Sealed Nintendo Games, Zack & Miri Trailer, and Eddie Murphy's Next

Sealed Nintendo Games for Charity - Nintendo of Canada cleaned out its warehouse and found a bunch of sealed NES, SNES and original GameBoy games. Instead of tossing them or giving them to themselves, they decided to sell them in lots for the United Way. Click the link to see what is available.

Beverly Hills Cop 4 - Eddie Murphy has confirmed that he is prepping to reprise his role of Axel Foley for the movie. Transformers' Lorenzo di Bonaventura will be producing the film through Paramount. The goal is to start production in 2009 for a summer 2010 release.

Zack & Miri Make A Porno Teaser - Below is a teaser trailer for Kevin Smith's next movie staring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. Due to the topic and language, the trailer is not work safe. I have noticed the embedding link is hit or miss so try the main website if it doesn't work.

Recount Review

Watching HBO's Recount was an interesting experience. It was a good, informative film that even the major participants that the film is based on agree is accurate. It is something that should be required in political science classes across the country for showing what a farce the legal and political system can become.

The entire battle in Florida for the 2000 US election came down to confusing ballots, archaic equipment, and political ambitions. The movie does an excellent job of covering and easily explaining the voting problem with the confusing ballots and equipment that led to some miscounts. That is angering but expected.

What really angers you is watching the manipulations that took place by the Republican Party to block a hand recount of the ballots and also to prevent the machine recounts in 17 counties that refused to do them. The vacant Katherine Harris was at the heart of this, more concerned about her place in the Republican Party then her concern over doing her job correctly, which was getting an accurate count of who the citizens of Florida wanted as President. Of course the Florida laws on the issue didn't help as they where sloppy and poorly written and allowed for multiple interpretations. The Republican led Florida election board combined with Harris' willing support resulted in the inevitable.

The movie actually tries to be fair to Katherine Harris. Laura Dern does an excellent job. Frankly the Harris in the movie comes across as a flat out ditz, something backed up by books on the subject, her failed political career, and multiple press statements (she could give Bush a run for his money). Of course, being an idiot, she is the last person in the room to know this and is portrayed as feeling under siege for simply doing what her Republican leadership wanted her to do.

Don’t even get me started on the Supreme Court which inserted itself in the process when it’s legal right and moral right to do so is nebulous at best. It was clearly the result of Republicans calling in multiple favors to get the job done - declare Bush the winner.

Now despite my attack of the Republicans, the movie does a good job of trying to stand back and just tell the story from the perspective of both parties, showing the events that occurred without offering an opinion. However, you can't watch this movie and not have an opinion. I honestly don't see how you can't watch this movie and simply not be enraged at how something as simple as counting votes becomes a legal and personal quagmire and still call it democracy in action and rule of law when it was anything but.

Honestly though, the actions of the Republican Party and its supporters where beyond reprehensible. To support it, as many Republicans still do, shows their lack of morals and frankly, to the sadness of this country, we got the candidate we deserved for allowing them to succeed. About the only plus of the whole story is that Bush could have potentially won the election free and clear without any doubts and instead he will always be considered the President that stole an election. Considering how the next eight years went, I have little doubt he will go down as the worse President in this nation’s history and all those many supporters will have to live with the idiot they chose to back and the morals they happily sold in the effort. Many would have sleepless nights thinking about it but I don’t anyone involved in this fiasco have enough of a conscious to be bothered by it.

Pork and Beans video, OpenCable, Monster Cable Again, and Hulk

Pork and Beans Video - A new music video from Weezer that managed to collect many of the recent internet Memes that have hit the internet over the years such as the "Such As" girl, the Britney guy, Chocolate Rain guy and many others.


Cable Boxes Going Away? - Sony has announced its joined tru2way or OpenCable that the several electronic manufactures and most of the cable companies have already joined. Open Cable is basically a standard that allows the TV's to have the software need to act as cable boxes for handling VOD, programming guides and other activities that currently require a separate box. Sounds like good news to me.

Monster Cable Sues Monster Golf - Monster cable, the company that assumes you are so stupid you will pay 1000% over regular prices for cable just because they claim they are better but can't prove it, are now suing another company for having the name "Monster" in their title. Their claim is brand confusion. Considering that buying their stuff does make you stupid they make have a point on their customers getting confused but that doesn't make it right. Maybe they should check out this list of other things labeled Monster and sue them too. Monster Cable is a company that needs to go out of business ASAP but probably be around for a long time to come.

Hulk Editing Write-Ups - AICN and Dark Horizons have each written articles that describe their visit to watch the editing of The Incredible Hulk. If your sitting on the fence about the movie, might be worth watching as it makes the movie seem far more interesting then the commercials have.

MSNBC, Consumer Confidence, Sydney Pollack Death and Indy 4 Box Office

Sydney Pollack Dead at 73 - Director and actor Sydney Pollack died from cancer at his home on Monday. He directed film such as Out of Africa, Tootsie, Havana, and Three Days of the Condor. He also acted in many films, with his last role being this years "Maid of Honor" and recently produced HBO's "Recount" which is probably a shoo-in for multiple Emmys.

MSNBC Wins Demo After 6 Years - In a sign that MSNBC's decision to be the anti-Fox is working; the station won the key A25-54 in prime time for the first time in 6 years. The last victory occurred on Halloween 2001. The plan is pretty simple, counter Fox's faux "fair and balanced" with their reporting. The result is a feud between Fox and MSNBC made amusing by Fox pretending they don't matter but spending a lot of time trying to counter the network and clearly that isn't working.

May Consumer Confidence at 16 Year Low - With news of recessions, companies planning and cutting back accordingly, the high cost of energy, growing inflation, the decreasing value of the dollar and the hard hit housing industry, its probably no surprise that consumers are hunkering down for the worse rather then spending. It doesn't help that Bush's trickle down plans never trickled down so the result is the middle class has shrunk over the last 8 years and they counted for the majority of the consumer spending that drives the economy. Bush now hasn't just rolled back the Clinton years; he is now working on his father's.

Indiana 4 Box Office - The movie that took 19 to years to come didn't tire out fans who turned out in huge numbers world-wide. Its US haul was $126 million; the rest of the world did $160 bringing its Memorial Day weekend total to $286 which pretty much means the movie will hit profitability by the end of the week.

Doctor Who Trailer - The BBC series has hit is mid way point and so a new trailer to sell the remaining episodes has come out. Billie Piper returns as Rose, the Daleks return, and the theory is the season's big bad is Davros who created the Daleks who had killed all the Time Lords but the famous one. Either one it looks like the final 6 should be fun. Enjoy them because the series is basically taking the next 18 months off except for the occasional TV movie.


CW On Its Final Legs? - The CW, home of Supernatural, Smallville, Gossip Girl and other programs that have garnered buzz but not much of audience may be on its last legs if CBS looses patience with the network. Its overall ratings continue to be in decline with an average of 3 million and I doubt it’s profitable even with DVD sales. The Wall Street Journal throws out lots of theories for the decline, the usual chestnuts about the Internet, and fickle attention spans of its young audience, poor measurement standards and so forth. Frankly I don't know what the problem is. To me a lot of its programming is as good if not better then what the other 4 networks are airing but I guess its reputation of being for tweens is keeping the adults away.

Three Hulk Clips - Click the link to go to three clips that actually make the movie worth watching. Up to now my interest in the movie has been pretty bland because the advertising campaign has been pretty ho-hum. It’s a shame though that Liv Tyler blew up her lips. Don’t women know that disproportionate lips are not an attractive quality?

11 Minute Automatic Mario - A long masterpiece that actually movies and matches the Anime music that plays with it. Getting the timing down must have been a huge headache. The automatic part is if the level existed the player would do nothing but watch as the screen scroll and other actions of the level would propel you through it.

Metal Gear Retrospective III

Gametrailers.com has released the next part in the Metal Gear Retrospective, this time covering Metal Gear 3 Sons of Liberty.

Indiana Jones 4 Review

This is an Indiana Jones movie and it isn't. While the movie entertained me, it was missing a lot of the magic that made the previous Indy films so fun. It is hard to nail down exactly what is missing though.

You have Harrison Ford and Indiana Jones and despite the 19 years, he doesn't miss a beat with the looks, lines, and expressions. You have the return of Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood, once again playing the role with the usual fun and appeal. The movies has the interesting villains in the form of Russians (fits the red scare times of the 50s) and leader Irina Spalko, played well by the beautiful Cate Blanchett. You have the quest, the mysterious Crystal Skull and the resulting world wide trip in the hunt for it. You even have a nod to the Ark from the first movie in the first 30 minutes of the movie. All the elements of a great Indy movie are there. Yet something is missing.

The problem though is the elements are fantastic but how they come together not so much. The actors do their jobs, the sets are great, the special effects are stunning but ultimately the failure is at the script level and while the writer can be blamed there were a lot of cooks in the kitchen that seemed to miss some of the fundamentals. Sure the first 30 minutes had it but after that things fall apart.

The problem I think is the focus. In the past the focus was the quest (the Crystal Skulls) rather then the chase (the bad guys) and how Indy was either always just a step ahead or always figuring out a way out of a jam. In most cases everyone was reacting to his actions rather then vice versa.

In this movie, the quest is incidental. Actually the quest was pretty irrelevant considering that John Hurt's Prof. Oxley had already found the skull and the temple and Indy was just retracing his steps. Instead the movie focused on the relationship between Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) and the chase. Because of this, Indy was often reacting to what they where doing instead of taking the lead on things. In all that, much of the magic was lost.

Now I am not saying don't see the movie, just saying the rush isn't there and don't go in with too high expectations. Go in just wanting to be entertained and save a few bucks by seeing it at a matinee.

Hobbit Q & A, Cable Prices and DS FF IV Trailer

The Hobbit Fan Q & A - Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro participated in an online chat with fans where they answered 60 questions about the movies that they will spend the next 4 years working on. To much info to summarize but the gist is the plan for these two Hobbit movies in form and execution will be the same as it was for The Lord of the Rings.

Cables Prices Rose 77% - In a bit of a no brainer, NY Times is reporting about the ridiculous price increases from the cable companies who enjoy virtually no competition. They collude with each other to be the only available providers in an area so there simply isn't any need to compete. Of course the cable companies claim they have to but when pressed for details they always clam up.

Final Fantasy IV for DS - Below is the English subtitled trailer for the July release of Final Fantasy IV for the DS. FF4 originally came out on the Super NES as Final Fantasy II and is one of my favorite all time games so will be buying this remake when it comes out.

McBush, Rovem and Recount

Carl Rove Subpoenaed - The house actually did something interesting, it subpoenaed Karl Rove to try and learn what happened with the strange firing of those US Attorneys a few years ago. A time when, despite laws to the contrary, Rove and the White House also suddenly lost millions of emails that might have revealed information on the subject. People pretend nothing was going on but the lack of honesty on the subject suggest otherwise. Sadly I doubt Rove's testimony will reveal anything, more then likely he will do the "I do not remember" type thing, invoke executive privilege, or simple plead the fifth.

John McCain Rejects John Hagee - McBush after harassing Obama about his Wright connections, after warnings from Jon Stewart, after literally two years of ass kissing and kow-towing to the base, finally got the support of Christian nutter John Hagee. After aggressively getting him, McBush flip-flopped (remember this is bad according to Republicans) once again and decided he rejected the Pastor for his hate speech. Hate speech the man has been slinging for decades but apparently McCain was willing to ignore as long as the press was. Once again, Republican = hypocrite. Anytime McBush's team brings up Wright, they need to hammer back relentlessly with Hagee. Make it so bringing up the subject at all is damaging for both and therefore not worth bringing it up for either.


McCain Attack Obama on Military Record - McBush, king flip-flopper, has decided to attack Obama for his lack of military service. This comes after he said he wouldn't do such a thing when Kerry tried to use his record as a selling point back in 2004. As is often the case, for McBush its do as I say not as I do. I still maintain that McBush's flipping on torture because he caved way back when. Considering his personal experience on being tortured during Vietnam, he could be called an expert. His expert opinion can only be based on his personal experience. Since he says torture works, then I can only assume that torture worked on him. That could be forgiven except McCain entire career is built on his POW status and how he held up to the torture when clearly he did not. Is there anything about the man that is real?

HBO's Recount - Broadcasting on HBO Sunday at 9PM is a movie that retells the 2000 election debacle from various points of view. They tried to avoid the conspiracies of the situation and stick with the facts (of which most of the participants agree was successful), but I think Harris was paid off with a House seat (which she later lost). I also find the use of the word "recount" to be factually incorrect since the whole thing was about avoid a recount. The Democrats wanted one, the Republicans didn't. Everyone claims the whole thing was on the up and up but please, if that was the case then a recount would have simply confirmed what the Republicans already believed. Clearly they thought they would lose and so blocked something that should have occurred automatically and without questioning. The whole thing is a farce and just an indication that the corruption of the party over the last few years was just more of the same from the Republican Party.

Russian Wanted Trailer, Live Search, Capcom Sales, and Gotham Knights Trailer

Russian Wanted Trailer - Click the link to go a Russian site that has what, here in the states, would be an R-rated trailer with lot of violence and hint of sex. Since a Russian trailer, the voices, etc are Russian but the images still do the job. The trailer shows what looks like a much more interesting movie then the one American audiences are currently seeing. On the safe side, consider the contents of the link not work safe.


Microsoft Cash Back Program - MS has launched a program that pays you back 2% to 30% for using their Live Search to find and then purchase products. The percentage back seems to vary from not only the product bought but where it’s bought but the site presents a chart to help you decide. The money back is not automatic and not granted at purchase time but something you claim later from MS (think rebate). Major online retailers are participating in the program so might be worth it to use if buying something online. Of course you need an account with the site which means your searches will be tracked.

Capcom Game Sales for Series - Capcom has released the lifetime volume sales for many of its top series include MegaMan (2 with 28 million sold), Street Fighter (3 with 25 million sold, and Resident Evil (1st with 35.5 million sold). The numbers are pretty interesting to look at and a good to help trigger a little walk down memory lane.

Gotham Knight Trailer - See below for the trailer for the upcoming direct to DVD movie that bridges the gap between Batman Returns and The Dark Knight. The movie is six separate stories that show Batman learning the ropes on the mean streets of Gotham.
Batman Gotham Knight - Official Trailer

The Hobbit, CGI in Indy, Star Trek Bosses, and K-Mart Confessions

The Hobbit Pre-production Begins - Variety is reporting that pre-production on the films have begun, which in this case mostly means getting a script written. The writers are assumed to be the Lord of the Rings team of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens but that has not been confirmed. Also, del Toro has indicated he is hoping that Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis will return for the movies.

CGI in Indiana Jones 4 - Article that describes the use of computer imagery in the 4th Indy film which is a huge departure from the practical effects that use to be done in the other movies.

7 Bad Bosses According to Star Trek - A funny breakdown of the various "command" styles in the Star Trek universe and how to handle them if you meet them in the real world. Kirk is the "bully", which in hindsight is accurate.

10 K-Mart Confessions - A store manager breaks down why K-Mart comes across as such a bad shopping and customer service experience. What it all comes down to is lack of money. The stores are not given the money to train, to repair, to give raises, and to hire enough staff. It’s a bare bones operation that is treated as the red-headed stepchild of Sears corporate and it shows.

3G iPhone Confirmed, US Currency Unfair, Miyamoto Top 10, and Charter Crap

iPhone 3G Confirmed - Gizmodo is saying that they have confirmed the long running rumor that on June 9th Apple will announce the new model at the WWDC keynote and available shortly there after worldwide.

US Currency Unfair - A federal appeals court said that the current one size for all bills is unfair to the blind and it should be changed in some fashion to accommodate them. For many countries that means size changes since texture differences can often to worn out on bills. A solution that meets the courts ruling is probably years away.

Charter Opt-Out Doesn't Really Opt-Out - Charter's recent decision to track its customers internet activity for the purposes of directed advertising supposedly comes with a complicated opt out option. The thing is the option only opts you out of the targeted advertising; it doesn't stop them from tracking your internet activity. Which of course means all your private activity is available to the corporation (and its employees) to use, sell, or do with as they see fit (say turn over to the government). This could also be in violation of the Cable TV Privacy Act but it will take someone with money to litigate that.

Top 10 Miyamoto Games - Shigeru Miyamoto is probably the father of the modern video game with pretty much every game out there having an influence from his work. The list just features what Gamepro thinks as his best, not sure if I agree:
10) Donkey Kong (1981)
9) Sar Fox (1993)
8) Metroid Prime (2002)
7) Nintendogs (2005)
6) Super Mario Galaxy (2007)
5) Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (2003)
4) Wii Sports (2006)
3) Super Mario 64 (1996)
2) Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1992)
1) Super Mario Bros 3 (1990)

Speed Racer Review

This movie is fun, very entertaining and getting thoroughly screwed by bad trailers and confused critics. It’s a must see movie that is very fun for adults (just ignore the kiddy aspects) and the kids who will drink this movie in with much joy. The film does take some initial getting use to, with the bright colors and look (kids will catch on real quick) but after that it just flows along nicely.

The story is basically a typical sports movie...the hero (Speed Racer) overcomes some obstacles (evil corporate CEO and henchmen) to win the championship with the help of his friends and family. We all know the story, we all know the beginning, we know the end, so its the journey we get into and the journey in this film is a lot of fun with amazing eye candy (the films's look), the action (the races are tense and gorgeous) and just fantastic effects and execution.

This is also a family film, in the Disney tradition with a kid and a monkey that adults will find annoying while the kids will love. Ultimately that is something to remember...this is a family film which means you have to go in with the proper mindset. If you’re looking for the Matrix, of course you’re going to be disappointed. Go in looking for a Disney film and you will enjoy this film. Go in with your family and you will enjoy it even more.

Sadly this film is getting the bums rush because of a poorly executed advertising campaign that was more turn off then turn on. I saw the film because I figured it can't be as bad as the advertisements made it seem (thankfully I was right). Whoever put that campaign together should be fired because it does absolutely nothing to capture that fun of the film. Really two different campaigns should have been launched, once for the kids (focus on the looks, colors, etc) and one for the adults (focus on the actors and action). Also, they should have done a Disney and made sure that the critics that saw this movie came with their kids and see the movie as a family. If they had done that, the reviews would have probably been much more favorable and drowned out the childless critics that simply didn't get it.

See this movie before all others; I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Review

Basically, if you liked the first movie, you will like the second. If you didn't, then pass on this movie. It has the same basic storyline (save Narnia), same heroes (the Pevensie kids) plus some additions, the same variety and cute talking animals and basically the same threats (bad guys that want to rule the land through evil means), and the same fantastic special efforts and glorious end battle with the deus ex machina rescue from Aslan. If it sounds like I am panning the film, I am not. I did enjoy but if it seems too familiar while you’re watching at least you know why.

The execution, acting, effects, etc are spot on. The violence is there but remains bloodless even though only a really naive kid will not figure out what happened. It is slightly darker but most of that darkness takes place off screen. I was entertained for the entire movie and because of its scale, it’s a must see on the big screen. A good crown makes it more enjoyable but save a few bucks and just see it as a matinee.

McCain, the Ultimate Flip-Flopper

As we all learned in 2004 from the Republicans, "flip-flopping" is the ultimate crime any presidential candidate can commit. It seems only fair then to hold this same standard to John "4 more years of Bush" McCain or McBush. Below is an example of McCain who just can seem to get own stances straight in his head because he has flopped around on them so often, or a new term "McBushing" on his ideals. I miss the McCain of 2000 but either that man never really existed or Bush broke him, I am not sure which but either way McBush running this country would be very dangerous for everyone.
McBushing

Metal Gear Retrospective

Another excellent Retrospective series from Gametrailers.com, this time focusing on the Metal Gear series of video games.

Part 1


Part 2

Fall 2008 TV Grid and New Show Summary

From AICN comes the below TV grid that summarizes the Fall 2008 TV schedule. If you want to read the summaries for all the planned new shows, click here. Click the grid for a larger image.

Special Comment: Bush "Shut the Hell Up"

Keith Olbermann's wonderful special comments continue, once again whacking Bush for his idiotic policies and statements regarding Iraq. The details are long, but in the commentary Keith provides plenty of examples of how dense and stupid Bush has been in regards to his criminal policies with Iraq. Its one of Keith's most impassioned commentaries yet and one worth watching. A transcript can be found here.

Part One


Part Two


Update:
Keith Olbermann aired a postscript to the Special Comment on 5/19 because of the right-wing pundits purposely ignoring his frequent use of the word "Bush" and replacing it with "soldiers". As you know, anytime you insult Bush you must be insulting the soldiers even though the two really have nothing to do with each other. Any time that happens, I consider it conceding the argument.

Gay Marriage Ban, Nintendo Loses Lawsuit, CNET bought, and RIAA Loss

California Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban - The court overturned a ban on same sex marriage which means same-sex couples can now legally marry in the state. The only way to overturn the ruling is to get the state to add an amendment to the state constitution which Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he will not support. This is also the very reason why so many states in 2004 skipped right by drafting a law and went to the amendment stage as they knew that the law itself is unconstitutional on most state and national levels. I just hope no same-sex marriage will makes its way to the US Supreme Court as we all know they will support any such law, hearing the merits of the case would just be for the case of appearances.

Nintendo Loses Patent Case - The game company has been ordered by the world wide leaders of patent law incompetence, the court of Tejas, Texas, to pay $21 million to patent troll Anascape Ltd. for supposed patent infringement in their Gamecube controllers. The problem with current patent law is the patent itself is often reviewed by government employees who simply don't have the technical knowledge to recognize what they are looking at so pretty much rubber stamp any idea whether its feasible or not. So in this case Anascape probably patented an idea related to a game controller but never developed a working version as it’s not required. Nintendo years later designed a controller whose technology is similar to the patent and thus a case is born. Patent law doesn't recognize a random idea from the actually existence of that idea in action. It’s all a farce much like copyright law is today.

CBS Buying CNET - CBS is buying CNET networks to the tune of $1.8 billion or $11.50 a share. The additional will make "CBS one of the 10 most popular Internet companies in the United States." CNET networks include CNET, ZDNet, GameSpot, TV.com, MP3.com, and News.com. If you work for CNET, I recommend updating your resumes as there will be a ton of job duplication and therefore many layoffs.

RIAA Pays $108k in Lawyer Fees - Tanya Andersen has scored another victory against the RIAA, this time for lawyer fees over the war the RIAA has waged against her and she is now waging against them. She was falsely accused of copyright infringement and her lawyer has basically been spanking the RIAA repeatedly over their intimidation tactics. Hopefully this will help set a precedent for other ongoing cases from the RIAA who are desperate to maintain an old and useless business model. The RIAA represents only the companies, not the artists so don’t worry about the ruling costing your favorite money.

Fox 2008 Fall Schedule

Fox is coming off a pretty good season overall with House and American Idol dominating. Oddly the show is not spending much on new programming, announcing 6 new programs.

Cancellations
"Back to You (found it's legs but too late to help)," "Canterbury's Law," "K-Ville," "Nashville," "New Amsterdam (damn, lots of potential in this one)," "The Next Great American Band," "The Return of Jezebel James," "Unhitched."

Renewals
"24," "American Dad," "American Idol," "America's Most Wanted," "America Fights Back," "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?," "Bones," "Cops," "Don't Forget the Lyrics," "Family Guy," "Hell's Kitchen," "House," "King of the Hill," "Kitchen Nightmares," "MADtv," "The Moment of Truth," "Prison Break," "The Simpsons," "So You Think You Can Dance," "Talk Show with Spike Feresten," "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," "'Til Death."

New Shows
The Cleveland Show - Animated spin-off of Family Guy that moves Cleveland and son to Stoolbend, VA with family additions. Hilarity ensues. It’s from Family Guy so I will watch.

Dollhouse - Re-teams Buffy creator Joss Whedon with Eliza Dushku, who plays Echo. Echo is a member of a unit that allows their personalities to be wiped and replaced as needed to carry out missions. The wipes, however, do not seem as complete as people thought. The cast includes Olivia Williams who I have a slight crush on so will probably check out the show.

Do Not Disturb - Comedy set in a Hotel. Stars Jerry O'Connell and Robert Wagner who help maintain the high level of standards for the place. Basically a workplace comedy. Probably pass.

Fringe - A crazy doctor and his FBI partner investigate weird happenings. Sounds like X-Files where Fox Mulder is actually crazy. It’s from JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias) and Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Transformers) but they will be turning over the showrunning reigns to another. They just worked on the pilot.

Sit Down, Shut Up - Animated comedy that explores the lives of eight staff members at a high school in a small northeastern town. Its on Sunday's after the Simpsons so will probably watch it.

Schedule
AUGUST TO DECEMBER 2008:

MONDAY
8pm: "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"
9pm: "Prison Break"

TUESDAY
8pm: "House"
9pm: "Fringe"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "Bones"
9pm: "'Til Death"
9:30pm: "Do Not Disturb"

THURSDAY
8pm: "The Moment of Truth"
9pm: "Kitchen Nightmares"

FRIDAY
8pm: "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?"
9pm: "Don't Forget The Lyrics"

SATURDAY
8pm: "Cops"
9pm: "America's Most Wanted: America Strikes Back"
11pm: "MADtv"
12am: "Talkshow with Spike Feresten"

SUNDAY
7pm: "The OT" (NFL Post-Game)
8pm: "The Simpsons"
8:30pm: "King of the Hill"
9pm: "Family Guy"
9:30pm: "American Dad"

JANUARY TO MAY 2009:

MONDAY
8pm: "Dollhouse"
9pm: "24"

TUESDAY
8pm: "American Idol"
9pm: "Fringe"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "House"
9pm: "American Idol Results Show"
9:30pm: TBA Comedy

THURSDAY
8pm: "Hell's Kitchen"
9pm: "Secret Millionaire"

FRIDAY
8pm: "Bones"
9pm: "'Til Death"
9:30pm: "Do Not Disturb"

SATURDAY
8pm: "Cops"
9pm: "America's Most Wanted: America Strikes Back"
11pm: "MADtv"
12am: "Talkshow with Spike Feresten"

SUNDAY
8pm: "The Simpsons"
8:30pm: "King of the Hill" (Jan)/"Sit Down, Shut Up" (Mar)
9pm: "Family Guy"
9:30pm: "American Dad" (Jan)/"The Cleveland Show" (Mar)

(source)

Edwards Endorses Obama

Senator John Edwards finally endorsed Barack Obama for president. Why the long wait is nnever explained. At this point I don't even know why it matters. What power he had in delegate and super delegate votes has long since gone. Why he may have a loyal support base, that base was enough to keep him a contender for President (again) so find it hard to believe that means anything either.

The only reason I can think of for this move is Edwards is reminding Obama that he wouldn't mind being the Vice President on the ticket. Considering Edwards' weak campaign, it's a tough call. Clinton can bring in the votes but will also cost a lot of votes. Edwards is a safe choice though and not especially disliked by anyone. Regardless of the ticket, anything is better then McBush.

CW 2008 Fall Schedule

The last place network continues on despite its average rating of 2 million viewers. Considering the network only greenlit two shows, it is a sign that the operating budget continues to take hits.

Cancellations
"Aliens in America," "Beauty and the Geek," "Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants," "CW Now ," "Girlfriends," "Life is Wild," "Online Nation" and "Pussycat Dolls."

Renewals
"America's Next Top Model," "Everybody Hates Chris," "The Game," "Gossip Girl," "One Tree Hill," "Smallville" (was glad until heard Allison Mack is out), "Supernatural."

New Shows
90210 - They are calling it a spin-off but really it’s a retread of the original show (new kids adjusting to a new school, friends and crap occur) with some of the original cast participating in various ways. It’s not being run by Rob Thomas (Veronica Mars) so I expect the level of intelligence to take a massive nosedive in the effort to grab the tweens and fans of yesteryears show.

Surviving the Filthy Rich - Yale trained reporter gets fired and becomes a nanny/tutor for a rich family. Intrigue and sex ensue. Blah, sounds like Gossip Girl post college.

Schedule
MONDAY
8pm: "Gossip Girl"
9pm: "One Tree Hill"

TUESDAY
8pm: "90210"
9pm: "Surviving the Filthy Rich"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "America's Next Top Model"
9pm: "Stylista"

THURSDAY
8pm: "Smallville"
9pm: "Supernatural"

FRIDAY
8pm: "Everybody Hates Chris"
8:30pm: "The Game"
9pm: "America's Next Top Model" (encore)

MONDAY
8pm: "Gossip Girl"
9pm: "One Tree Hill"

TUESDAY
8pm: "90210"
9pm: "Surviving the Filthy Rich"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "America's Next Top Model"
9pm: "Stylista"

THURSDAY
8pm: "Smallville"
9pm: "Supernatural"

FRIDAY
8pm: "Everybody Hates Chris"
8:30pm: "The Game"
9pm: "America's Next Top Model" (encore)

(source)

CBS 2008 Fall Schedule

CBS has now announced its schedule. The goal is simple, knock ABC off its perch. As a result some borderline shows have been canned and some new ones in the works.

Cancellations
"Cane," "Jericho," "Moonlight (damn)," "Secret Talents of the Stars," "Shark," "Viva Laughlin," "Welcome to the Captain"

Renewals
"48 Hours: Mystery," "60 Minutes," "The Amazing Race," "The Big Bang Theory," "Cold Case," "Crime Time Saturday," "Criminal Minds," "C.S.I.," "C.S.I.: Miami," "C.S.I.: NY," "Ghost Whisperer," "How I Met Your Mother," "N.C.I.S.," "The New Adventures of Old Christine," "Numb3rs," "Rules of Engagement," "Survivor," "Two and a Half Men," "The Unit," "Without a Trace."

New Shows
Eleventh Hour - Drama staring Refus Sewell as a government advisor who investigates scientific crises and oddities. The original BBC program staring Patrick Stewart was good so I will give it a go.

The Ex-List - Bella learns from a psychic she only has a year to find her husband among her ex-boyfriends or risk being alone forever. Hilarity and so forth occur with the help of her friends. Blah. Maybe if the female cast is hot but otherwise it just doesn't sound interesting to me.

Harper's Island - Drama about a murder mystery that occurs during a week-long wedding celebration. Shrug.

The Mentalist - Another drama, this time about a mind reading detective that joins a unit to solve high profile cases. Crimes and friction and other junk occur. I might watch it; a lot will depend on the tone and execution.

Project Gary - Jay Mohr (ug) and Paula Marshall (hmm I have much lust for this woman) lead the cast in this comedy about these recently divorced parents learning to adjust to the single life. It’s got Paula so I have to at least check it out.

Worst Week - Comedy about a guy trying to learn to get along with his fiancé’s parents. The real description pretty much summarizes the pilot and does nothing to explain what the series itself is about which is not a good sign.

Schedule
MONDAY
8pm: "The Big Bang Theory"
8:30pm: "How I Met Your Mother"
9pm: "Two and a Half Men"
9:30pm: "Worst Week"
10pm: "C.S.I.: Miami"

TUESDAY
8pm: "N.C.I.S."
9pm: "The Mentalist"
10pm: "Without a Trace"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "The New Adventures of Old Christine"
8:30pm: "Project Gary"
9pm: "Criminal Minds"
10pm: "C.S.I.: NY"

THURSDAY
8pm: "Survivor"
9pm: "C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation"
10pm: "Eleventh Hour "

FRIDAY
8pm: "Ghost Whisperer"
9pm: "The Ex-List"
10pm: "Numb3rs"

SATURDAY
8pm: "Crime Time Saturday"
10pm: "48 Hours: Mystery"

SUNDAY
7pm: "60 Minutes"
8pm: "The Amazing Race"
9pm: "Cold Case"
10pm: "The Unit"

(source)

Charter Deep Packet Plans, Hulk Trailer, HBO on iTunes, and Voters

Charter Plans to Violate Your Privacy - The cable company has announced an "enhanced" plan to use deep packet inspection to target ads directly to their customers based on their internet searches. The plan is going to be automatic to all customers and will require a complicated means of opting out (that has to be repeated whenever you clear your cookies). Of course this plan is designed to generate more profits for the company while not sharing that boom with decreased pricing on services. Even worse though is more then likely this inspection is just a small leap to monitoring all your internet activity to view websites you go to, email, peer to peer downloads and really anything else you do online. Also, it will allow traffic shaping which basically means throttling your bandwidth anytime they feel like it (regardless of what speed your paying for). Long story short, Charter is about to hose their customers in multiple ways.

New Hulk Trailer - A new trailer for the movie. I have to admit that, unlike those for Iron Man, the Hulk trailers are pretty darn dull and does very little to make me excited to see the movie.

HBO Programs on iTunes - The channel has started selling their programs on iTunes, often at a higher cost of $2.99 breaking the practice of standard pricing that Apple has been using. Shows available include Sopranos, Sex in the City, The Wire, Deadwood and more. Honestly at $3 a pop your better off just waiting until Best Buy runs a sell and buying the DVD box set as it would be cheaper.

Voters More Concerned About Bush than Wright - In a slight bit of relief for me, it appears that some of the American public have it straight on what’s important in voting. A new study shows that more are concerned about McCain's association with Bush then Obama's relationship with Reverend Wright. The bad news though is the margin is only 38% to 33% showing that there are still a lot of idiots out there. Once influences and creates policy...the other just preaches. Of the two it’s pretty easy to make a call on who can cause more problems (and has). When will people get it that McBush is simply promising four more years of Bush policies?

NBC 2008 Fall Schedule

NBC released it fall schedule today. The network is desperate for a turnaround after ratings have continued to slide and a true hit hasn't been seen since the first season of Heroes. The goal is an attempt to rebuild and hopefully generate new hits for the show. Basically what they hoped would happen last year with Bionic Woman and didn't.

Cancellations
"1 vs. 100," "The Bionic Woman (good idea, bad execution)," "Clash of the Choirs," "Journeyman (dang, good show)," "Las Vegas (didn't get a proper finale, common for NBC)," "My Dad is Better Than Your Dad," "Quarterlife," "Scrubs" (moved to ABC), "The Singing Bee"

Renewals
"30 Rock," "American Gladiators," "America's Got Talent," "The Biggest Loser", "Dateline NBC," "Deal or No Deal", "E.R.," "Friday Night Lights," "Heroes," "Last Comic Standing," "Law and Order", "Law and Order: SVU," "Life," "Lipstick Jungle," "Medium," "Most Outrageous Moments," "My Name is Earl," "The Office," "Sunday Night Football."

New Shows
Crusoe - The Robinson Crusoe story as a television show. Can't decide if I am interested or not.

Kath and Kim - Comedy with Molly Shannon as Kath and Selma Blair as Kim, a mother and daughter combo trying to learn to live together. Like both actresses so maybe try it.

Kings - Drama set during the David vs. Goliath era involving political intrigue and violence in a city that just finished a war. It almost seems like HBO's Rome but not really sure. I am intrigued though.

Knight Rider - Return of the franchise, with Las Vegas' Gary Scott Thompson as show runner who has repeatedly promised the execution will not be the same as the recently panned television movie. The car and the cast will return though...and considering their wooden acting I just hope the hiatus is spent on acting lessons.

The Listener - Drama about a paramedic that can read minds and uses it to solve crimes. Meh, sounds too much like the Ghost Whisperer to me.

Merlin - The story of Merlin and young Arthur in Camelot before he ascends to the throne. Sounds like fun to me, always loved the King Arthur story.

My Own Worse Enemy - Drama that stars Christian Slater about a man with duel personality and identities that once where separate but now starting to break down. A problem since one personality is a dangerous spy and another is an average suburbanite and family man. Sounds like fan, I will give it a look see.

The Office Spin-Off - Comedy that will be birth from the show, details are currently very sketchy on what this one.

The Philanthropist - Think Bruce Wayne without the Batman persona. A billionaire who uses his money to right wrongs.

Schedule
MONDAY
8pm: "Chuck"
9pm: "Heroes"
10pm: "My Own Worst Enemy" (Fall)
10pm: "The Philanthropist" (Spring)

TUESDAY
8pm: "The Biggest Loser"
9pm: "Kath and Kim"
10pm: "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "Knight Rider"
9pm: "Deal or No Deal"
10pm: "Lipstick Jungle" (Fall)
10pm: "Law and Order" (Spring)

THURSDAY
8pm: "My Name Is Earl"
8:30pm: "30 Rock"
9pm: "The Office"
9:30pm: "The Office"/SNL Thursday NIght Live (Fall)
9:30pm: "The Office" Spin-Off (Spring)
10pm: "E.R."

FRIDAY
8pm: "Crusoe" (Fall)
8pm: "Deal or No Deal" (Spring)
9pm: "Deal or No Deal" (Fall)
9pm: "Friday Night Lights" (Spring)
10pm: "Life"

SATURDAY
8pm: "Dateline NBC "
9pm: "Drama Series Encores"

SUNDAY
7pm: "Football Night In America" (Fall)
7pm: Specials (Spring)
8pm: "Sunday Night Football" (Fall)
8pm: "Merlin" (Spring)
9pm: "Medium" (Spring)
10pm: "Kings" (Spring)

(source)

ABC 2008 Fall Schedule

ABC presented it fall schedule today. The result is very little changes for the network which has enjoyed much success over the years. Most of the shows on the schedule are renewed with the end result of only 5 new shows planned for the new season.

Cancellations
"Big Shots (pretty cast, not much else)," "Carpoolers," "Cashmere Mafia (Mirando Otto never looked better, wasted)," "Cavemen," "Just for Laughs," "Miss/Guided," "Notes from the Underbelly," "October Road," "Oprah's Big Give," "Women's Murder Club"

Renewals
"According to Jim," "America's Funniest Home Videos," "The Bachelor," "Boston Legal," "Brothers & Sisters," "Dancing with the Stars," "Desperate Housewives," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Eli Stone," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Private Practice," "Pushing Daisies," "Samantha Who?," "Supernanny," "Ugly Betty," "Wife Swap" and "20/20."

New Shows
Life On Mars - Present day detective some how ends up in 1973, still as a detective. The result is, I assume modern day approach and culture shock to a much stranger and more liberal time. Stars Jason O'Mara, Rachelle Lefevre (huge fan of this red-headed goddess), and Colm Meaney. The idea doesn't interest me but Lefevre is in it so I will sample.

The Goode Family - Animated comedy from Mike Judge (King of the Hill). About a family that is the ultimate in political correctness and doing "goode" with unintended results.

Scrubs - From NBC, the shows final season will air on ABC. I am a huge fan of the show. Sarah Chalke is another goddess. I am glad it was given another final season rather the aborted one due to the writer's strike.

Untitled Pageant Show - The unnamed reality show is from Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks.

Opportunity Knocks - Game show where the game comes to the contestant. The person answers questions for prizes.

Schedule
MONDAY
8pm: "Dancing with the Stars"
9:30pm: "Samantha Who"
10pm: "Boston Legal"

TUESDAY
8pm: "Opportunity Knocks"
9pm: "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show"
10pm: "Eli Stone"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "Pushing Daisies"
9pm: "Private Practice"
10pm: "Dirty Sexy Money"

THURSDAY
8pm: "Ugly Betty"
9pm: "Grey's Anatomy"
10pm: "Life on Mars"

FRIDAY
8pm: "Wife Swap"
9pm: "Supernanny"
10pm: "20/20"

SATURDAY
8pm: "Saturday Night College Football"

SUNDAY
7pm: "America's Funniest Home Videos"
8pm: "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
9pm: "Desperate Housewives"
10pm: "Brothers and Sisters"

(source)

Fox Assistant Fire For Voting

In a bit of interesting news, a Fox News production assistant was fired for admitting to John McCain that she voted for him at the Time 100 party last week. Apparently admitting your vote is "journalistically unacceptable."

From TV Newswer: When Sen. John McCain walked by, the assistant said, "I voted for you in the primary, you're going to win." McCain was overheard saying to her, "You're not supposed to reveal that." A video of the incident can be found here.

Lots of questions come to mind. Such as why is revealing your vote "journalistically unacceptable"? Why isn't that a requirement? Shouldn't transparency and being upfront about potential conflicts of interest be something that every journalist should strive for? Why does McCain comment that the revelation was wrong? Why is he aware of a set of rules that the public isn't privy too? The press is supposed to serve the public but incidents like this prove the contrary.

I have no love for Fox News. Face it, more then likely voting Republican is practically a job requirement, but honestly shouldn't be punished, it should be praised. Even when it’s accidental.

WiiWare, iPhone, Happy Birthday Copyright and Colbert

WiiWare Goes Live - Nintendo has released WiiWare, a new channel that allows users to pay for and download games built by a myriad of 3rd party publishers designed to be release via the service. Click the link for details and descriptions of the games currently available through the service.

iPhone Sold out? - News is coming out that the iPhone is no long available online in the US or UK from Apple. This seems to give credence to the rumor that the famed phone will get a G3 update after Apple's June 10th press conference. Personally I am just hoping the iPod Touch gets a price drop/memory upgrade. Doing business with AT&T is something I want to avoid unless they somehow manage to break company history is produce a deal to good to pass up.

The Happy Birthday Copyright False? - A new report is coming out that the $2 million a year copyright for the Happy Birthday song may no longer be valid. It seems the owners, Mildred and Patti Hill, may have pulled one over the RIAA and MPAA when claiming the copyright which has never been contested in court. Just further proof to me that copyright, patents, and other claims to ownership of ideas is fundamentally broken.

Stephen Colbert "Webby Person of the Year" - It has been announced that the man has one the award. The reason is for his use of the internet, from "truthiness" to Facebook, his use of websites for raising funds for charity. The awards are giving out by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences on June 10th in New York's Museum of American Finance. Personally I am looking forward to see how has fun with the victory.

Fall TV Pickups and Cancellations

This week is the upfronts for the next season of TV starting in the fall. The upfronts is a presentation by the networks where they sell their new seasons in an effort to get advertisers on board and excited.

The biggest news so far is that Jimmy Fallon will take over Conan O'Brien's time slot with Conan takes over the Tonight Show in 2009. Below is a summation of the link information I have stumbled across so far for each network in the last few days.

CBS
Renewed - Boston Legal, Eli Stone (rumored, not confirmed)
Ordered - Life on Mars, Opportunity Knocks (game show), The Eleventh Hour (drama), The Mentalist (drama), The Ex-List (romance), Harper's Island (thriller), Project Gary (comedy, Paula Marshall stars, one of my fav actresses), Worst Week (comedy)

Fox
Cancelled - Back to You
Renewed - Til Death
Ordered - The Inn (comedy), Class Dismissed (animated comedy), Fringe (drama from JJ Abrams), Virtuality (drama, from Peter Berg),

CW
Renewed - The Game, Smallville, Reaper (13 eps only but good news), Supernatural, Aliens in America, Gossip Girl
Ordered - Stylista (reality), Beverly Hills spin-off (but Rob Thomas not show runner)

source: Variety, AICN, Hollywood Reporter

The upfronts start Tuesday with ABC in the afternoon and CW that night.

Megan Fox Topless, Sorta

Normally I don't post about this stuff but when the woman is too hot to ignore, it becomes a must. Pictures have hits the internets that show the stunning Transformers I and II beauty Megan Fox naked. Well basically naked. She has pasties covering her nipples but nothing else. The result is a leave very little to the imagination pictures that show off a near perfect body. As for why the pictures exist, apparently it part of the shoot for "Jennifer's Body" a horror film that she is staring in.

To view the entire gallery of pictures (not work safe), click here.

Movie Trailers and Politics

Star Wars The Clone Wars Trailer - Click the link for HD trailer of the upcoming Clone Wars CGI series coming out on August 15th, 2008. I am not too much of a fan of the whole Clone Wars thing mostly because we already know how it turns out but series looks like it might be interesting.

Speed Racer, 1st Seven Minutes - Click the link or look below for the first seven minutes of the movie. I have to admit I am not terribly interested in the movie but will probably see it anyway just because of its unique look. In a weird way it reminds me of playing F-Zero or Mario Kart with all the extreme drifting that occurs.


The Daily Show Is Journalism - According to a report from Washington's Project for Excellence in Journalism it turns out that the Daily Show does engage in it and on a frequent basis. As an avid watcher of the show I already knew this. Heck I knew they often do more journalism in one episode then most news organizations do in a week but a little proof never hurts.

Colbert Report on Oil Profiteering - Big oil is currently paying hefty sums to advertise how misrepresented they are in their ever growing record profits. As Colbert points out, its amazing that their stats add up to 100% with cost of crude oil, refining, distribution and taxes yet apparently profit isn't seen anywhere. Basically the message is big oil thinks the American public is stupid and they are probably right. Click the link so view a scathing comment on the advertisements.

Colbert on Electability - Stephen Colbert debates himself and pretty much explains why the concept of "Electability" which is so important to the pundits ultimately makes no sense. As he says "What if everyone votes for someone that nobody would vote for?!"

John McCain's Top 10 Out of Touch Moments - Just what it says, a list that shows how McCain just doesn't get the problems of today and has shown that his promise really is "More Bush Done Better."

Destro, GTAIV Records, Scientology Babies, and Allison Mack

GI Joe "Exclusives" - Released to multiple websites is "exclusive" photos of the various characters in the upcoming GI Joe movie in their costumes. Pretty good overall. It appears the studio just created a short list of sites and sent to each a single Joe character to premiere. Actually most have been out for a while but Destro (left) is new.

Grand Theft Auto IV Records - The game has created more then a few media moneymaking milestones that probably have the movie and music industry drooling. In the first week of release the game raked in $500 million, $310 million sold on its first day.

Scientology and Babies - Basically the cult is crazy. The think shows a brief interview with Leah Remini who talks about bottle feeding her 3 year old who guzzles down 6 of them a night. The baby formula is a Scientology special of barley water, homogenized milk and sugar heavy honey. This formula is from the cult’s creator himself after a time travel trip to ancient Rome. So basically, if you advocate this formula, you believe that the man traveled in child. Any case the child is probably on hyper mode all day long as a result before crashing at night and will likely have teeth problems in the future. The really bad part is giving honey to children before the age of one is considered dangerous because of the risk of botulism. So there you go, another day, another story of Scientology craziness.

Allison Mack Leaving Smallville? - The stunning beauty and faze of mine might be leaving Smallville. With the exit of Michael Rosenbaum and Kristen Kreuk, apparently she and her management team are taking advantage of the increased importance her character will likely have by asking for more dough. The studio is balking though because its show's final season and ratings have been declining to new lows making the move not entirely worthwhile financially. For me, I find these money games really annoying as often these actors make more in an episode then I take home in any given year or years of work. As a result I am torn on who to support. Hopefully things will get worked out because I don't know if I want a Smallville without a dose of Mack in it.

Fatalities Modified for Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - Oddly enough, it looks like fatalities will remain for the announced game. I figured DC would balk at the idea and have them removed but apparently they will just be toned down instead. More likely they will be less bloody and not fatal. IE, the title of the finishing moves will remain but not their violent intent. Anyway, for a nice walk down Fatality memory lane, click the link for video collection of the deadly moves.

Lego Tower, Nick Fury, reNESED, BitTorrent Throttle Test, and Stimulus Check Dates

World's Tallest Lego Tower - A gallery of a 100 foot Lego tower. It was built in celebration of Lego's 50th anniversary at the Legoland in Windsor, UK with 500,000 bricks.

Story Behind Nick Fury's Iron Man Appearance - Check the link to learn a little behind the scenes tidbits on the Ultimate Nick Fury appearance at the end of Iron Man. Turns out the end was scripted by none other then current Avengers writer Brian Bendis. Also the appearance was in the works over a year and also a "brain trust" of comics writers where assembled to critique the script and improve it. One result of this was replacing the Mandarin (too soon) with Obadiah Stane as the main villain. Considering the critical acclaim the movie is receiving it pretty much proves what comics fans have been saying...that yes those writers are worth tapping for ideas and ways to improve their movies.

reNESED - As the image shows, a slick re-design of the original NES from the 80s that uses wireless controllers. Sure it’s unnecessary in the age of emulators but I can't help but wish it existed so I could buy it. The design is from Javier Segovia.

ISP Throttle Test - Comcast and other ISPs are suspected of throttling BitTorrent traffic. Use the link above to run the 7 minute test that emulates the BitTorrent protocol to see if it triggers whatever rules that the ISP may have and reports back the results. Be sure to read the site for more information and caveats.

When Is Your Stimulus Check Coming? - Click the link, provide SSN, status and exceptions and you can check when your check is coming. If don't want to provide that information, click here for the breakdown of dates based on last two digits of your SSN.

Iron Man Review

Iron Man is the first must see movie of the summer. It’s as near perfect execution of a comic book concept. Its entertaining has engaging characters, excellent origin story that isn't bogged down with unnecessary minutiae, and stays true to the characters without the actors, directors, and co trying to re-invent the wheel to prove how clever they are.

Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark as a flippant wealthy genius is spot on and very entertaining. He isn't as serious as the character has grown in the comic books but that is a good thing. The movie is supposed to be fun, not deadly serious. Gwyneth Paltrow as his assistant Pepper Potts has simply never looked better. She should consider sticking with that look for a while. The character itself is engaging and used much better then the love interest characters are typically used for these types of movies. Really the cast overall does their jobs and do it well.

From effects, to story, to locations, to just the overall execution, this film is what a summer blockbuster is supposed to be. I can't wait for the sequel. As a side note, make sure to stick it out through the credits as an interesting extra scene has been added. I rate this film as see it now on the big screen.

Stamp Increase, Family Guy Matrix, and Cameras

Postage Increases - The postal service has announced that its increase the price of stamps starting May 12th to $.42 (from $.41) for 1 oz first class mail. The full list of prices at the link. If you mail a lot of stuff might be worth while to stock up on the "forever" stamps since they are not affected by price increases.

Family Guy Matrix Trailer - Fan made trailer that uses sound from the Matrix movies cut with scenes from Family Guy episodes. Pretty funny. Family Guy producers should look into doing a Matrix spoof much like they did a Star Wars one.


Wiki on Buying Cameras - A one stop source to all you need to know if looking to buy cameras.

PG-13 Terminator 4, Marvel Movies, CNET, and Lego

Terminator 4 Going PG-13 - In an effort to squeeze as much merchandising dollars as possible out of the franchise, the producers of the film are shooting for a PG-13 whenever they release the film. Ironic considering the Terminator films is the highest grossing franchise of all time. If the execution is anything like Die Hard 4, my expectations for this film are now at a low.

Iron Man 2, Avengers and Marvel Movie Plans - Marvel released its 2008 1st quarter numbers and with that report is its movie plans over the next three years. Ant-Man has a writer/director. Punisher is planned for December 5th release. Wolverine for May 1st, 2009. Iron Man 2 is slated for April 30, 2010. Thor for June 4, 2010. Captain America will come May 6, 2011 and finally The Avengers in July 2011. It’s pretty clear that Marvel plans on pulling off a very ambitious plan of a shared universe carried over across multiple movies that all come together with the Avengers. Something that Warner Bros simply is incapable of pulling off because of the many many cooks they have in their kitchen that are not able to take advantage of their DC properties in the same way. The idiots.

CNET Review Analyzed - Report that summarizes all of CNET reviews from 2007. The overall theme is that CNET goes right in the middle for most of its products, giving 96% of them a score of 5.0-8.9. To break it down further 41.8% of their reviews gave scores in the 7's and 18.6 in the 8's. Very view received a near 10 or a near 0 score. Basically it seems CNET likes most products and considers many "average" even though a score of 7 or 8 is considered "Very Good" by CNET. Its seems to be that CNET is striving to provide a decent review while not offending potential advertisers so giving most objects an average score achieves this.

Exterme Maximizing Space - Bunch of pics of how people have learned to maximize their space for small apartments and the like. Very creative.

Lego Creations - Click the link to view bunches of Lego creations.

Iron Man, MacGyver Movie, Lohan In Ugly Betty and Dark Knight, Indy 4 Trailers

Iron Man Kicks Box Office Butt - Iron Man, after only one weekend, if a hit. In the US the film made $104.2 million. In 57 other markets the film already scored an additional $96.7 million bringing its worldwide total to $201 million. Considering it hasn't even been out a week that is very impressive, enough so that a sequel for release in 2010 is already in the early planning stages.

MacGyver: The Movie? - Lee David Zlotoff, creator of the MacGyver TV series claimed that he is working on a big budget movie version of MacGyver. Details, deals, cast, story etc are apparently part of the to-do list for the movie. Interesting if it comes true though. Wonder if they will bring back Richard Dean Anderson in some capacity. Going by history, if the movie is made it will likely be a "reboot" with Anderson offered a tip of the hat role.

Second Indiana Jones 4 Trailer in HD - Click the link to view the latest Indy trailer.

Second The Dark Knight Trailer in HD - Click the link for that trailer too.

Lindsay Lohan in Ugly Betty - In a quest to save a dying show and a dying career, Lindsay Lohan has agreed to appear in the TV series for 6 episodes. One ep will be in the season finale and the other 5 next year. Personally I stopped watching the show when they started repeating storylines and couldn't move on from existing ones. As for Lindsay, I am betting that comes next year suddenly she will claim to be "too busy" or screwed up to complete the 5 remaining episodes.

Nick Fury, R2-D2 Projector, iTunes and Wii Library Quality

Nick Fury Cameo - For a while now there has been rumors that Ultimate Nick Fury, played by Samuel Jackson, makes an appearance in Hulk and Iron Man. Apparently this could still be true but you will have to site through the credits of Iron Man to find out. So when the credits roll, remain seated and hope the rumors are true.

R2-D2 Projector - Click the link to see a fantastic projector that looks, moves, and sounds like R2-D2. The projector pretty much displays it all and even comes with a remote control in the shape of the Millennium Falcon. It’s $2,995 so way outside my price range but if I one the lottery it would be near the top of my list of things to buy.

iTunes Does New Releases - Apple announced that iTunes will start selling new movie releases the same day they are released in stores. They are also charging about the same as it would cost to buy the DVD with $15 for new releases and $10 for catalog titles. Personally it doesn't seem worth it to me as any real savings to speak of.

Wii Library Quality Low - A report has come out that indicates that in terms of game quality, the Wii is dead last with 11% declared as good. The 360 was tagged at 26% and the PS3 at 33%. The data is based on the rankings from GameRankings.com. I love my Wii but I can't say I am surprised. Nintendo, in an attempt to not repeat the Gamecube years, has allowed a glut of crapware to hit the market. They are basically mimicking the PS2 policy of allowing anyone that wants to make a game to do it. Meanwhile, the PS3 has adopted the Gamecube model of trying to allow only a select number of quality games to market. It’s a strange reversal.