene is Ralphie's teacher, Miss Shields (Tedde Moore) standing out in the falling snow, as the firemen and police men get Schwartz' tongue off the pole.  To punish those encouraging Schwartz, Miss Shields assigns a theme paper, "What I want for Christmas".  Ralph can't wait to do the paper, fantasizing about an A +++, only to get a C+ and the words "you'll put your eye out".

The 3rd naysayer in the tale is Santa Claus at the department store downtown Hohman.He says this as he uses his foot to push Ralphie down the slide after his visit with Santa. The story is heartwarming with snow scenes that would do any Christmas proud, parents who love their boys, and a dad who gets his son the BB gun. Ralphie also gets footie pajamas that make him look like a girl Easter Bunny. The funniest scene is that his mother makes him try the pj's on. I think personally she took pleasure in seeing him in them. Who could blame her? I just rolled with laughter the first I saw it almost 30 years ago.  It is not Christmas without TBS' 24 hour marathon of A Christmas Story.

So Christmas is over this year, we are tired, and I am off to bed, I just wanted to share a piece of my Christmas.  My son turned 15 today, it is permit year. Some sane person suggested I hire someone to teach him to drive.  I haven't decided, and as I am not the most sane person, it should not come as a shock to anyone.  For now I will just say good night, and have a great day tomorrow.

HO HO HO

It is Christmas Eve, and since this blog has always been about entertainment I want to discuss my favorite Christmas movies.  Now some of them are not Christmas at all, but hold some part of my heart during the season.  As soon as Thanksgiving is over, I am immediately ready for my Christmas movies.

This is true of my first Christmas favorite, Mamma Mia. I saw it about 4 years ago at Christmas time. I loved it and am a huge Abba fan.  I have fond memories of driving around North Phoenix looking at Christmas lights with my son, listening to Abba in the car. So when I think of that movie it is along with Christmas lights. This year I have fallen in love with another movie, that is becoming part of my Christmas movie marathon, it has nothing to do with Christmas, but is about love and a second chance.  It is We Bought a Zoo. I love Matt Damon and Scarlett Johanson, however, Maggie Elizabeth Jones is my new star. It tells the story of a man who has lost his wife, and drifts until he buys a house in the country that comes with a Zoo. It has the warmth of a great Christmas movie. So it is now part of my experience.

The second movie is slightly irreverent, and yet after turkey at Thanksgiving, it is my first of the season.  Christmas Vacation.  The wonderful Griswold Christmas, with exploding cats, Christmas tree fires, sleeping with your prepubescent brother, and green jello with kitty litter. Who doesn't love Randy Quaid as the white trash brother-in-law Eddie.


For a more British Christmas I found one in Love Actually. Honestly this is my new favorite of them all.  Love really is all around. It has Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister who falls for the cute yet foul-mouthed Natalie.  There is Alan Rickman as the straying husband of the very brilliant Emma Thompson.  Laura Linney as a codependent sister. Keira knightly and Andrew Lincoln (now of The Walking Dead fame) play part of an unrequited love triangle. Colin Firth is a jilted man who finds a new life with Portuguese Aurelia. Kris Marshall, finds love in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  Shy sex body doubles Martin Freeman and Joanna Page fall in love and marry. Finally, Liam Neeson is the great and widowed step father to orphaned and in-love Sam (Thomas Sangster).  I love so many parts of the film it would be easier to tell you what I did not like, which is almost nothing.

I do love classics ! I always watch "It's a Wonderful Life", with the amazing Jimmy Stewart, and Donna Reed as the Baileys of Bedford Falls  Then there is White Christmas with Bing Crosby and the amazing Danny Kaye help their former commanding officer at the Pine Tree Ski Lodge save his business. It includes Vera-Ellen and the wonderful Rosemary Clooney.  There is another movie I love for Christmas, called Holiday Inn with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. I used to confuse the two as they both take place at resorts, both are about buddies who are performers and both use the song "White Christmas".  Both are great films, but I personally think White Christmas is more magical.

There are wonderful TV Cartoons around the Holidays that are classics from my youth.  A Charlie Brown Christmas is a must see, along with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, that follows the song, and Frosty the Snow Man also follows the song of the same name and is a classic narrated by the late Burl Ives.

I love movies, and TV.  This time of year there are so many wonderful shows and movies I possess, but these are really the ones that introduce the Christmas season for me.  Movies are one the my most treasured experiences in my life, and I hope you enjoy these as much as I do. 

The number is 666!!

Now that school is started I am committed to writing this blog at least twice a week. No matter the work load.  I have come to love reviewing my favorite TV shows, movies, comics and anything that entertains me. So that takes me to my favorite TV viewing day, Sunday. I sat down to Dexter, and Homeland, when flipping through the channels I had picked up a new show called 666 Park Avenue.

Now that Deb Morgan (Jennifer Carpenter) has uncovered her brother is a serial killer, she has decided Dexter (Michael C.Hall) has an addiction and she can help him beat it. He only has to spend every moment of everyday with her. Our clever Dexter however has learned to drug her steak (loaded syringe) to get a little time to himself when needed.  Not only that, La Guerta (Lauren Velez) is really trying to find out who the Bay Harbor Butcher is. If that were not enough, Dexter is having a problem with Louis Cook (Josh Greene). Louis appears to not fear Dexter, even after being threatened. So Dexter is having to "up" the terror in Louis' life.

 

On the Homeland front Carrie (Clair Danes) simply can not trust herself after being so wrong about Brodie  ( Damian lewis-though we know she is dead on target). So when of the informers she made will not speak to anyone else, they send Carrie with Saul (Mandy Patinkin) to Lebanon. It seems that Abu Nazir, a terrorist (who is a contact of Brodie's) is set up for capture. Brodie finds out and warns him at the last minute.  Carrie captures papers and a video of Brodie's involvement.  Saul watches it knowing she was right all along.  Carrie runs through the streets of Beruit looking like a crazy woman, but crazy like a fox.  When she goes home she is a little lonely for the CIA, she's missing being a part of it. So there is more than enough for an adrenaline rush with this show.

Now to my new find.  The infamous number 666, the mark of the beast is part of the title of this new supernatural drama, 666 Park Avenue. It is based on a book of the same name, and tells the story of a couple who live in the Drake in NYC. While living there they discover, that it is haunted, possessed and otherwise disturbed.  Jane Van Veen and Henry Martin (Rachael Taylor and Dave Annable) co-manage The Drake (filmed using the Beaux-Arts building, upper East Side Manhattan).  Early on, Jane is having a psychic connection with the building when it invades her sleep with a dream about a 53 year old murder. The building is haunted by murderous starlings, and even stranger owners, Olivia and Gavin Doran (Vanessa Williams and Terry O'Quinn). I am thinking this kind of weirdness is right up my alley and can't wait to see what develops.

So that is it for tonight, I am hoping you have a great week.  I will see you later!!

It's a Family Affair

I have not always appreciated the Family Channel from ABC.  I have feared mediocre entertainment disguised as wholesome family entertainment.  I have a new perspective because of a couple of things. First I have discovered they run the Gilmore Girls at 11am Monday-Friday. Who doesn't love Rory Gilmore? The Secret Life of The American Teenager has 1980's teen queen Molly Ringwald.  My most favorite find is Switched at Birth.

It is the story of Bay Kennish (Vanessa Marano-April Nardini from Gilmore Girls) and Daphne Vasquez (Katie LeCleric). They were switched at birth in a hospital in Kansas. Bay's father was a famous ball player John Kennish (D.W. Moffett). Her mother was stay at home Kathryn (the wonderful Lea Thompson-Caroline in the City and The Back to The Future series). Her brother Toby (Louis Graebel from High School Musicals) resembles Daphne more than Bay.  Daphne grew up abandoned by her father early after she gets an ear infection and goes deaf. Her mother Regina (Constance Marie-George Lopez Show) is a recovering alcoholic hair dresser  They live in a working class neighborhood in Riverside, Missouri, with Daphne's grandmother played by Ivonne Coll.

After studying blood types in school, Bay wonders why she is different than her family.. Bada-bing bada-bang, and some genetic testing later, Bay is discovered not to be a biological Kennish. It is discovered that the hospital switched her with Daphne Vasquez.  When they meet it makes sense, Daphne, who is athletic with light colored hair blends right in with the Kennishes. There is where the story begins.  The Vasquez's come to live with the Kennishes in the guest house.  This enabled them to get to know each other, and to help Regina out in a financial bind.

Well now, the long lost husband (of Regina) Angelo Sorrento has come back, and learned the truth. It seems he left Regina because he believed she cheated. How could a Puerto Rican woman and an Italian man give birth to a light haired baby? I guess it never occurred to him, that maybe genetically someone married a blond, or that they were switched at birth. Anyway Regina has now had to marry him to keep him from being deported.  One other fact, Bay started dating Emmett Bledsoe (Sean Birdy) who Daphne secretly had a crush on.  They were friends from childhood. His mother is played by the famous Marlee Matlin.  Eventually though Emmett slept with Toby's girlfriend and Bay dumped him. So long faced Emmett is trying to be Bay's friend.  Yeah, like that works all the time.

Anyway, during October, from the 19th on, the ABC Family channel is going to have Halloween films every night.  They are among the likes of Beetlejuice and Hocus Pocus.  I am sure there will be a Tim Burton film in there too. So even though it is mostly G or PG13, the ABC Family Channel will have me watching. Those are some fun films!! I love Switched at Birth and can't wait for next Monday!!

 

Dexter is BACK!!

 

Ok, this was an exciting night on Showtime. Dexter came back, with a Homeland Chaser.  I have watched both since their beginnings, Dexter since 2006 and Homeland since 2011. Dexter (Michael C. Hall), I call the serial killer with good intentions. He only kills killers. It seems Dexter was rescued by a Miami cop when he was 3. The cop, Harry Morgan (James Remar) saw something in Dexter, and because Dexter was witness to his mother's murder, and was sitting in a pool of her blood, Harry thought his urge to kill needed to be contained. So he coached him and taught him how to use his powers for good. He still haunts Dexter now and then. Harry and his wife had a daughter, named Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) who basically lived in Dexter's shadow after Harry rescued and adopted him. With both of their parents gone both Debra and Dexter work for Miami Metro. He is a blood splatter specialist and Debra this year is the Lieutenant of his division.

 

Homeland began last season and introduces us to characters Carrie Mathison (Clair Danes), and Nicholas Brody (Brit Damien Lewis).  Carrie is an CIA agent who was tipped off that an American Prisoner of War in Iraq, has turned Al-Queda.  Immediately after, her Boss David Estes (David Harewood calls a meeting to divulge an American Marine had been rescued, thus enter Nicholas Brody.  So after 8 years Nicholas goes home to his wife Jessica Brody (Morena Baccarin) who played Anna in "V"). She is one of the most gorgeous women on TV.  It turns out Nicholas is Al-Queda and has been sent to take out some politicians.  Carrie comes to his own and convinces his daughter to call him, so he does not follow through on his suicide bombing mission.  Carrie is unceremoniously tossed from the CIA, and abandoned even by her mentor Saul (played by one of my faves Mandy Patinkin).  In the last frame Carrie is getting electro shock therapy for her bipolar disorder.

Last season on Dexter, Debra reveals in therapy she has a break through. She confesses that Dexter has always been there for her, and she might actually be in love with him. Before you judge, remember technically they are not related. Fast forward as she walks in on Dexter performing his ritual killing of Travis (Colin Hanks) the religious serial killer. She is shocked but agreed to help Dexter cover it up. So they remove the plastic and tell tale signs of Dexter's involvement, stab Travis with his sword in the same wound, and set the whole place on fire. Deb gets the gasoline. Deb is having a Post Traumatic Stress experience most of the rest of the episode.  At the scene Det. La Guerta (Lauren Velez) finds the blood slide in a crevice that Dexter dropped (you have to have souvenirs).

Dexter is having nightmares of trying to get away, and having all his credit cards declined. Which turns out to be a psychic premonition. Jamie (Aimee Garcia) his son's Harrison's babysitter has become involved a millionaire gamer Louis Greene (Josh Cooke) who is fascinated with Dexter. He logs on to Dexter's computer and steals credit card numbers from Dexter's aliases and cancels them. The exact premonition Dexter had. After a cop is killed, Dexter  who is needing to get control back in his life, goes after the killer and finishes him off.

When he goes home Deb is setting in Dexter's home with every piece of evidence strewn across his living room, including his blood splatter collection. The end for this week.  I am looking forward to this season #7, some guest stars are Calista Flockhart (Brothers and Sisters), Ray Stevenson, Jason Gedrick, and Yvonne Strahovski. So keep your hats on!!

This season begins in Homeland with people starting to doubt Nicholas Brody as he is now up for presidential running mate, and is acting funny.  No one doubts him more than his wife Jessica who finds his Koran and throws it on the floor. Nicholas freaks out just a little. Carrie is called back from her docile life with her sister and her father in to action. It seems an operative Carrie brought in will speak to no one else. So with a brunett wig, Carrie is off to Iraq, soon is evading capture, and it is clear, mania has over taken her. My son said she had crazy eyes.  Brody has found an ally in his daughter, who later helps him bury his desecrated Koran.  This show won Emmy's for Best Drama, Best Actor Damien Lewis and Best Actress Claire Danes.  This season they say will answer all your questions, so I would suggest you not miss it.  Have a good night!!

I know where Andy Botwin Went!!

 

Well, this one of my favorite times on television.  It is the new television season. Now on the cable channels new shows and seasons of beloved shows, start throughout the year.  On the mainstream ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox, fall is a big deal. In fact I am a little behind. I love fall. I have fond memories of school starting and the new fall lineup on television. I am determined to catch up with them over the next couple of weeks.  There are 2 shows I want to address and both are on the fab 4 network shows.

The other day I was lamenting the ending of Weeds.  Mary-Louise Parker is already jumping into new work, with Red 2, remember how great she was with Bruce Willis? That is not all though, she is filming Feed The Dog, Les Passages, and finished up Jamesy Boy. So she is still a type A personality.  I was flipping through the channels and there he was, Andy Botwin, or Justin Kirk as he is known IRL. That's In Real Life for those of you who didn't know. I knew, I saw The Net.

He is the lead in a new NBC show called Animal Practice. He plays Dr. George Coleman.  Whereas Andy Botwin could never find a way to keep his thoughts to himself,  Dr. George Coleman, hates people.  So his conversations are limited. He loves his patients. There are 2 break away stars for me. First a Capuchin monkey named Dr.  Rizzo (Crystal).  He loves to paint to music, and dresses in the cutest clothes (Ok, I will stop the cuteness).  Next is animal handler Angela (Betsy Sodaro) she is quirky, even odd, yet loveable.  This last week she sold Dr. Rizzo's painting to a gallery, only to feel so much guilt she bought it back for an additional $200. They all work at Crane Animal hospital which caters to the rich and famous. Where Dr. Coleman's boss is his ex-girl-friend who inherited the business. She is Dorothy Crane (Joann Garcia Swisher).  If you love quirky comedies, you will certainly love this.

 

That leads me into a show I already watch and love. One that boasts a Weeds alumni.  It is Suburgatory. It is in it's second season on ABC. Jeremy Sisto plays single father George Altman. George moves his teenage daughter Tessa (Jane Levy) to the burbs to give her a better life. A redhead in a sea of blonde girls. They move from NYC to the fictitious suburb of Chatswin.  Now as someone who lives in the burbs, I completely understand Tessa's desire to chew her arm off to escape the burbs for NYC.  She makes a friend in the awkward Lisa Marie Shay (Allie Grant also a Weeds alumni- Isabel Hodes).   

George has a girlfriend, Eden (the famous Alicia Silverstone). She is about 8 months pregnant, as she is a surrogate mother for Noah and Jill (Alan Tudyk and Gillian Vigman).  I love that they wove Alicia Silverstone's vegan lifestyle in with Eden. I am sure they did this to annoy Tessa.  How are you supposed eat wonderful hot gooey pastries with frosting, while Eden is shoving whole grain down your throat? I get It. I know where Tessa is coming from. Even with a girlfriend the easy going George is a chick magnet, yet he doesn't exactly get it.  There are some great supporting actors in the show.  Ana Gesteyer (SNL alum), Jay Mohr, and Cheryl Hines.  The show's writing is clever and funny. So I would tell you to watch the show and enjoy the casting!!

Well, there is so much to write about for weeks to come, so I am stopping for tonight.  Tomorrow night Dexter the serial killer with a heart is back on. This year it should be great. His cop sister caught him knife hand over one of his victims.  Homeland is coming back tomorrow too, so have a great day and stay tuned!!

They Really Are Incredible!!

 

I am so sorry I have not paid better attention to you!  I started school again, and suffered a momentary lapse!! I promise not to do it frequently.  So I was sitting down doing some homework (yes I can do that)  and guess what I found? My favorite Animated movie of all time, The Incredibles. I had only 1 child in life, and one of my best joys was having a wonderful second childhood. Never a time has there been so much great entertainment for kids.  Watching The Incredibles was like a trip to the 1960's.

The first thing I love about the movie,  is the jazzy theme music by Michael Giacchino. It was like watching Mission Impossible, I Spy or any of the spy type shows of the 60's.  The movie is about Superheros that are ban from performing good deeds, and protecting the innocent. What does happen to a superhero that can't capture villains?  According to this movie, he marries another superhero (Elastigirl), moves to the suburbs and becomes an insurance adjuster.  Whoa, an adjuster that suffers from a slight case of melancholy.  Who can blame him?

So it starts with Mr. Incredible talking about his secret identity. He is followed by the fetching Elastigirl, and Frozone who talk about their lives and frustrations being super. "Leave the saving to the men? I don't think so, I don't think so." a direct quote from Elastigirl,  Because of the collateral damage from being super, all heros are banned from using their powers, and put into a "Witness Protection" type program called a "Supers Relocation Program".

Fast forward about 15-16 years later, Mr. Incredible is now Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson), married to Helen Parr (the former Elastigirl Holly Hunter). The two are married, he an insurance adjuster, and she is a housewife.  They have 3 children, Violet (Sara Vowell) about 15, Dash (Spencer Fox) about 10, and baby Jack-Jack (Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews). Bob accidentally shows his powers one day, and is fired from being an adjuster. He does not tell his wife, but he retreats to his office. His children meanwhile display super powers, to which Bob and Helen warn them against. Dash is as his name suggests super fast, faster than the eye can see.  Violet can disappear. Helen tells Dash they need to blend into the rest of society.

 

Now Bob is contacted by an anonymous woman named Mirage (Elizabeth Pena), she has a job for Bob in which he can again use his super powers. Thus his and his families' journey begin to being Super again.  Bob being several pounds heavier than his super hero days trains to get in shape. Enter my favorite character ever, Edna Mode (Brad Bird).  She styles the superheros, and reminds me of the Hollywood costume designer Edith Head. They even gave her the bob and glasses. She is a blast. She designs a new costume for Mr. Incredible.  Now another of my favorite parts this is movie is the 1960's suburb setting of the Parrs. In fact the whole film is styled in this fashion. It reminds me of a pseudo Jetsons type animation. Who did not love George Jetson, Jane his wife?

Now Helen finds out Bob is no longer in insurance when she calls his office .  Insecure, Helen sets off to find out what he is up to.  The once pudgy office worker has recently gotten into shape and is much more affectionate. Seems suspicious to me. She finds Edna, who has designed an entire wardrobe for the Parr family. Then with a little information sets off to find Bob.  Violet and Dash  have stowed away in their borrowed jet so they are off with Helen on an adventure. Syndrome (Jason Lee) is a stalker/fan who wanted to be Mr Incredible's sidekick (but was turned down and turned evil villain).  He has lured Mr. Incredible to his island. It seems Syndrome has become ultra wealthy, and invented a secret weapon the Omnidroid. He has planned to destroy Mr. Incredible for humiliating him years ago.  Of course in the end Syndrome is defeated, as evil always is in the cartoons.

Now an interesting side note is  about  Baby Jack-Jack. He discovers his own powers while The Incredibles are away, and sends his normal babysitter into a frenzy. Jack-Jack shapeshifts, teleports, has laser vision and can fly. So as the Parr family settles back into their lives, the suburbs are quiet again. However, when a new villian arrives, they put on their uniforms and again become The Incredibles fighting crime and saving the world from destruction.

It's Gonna Be A Great Day at The SyFy Channel

My shows are over this weekend.  The only bright spot is The 64th Emmy Awards on Sunday, too early for Dexter and Homeland, too late for Drop Dead Diva and Weeds.  Now I did see Treme, which I liked the first season, but I have not watched the shows on HBO, so I will have to do that another time.  When I flipped to the SyFy Channel on Saturday, I was as happy as a clam.  It is bug day on the SyFy Channel.  More of the wonderful movies they are famous for.

I can't wait for Saturday on SyFy.  For their first selection today they have Swarmed.  It is a SyFy pictures original, made in Canada. This is about a scientist Ken Horvath (Michael Shanks) who is trying to invent a pesticide for wasps.  He experiments on these 8 wasps. All but 2 are killed. The last 2 kill the janitor, one of the wasps is killed So there is one lonely wasp left who is trapped in the janitors mouth. When it is released, it goes on a killing spree.  Model Carol Alt plays a teacher/scientist Cristina Brown, who explains about pheromones to her students. Which sets up the premise of why bees and wasps keep attacking.  Between it being an election year, and having dirty politicians, and pesticide resistant wasps, the movie is chock full of twists and turns.

 
There are so many good ones on today, I say get the popcorn and the tissue, as you will be laughing your heads off to the point of tears. I will be only writing bits on some them because who can cover 6-7 great campy films in my small blog?  Ok, next is Infestation, which is billed as comedic.  What do you do when wake up and a bug has wrapped you up in webbing? Well slacker Cooper (Chris Marquette) finds out in this film. There is an infestation of disgusting bugs, and Cooper hooks up with a group of survivors to take them on.  This one is supposed to have a surprise end, Soprano style.

Next are Growth and Arachnoquake, that is right you saw it correctly.  Lets talk about Arachnoquake After hurricanes Issac and Katrina, New Orleans area has had enough problems.  Now they have an earthquake in the area.  It releases a herd(?) of fire breathing spiders is going to take over Louisiana.  I can not wait for this film. Is the SyFy Channel ever going to run out of ideas for B movies? I think not.  This one has child star from Growing Pains, Tracey Gold in it as Katelynn.  Again kudos to SyFy for casting our former stars, giving them a job, and us a chance to see them again. Growth is about human evolution, and stars Charmed alum Brian Krause who plays Marco. Growth looks dark, and "The Ring" like in its setting.

 

 The next great one I can't wait to see is Camel Spiders.  I discovered camel spiders when I was researching the big wolf spider in my garage. It seems these middle eastern spiders, gnaw on you while you sleep.  The have like an anesthesia in their bite. So I can't wait to see this. It also stars Brian Krause from Charmed fame. He plays Capt. Sturges. It also has C.Thomas Howell from Southland fame. The thing about these spiders is they are huge. I am including a picture.  So this has got to be good.  I am taking bigger than a bread box. If you know that cliche.

Thank God for the SyFy channel or my addiction to having running TV would make me have to go cold turkey.  I might have to read a book.  I guess I could go out with friends, but like I said, I work on the weekends. Anyway there is one last movie I am pushing on SyFy today Ice Spiders. Just when you thought colder climates would keep you bug free, Lost Mountain resort is infested with gigantic spiders. They were produced by a governmental experiment and have escaped. So between eating everyone in sight, there is plenty of running and screaming to fulfill that horror craving. So tune in and have a great Saturday!! Oh by the way Brian Krause is not in this one. Someone else is I loved,  Steven J. Cannell.  He was a writer who worked on all kinds of TV shows, Mission Impossible, Adam 12, 21 Jump Street, Baretta, the A team, The Commish and tons more.  This was his last movie as he died in 2010.  Steven is an actor in this film. Have a great day!!

What About Dr. Frasier Crane?

I was groggy this morning and not wanting to work. So I took my coffee, sat down and  I watched an hour of Fraiser. Of course it is now well into reruns, and my view of Kelsey Grammar is very different than it was during the show. I had forgotten though how really wonderful the show was, with David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney and Jane Leeves. It was really a relationship, character driven show. Most of the really good shows are. I also love the theme song-Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs, sung by Kelsey Grammar. Check it out on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DeQDv7P3QY


As a lot of you may know the character of Fraiser Crane made his appearance on the 1980's hit, Cheers.  When Diane left Sam, she came back with Fraiser, he was so quirky, and fit so well, he never left. Then later after Diane was gone again, Fraiser found a perfect mate in Lillith(the beautiful Bebe Neuwirth).  Here they were, 2 anal retentive therapists passionately in love. As Cheers ended, Fraiser and his Lillith broke up and he got a job on a radio show in Seattle, Washington so he moved to his own show.

Fraiser Crane lives in a penthouse apartment over looking the Downtown of Seattle. He shares the apartment with his father,  Martin Crane (John Mahoney), a retired Seattle cop. I love the back drop of the manly man who has his broken down plaid recliner in the middle Fraiser's well decorated apartment.  Martin has 2 sons, Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Fraiser, both intellectual metrosexual therapists. Martin is cared for by his  British therapist Daphne (Jane Leeves).  Niles most of the show is secretly in love with Daphne.  After his divorce he finally marries her and has a child.

 

The episodes I watched were wonderful,. The first was Ski Lodge (season 5, episode 14).  Roz (Peri Gilpin) who works with Fraiser, wins tickets for a ski lodge. She gives them to Fraiser, and he brings his whole family, Niles, Martin, Daphne and her friend Annie.  Fraiser tries to get next to Annie, who is trying to get next to Niles, who is trying to get next to Daphne, who is trying to get next the ski instructor, who is trying to get next to Niles. Amid the many closing and opening of doors, the comedy plays out like a good Ira Levin Broadway show. Fraiser, whose ego is suffering, realizes at the end, no one was lusting after him.

The second episode I watched was Room Service (season 5, episode 15). In this one Fraiser's ex Lillith comes to him for comfort when her present husband leaves her for a male interior designer. Her self esteem is low.  Fraiser trying to avoid temptation gets Niles to help him. Fast forward to the next day, and Lillith awakes in a hotel room next to the naked Niles. They order breakfast, and Fraiser shows up. Comically They try to hide Niles in the bathroom which leads to laughs and a frustrated room service attendant.

I miss this show. It was on for 11 seasons, and frankly Kelsey Grammar is not the Fraiser I remember.  I am totally glad it is in reruns regularly!! As a northwest girl, it makes me miss the rain, the Puget Sound, and the Pike Street Market of Seattle.

Close Encounters of the Alien Kind

 

I worked Friday and Saturday night at home, I know it is the weekend, sigh...  However during my unfortunate incarceration (Anthony Bouvier-Designing Women) at home, I managed to discover a variety of interesting movies. The theme was aliens.  I went between HBO, and  AMC.  There were actually 5 movies about aliens in a short Amount of time.  Most of these I have seen before, all were thoroughly enjoyable.

Two of these were my part of my all time favorite movies. Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Cocoon.  I think Cocoon needs to be covered in my other blog as I had a spiritual experience after watching it. For this blog however I just love it!

I stumbled on to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  This is a wonderful movie came out in 1977 and was done by Steven Spielberg. It starred the very popular (at the time) Richard Dreyfuss and Melinda Dillion. Their characters, Roy and Jillian are part of a group of people in Indiana that have a UFO encounter one night.  Afterward they are driven by visions of this mountain.  Jillian is a young mother who after that night, has another visit from the aliens and they abduct her small son.  Roy, a handy man type who lives in the suburbs of Indiana with his family (his wife is played by Terri Garr-also popular actress of the time). He is so driven, he loses his job, and his family abandons him.

Roy and Jillian are driven to go to the mountain, they are start to make some connections,  after seeing it on TV.  Roy says, "I want answers." That is his drive through out this movie. From their shared UFO encounter on an Indiana highway, to connecting on their way out of town. The two have a bond to find out the truth. The government has a role, and actually sets up a place to meet with the aliens in Wyoming.

This movie draws on all the popular culture of time; abductions, the Bermuda Triangle, little grey men, music as communication, and government conspiracy. The encounter is wonderful. The aliens return the abductees, including Jillian's little son and Roy is allowed to go on an exchange program with the aliens. I think it was inspiring and beautiful.  The interactions with the aliens were about mutual exchanges, not war, and invasion.  I love Spielberg's movies.

 

While I was watching/ taping Close Encounters, also on was Cocoon. It is a Ron Howard film It came out in 1984.  It left me with this desire to go out and!! The cast of this movie is incredible, Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Brian Dennehy, Gwen Verdon, Maureen Stapleton and Steve Guttenberg. Alot of these people are now deceased, but they were at that time, broadway stars, old time movie actors, really respected people.  It seems Antareans who were peaceful race from another planet (Antares) set up a presence here during Atlantis. As it fell, they had to leave, not all of them could so they stored them in cocoons in the Gulf of Mexico.  The movie is set in Florida, and love the Tampa Bay/ St. Petersburg area.  Each time I see this movie I feel the potential of what could be, positively, instead of the invasion premises that are so prevalent today.

I am a huge fan of the Alien films and shows. I do believe in life outside of our existence.  I am also remember a time of more positive expectations, now our aliens are bent on invasion for a seek and destroy mission.  Though are graphics are superb, I fear the aliens of District 9 or Falling Skies.  Which of course I watch anyway.  Modern day alien films serve up my alien visitations with the depravity of human beings turning them into persecuted minorities living in the slums of Africa or having them taking over the world to destroy us. The best part occurred on Saturday when the mother of all alien movies from Steven Spielberg came on, ET The Extraterrestrial.   Starring the beautiful Drew Barrymore. I personally take my aliens with a pinch of hope, instead of a dash of doom.

Weeds Front to Back!!

I said goodbye to an old friend tonight, Weeds. My Adrian died of a brain tumor in 2004 he was 33.  Weeds began in 2005 with character Nancy Botwin's (Mary-Louise Parker) husband dying of a heart attack. It set the stage for the mother of 2, as she became pot dealer to the suburbs of  Agrestic, California. With brother-in-law Andy Botwin(Justin Kirk) and friend Doug Wilson (Kevin Nealon), we went through 7 seasons (countless years) of her struggle to raise her sons, from California across country to prison and finally settling down in Connecticut.

The opening scene ends as it started.  Steve Reyes Blume is now bar mitzvah age (13).  His step father rabbi Blume is now deceased.  Nancy again stands at a podium at a PTA meeting as she did in the first episode ever.  Then she was arguing with Celia Hodes (Elizabeth Perkins), for diet soda in the school, and this time it was for no helmets during soccer. Both times she failed.  It seemed from the start, that beautiful Nancy Botwin was on the wrong side. The one thing she finally got right is she bought land, and in this future, she owns 50 shops that sell pot products, now legal.  So successful that Starbucks wants to buy them out.

I watched as the writers closed up story lines, Silas (Hunter Parrish) has married his deaf girlfriend Megan (Shosannah Stern)and they have a baby that she won't let Nancy hold. She is resentful for Silas' childhood. Silas tells Nancy, when she asks him to make his wife be nice to her, "It is not about you anymore."  This wonderful series wraps up the story lines to these characters and lets us see their progress, and then takes us back to beginning. Shane is a cop, a dirty cop, and hangs out with the old man who mentored him. He is a mess, alcoholic and resentful. It seems like a cruel joke from the universe that their marijuana business has flourished, as he tried to go legit as a cop. Clearly his journey through the last years have been hard for him to deal with. When Nancy asks him to come home, he agrees to go to therapy and rehab, but not home.

 

Doug Wilson is a guru of his own church.  He travels around in a bus, wearing purple with beautiful young women that he uses as sex toys.  They bring back his gay drug dealing son Josh Wilson (Justin Chatwin) all grown up. He is a lawyer, who lives with his famous artist boyfriend. Through out the episode Doug has his flock kidnap the son in order to make up with him. They finally do. Celia Hode's ex husband Dean (Andy Milder) can walk again and is present at Stevie's party, he lets everyone know daughter Isabel (Allie Grant) now is a boy.  Conrad (Romany Malco) is not present as his wife is ready to have twins.  Andy Botwin (Justin Kirk) shows up in the finale like he did in the first season, making breakfast in the kitchen for the family.  He now has a little cafe where he cooks and is happy. He has a daughter, and though not with the mother, they are raising their daughter Leni together.

Nancy begins the prospect of facing her life alone. Young Stevie, does not get bar mitzvahed.  He learns about his drug lord father from Guillermo (Guillermo Diaz), and decides his methodist mother, and catholic birth-father, really make him confused.  He does want to go to boarding school, which Nancy finally agrees to. Nancy runs into Andy and offers to make him a partner in her business 50/50 (she was unwilling to do that when she opened the bakery as a front for the drug dealing), Andy says no.  She offers to sell everything and come near him.  He still turns her down, and tells her it is time for her to find herself.  She decides to sell her stores and do just that.

As the original 5 cast members, Kevin Nealon (Doug), Mary-Louise Parker (Nancy), Justin Kirk (Andy), Hunter Parris (Silas) and Alexander Gould (Shane) sit on the porch for the last minute, we say good bye and good luck, I reflect on my own journey these last 8 years. I realize it is time for me to reinvent myself and go off on my own. First I am rewatching all seasons.Then I will put them away, say thank you for making my life a little more enjoyable, bringing me a laugh and taking me on an adventure.

So What Now???

Here it is my favorite TV night, Sunday!!  Tonight is significant for a few reasons. First it is the end of one of my favorite Sunday shows, Army Wives. I mean the series finale!!  Then we are one week away from the end of another show I adore,Weeds. Last it was the season finale of Drop Dead Diva.  This is quite a bit of emotional TV for one woman, considering I was up all Saturday night with Shark Swarm.

First Let Me Say, Good Bye Army Wives, and What The Hell Was That?

So I am sitting as the cast closes up the story lines.  The soldiers of the 1st Brigade at Fort Marshall are getting ready to deploy again to Afghanistan.  This time Joan (Wendy Davis) is bumped up in rank, so she is a commanding officer and is required to go with the soldiers.  The gay couple Charlie (Ryan Michele Bath) and Nicole (Kelli Martin) who were recently married miraculously get Hector's (Joseph Julian Soria) baby to raise, just as Nicole is leaving on deployment. Roxy (Sally Pressman), Trevor/Drew Fuller) and family are safely in their van headed to Tacoma, Washington.  The next scene is the plane carrying the soldiers is in bad weather, we go to General Michael Holden (Brian McNamara) who is answering the phone in his office, and the says, "OH My God".  Then the series is over?  It reminded of me when The Sopranos ended. With the fade to black.   I am hoping this will mean there is a movie? Or they tell me What The Hell Happened?  I just got to know!!

 

Let Her Have Greyson!! 

Ok, so that was pretty good, but lets discuss Drop Dead Diva.  Ok so we know Deb (Brook D'orsay) has been in Jane's (Brook Elliot) body for these 3 years.  We know Greyson (Jackson Hurst) and Jane are really good friends. Jane pined over Greyson and then finally moved on with Owen. So Jane and Owen (Lex Medlin) are getting married tonight.  We have real Jane in heaven, watching Deb/Jane these many years, ticked off that the "bimbo blonde" was turning her life into a train wreck.  It seems when your body is kept alive with the intervention of another soul, in this case Deb Dobkins, you have permission to watch it from heaven. Jane is not happy and finds Deb/Jane's old guardian angel Fred (Ben Feldman), and like Deb presses the return button.  Back to Deb/Jane who in her wedding dress which is caught on a nail.  Greyson comes and they share a moment and a kiss. Then Greyson tells her he loves her, Owen walks in, goes into a cardiac episode, and upon waking says to Jane/Deb, "Where am I".  It is at that time Jane realizes something has happened to Owen.  It appears to me Owen is now the old Jane.  That should make some great plot twists.  So if Deb/ Jane marries Jane/Owen, does that make them lesbians?  I am sooooo confused........That is where the series ends until the next season.  Please TV writers, Let Jane Have Greyson! What a wacky plot, I actually think it is brilliant!!

 

Lastly, we are a week away from the series finale of Weeds.   It is the end of an era.  Carrying on after your man dies, is hard.  Especially when you live in expensive Agrestic, California. It requires some creative thinking.  The sunny life of the California suburbs paints a lovely picture. I love the contrast of a housewife selling weed to the neighbors to support her family.  This begins the journey of Nancy Botwin (Mary- Louise Parker).  We follow Nancy and her family from the burning of Agrestic (by the way Nancy's fault) to the California Coast.  Nancy finds love again, marries a Mexican drug dealer/politician, and then has baby Stevie.

After Shane ( Alexander Gould---younger son of Judah) kills the drug dealers/politicians sister, Pillar (Kate Del Castillo), the Botwin's escape to Seattle. They journey across the USA all the way to prison, NYC and finally landing in Connecticut. We have watched her journey, her ability to survive, even thrive at times, and now it is almost over. This year Nancy has her feet in Connecticut, but has gone back to her roots in Regrestic, California (the rebirth of Agrestic). Ever being the entrepreneur, she has bought some land to grow marijuana. Nancy plans on legally distributing it in California. She is also mending fences with Guillermo (Guillermo Diaz) and Conrad (Romany Malco), drawing them in as partners the business. We have one more episode and I am dying to see what happens!!

Shark Saturday on the SyFy Channel!!

 

 

I blogged a few weeks ago on Shark Week. August 13th to be exact.  I love Shark Week on the Discovery Channel.  However, more exciting is Shark Saturday on the SyFy Channel.  It started at 9:00 am today with DinoShark. It finishes at 3:00am with Shark Swarm Part II.  The SyFy Channel has some really interesting new movies that are so campy, they are funny. The are like the B movies of the 1950's, low budget, and full of gore, topped off with tons of screaming!! These Shark Movies are no exception. So grab your popcorn and soda, pull up a sofa and laugh your head off.
 

First we have DinoShark, man's contribution to global warming starts this film.  A chunk of ice from the Artic breaks loose and you see a baby dino shark swim away.  Years later, he is a  fierce predator. He swims into Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and begins eating his way through the tourists.  Eric Balfour plays the main character Trace, who runs around trying to convince everyone this is happening, from to tourist to law enforcement.  Of course no one believes him, until either he is devoured by Dino Shark, or watches someone else become human sushi.  I first saw him on Six Feet Under, now he plays one of my favorite characters free-spirit Duke Crocker on Haven.  Which is also on the SyFy Channel and coming back in a couple of weeks.


Our next selection is Sharktopus. I had never seen a half-shark/half-octopus walk up on the beach to feast on his "beautiful young girl buffet" before. Well, at least not until Sharktopus. This has got to be one of the campiest movie I have seen from SyFy. He is genetically engineered by the military and escapes to feast on the beaches of Southern California. A place where he can eat to his heart's content and yet eat mostly a low fat menu. It stars Eric Roberts, brother to the famous Julia Roberts in the starring role of Dr. Nathan Sands. Roger Gorman, an academy award winning producer, does this film. There is a sequel called Piranhaconda.  So that should be a thriller!!

 

Next we have Mega Shark Vs. Crocosaurus, yep I said it.  The SyFy Channel has brought back the extinct megladon and paired it with a giant crocodile. In this movie Lt. Terry McCormick (Jaleel White- that is Steve Irkel for those of you who remember him) is transporting a giant crocodile when it is attacked by a megladon. The crocodile has laid eggs all over the Pacific Coastline.  The ship also has some of her eggs. Which the megladon can detect.  So we have the battle between the two giants while crocodiles are hatching all over and the hatchlings go on a rampage to the Santa Monica Pier.  Veteran actor Robert Picardo plays Admiral Calvin in this thriller.  I love that the SyFy Channel uses actors that have been successful before on TV and in film. Robert Picardo was on one of my faves from the 80's China Beach, and was in the Star Trek family as Dr.Zimmerman in Deep Space Nine.

 

I am not going to review all of today's films, but one of the titles takes me back, Land Sharks.  Anyone who remembers Saturday Night Live when Chevy Chase and the late Gilda Radner  were on, remembers their famous Land Sharks skit.  Super Shark and The 2 headed Shark Attack are on tonight. The Cool thing about The 2 Headed Shark Attack, is that it stars Carmen Electra, Charlie O'Connell (the bachelor, and Jerry O'Connell's brother) and Brook Hogan (daughter of Hulk Hogan).

We finish the night with a two part movie, Shark Swarm Part One and Part two. Now this movie has some well known stars like; Daryl Hannah-Splash fame, John Schneider of Dukes of Hazard and Smallville, Armand Assante whose resume dates back to 1974, F. Murray Abraham who I loved in Amadeus, and those are just the really well known actors. The story is that Lux (Armand Assante) is a developer who wants to make a wealthy community on the shore of this little seaside town.  He releases a chemical in the water which alter the area sharks, and make them want to feast more on humans. I can't wait to watch this tonight!!

  

I love the SyFy Channel, and they are making movies all the time. I love they use some of all time favorite actors and that their movies are so campy.  If you miss any of these today, check back, Shark Swarm was made in 2008, so they are shown regularly.  They also have a great reality show called Face Off, where make up artists put together costumes and looks. It is one of the better reality shows, and the make up design is incredible. Have a great Weekend!

I SPY

 

As a child I longed for stability, family, and to be completely one of the gang.  Those were things sorely lacking in my young life. After many years of recovery, and therapy, I have learned to embrace the part of my experiences that made me who I am.   As an adult, one of my many fantasies is to be a part of the world  of espionage. I long to be a covert spy. It is my fantasy. I want to travel internationally, have access to money, to be a different identity at the drop of a hat, to hop a jet and go from Russia to Spain in a few hours. To walk among the tall new buildings of Berlin, stroll long side the Seine River in France, and to have a mission.

That is why I love is The Bourne Legacy films.  I don't love that Jason is thrown over board, or his girl is killed, but I love his ability to travel, the excitement and the adventure. So that brings me to a show I watch religiously. Covert Affairs, where Annie Walker (Piper Perabo)  is recruited by the CIA, while living at her sisters house. Her ex-boyfriend is being sought by the CIA, and so Annie is sent to the DPD (Domestic Protection Division) in order to help capture him. Other missions grow out of that beginning premise. Her cover is that she works for the Smithsonian Institute.

I have to say watching Annie, I get the feeling she is being slightly used.  Maybe that is how CIA views operatives. They have a purpose for them, and so it appears like using to me.  Annie is new, and one hell of an agent.  She is a cross between Gidget and Chuck Norris, perky and yet can pack one hell of a punch.
 

One person that seems to have her back is "Auggie" (Christopher Gorham), who is a special ops/ MI (military intelligence). He was blinded in Iraq and now handles tech ops for Annie. He is also her closest friend. Auggie is incredibly athletic, and has one hell of a body. He is extremely competent with what he does. I guess he would have to be to work CIA wouldn't he?  He was engaged, but when his fiance found out he was CIA, she broke up with him.

Her handler is the manager of DPD Joan Campbell (Kari Matchett). She is tough on Annie, to enable her to become a stronger agent. I have read she sees herself in Annie, though at times it doesn't appear like that. Joan is Married to her boss Aurthur Campbell (veteran actor Peter Gallagher). They actually work well together and appear to have a decent marriage. Joan's cover is that she works for World Bank. Now I thought Joan was tough until Annie was sent to Lena Smith's (Sarah Clarke) division. Lena sent Annie back  to DPD when she wasn't happy with her progress.

Now we are caught up.  There is a lot of excitement this 3rd season. Annie has fallen in love with another spy she was sent to bring in Simon Fischer (Richard Coyle). Simon is suspected of killing CIA operative Jai Wilcox (Sendhi Ramamurthy).   Simon is handsome, rich, also a spy, with a great British accent, and he loves Annie. Who wouldn't love him right?  He loved her enough to kill his own handler in order to protect her. This year is dicey with the introduction of Lena Smith, and Simon Fischer. I can't say anymore I will give it away. So I just say WATCH the show!