What a week ...
After a hectic start to the work week following a packed weekend with the family, things are not letting up, which is good ... Yesterday my parents and brother met me for one last LA lunch at good ol' Bob's Big Boy before heading back to CT, capping off several days overloaded with family fun ... But never fear, some good times are a' coming ... Tonight me and Paul L hit up the Paley Fest, which is a huge event here in LA, with multiple special sessions, each dedicated to a different TV show. We have tickets for tonight's SIMPSONS event, and will be front and center for cast and crew panel discussions, Q and A, and likely some screening of never before seen material. As you probably know, I'm a lifelong Simpsons fan, and love hearing discussion about the show, to the point where one of my favorite aspects of the DVD sets is listening to the writer and directors' commentary to get some insight into the creative process behind my favorite episodes. The Simpsons is one of a handful of shows that made me wonder about writing for TV, that made me realize that I wanted to be involved with whoever the geniuses were who came up with the dialogue for Homer, Bart, and the rest.
I remember a few years ago, I went to an event in Boston where Mike Reiss, writer / exec producer of the show spoke. He was pretty hilarious, and spoke at length about the genesis of the famous Sideshow Bob rake scene, among other things. I was basically in awe, and afterwards I meekly went over and tried to slip him my meticulously written (and pretty funny if I do say so myslef) Simpsons spec script (hey, it was good enough to get an A in my Writing For TV class). Reiss looked at me and winced, and basically said "sorry, I can't accept that." I don't know what I was expecting, but somewhow I thought that would be my big moment. Well, tonight I go to the event a fiull-fledged member of the entertainment industry, but in a small way, the dram lives on. I won't be bringing any spec scripts with me, but just the mere idea that I will be meeting with the men and women behind The Simpsons ... I mean, that is it for me. So yeah, full report tommorow!
Friday, one of my first friends from BU, Christine T, now a married (~!) woman, will be visiting with her husband and attending the Tonight Show. Should be good times!
Saturday, me, G-Man, X-Plosian, and Latina Heat will make our THIRD annual trip to Wizard World LA, the annual mecca of all things geek, where we will attend all kinds of panels, collect all manner of free schwag, shmooze with celebs like Kristen Bell and Stan Lee, and take lots of photos with women dressed like Black Canary or Zatanna. Excelsior! Should be yet another great time.
TV STUFF:
- Last night, LOST kicked some ass, with one of its best overall episodes of the season. We had some great character moments, some interesting plot progression, and a classic WTF cliffhanger ending that had me grinning as the closing credits played. For the first time in a while, Claire was not annoying, and I was reminded why I ever liked the character to begin with. Her flashbacks didn't contain much crucial info other than the big "Claire and Jack are related!" revelation, but they seemed to be kept rather short and sweet so as to not bog down the main plotlines too much. Really, the show-stealer here was the Kate-Locke-Sayid interaction and their trek to find the Others' camp with a certain eye-patched hostage in tow. Damn, ol' Patchy was in rare form tonight, and it was a shame to see such an sweet character bite it. But he sure did go out in gruesome style, with a death scene both memorable and shocking. At least before he went, Patches gave a great little speech that contained some of the most interesting plot revelations the show has had in a long time - the idea that Kate, Sayid, and Locke are not on "the list," is one of the more intriguing concepts in a while, and, finally, it feels like a few of the pices of Lost's puzzle are beginning to fall into place, especially with the revelation that Ben is not the "him" who the Others serve. Otherwise, the Desmond-Charlie stuff was kind of cool, espcially since Desmond delivers his lines with such out-there dread. All this and Goth Claire made for a great episode, plus, next week's Locke-Ben confrontation looks like a classic in the making.
My Grade: A
- Okay, so you guys need to check out ANDY BARKER PI tonight on NBC. I'll say this - the pilot ep is not the series' best, but it is a good start and its just great to see Andy Richter in an original, suitably quirky comedy rather than crap like Quintuplets. Arrested Development fans will also want to be on the lookout for Tony Hale, aka Buster Bluth, who is funny in his supporting role here. in the end, this is one of those cult comedy shows that, let's be honest, is going to have a hard time finding a big audience. So please - watch on NBC tonight, download on iTunes (all eps available now), and spread the word! Co-created by Conan O'Brien, Andy Barker is a show that deserves to find that audience!
- Also tonight is NBC's newest drama, RAINES. my opinion is that tonight's pilot is worth checking out, but mostly for Jeff Goldblum, who as always elevates a somewhat thankless role way beyond what it could have been in lesser hands. Goldblum is fascinating to watch as always, but he is stuck with an oddball premise that doesn't really hold up. The idea of Goldblum as a Marlowe-style private eye is what carries the show, but I hope that future episodes sort out how, exactly, our hero having imaginary conversations with murder victims makes for compelling drama.
OTHER STUFF:
- A few crazy movie rumors out there right now. One is that Gerard Butler will assume the role of Snake Plisken in a remake of Escape From New York. Please lord do not less this be true. I like Butler, but KURT RUSSELL and only Kurt Russell IS Snake Plisken. And, judging from the trailers for Grindhouse, the man is still plenty badass. Look, Escape From NY is one of my all-time favorite action movies, and it just seems like blasphemy to remake it when the obvious thing to do is to erase the stain that was Escape From LA and have John Carpenter work with an up and coming director to make an all new, REAL sequel to Escape with Kurt Russell back in the leading role. Throw in some young actors if you must to round out the supporting cast, but why remake the movie for no good reason? Call me ... Snake. The other big one is Jake Gyllenhaal as Captain Marvel in a SHAZAM movie? How does that work? Captain Marvel is a 10 year old kid who says a magic word and becomes a Superman-esque superhero. So ... which one does Jake G play? If anything, this should be a fun, bright, whimsical movie - get a lead kid actor who isn't too annoying and get someone cartoonishly superhero-esque, like the guy who played The Tick / Puddy on Seinfeld, to play the Big Red Cheese.
- Speaking of Kurt Russell, this past weekend, my brother and I were exposed to the sheer brilliance that is overlooked 80's gem TANGO & CASH. Okay, this is one of THE cheesiest movies I've ever seen, chock full of vintage 1980's buddy movie cliches, but it's so awesomely over the top that my brother and I were in a state of old-school action movie euphoria as we watched Stallone and Russell mix it up with a young Terry Hatcher and a villainous Jack Palace, in full-on camp mode. When one of Palance's lieutenants responds to his boss with a protest of "But sir, I insist ...", Palance snaps and yells "Don't insist! I HATE insist-ers!" DAAAAAAMN! EVERY line in Tango & Cash is some attempt at snappy back and forth repartee, it's hilarious. At one point, Cash (Russell) realizes that to escape from the prison where he and Tango are being unjustly held, he can use his belt to rapell down a power line over the prison wall. Cash escapes, but as Tango is about to do the same, he is attacked by a thug and forced to engage in some rooftop fisticuffs. Finally, Tango disposes of the guy and rapells down, crashing on the ground next to Cash. "What took you so long?" asks Cash, "Stopped for a coffee and a danish?" "I hate danish." quips Tango. LOL. A reference to Stallone's failed marriage to danish actress Bridgitte Nielson. At one point, Stallone even dissed Rambo. When Sly as Tango uses exceesive violence to take down a perp, a fellow cop asks "Who do you think you are, Rambo?" Says Stallone: "Rambo's a pussy!" Hahahaha ... 80's buddy action-comedy at its craptacularly awesome best. You must do yourself a favor and discover the glories of TANGO & CASH.
- Space Mountain may be the oldest ride in the park, but it's still got the longest line! Whooooo! During this past week's trip to Disneyland, I got to experience the temporarily revamped Space Mountain, now with Red Hot Chili Peppers soundtrack and laser light show. My review: Awesome! Also, I finally saw the retooled Pirates of the Carribean with Jack Sparrow added and a holographic Davy Jones. Not bad, still one of the absolute top artistic creations of Walt Disney and one of those life-affirming experiences. I realized while riding Pirates and the Haunted Mansion that all one needs to do to set your kid on the right path is to take 'em to Disney and have them ride these two classics. Within minutes they'll realize why pirates and ghosts are cool, and that pretty much sets 'em on a path to enlightenment. I think.
- You know, I just don't get March Madness. Honestly, I just find most NCAA games hard to watch. They're sloppily played, messy, and involve teams filled with an ever changing roster of 18 year old newbies. Who has time to keep track of which teams are good this year and what players to watch for? Half the fun of sports to me is watching the personalities evolve over the years and to see their stories played out in the games. Watching a bunch of players I don't know bobble the ball around as they march toward the inevitable last-second finishes gets pretty old. The reason so many games are close is because as soon as one team gets the lead, nerves take over and all defense is forgotten. I'd much rather watch an NBA game like last night's epic Suns-Mavs matchup, with players like Steve Nash, Amare Stoudamire, and Dirk Nowitzki playing at the top of their games, having a true back and forth battle made all the more interesting by the years of history between the players. So yeah, I have my little facebook bracket like everyone else, but honestly I just put Gonzaga as my winner since my friend Chris A goes to law school there. Sorry, all you NCAA bandwagoners, but even though I'll have fun seeing who wins in the tournament, the REAL action is in the NBA as the playoffs loom.
- On the subject of 300, how dumb are these Iranians who are offended by it and see it as American propoganda against their country. Let's see, the movie is based on a ten year old graphic novel, which in turn is a fantasy version of real historical events. The movie was made now not because of any political timing, but because studios have been chomping at the bit to adapt any comic book they can get their hands on, and after Sin City's success, creator Frank Miller suddenly has some clout in Hollywood (even though his greatest comic book successes were two decades ago). So yeah, clearly, 300 was made as anti-Iranian political propaganda ...
- Speaking of 300, you should have seen how crazy the audience was in the theater where we saw it last Friday. A huge fight almost broke out about saved seats ...
- Finally, RIP to Brad Delp, singer of the legendary rock group Boston, one of my all time favorite bands. Delp's trademark wail made so many Boston songs fun to sing along to - his vocals combined with the band's classic guitar hooks made for a catalog of classic rock hits that will be remembered and rediscovered as long as kids like to rock. More Than A Feeling, Don't Look Back, Higher Power, Peace of Mind, Rock N' Roll Band, Long Time, and so many more were some of my all time faves. Laugh if you want, but Boston's greatest hits CD has been a regular fixture in my CD player for years, and I only wish I had gotten to see them live. Not only could Delp belt out his tunes like few others, but his lyrics were often classics. As the man said:
Now you're climbin' to the top of the company ladder
Hope it doesn't take too long
Can't you see there'll come a day
When it won't matter
Come a day when you'll be gone ...
I understand about indecision
But I dont care if I get behind
People livin' in competition
All I want is to have my peace of mind.
(Insert kickass guitar solo here) ...
And one more:
Well, we were just another band out of Boston
On the road to try to make ends meet
Playing all the bars, sleeping in our cars
And we practiced right on out in the street
No, we didn't have much money
We barely made enough to survive
But when we got up on stage and got ready to play
People came alive.
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