MediaRants

6 months betwen posts

2007-05-20T09:38:00.000-04:00

Not so terrible, right?

OK, so lots of stuff happening on all entertainment fronts. For example:

TV Finales are happening everywhere. Let's recap the collection of favourite shows and where we are:

Battlestar Galactica: OK, this wrapped a couple of months ago, but I wanted to mention it. Great, great season. Complex and challenging storylines creating enormous conflict in characters. Every main character and many mid-line characters got a big story this year and it was capped off with a wild cliffhanger finale. According to some reports I've read, next year will be the end, with 22 episodes planned to wrap it all up. Season 3 will likely be out on DVD before Christmas and you better believe it's joining the collection.

Lost: The poor show was slagged in Season 3 for silly plot lines, pointless new characters and way too much focus on Jack, Sawyer, Kate and the others. The argument made sense right up until the break, which I griped about in an earlier post. Once the show came back, I think it found its groove, as the show returned to the original adversarial storyline, they paid off the John Locke and his dad subplot as well as closed the backstory on Sawyer. Jack's girlfriend, Juliet, provides an interesting angle (is she an Others spy or a double agent) and it looks like we're heading towards a final battle with the Others. Also, this is another show with a finite end, as the show will now wrap in 2008 after 32 more episodes. This is, apparently, in line with the plan of J.J. Abrams, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof (the shows creative forces) as they can now write out te ending and close off all the mysteries that have built the show thus far.

American Idol: I wouldn't have bought her album, but I was still disappointed to see Melinda voted out this week. This as been a weak season, but I think the producers are happy with a Jordin-Blake finale, as the two most marketable performers are left. I can also say with certainty I now have NO idea who will win.

24: Really down season, as they have recycled just about every major story arc from past years and I have totally lost interest. I missed an episode 3 weeks ago and it didn't even matter. I'll keep watching, but I sure hope for better things next year.

As far as the CSI's go, I've watched about half of CSI:NY, 4 or 5 episodes of Vegas and may 2 or 3 Miami's. I'll catch 'em on DVD.

I also tried out Shark, Studio 60 and Justice this year. Hated Shark, Justice was OK but got cancelled and I'll get the one season of S60 on DVD when it comes out.

Looking forward to the new Harry Potter book. That's all I'll say on that front.

Saw Spiderman 3 in IMAX this week. Personally, my favourite of the trilogy, which goes against every reviewer and fanboy on the planet, I think. Great, complex storyline with challenging, emotional subplots. Not to mention superb action sequences made all the more awesome by IMAX. I have now decided that ny action picture seen at the movies MUST be seen in IMAX. It's worth the extra $3.

Bought the latest Tim McGraw CD. Another great listen. I recommend not only it, but anything by Texas instrumetal group Explosions in the Sky.

OK. That's enough.

Seacrest OUT!

Stuff that annoys me

2006-11-07T22:02:00.000-05:00

So, I'm hooked on Lost. Awesome character development, all kinds of crazy subplots, every character getting a turn as the main at different times, cool sci-fi stuff, everything I like about TV all rolled into one package. 7 episodes into Season 3 and, after this week, a FRAKKIN' HIATUS until January?

Doesn't anyone learn? This move almost killed 24 dead in Season 2 and 3, a huge break in the middle. This better not be the end for Lost. I get annoyed at how the networks, still deluded into thinking they have power in an increasingly fragmented TV market, figure that with all the choices out there, people will come happily back when their favourite shows are cut off for extended periods of time. I am seriously considering waiting for the DVDs to come out, and watch it then. Let the ratings die and have the show resurrected somewhere like Space, where they'll care enough to be consistent in showing it.

More later.

Three Months Later.......

2006-10-20T21:47:00.000-04:00

The MediaRants Review: Dream Theater - Score

Available from amazon as a 2-disc DVD or as a 3-disc CD.

Once in a very long while, a disc will come along that makes you want to toss out everything else you own because it's just THAT much better than anything else you've seen or heard before it. This is one of them.

If you read my stuff (and it has certainly been a slow year for content), you know I discovered Dream Theater in early 2005. I have spent much of the last year immersing myself in their back catalog (and loving it). Earlier this year, the band announced their 20th anniversary tour on their website, a tour which would culminate with a special 20th Anniversary Celebration Concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall. This show would be recorded for a future CD and DVD release.

Well, here it is.

Allow me start by saying the sound on the DVD is positively THUNDEROUS. Normal DVD's (on my system) are played at 25% of maximum. The PCM 5.1 mix is loud played at 10%. I have played it at 25% and it sounds like I am in the hall. The drums and bass come pouring through the subwoofer and the guitars and keys can be heard clear as a bell.

But you're not hear to talk about technology.

The show opens with an 8-song, 72-minute set covering DT's entire career. Two songs from the most recent release, Octavarium, kick things off. "The Root Of All Evil" opens with an excellent drum fill followed by a great big guitar riff, and right away you can tell everyone's come to play, as both drummer Mike Portnoy and guitarist John Petrucci unleash primal yells as the lights come up. Vocalist James Labrie delivers the angry lyric in confident, powerful fashion and we're off. "I Walk Beside You", one of my favourite DT tracks which I interpret as Christian-themed, follows and is a nice upbeat change of pace.

Then we get into the wayback machine.

"Another Won", from the band's Majesty days in 1985, "Under A Glass Moon", from 1998's breakthrough "Images and Words", "Afterlife", from their 1989 debut "When Dream and Day Unite", "Innocence Faded" from 1994's "Awake" and "Raise the Knife", a previously unreleased cut from the "Images and Words" sessions. The first set closes with a great take on "The Spirit Carries On" from 1999's awesome "Scenes From a Memory".

BUT WAIT, it gets even better.....

The screen goes dark for a couple of minutes and we hear the sounds of an ORCHESTRA!!!! There are few things I enjoy more than contemporary rock joined with an orchestra.

We go rolling right into the opening overture from 2002's "Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence", played entirely by the orchestra (and expanded by a couple of minutes to really show them off). I thought that would be it, but no, they do the ENTIRE 45 minutes of Six Degrees. This is a collection of 8 songs centered around the theme of mental illness and it comes off absolutely GREAT live. You can tell hear that the band is having the times of their lives, with big smiles from Portnoy and LaBrie and strong interplay between Myung and Petrucci.

After the blowaway Six Degrees, the band slows things down with "Vacant", from 2003's "Train of Thought" and "The Answer Lies Within", the third cut from "Octavarium". This sets up the stretch run to the finish.

"Sacrificed Sons", a scathing post-9/11 song from "Octavarium" follows and it opens with the powerful images from that dark day in history. The band serves it up heavy too, with LaBrie's vocals sounding almost accusatory. Then we hit my favourite moment....

When "Octavarium" was released in 2005, I immediately locked into the 24-minute title track. Dubbed as an homage to all of their influences, DT came up with a piece that was almost a time capsule for their first 20 years. You can hear musical callbacks to Rush, Pink Floyd, Yes, ELP and many other prog masters. The lyrics include focus on mental illness (a recurring theme through much of DT's songs) and a section where they tie in all kinds of pop-culture and prog references into a mishmash vocal. I knew this would become a signature piece on their live shows, and I was not disappointed.

From the opening 5-minute solo by keyboardist Jordan Rudess (played mostly on a Continuum Fingerboard, which can pretty accurately emulate the sound of multiple guitars with just one finger), through the lyrical sections to the big instrumental break (which even includes a snippet of "Jingle Bells"), the song builds and builds to the final 2 minutes, which sent a chill down my spine all the way to my toes. Petrucci hits a huge note at the end of his solo and sits out on that note for a full minute while the orchestra reprises the main thematic line. It is a roaring musical moment that brought a tear to my eye. The song closes out to thunderous applause.

The show concludes with a very well-done (and well-received) "Metropolis" from "Images and Words".

The second disc includes a great documentary recapping the history of the band, which was started with Portnoy, Petrucci and Myung, who all met at Berklee Music School. LaBrie was added for "Images" and Rudess joined for "Scenes". It's interesting to hear how big spikes in the band's popularity followed LaBrie's and Rudess' arrivals. There are some other live cuts and the "Octavarium Animation" that played on the screens during the performance of the song.

In case you haven't got it yet, I LOVE this DVD. Live concerts are, to me, one of the main reasons to buy DVDs. You can get the sonic and visual experience without the huge cash outlay for tickets and pain-in-the-assery of dealing with a big crowd. I have read some other reviews that take issue with the set list (no big hits like "Pull Me Under" or "Anna Lee", too much emphasis on "Octavarium"), but I see this concert as a reward to long-time DT fans whoi have taken the time to get familiar with their entire library and who have been to many live shows and want to hear stuff they haven't heard before. I thought the song choices were exceptional, and the decision to include "Raise The Knife", which didn't even make it to a disc, has me wondering what else DT is hiding in their vaults, because "Knife" is a great song.

This DVD gets my highest recommendation.

Been a while

2006-07-12T11:41:00.000-04:00

But I'm back!!!!

Things have just been crazy busy of late and I've been having a hard time finding time/getting motivated to post. But I really want to get back into the swing of things, so let me bring you up to speed on what I've been doing, media-wise, with a set of quick hits:

Musically, I've been uplolading my CD collection to my work laptop and am hoping to pick up a big external hard drive in the immediate future to carry around my ever-growing collection. I've returned to my musical roots, so to speak of late, listening to stuff like Styx, Van Halen/Van Hagar, some late 70's classics (Jay Ferguson's ~~THUNDER ISLAND among others), Billy Joel and Yes. Not much recent gets my attention, but I totally dig Dani California by the Chili Peppers and Jack Johnson is pretty good (On and On is an excellent record). Looking forward to picking up the DVD and CD versions of Dream Theater's 20th Anniversary concert at Radio City Music Hall. It'll be worth it to hear their 30-minute Octavarium done with a backing orchestra. Set list can be found here.

Saw most of the season finales for my preferred shows, but it took a while. There were no blowaways like last year's CSI finale, but they were, for the most part, pretty good. I have to say, though, that I find Miami's whole handling of the Horatio-Mala Noche storyline pretty ham-handed. Horatio breaks up this devastating gang in one episode (Season 4 premiere) and then suddenly they're shooting up a courtroom, killing Horatio's wife and running amok in the final three episodes. The finale was horrible, as it almost seemed they were writing it as they were filming it, with ideas seemingly spot welded together. I hope it all translates better on the season 4 DVD.

Speaking of which....

Some awesome DVD watching lately. My bud, Austin, loaned me Season 1 and Season 2.0 of the new Battlestar Galactica. I think this might be some of the most compelling storytelling I have ever come across. Every character is important and well-defined and causes a reaction. I'm looking forward to Season 2.5, which you can pre-order by clicking on the link.

I'm also 16 episodes through season 1 of Lost and I'm really into it. Although the premise seems, so far, to be a bit far-fetched, this is shaping up as classic sci-fi. I'm anxiously awaiting the resolutions in 8 more episodes.

Finally, I'm pushing through the second-last season of Homicide: Life on the Street (Season 6). If you are a fan of cop shows, this is a must-see. Very little in the way of violence, this show is a very intelligent, high-minded cop show. Hard to believe, though, that Tom Fontana went from doing this show to doing the scabrous, ugly, gritty HBO series Oz.

Anyhoo, that's about it. Oh, yeah, new Star Wars book series (The Dark Nest Trilogy) which I am reading. I'm almost through Book 1 and it's well worth the time.

Later.

The Latest News Around The Dial

2006-04-07T07:44:00.001-04:00

Well, THAT was a shocking end to 24. How they tie all of this to PRESIDENT LOGAN? I don't know where we go from here.

BIG surprise on American Idol this week, as Mandisa is tossed. So the final 8 are Taylor, Elliott, Kathy, Kellie, Paris, Chris, Ace and freakin' BUCKY. I had Bucky, Kellie and Lisa going and I've only gotten Lisa right. This week, they're doing Queen songs and I can only hope that Brian May, Brian Duncan and Roger Taylor are on hand to play.

Episode 4 of Sopranos was one of my personal favourites. I really like how they're building up to a showdown between Paulie and Tony as we should get to see Paulie in full meltdown soon. Looks like we might also get to see the spiritual conversion of Tony, as well, although the pastor character is a total caricature and drawn exactly the way the secular world views them. That will be an annoyance to me, but I'll live with it. Great guest shot this week by Hal Holbrook, who could sound interesting reading the phone book.

The Latest News Around The Dial

2006-04-07T07:44:00.000-04:00

AI and 24

2006-03-29T18:20:00.000-05:00

So Idol has finally lost its bloat and got down to a very efficient hour last night. The contestants busted out their favourite songs of the current decade and it was, to say the least, the strangest night I can recall. To wit:

Some HORRIBLE song choices. Lisa tried to take on Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You" and revealed her very limited range as a singer. Ace tried to take a run at Train's "Drops of Jupiter" (a personal favourite of mine). Unfortunately, his smooth voice lacked the roughness to bring it home. BIG props to Mandisa for busting out a gospel tune. But, MAN, those were heavy lyrics. Taylor, Paris (a great take on Beyonce), Elliott and, shockingly, Bucky were all excellent. Off nights for Chris and Kellie.

That leaves one and will someone tell me WHY they love Katharine so much? Her tune was OK, but for Simon to say she outsang Christina Aguilera? Come ON. Lastly, what was with the judges last night. From Paula's totally creepy request to have Ace tell her how he scarred himself to Simon's crapping on everyone but Katharine, the judges were in rare form last night. Of special interest are these (paraphrased) comments made by Simon about Chris the last two weeks:

Last week: "You're the first contestant I believe we have ever had who, no matter the style, refused to compromise themselves. Well done."

This week: "Every week, it's the same thing. You need to show some range, some diversity"

What?

Anyways, the night ws saved for me by 24. Another great episode ending with a cliffhanger (that they even preserved in the preview for next week) and some really well-acted moments. All the subplots this year are exciting, the Audrey and Jack arc is a compelling romantic storyline and best of all, NO PRESIDENT this week. I so dig Chloe's character and she really did a good job putting the shlub from Homeland in his place. Gotta do something with the whackjob brought up from downstairs, though.

American Idol Update

2006-03-26T10:40:00.000-05:00

Songs of the 50's this past week.

I was really shocked to see Kevin go this week. Not because of his talent, but because the singers getting attention from Vote For The Worst usually go deeper into the Top 12. Looks like they're turning their focus to Kellie, but I still think Bucky deserves their attention.

Song-wise, everyone came off well this past week except Bucky and Taylor, whose Buddy Holly covers sounded really thin (compared to everyone else). I think it has more to do with the fact that rockabilly doesn't translate well to a big-band backing. Taylor covered for it well, though, with a fun and energetic performance. The girls (except Lisa) really shone this week. Mandisa's cover of a Dinah Washington tune was really great, as was Paris' "Fever" and Kellie's "Walkin' After Midnight" (a personal favourite of mine). On the guys' side, Chris turned "I Walk The Line" into something pretty special and Elliott and Ace were both excellent.

This week, songs of the 21st Century, which should be pretty easy for everyone. It will be interesting, though, to hear the song choices.

Check out my bud Jason Silver's new music:

2006-03-26T09:40:00.000-05:00

From his new album 12 Girlfriends

Click to play

Like what you hear? Click on the album cover to buy your copy TODAY. You'll be glad you did.

Deal or no Deal and other goodies

2006-03-22T10:07:00.000-05:00

What a simple concept. 26 cases holding different amounts of money. A contestant chooses one and starts opening others. As each non-selected amount is revealed, a "banker" makes offers to the contestant to "buy" their case, in the hopes of buying it back at a discount.

Great TV. Best game show since "Millionaire" first appeared. If you want to play a free online version of the game, go here. It's really addictive.

In other news, 24 brought the goods AGAIN this week, as Tony is officially killed off, martial law is imposed in L.A. (right, like THAT would ever stick), the Palmer family reintroduces themselves to the party, Homeland Security sticks their noses where they are not welcome, Jack Bauer invents the greatest flash memory (and I mean "flash") card EVER and one of the greatest, most unexpected twists I've ever come across at the end of the episode. 10 hours to go. Allow me to go out on a limb and say I will be lining up at the store the day the Season 5 box is released. This season will ROCK in extended, commercial-free cycles.

Speaking of commercial-free, I bought a DVD recorder at Future Shop about a month ago. An 80GB hard drive allows recording of 107 hours of TV (at the lowest resolution). Simple recording, with a searchable TV Guide that it downloads through the cable line from my provider. One touch of a button allows you to skip part of the recording (up to 5 minutes), so see ya commercials. Bye-bye blank cassettes, dirty recording heads and fast-forward scan. I am a VERY satisfied TV viewer now.

That's all for now. I got my hands on "A History of Violence" and "Good Night and Good Luck", so I'll be watching those over the week and will put up opinion later.

American Idol - Fearless Predictions

2006-03-18T21:01:00.000-05:00

So, in case you don't know, my wife and I have followed American Idol since the end of season 2 (The titanic Ruben vs. Clay steel cage match). We really got into it last year, watching faithfully every week. This year, no different. I like this year's group the best of all and I already have my favourites picked out. You can see the final 11 here. Here's my analysis of the top 11.

First, the ladies:

Paris Bennett - Put on a great show this week, singing Stevie Wonder (which they all did). She's got real talent, but is a little off/on week-to-week. When she gets the stuff she digs, she puts on the show like few others.

Katharine McPhee - oddschecker.com has her as the favourite among the women. Why? Sure, she's got a good voice and Shania-like cheekbones, but she's no Mandisa. I could actually see her getting punted before the final 5.

Lisa Taylor - Paris Bennett with less energy. She's out within 3 weeks.

Kellie Pickler - I really liked her story and her early performances. When they announced Stevie Wonder was the artist this week, she made three mistakes: She picked a REALLY obscure tune, wore an ill-fitting dress and then proceeded to sing like she would rather be ANYWHERE else but on the stage. How she avoided the bottom three is a mystery to me. It's becoming clear that she cannot sing anything outside of country rock and this week's run at 50s tunes might be trouble, unless she does Elvis.

Mandisa - How can you not like her? Two weeks ago, she busts out a rendition of Chaka Khan's "I'm Every Woman" that Whitney WISHES she could have done. Week in, week out, the girl shows she can flat-out SING. I see Aretha Franklin 2.0 here and would not be surprised to see her win it all. In fact, I see her as the ONLY woman in the contest that has a chance to go all the way.

....on to the guys.

Ace Young - His rendition of Stevie's "Do I Do" wasn't THAT bad. How he wound up in the bottom 3 this week is beyond me. Ace has the George Michael looks and a really good voice. Plus, he can perform. Top 5, maybe top 3 if he gets on a hot roll.

Bucky Covington - It is criminal that Bucky's here and Gedeon McKinney is not. Sure, his performance of "Superstition" was OK, but I thought (and still think) he's a subpar country singer. His take on Garth Brooks' "The Thunder Rolls" a few weeks back was passable, but seemed to vault him to the Top 12. Out this week or next.

Elliott Yamin - Very good singer. Way too vanilla to get too much higher. Out before the final 8.

Kevin Covais - As bad as Bucky's presence in the Top 12 is, Kevin's is worse. Of course, he's got the support of Vote for the Worst, which means he'll be around to poison my eardrums for a few more weeks. Give him credit though, he made Stevie's version of "Part-Time Lover" (my personal least-favourite Stevie tune) sound great.

Taylor Hicks - How can you not dig this George-Clooney-meets-Joe-Cocker guy. A truly gifted perfomer, he delivered an awesome "Living For The City". I think he's bound for the top 3.

Chris Daughtry - My favourite from the first time I heard him, Chris is this year's Bo Bice with a zillion more chops. Oddschecker has him as the favourite to win and I can't disagree. Outstanding stage presence and a terrific voice, he just sounds like someone who should be making records.

I reserve the right to say that the song choice week-to-week influenced the final result but, based on talent alone, here's my predictions for the next eleven weeks. This is in order of elimination:

Week of March 20 - Bucky, March 27 - Kellie, April 3 - Lisa, April 10 - Elliott, April 17 - Katharine, April 24 - Kevin, May 1 - Paris, May 8 - Ace, May 15 - Mandisa, May 22 - Taylor - leaving us with the 2006 American Idol - Chris Daughtry.

Quick hits

2006-03-14T22:05:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted recently, so here's a recap of some of the stuff I'm watching/reading/listening to:

Just finished watching Stealth. Pretty impressive visuals brilliantly offset by some of the worst acting ever committed to film. When the AI-powered plane puts forth the most emotion, you KNOW you're watching something special. One plus, though, is the preview for Rent. I will never sit through the movie, but it introduced me to the tune "Seasons of Love", which I immediately downloaded from iTunes.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. 24 is THE greatest show on TV. There was some web chatter expressing disappointment with the slow moving nerve gas plot, but I am enjoying this season MUCH more than season 4. I still have to watch this week's episode, but I was saddened by Edgar's passing last week. Big props to the show producers for giving Edgar the "silent clock" sendoff (no beep beep as the seconds count off). To my memory, only Ryan Chappelle and George Mason had been given such treatment before this.

Season 6 of the Sopranos is off to a great start with an awesome "Holy Crap" moment at the end. If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil it for you.

Almost finished reading Good To Great. This should be required reading for anyone in a management post in any kind of business/organization.

Just got a pile of stuff from the library to watch, including March of the Penguins, The Island, Las Vegas: Season 2, The Shield:Season 3, Dog Day Afternoon and Sky High. That adds up to 44 hours of viewing (excluding any extras). Looks like I have a busy week ahead of me.

Finally, I am announcing a new addition to the Christmas movie must-have collection: The Polar Express is a great film. Loads of fun and a great take on the Santa Claus myth.

OK. There's enough for now.

Made a great find on the web.

Been a little busy

2006-02-03T13:27:00.000-05:00

Planning this:

Come join us:

Tickets are $15 and available Sunday morning and at the door. Food menu includes:

Roast pig
Hot Roast Beef sandwiches
Sausage on a Bun
Lasagna
Salads

A licensed cardiologist will be on site. Dietitians are not invited.

Great prizes including official NFL jerseys, t-shirts, caps and footballs, all sorts of hardware and a great grand prize that will be revealed at game time.

E-mail philpottmen@gmail.com for more information.

Regular media updates (box office, release schedules, TV commentaries) will resume next week.

Geez, I should be in bed

2006-01-17T23:25:00.000-05:00

But I have gotta post about the opening 4 hours of Season 5 of 24. Great, great start to the season. Two "Holy Crap" moments right out of the gate, with the deaths of ex-President Palmer and Michelle Dessler-Almeida. Tony's still hanging in, so I'm sure we'll see him get a little revenge mojo going later this season. Lots of slam-bang action and palace intrigue and a re-energized Kiefer (who I still think was a little off last season). Sean Astin's pretty cool as the new boss of CTU and Chloe wins the award for coolest chick with a gun. Too many great moments to count, and I have no idea where we go for the next 20 hours, but I'm on the train until the end.

Two other asides. American Idol kicked off tonight and I'm diggin' it. They've added footage of the judges talking after the contestants leave, which is pretty funny. Can't wait to see how Talkin' to Animals Dave does in the group sing in Round 2.

Lastly, watched the premiere of Love Monkey tonight. I'm a big Tom Cavanaugh mark, and the show made me laugh in a few spots, but the whole karmic good-will ending was a bit much. I'll keep watching, but this looks a lot like a show that will run out of original ideas long before May.

Nighty-night.

DVD Release Schedule - January 2006

2005-12-31T08:49:00.000-05:00

The New Year is upon us and it's time to review upcoming releases for January. Lists are courtesy TV Shows on DVD and Amazon. Note that the lists are NOT complete, but rather contain only those releases I find interesting. Click on the links to get complete release lists.

Now, TV shows coming to DVD in December:

January 3
All In The Family - Season 5
Alien Nation - Complete Series
Hunter - Season 3

You can also pick up 3 new 50th Anniversary Gunsmoke compilations.

January 10
Andromeda - Volume 5.3
The Flash - Complete Series
Hee Haw(!) - Volume 5
Strong Medicine - Season 1
Once and Again - Season 3

You can also pick up 2 new Wild Kingdom compilations. Marlon Perkins RULES!!!

January 17
Adventures of Superman - Season 2
Doogie Howser - Season 3
Lois and Clark - Season 2
Fraggle Rock - Volume 5
Mary Tyler Moore Show - Season 3

January 24
Dallas - Season 4 (actually available December 26)

You can also pick up 2 new Saturday Night Live compilations. One each for Alec Baldwin's and David Spade's best bits.

January 31
MI-5 - Season 3
Archie Bunker's Place - Season 1
A-Team - Season 3
Diff'rent Strokes - Season 2
Hill Street Blues - Season 1
Knight Rider - Season 3
Magnum P.I. - Season 3

There are also some special TV-related releases. The X-Files gets repackaged and repriced in $40 - $50 range. Seasons 1-3 are due January 31, seasons 4-6 are due in March (amazon.ca is taking preorders for all 6 seasons at $40.90 per season). Also coming out on the 31st is the first collection of Pink Panther cartoons.

On the movie front:

January 3
The Cave
Snatch - Deluxe Edition

You can also pick up 6 new Sing-Along Song videos from Disney and some thematic box sets. One Football set features Radio, Rudy and Jerry Maguire and a Mob set includes Donnie Brasco, Snatch and Bugsy. The first two Stuart Little movies are getting re-releases and each contains an extra DVD previewing Stuart Little 3 (be still my heart!).

January 10
Hustle and Flow
Red Eye

There's also a truckload of various fitness videos coming out and a Sam Peckinpah Westerns collection (includes The Wild Bunch, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Ride The High Country and The Ballad of Cable Hogue). Underworld, like Stuart Little the week before. gets a re-release and contains an extra DVD previewing Underworld 2.

January 17
Dead Poets' Society (Special Edition)
Devil and Max Devlin
Good Morning Vietnam (Special Edition)
Kicking and Screaming
The Ring Two
Two For The Money

Carlito's Way gets an Ultimate Edition re-release, coinciding with the straight-to-video release of Carlito's Way: Rise To Power. Caveat emptor, however, as instead of a stellar A-list cast like the original's Al Pacino, Sean Penn and Penelope Ann Miller, we get B-listers Luis Guzman (a very good character actor), Mario Van Peebles (a very good director) and Sean (P-Diddy) Combs (a very good entrepreneur). Bill Murray's early comedic success also gets the box set treatment, with a package of Ghostbusters, Stripes and Groundhog Day.

January 24
Flightplan
The Fog

January 31
Four Weddings and a Funeral (Deluxe Edition)
Gone With The Wind (Special Edition)
Legend of Zorro

Look for 4Billy Graham Presents straight-to-video releases. There are also a number of films getting packaged in 2-packs (far too many to list). The Muppets get a box set treatment, with a package of Kermit's Swamp Years, The Muppets Take Manhattan and Muppets From Space.

That's it. See you in February.

Christmas Box Office Numbers

2005-12-29T19:50:00.000-05:00

Box Office Receipts for December 23-26:

1. King Kong - $33.2 million
2. Chronicles of Narnia - $31.7 million
3. Fun With Dick and Jane - $21.5 million
4. Cheaper By The Dozen 2 - $15.3 million
5. Memoirs of a Geisha - $10.1 million
6. The Family Stone - $10.0 million
7. The Ringer - $7.7 million
8. Rumor Has It - $7.5 million
9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $6.4 million
10. Munich - $6.0 million

In a much closer race than expected, King Kong holds the top spot for a second straight weekend. However, a 34% drop in revenues over the previous weekend is a strong signal that Kong is not the next Titanic. Kong's domestic revenues (as of Wednesday) are at $135 million and it's going to be a close call to make its $207 million production budget.

The far more impressive story is the legs Narnia has. It's $31.7 million weekend is only 0.5% off its previous weekend, indicating that it's getting repeat viewers and/or outstanding word of mouth. It's also regained the box office lead on both Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Box office receipts as of Wednesday are just over $183 million, putting the movie into the black (production budget was $180 million). The film is currently 9th best for 2005 and should pass Mr. and Mrs. Smith and Madagascar this weekend to move into 7th.

6 of the 7 wide releases this weekend made the top 10, with Wolf Creek sitting at #11. On a per-screen basis, Munich was a clear winner, collecting $11,355 from each of its 532 screens. Fun With Dick and Jane also did quite well, averaging $7,045 per screen on 3,056 screens. Memoirs of a Geisha was well-received by the masses, earning $6,075 per screen on 1,547 screens, expanding from 52. Sitting in 14th, Brokeback Mountain continues toi draw a lot of interest, averaging $13,599 per screen on 217 screens.

Another film that seems to be headed for the financial dung heap is The Producers. A pitiful $3,388 per screen led to a weekend total of $3.3 million. That's a long way off their $45 million production budget.

Until next week. Happy new year!

Short midweek note

2005-12-23T10:53:00.000-05:00

As stated in my last post, the success or failure of King Kong depends on how it does against the huge glut of new releases hitting theatres this week. Well, the Wednesday numbers are in, and here's what we got:

1. Chronicles of Narnia - 4.94 million
2. King Kong - 4.87 million
3. Fun With Dick and Jane - 3.76 million
4. Cheaper by the Dozen 2 - 2.55 million
5. The Family Stone - 1.53 million

Narnia has chased Kong throughout the earlier part of the week and has now passed it. If this is any indication, Narnia could be tops at the box office this weekend and Kong could get left behind. The fan review site Rotten Tomatoes grades Kong 7.7 out of 10, which is quite good, but the word of mouth just doesn't seem to be driving folks to the theatre and commit 3+ hours to the flick.

Some of you may be wondering, why am I so interested in Kong? The answer is simple. It's the most expensive movie ever made, the director has made the greatest series of fanboy films not titled Star Wars in recent memory and it's a remake of film whose central character is a name brand to almost anyone over 30 and recognizable to even the youngest film buffs. If this film tanks, the impact on Hollywood will be far reaching.

Back next week with the final numbers and a list of January DVD releases.

Box Office Review

2005-12-20T07:46:00.000-05:00

Sorry about not getting up a report for December 9-11, but I wanted to wait for Kong receipts for Wednesday and kill two birds with one stone. Then the numbers were low and I needed to rethink, so here we are:

Box Office Receipts for December 9-11:

1. Chronicles of Narnia - $65.5 million
2. Syriana - $11.7 million
3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $10.3 million
4. Walk The Line - $5.7 million
5. Yours, Mine and Ours - $5.0 million
6. Aeon Flux - $4.6 million
7. Just Friends - $3.8 million
8. Pride and Prejudice - $2.6 million
9. Chicken Little - $2.3 million
10. Rent - $2.0 million

and Box Office Receipts for December 16-18:

1. King Kong - $50.1 million
2. Chronicles of Narnia - $31.8 million
3. The Family Stone - $12.5 million
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $5.9 million
5. Syriana - $5.6 million
6. Walk The Line - $3.7 million
7. Yours, Mine and Ours - $3.5 million
8. Brokeback Mountain - $2.5 million
9. Just Friends - $2.1 million
10. Aeon Flux - $1.7 million

Both weekends were significantly up from last year, when Ocean's Twelve and Lemony Snicket opened on the two weekends. Narnia looks to be a winner, cracking $113 million in two weeks. That makes it the 16th film to break the $100 million barrier. Harry Potter broke the $250 million barrier, leaving it just $10 million behind Chamber of Secrets for second-biggest grosser in the series. Of greater interest though is the fact that the film has cracked $700 million in worldwide receipts. That is still, believe it or not, last in the series, which has grossed a staggering $3.34 BILLION (Sorceror's Stone: $976mm, Chamber of Secrets: $876mm, Azkaban: $789mm). Walk the Line has climbed to $82 million and will have to struggle to make $100 million, but it has passed 2004's Ray to become the biggest biographical release ever (like you care).

While some films excel, the detritus pile grows ever bigger. Aeon Flux is officially a loser, dropping 61.6% of box office the past weekend. Looks like it will top out domestically at $26-$28 million, about 40% of its $62 million production cost. The same holds for Rent, which was pulled from over half its screens and shed 62.5% of its receipts from the previous week. An estimated top level of $30 million is 25% short of its $40 million production cost. Legend of Zorro (60% of costs), Jarhead (85% of costs), Get Rich or Die Tryin' (75% of costs), The Weather Man (52% of costs), Elizabethtown (60% of costs) and North Country (53% of costs) are all examples of late-year studio failures. Based on their performances this year, it's going to be hard for Charlize Theron (North Country and Aeon Flux) and Nicolas Cage (God of War and The Weather Man) to justify big salaries in the immediate future.

Oscar runs have been doing pretty well. Brokeback Mountain cracked this week's top 10 despite only being in 69 theatres (a per-screen average of $36,354). Memoirs of a Geisha ($25,044 per screen on 52 screens) and The Producers ($25,765 per screen on 6 screens) are also doing well. The same cannot be said for Dame Judi Dench's Mrs. Henderson Presents ($7,081 per screen on 6 screens), Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada ($4,711 per screen on 5 screens) or Transamerica ($6,798 per screen on 3 screens).

Now, Kong. As soon as I saw the results, I realized I forgot one very important point in estimating how Kong would do at the B.O. The movie runs three hours plus and didn't really have a built-in audience like the film I was boldly (stupidly) comparing it to (Return of the King). At three hours, many theatres will only run the film once per night, halving the maximum number of viewers per night. Kong did do over $14,000 per screen on a one-viewing-per-night basis, so that's actually very good. I read somewhere this week that Kong's opening weekend was in line with Titanic and a check of the figures shows that to be true. If 1997 dollars are converted to 2005 dollars, Kong is probably about 20% below Titanic's opening weekend. The film's director, Peter Jackson (like Titanic's James Cameron), will bring in a few folks on name recognition, but it will be hugely dependent on word of mouth.

The key will be checking the second week's numbers, which will be up against eleven new releases, including tomorrow's releases of Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and the Jim Carrey vehicle Fun With Dick and Jane. Friday includes Johnny Knoxville's new "comedy" The Ringer, the Steven Spielberg thriller Munich, and expanded releases of Memoirs of a Geisha and Brokeback Mountain. The glut concludes Sunday with wide releases of the Jennifer Aniston comedy Rumor Has It, the horror flick Wolf Creek and the expanded release of The Producers. Also, Heath Ledger's new film Casanova comes out for a limited Academy Award release.

There you go. See you next week.

Box Office - December 2 - 4

2005-12-06T09:37:00.000-05:00

Interesting.....:

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $19.9 million
2. Aeon Flux - $12.7 million
3. Walk The Line - $9.5 million
4. Yours, Mine and Ours - $8.3 million
5. Just Friends - $5.6 million
6. Rent - $4.4 million
7. Chicken Little - $4.4 million
8. Pride and Prejudice - $4.4 million
9. Derailed - $2.3 million
10. In The Mix - $1.9 million

Quite a week. The usual post-U.S. Thanksgiving numbers, as every top 15 film's box office dropped over 38% from last weekend. Business was down a bit compared to last year and 2005, as a whole, trails 2004 by about 8%.

Aeon Flux failed to unseat Harry Potter, which is a bit of a surprise. Shockingly, Flux actually exceeded distributor Paramount's expectations of a $10 million opening. I didn't realize it, but the post-Thanksgiving weekend is normally not a weekend when studios release anything wide. Obviously, Paramount saw a window of opportunity for a film that, based on its horrible reviews, might have been buried against stiff (or any) competition.

Things heat up this week, with the wide release of Syriana, which expanded from 5 to 9 theatres this past weekend and still drew a per-screen average of $57,935. Also, The Chronicles of Narnia bows this weekend and should open in the $20 - $30 million range. There's also a bunch of narrow releases for Academy Award consideration: Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, Memoirs of A Geisha, directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago), Mrs Henderson Presents starring Dame Judi Dench and The World's Fastest Indian, featuring Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Until next week.

Box Office - Weekend of Nov. 25-27

2005-12-02T09:50:00.000-05:00

Well, no major surprises here:

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $54.8 million
2. Walk The Line - $19.2 million
3. Yours, Mine and Ours - $17.5 million
4. Chicken Little - $12.6 million
5. Rent - $10.0 million
6. Just Friends - $9.2 million
7. Pride and Prejudice - $7.2 million
8. Derailed - $6.5 million
9. In The Mix - $4.4 million
10. The Ice Harvest - $3.7 million

This was the best U.S. Thanksgiving weekend since 2000 and a 3% improvement over last year. Still, that was more due to the success of films still in theaters as opposed to the week's new releases. Only Yours, Mine and Ours had what could be called a decent opening, as Rent, Just Friends, In The Mix and The Ice Harvest all underperformed. Harry Potter sailed past the $200 million mark and, as of Wednesday, had passed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for #4 on the 2005 list of highest-grossing films. It will surpass Wedding Crashers this weekend and, if the weekend haul exceeds $28 million, it could pass War of the Worlds to move into the #2 spot behind Revenge of the Sith. That will about do it though, as I don't think it will break $300 million, much less approach Sith's $380 million take. Interestingly, Goblet of Fire, despite having the biggest opening weekend of the four Potter films, may not be the highest grossing. Sorceror's Stone (the first) took in just over $317 million, Chamber of Secrets took in $262 million and Prisoner of Azkaban came just short of $250 million. I think Goblet of Fire will get to 2nd, but will not catch Sorceror's Stone, as Kong is coming and Harry will become a distant memory in two more weeks. A challenge to Potter's supremacy will come this weekend with the arrival of Aeon Flux, touted as the next Matrix.

Some pretty surprising numbers in here, too. Both Walk The Line and Chicken Little held their audiences well, each dipping less than 15% from last week. It appears that Walk The Line will surpass Ray as the top-grossing musical biography and Chicken Little could well reach $150 million before its run ends, with only Hoodwinked on the horizon to challenge it for kiddie films. It also looks like only Yours, Mine and Ours is the only release this week with a chance to break even. Pride and Prejudice looks like it has legs, though. Going wide over Thanksgiving (from 221 screens to 1,299), its $7.2 million weekend was a $5,510 average per screen, third highest in the top 10 behind Goblet and Walk The Line.

This is also the time of year where studios get films out in highly limited release to allow them to qualify for Oscar voting. This week saw George Clooney's mid-east oil thriller Syriana released to 5 screens in New York and L.A. and people came out in droves, as Syriana averaged a whopping $74,900 per screen. That's over five times Harry Potter's per screen average on 3,853 fewer screens. Also opening on two screens, Johnny Depp's new period drama The Libertine pulled in $13,400 per screen.

Opening this weekend (along with Aeon Flux)....not much other than Desperate Housewives' Felicity Huffman's turn as a transsexual in Transamerica, which is an Oscar opening (2 screens in N.Y. and L.A.). Only Aeon Flux opens wide this week and it better do well, cause the competition gets stiff the following weekend as Narnia bows and Kong arrives in 2 weeks.

Until next time........

DVD Release Schedule - December 2005

2005-11-26T21:59:00.000-05:00

For those of you still with Christmas shopping left to do, here's a helpful list. Lists are courtesy TV Shows on DVD and Amazon. Note that the lists are NOT complete, but rather contain only those releases I find interesting. Click on the links to get complete release lists.

Now, TV shows coming to DVD in December:

December 6
24 - Season 4
CSI Miami - Season 3
Everybody Loves Raymond - Season 5
Full House - Season 2
Law and Order- Season 4
M*A*S*H - Season 9
MacGyver- Season 4
Roseanne- Season 2
Rockford Files - Season 1
The West Wing - Season 5

You can also pick up Rock Star - INXS, 6 new Red Green compilations and the He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special

December 13
CSI Vegas - Season 5
Miami Vice - Season 2
Reba - Season 2
Simpsons - Season 7

It's also worth noting here that on November 29, you can pick up a single-disc release of CSI Vegas' awesome 4th season finale, Grave Danger, directed by Quentin Tarantino.

December 20
Amazing Race - Season 7
Battlestar Galactica - Season 2.0
E.R. - Season 4

December 27
The Shield - Season 4 (actually available December 26)
America's Funniest Home Videos - Best of Kids and Animals

On the movie front:

December 6
Cinderella Man
Dukes of Hazzard
Jules et Jim - for the artsies in the audience

December 13
The Island
Kronk's Groove - sequel to Disney's hilarious Emperor's New Groove
Valiant
Simpsons - Season 7

There are also lots of two-pack movies being released to Amazon this week. Basically, we're talking two movies shrink-wrapped together (which should be fun from a shipping perspective). Some of the two-packs include Independence Day and I, Robot, Fever Pitch and Never Been Kissed and Flight of the Phoenix and Behind Enemy Lines.

December 20
Dark Water
Exorcism of Emily Rose
Four Brothers
Into The Blue
Serenity
Toy Story 2 Special Edition

December 27
No movie releases, but A&E is releasing over 20 episodes of their famous "Biography" series and the History Channel is dumping about 30 new DVDs onto the market as well.

Last Week's Box Office Numbers

2005-11-26T12:03:00.000-05:00

Still working on that editorial I mentioned. Seems to be turning into a dissertation. I may present it in parts. Anyhoo, last week I also promised a return to box office number updating. Courtesy, as always, of Box Office Mojo, here's last week's numbers:

1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - $102.6 million
2. Walk The Line - $22.3 million
3. Chicken Little - $14.7 million
4. Derailed - $6.5 million
5. Zathura - $5.1 million
6. Jarhead - $4.8 million
7. Get Rich or Die Tryin' - $4.4 million
8. Saw II - $3.9 million
9. Legend of Zorro - $2.4 million
10. Pride and Prejudice - $2.1 million

There are some very interesting facts hidden in last week's numbers, including:

This year's numbers indicate a 20% year-over-year improvement. That's still a rare event, as overall box office remains lower than 2004. Walk The Line did surprisingly strong box office, pulling in an impressive $7,547 per screen. Pride and Prejudice, playing on only 221 screens, did $9,690 per screen.

Also, as of last weekend, Chicken Little was about to become the 16th film of 2005 to crack the $100 million dollar mark (which it has since done).

All of this pales in comparison to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Money, though. The best opening yet for a Potter film, matching ticket sales for Chamber of Secrets and surpassing Prisoner of Azkaban's $93 million opening with a staggering $26,616 per screen avaerage. Surprising demographics, too, as the audience was 60% female and 58% over the age of 17, indicating that the audience for the movies is maturing in the same fashion as the audience for the books (just got Half-Blood Prince from the library, which apparently should come with a 14A rating for thematic elements). The $102 million opening ranks fourth all-time behind Spider-Man ($118 million), Revenge of the Sith ($108.4 million) and Shrek 2 ($108 million). It also immediately became the 15th biggest-grossing film of the year (and has since risen to #11).

Despite Harry's success, there are some really bad trends here. To wit:

** The fall season used to be a time where a mid-budget film that would get buried in the summer or winter had a fighting chance, with strong promotion, to at least break even domestically. There are a number of cases disproving that theory.
**** After a great opening weekend, Zathura dropped an alarming 62% in box office in week 2 and now seems unlikely to recoup its $65 million dollar production cost.
**** The two films below it in this week's top 10, Jarhead (70% of costs recovered) and Get Rich... (60% of costs recovered) also had substantial box office drops (59.5% for Jarhead and 63.2% for Get Rich) and are in the same danger.
**** Even worse is Legend of Zorro, with Banderas and Zeta-Jones and a successful first film, which had a 63.1% drop in box office and has only recovered 55% of its $75 million cost.
**** We can also now officially say that Nicolas Cage can no longer draw. After the ugly performance of God of War, The Weather Man grossed only $333,633 in its 4th weekend of release and has only recovered $12 million of its $22 million production cost. This film was being promoted as similar to The Family Guy, which was a huge film for Cage.
**** Other cases: Charlize Theron's latest, North Country, the action thriller Doom with Duane "The Rock" Johnson, the Gwyneth Paltrow-Anthony Hopkins-Jake Gyllenhall drama Proof and Cameron Crowe's very personal Elizabethtown with Kirsten (Spider-Man) Dunst and Orlando (Lord of the Rings) Bloom are all dying horrible deaths. North Country was pulled from 75% of screens and has not yet grossed 50% of costs. Elizabethtown has grossed 60% of costs and pulled in a meager $523 per screen (total weekend gross $121,372). Proof is a total dog, as it never had a chance to go really wide and looks to top out at $7.6 million domestic, a far cry from its $20 million production cost. Doom is the worst of the three. With a built in audience who loved the video game series and a name actor who is recognized among 18-34 year old boys (the target audience of this film), Doom's weekend total dropped 81.2% from the previous weekend to $118,780 ($539 per screen) and it has not even recovered half of it's $60 million price tag.
** Some niche films are not drawing interest in narrower release. Capote, with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, is drawing a mere $2,670 per screen. George Clooney's Good Night and Good Luck, with David Strathairn as Edward R. Murrow, earned only $2,078 per screen, but has grossed more than twice its production cost. Steve Martin's Shopgirl, despite good buzz, is also not a box office winner, as it seems unlikely to break $10 million. Finally, there's Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang with Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer, which is grossing only $2,222 per screen in limited release and is highly unlikely to reach its $15 million production cost.

What does it all mean? First, there is very definitely an extreme glut of product on the market. The next 3 weeks will see over 20 films released wide in an effort to strike it rich at Christmas. This week (which is the American Thanksgiving) put 5 new films into wide release (John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton's black comedy/heist flick The Ice Harvest, Usher's new film In The Mix, the family comedy Yours, Mine and Ours with Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo, Ryan Reynolds' new romantic comedy Just Friends and the film version of Rent). Plus, Pride and Prejudice went wide as well. Charlize Theron's AeonFlux gets December 2 all to itself and The Chronicles of Narnia and Syriana (with George Clooney) come out on the 9th. Then the fun begins, as THE movie of the holiday season drops on the 14th. I refer to King Kong (directed by Peter Jackson). This will result in the ritual stomping of the romantic comedy The Family Stone, which comes out the 16th and will be lucky to have anybody find it. We then wrap up the month of December with 7 wide releases on the 23rd (Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and the Jim Carrey flick Fun With Dick and Jane, both of which open the 21st, the animated film Hoodwinked and the new Johnny Knoxville flick The Ringer on the 23rd and Rumor Has It (directed by Woody Allen and starring Jennifer Aniston) and the horror flick Wolf Creek on Christmas Day). By my count, that's 17 wide releases in 4 weeks, plus limited Academy Award runs of buzz-worthy films like Memoirs of a Geisha, Brokeback Mountain, 3 Burials of Melquiades Estrada (Tommy Lee Jones' directorial debut) and The Producers, and you've got a lot of stuff out there that is going to cost the studios money.

Second, there's not a lot of quality, either. Hollywood seems to be interested in either non-traditional storylines (Brokeback Mountain's gay cowboys will turn off a lot of mainstream moviegoers, as will Transamerica's focus on a transsexual) or cookie cutter stuff (Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and Yours, Mine and Ours are basically the same movie, for example). There's no doubt that King Kong will be a goodie, given Jackson's track record and his obvious love for the subject, and Jim Carrey's presence should lead to decent numbers for Dick and Jane. Same with Woody Allen and Jennifer Aniston with Rumor Has It. Finally, Aeon Flux gets almost the whole sci-fi crowd to itself so that should lead to decent numbers. The rest? Underachievers and dogs all, desperate for an audience to find them and probably setting records for coming out on DVD. I'll track the month of December and see if I'm right.

Here's my predictions for weekly box office winners through the remainder of 2005:

Nov.25 - Nov.27 - Harry Potter
Dec. 2 - Dec. 4 - Harry Potter (although Aeon Flux will come very close)
Dec. 9 - Dec.11 - Narnia
Dec.16 - Dec.18 - King Kong by possibly 5x the 2nd place film
Dec.23 - Dec.25 - King Kong (Dick and Jane will be a close second)
Dec.30 - Jan. 1 - Dick and Jane

We'll see how I do.

Sorry about the absence

2005-11-19T10:36:00.000-05:00

Been a little busy lately. You can read about it here and here. Anyways, we'll get back to reviewing weekend box office results on Monday, but I have a few other goodies to share with you today.

First, I sent an e-mail to TV Shows on DVD in the hopes that they would put up an official announcement, but they didn't, so I will.....amazon.ca has changed the release dates for CSI and CSI:Miami, pushing them back 2 weeks each. So, Miami will now be released in Canada on December 6 and Vegas will be released on December 13. Oddly enough, Future Shop and Best Buy continues to show November 22 and 29. Indigo, however, agrees with amazon and I think they're right. So, if you're planning on picking up either set for a Christmas gift, plan accordingly. BTW, amazon wins on pricing right now, as both can be pre-ordered for $48.97.

Next up, if you're interested in the latest trailers for upcoming flicks, go here for the first teaaser trailers for the new Superman flick, here for trailers for Peter Jackson's King Kong and here for the Narnia trailer. The Movie Box is a great place to get all the latest and greatest movie info on the net. I will be adding a link to it once I update the sidebar later today.

Finally, keep an eye out later today for an editorial written by me based on this article. Hopefully, you can get past the firewall to read it. If not, my editorial will cover it in exhaustive detail.

Later.

24 Season 5 News

2005-10-07T12:11:00.000-04:00

According to Fox's 24 website, the premiere of Season 5 of 24 will be a big deal, with the first 4 hours being presented January 15 and 16. Reminder that a mini-episode setting up season 5 is among the extras on the Season 4 DVD set, streeting December 6. You can pre-order it from amazon.ca here.

Austin, change your Christmas list

2005-10-07T11:00:00.000-04:00

A rumour posted on The Digital Bits reveals that Serenity will street on December 20. The Bits is not actually confirming the date, but it seems solid and they actually have specs on the release (i.e. additional features).

You can read all about it here.

What's happenin?

2005-10-03T11:41:00.000-04:00

First, I don't think I can realistically keep up with capsule reviews of four shows a week, so I will make an effort to provide brief commentary every Monday and add links to sites providing plot synopses and more detailed reviews.

CSI:Vegas

Premiere episode synopsis and review here. Great start to the new season, as the team is back together and it looks like there's going to be a running subplot involving Grissom chasing down an accomplice who helped entomb Nick in the season 5 finale. Great start - 8/10.

Second episode synopsis here. No review yet available. A more standard CSI episode, and a bit of a comedown from the first one. Warrick and Nick's case was especially odd and pointless. 6/10

CSI:NY

Premiere episode synopsis and review here. Good episode. I like the brighter look and it's good to see Hill Harper out working cases. The joke about hazing the newcomer by making him perfrom an autopsy on a mosquito was good. Looks like Vanessa Ferlito's time may be short, though, as she's tampering with evidence and is sure to get caught. 8/10.

Haven't watched Episode 2 of Miami or episode 3 of House yet. I planned to, but then I got all wrapped up in Band of Brothers, of which I have watched the first three episodes and am planning to cram in the next 5 within the next 36 hours. Also reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which is a BIG FREAKIN' BOOK.

Quick box office review, courtesy of Box Office Mojo.

1. Flightplan $15 million
2. Serenity $10.1 million
3. Corpse Bride $9.8 million
4. A History of Violence $8.2 million
5. Into the Blue $7 million
6. Just Like Heaven $6.1 million
7. Exorcism of Emily Rose $4.4 million
8. Roll Bounce $4 million
9. Greatest Game Ever Played $3.7 million
10. 40-Year Old Virgin $3.1 million

Horrible weekend, down 26% compared with last year. Serenity's opening has to be considered weak and Into the Blue and Greatest Game Ever Played are both duds. History of Violence proves once again that good actors and a challenging story will bring people to the theatre, as it averaged an impressive $6,119 per screen on 1,340 screens. 40-Year Old Virgin crossed the $100 million barrier this week, as expected. Finally, the impressive performance of Capote, with Philip Seymour Hoffman in the title role, should be noted, as it opened on 12 screens and averaged just over $29,000 per screen.

Opening wide next week:
The Gospel.
Cameron Diaz' latest In Her Shoes.
Two For The Money, starring Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey and Rene Russo.
Sophomoric restaurant comedy Waiting.
Family film Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Finally, checking things around TV Shows on DVD and The Digital Bits we find the following:

Get the news on CSI:Vegas' 5th season release scheduled for November 29, including extras and cover art, here. Same stuff for the 3rd season of CSI:Miami (street date November 22) can be found here.
Season 7 of the Simpsons will be out on December 13. Details, including episode listings, can be found here.
Gee, Beav....Season 1 of Leave It To Beaver streets on November 22. Get all the information (including how you can get your mitts on season 1 in a commemorative lunchbox package) here.
The original Star Wars trilogy is being re-packaged (again) to be re-released to coincide with the release of Episode 3. Release date is December 6 and it's basically the deluxe DVD set released last year minus the extras disc. Get the story here. Scroll further down the same page and you'll get some info about unrated versions of Wedding Crashers, Dumb and Dumber and Austin Powers as well as the announcement of U2:Vertigo Live on DVD on November 15.

That should do it. Until next time.

Box Office, September 23 - 25

2005-09-26T07:28:00.000-04:00

Numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo.

1. Flightplan $24.6 million
2. Corpse Bride $20.1 million
3. Just Like Heaven $9.8 million
4. Roll Bounce $8 million
5. Exorcism of Emily Rose $7.5 million
6. Lord of War $4.9 million
7. 40-Year Old Virgin $4.3 million
8. Constant Gardener $2.2 million
9. Transporter 2 $2.2 million
10. Cry Wolf $2.1 million

Huge weekend, as this week is a 51% improvement over the same weekend last year. Some big dropoffs (Emily Rose down 49.5%, Lord of War down 47.8%, Transporter 2 down 46.4%). 40-Year Old Virgin should break through the $100 million mark this week, the 13th film this year to accomplish it. As expected, Wedding Crashers passed Batman Begins to become the third highest grossing film of 2005 and 58th all time. Lord of War looks like it's going to top out around $25 million, which means it will need huge DVD sales/overseas business to break even. Same story for Brothers Grimm (cost $88 million to make, thus far has earned $37 million). Finally, Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist opened in 5 theatres and grossed $69,000, an impressive $13,800 per screen average.

Opening wide this week (links courtesy of IMDb:

Golf drama The Greatest Game Ever Played.
Treasure Hunting/Drug Drama/Action Film/Undersea Adventure/Jessica Alba vehicle Into The Blue.
Sci-fi flick Serenity. My bud Austin will be at every showing this weekend in Hamilton.
Also, Oliver Twist and A History of Violence open wide this weekend.

That's all, folks.

House: Season 2 Episode 2

2005-09-26T07:11:00.000-04:00

Complete episode synopsis is here.

Another great episode, as a sickly House opts to forego traditional recovery measures to wrestle with the issue of Andie, a terminal cancer patient (who also happens to be a 9-year old girl).

Some of the excellent points of this episode is House's cynicism coming face-to-face with the bravery of Andie. House actually is so disbelieving of Andie's inner strength, that he believes a tumor must be lodged near the amygdala (fear centre of the brain), causing the "irrational" bravery. The disbelief shown by the team members is equalled when they find out that Chase actually gave Andie a kiss prior to administering tests. The team gets great parts this week, especially Chase, who develops a special friendship bond with Andie, staying with her through the many procedures she undergoes during the episode. House even drops the cynical wall long enough at the end to share a hug with Andie before she leaves the hospital.

Two brutal surgical procedures are performed. The first involved the temporary removal of Andie's heart to shave a tumor off the exterior wall. The decision to perform the surgery was based on House identifying an irregularity in Andie's heartbeat. He convinces his team of this in typical House-ian fashion, recording her ECG on an i-Pod and replaying Andie's heartbeat through speakers in the shower room. During the procedure, Chase notices a bleed in Andie's eye, which leads to House's amygdala argument. The decision is made to induce cardiac arrest, lower the body temperature and drain and replace two pints of blood to identify the location of the tumour. The last 30 minutes of the episode is non-stop tension, punctuated by moments with Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) talking with Andie's mother and seeing her emotional reaction to the whirlwind going on around her.

The successful surgery is the end of the episode, but it is a pyrrhic victory, as Andie is still left with only a year to live. A terrific, emotional episode that continues House's winning streak and further convinces me that it may be the best show on TV.

CSI:Miami Season 4, Episode 1

2005-09-23T11:44:00.000-04:00

Plot synopsis and analysis can be found here.

The analysis above points out something very interesting and a little aggravating about all of the CSI shows. Here's a case where the Mala Noche is identified as the "new Florida Mafia", which implies a serious group of badasses. Then, in a single episode, Horatio and his crew bring down the whole gang and H himself shoots Diablo, the leader of the gang. There endeth the new Florida Mafia.

Sometimes, I think it would be interesting to see the CSI's take on a bad guy that keeps them guessing. A baddie that builds over the season and leads to a head-to-head season finale that allows for some character development/emotional challenges to happen would be really beneficial to the shows. Once you get past the novelty of the cases and the science, there's not much there and some challenging adversaries just might freshen up the shows.

Notwithstanding, this was an exceptional episode. There was good action and a challenging storyline. It looks like we are going to spend some time this season looking into Horatio's past, as he spends time in confession at the outset of the episode and then his buddy, Rick, shows up talking about how he met some folks in NYC that know Horatio.

A good, not great, start to the season.

Everybody Loves Raymond - Season 5

2005-09-22T08:36:00.000-04:00

According to TV Shows on DVD, season 5 of Everybody Loves Raymond will street on December 6. That is turning into just a ridiculous release date, as it is already crowded with season 5 of CSI:Vegas, season 4 of 24 and season 5 of The West Wing. Yikes! At that rate, you'll need to take out a second mortgage to keep up.

News on Raymond, including an episode list, box art and special feature list, can be found here.

CSI:NY and CSI:Vegas Premieres delayed

2005-09-21T10:36:00.000-04:00

President Bush's message to the US regarding Katrina relief efforts forced a juggling of the CBS schedule, so CSI:NY and CSI:Vegas will now premiere their new seasons on September 28 (CSI:NY) and September 29 (CSI:Vegas). I will have a review of CSI:Miami's premiere episode up later.

HatTip to CSI Files.

Update: I misread the original post. Only CSI:NY is affected. Vegas premiere is still on for TONIGHT (September 22). Thanks to CL for pointing this out.

Cover art for Season 4 of 24 on DVD

2005-09-21T09:21:00.000-04:00

Coming to a store near you December 6. Pre-order at amazon.ca:

House: Season 2, Episode 1

2005-09-20T06:50:00.000-04:00

Episode recap here.

This may well be the best show on TV today.

A great start to the second season, as House (Hugh Laurie) bucks both Dr. Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) and ex-girlfriend (and new hospital counsel) Stacy (Sela Ward) to bring death-row convict Clarence (LL Cool J) to the hospital to be treated for an apparent heart attack. Meanwhile, this week's B-plot centers around Dr. Cameron (Jennifer Morrison), who has to deal with telling a young woman who walked into the hospital clinic that she has terminal cancer.

The show picks up where it left off last season, as House (Hugh Laurie was ROBBED of an Emmy, I say) immediately starts taking advantage of Stacy while bullying Cuddy into getting what he wants. While doing this, the gloves come off between House and Cameron over Cameron's desire to run a series of increasingly esoteric tests on her terminal cancer patient. House immediately tells Cameron that the girl is terminal and lectures Cameron on the 5 stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) and how she is exhibiting them. Cameron tries to make the argument that House is refusing her tests as a way to get back at her for their date going badly. "I'm over you" she snarls, like that's going to score points.

Meanwhile, Clarence continues to struggle as House initially thinks he is reacting to a heroin overdose. However, a blood test reveals anion gap acidosis, causing Cameron to toss out the possibility of a reaction to a tuberculosis drug INH (leading to a great House reaction: Yahtzee!). House dispatches Chase (Jesse Spencer) to the prison to find Clarence's secret stash. Chase tells House that he found, among other things, copier fluid in his cell. House twigs to the possibility that Clarence tried to commit suicide by drinking the fluid, which is rich in methanol. He marches into Clarence's room and begins drinking 150-proof rum shots with him. After telling Clarence he knew what he drank, he tells him that the ethanol in the rum he just drank will counter the methanol and "he'll just pee out the toxins". A later problem with a necrotic bowel leads House to send Clarence for an MRI, which, due to the heavy metal ink in his tattoos, is a VERY painful experience for him. The results of the MRI lead to the determination that Clarence has a tumor that sends additional adrenaline into his system. It is removed and Clarence goes back to death row.

An absolutely excellent episode. As usual, a tricky medical problem drives the story while all of the characters undergo more rich development. House and Dr. Foreman (Omar Epps) clash over the question of whether Clarence's environment caused him to commit the crimes he did and Foreman and Clarence have a number of discussions on the same subject. Cameron and House clash everywhere in this episode, over the cancer patient's diagnosis, House's decision to focus his energies on a death row con, rather than a young, vibrant girl with her whole life apparently ahead of her. And, of course, there's House knocking heads with Cuddy and Stacy. Dr. Wilson (the great Robert Sean Leonard) continues to be House's conscience as they have a great back and forth while House has lunch and watches TV in the room of a man in a coma. Funny, challenging and not a little bit emotional, just the way a House episode should be. Good start to the season.

Weekend Box Office and other stuff

2005-09-19T07:06:00.000-04:00

Collected around the web. First, from Canoe, a list of big winners from the Emmys:

Drama Series - Lost
Drama Actor - James Spader, Boston Legal (BOO!)
Drama Actress - Patricia Arquette, Medium
Drama Supporting Actor - William Shatner, Boston Legal
Drama Supporting Actress - Blythe Danner, Huff
Comedy Series - Everybody Loves Raymond
Comedy Actor - Tony Shalhoub, Monk (YAY!)
Comedy Actress - Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives
Comedy Supporting Actor - Brad Garrett, Everybody Loves Raymond
Comedy Supporting Actress - Doris Roberts, Everybody Loves Raymond

Generally, I agree with these. Raymond was going to get the big sendoff with a truckload of Emmys and, if a Desperate Housewife had to win, Felicity Huffman is the one I choose since she's the only one I've ever seen in a show I liked (the criminally underrated Sports Night. Great to see Tony Shalhoub get recognition for his remarkably funny and complex Monk, but who did David Kelley pay off to get two awards for Boston Legal? And, more importantly, how in the world did James freakin' Spader beat both Kiefer Sutherland and House's Hugh Laurie? Well, there's always next year.

Next, the box office numbers courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

Just Like Heaven $16.5 million
Exorcism of Emily Rose $15.3 million
Lord of War $9.2 million
40-Year Old Virgin $5.8 million
Cry Wolf $4.5 million
Transporter 2 $4 million
Constant Gardener $3.7 million
Red Eye $2.9 million
March of the Penguins $2.5 million
Wedding Crashers $2.5 million

Another successful weekend, as box office revenues are up 13% compared with the same weekend last year.

Reese Witherspoon proves again that she can open romantic comedies with a big splash, but it's nowhere near her best (Sweet Home Alabama rang up $35 million for the best September opening weekend ever). Nicolas Cage disappoints as Lord of War fails to break $10 million. 40-Year Old Virgin breaks through $90 million and should become the 13th film of 2005 to break $100 million. Wedding Crashers breaks through $200 million and should pass Batman Begins for 3rd place among 2005 top grossers. As expected, Emily Rose dropped 49.1% from last weekend, but at $52 million over two weeks, it could reach $100 million.

Opening wide this week (Links courtesy of IMDb): Jodie Foster's lost child on a plane thriller Flight Plan and Roll Bounce, a comedy about kids growing up in the 1970's and hanging out in the roller rink. Expanding from limited release to wide release is Tim Burton's latest animated flight-of-fancy Corpse Bride.

Latest news from TV Shows on DVD:

The great early-90s sitcom, Wings, as well as The Love Boat and Melrose Place, is expected to arrive in 2006.

Season 2 of Miami Vice is scheduled to street on November 22. Information on the contents can be found here and here.

Season 1 of the classic Rockford Files is coming out December 6. Get your fix of cover art, release info and a promised interview with star James Garner here.

Finally, The Digital Bits informs that the Terry Gilliam-directed The Brothers Grimm, starring Heath Ledger and Matt Damon, will arrive December 20. Also, on Boxing Day (December 26), Pixar sends the Special Edition of Toy Story 2 into stores. Info on TS2 can be found here. Also, if you want the most comprehensive list of upcoming DVD releases, including cover art and direct shopping links to amazon.com, check out the Bits' Upcoming DVD art section right here.

Finally, I have to tell you all that I started reading the Harry Potter books about a month ago. I am blowing through these things at a rate of about one a week and they are absolutely GREAT. Prisoner of Azkaban may well be one of the twistiest tales I have ever read.

Finally finally, I watched Austin's favourite TV show ever, Firefly. A couple of great episodes, especially the one where Wash and Mal are captured by Niska and the final epsiode, with a terrific performance by Richard Brooks as the slightly mental bounty hunter Jubal Early. Suffice to say I liked it enough to make seeing Serenity a priority, just because I hope they close off some of the loose ends left by the abrupt killing of the series by Fox. Maybe Space or some other specialty station will pick the show up and allow them to continue on.

That's it.

Jason and Joanne, this one's for you

2005-09-15T11:09:00.000-04:00

Enterprise on DVD - The Complete Series

Zances, this one's for you

2005-09-15T06:50:00.000-04:00

He-Man on DVD

More on the Fall 2005 TV Season

2005-09-13T21:41:00.000-04:00

As promised in an earlier post, I am going to offer some commentary on the new TV season. I should preface this by stating that my VCR only allows me to program for six shows and, in a spirit of selflessness, I am giving up two of those spots to allow my wife to tape CityLine and Martha, Martha Stewart's new daily show. As a result, the remaining four spots go to my standards, CSIs Vegas, NY and Miami and House. Have to catch the new shows on either summer repeats or DVD.

So, here's what I'm going to do....I'll go day-by-day and just do a quick commentary on what I think will win and lose and what will be the interesting time-slot battles. Some info included is sourced from Entertainment Weekly's Fall TV preview.

Sunday

The one-time TV graveyard has become home to many big shows, including ABC's monster lineup of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. This lineup's main competition has come from Fox's animation-heavy lineup (Simpsons, King of the Hill, the revived Family Guy and American Dad). Fox has moved a new comedy, The War at Home, into Arrested Development's old slot after the Simpsons, with the idea that AD can carry Fox to Monday night success. The big battle will be the 8-9 PM time slot, as Extreme Makeover will not only be challenged by Fox's combo of Simpsons/War at Home, but also CBS' top-20 hit Cold Case (show #36A in the Bruckheimer canon), but by the arrival of former heavyweight The West Wing, which joins Law and Order CI and Crossing Jordan to form a potent lineup for NBC. Still, I think we'll give the night to ABC.

Monday

CBS has owned Monday for the last few years. This year, Everybody Loves Raymond's departure leaves a big hole that CBS hopes will be plugged by moving Two and a Half Men into Raymond's 9 PM slot and putting Ray Romano's pal Kevin James' King of Queens into the 8 PM lead-in spot. 8:30 and 9:30 bring two new sitcoms, How I met Your Mother (think Friends meets The Wonder Years) and Out of Practice a comedy about a dysfunctional family of doctors led by Stockard Channing and Henry Winkler. Practice and Men have a tall order this fall, facing Monday Night Football (in its final ABC season), Fox's hugely hyped and critically adored Prison Break and Las Vegas, which has seen it's audience grow since it's debut two years ago (and which I highly recommend on DVD). CSI:Miami had a small scare last season when Medium debuted to big numbers as a midseason replacement for NBC, but finished huge with a great run of episodes to the end. End result: I see Fox coming up roses here, especially if Arrested Development keeps its audience and Prison Break hits big. I also think Two and a Half Men will fail to be the comedy anchor for CBS and will really miss Raymond's lead-in. However, Miami is probably the most-liked of all the CSI's and it'll allow CBS to carry the night.

Tuesday

9-10 PM is absolutely wild. ABC debuts Commander-In-Chief, featuring Geena Davis as President of the U.S. (could happen) going up against my beloved House, CBS' Amazing Race and a wicked comedy double shot on NBC (Jason Lee's My Name Is Earl and The Office). Earl and Office each could be among the season's big winners and I am especially intrigued by Earl's concept (trailer park dude wins $100,000 on a scratch ticket, gets hit by a car and, in a karmic fit, decides to make amends with anyone he's ever wronged). The Office proved it had legs in it's limited spring/summer run. 10 PM should belong to NBC's Law & Order SVU, but CBS' Close To Home (show #47C in the Bruckheimer canon) could cut into it if it's any good. Sez here that CBS wins the night as Close to Home is good and Amazing Race owns the reality TV corner. Hopefully, NCIS rolls over According to Jim and Rodney and those two shows are banished forever.

Wednesday

CSI:NY (show #3 in the Bruckheimer canon), gets a makeover, going from dark and dingy to high-rise and stylish. It better take, or viewers just might go back to the original L&O, which really got a boost from the great pairing of Dennis Farina and The Sopranos' Michael Imperioli as the new cops. Wednesday is also now the property of Lost, but the competition is ultra-stiff as CBS and ABC roll out new shows. CBS has Mandy Patinkin (Chicago Hope, Princess Bride) and Thomas Gibson (Dharma and Greg) in Criminal Minds (show #27F in the Bruckheimer canon), while NBC rolls out Dennis Hopper and ex-L&O cop Benjamin Bratt in E-Ring (show #28Q in the Bruckheimer canon). Fox, with Head Cases, is and innocent bystander. 8 PM should belong to NBC, as every other station's pair of sitcoms is set to get steamrollered by Mark Burnett and Martha Stewart's new version of The Apprentice. The verdict says Lost is a top 5 show this year, but NBC carries the night. CSI:NY becomes the first CSI to face the chopping block.

Thursday

Yeah, like you need to ask who wins this night. NBC throws the Donald to CSI:Vegas (show #1 in the Bruckheimer canon), by moving Trump's Apprentice to 9 PM, and I suspect that ABC's updated Night Stalker will be on the scrap heap by Christmas. 8 PM should be fun, though, as ABC rolls out its popular Alias to go head-to-head with Survivor:Guatemala on CBS, the O.C. on Fox and Joey and Will & Grace on NBC. Odds here say NBC is left out at 8 and, with Trunp getting walloped nightly by Gil Grissom et al, ER has nothing to lead into it, further pushing it out to pasture as Without A Trace (show #13S in the Bruckheimer canon) further cements its ownership of 10-11 PM. Winner: CBS.

Friday

Can Jennifer Love Hewitt revive Friday nights? Probably not, as Friday becomes the new weekly dead zone. However, CBS is putting some pretty good stuff on, with Ghost Whisperer leading into two pretty brainy puzzle shows. At 9, there's the new Threshold, which gets major geek cred by casting TNG's Brent Spiner (aka Data) and Felicity's Robert Patrick Benedict in an Aliens-invade-Earth show. Returning at 10 is the critically acclaimed NUMB3RS. The hyped slot is 8-9 PM as Ghost Whisperer is countered by ABC's Supernanny, NBC's Dateline and Fox's Bernie Mac and Malcolm in the Middle, but, really, who's watching? The other interesting show on Fridays is NBC's Three Wishes at 9PM, as NBC tries to cash in on Extreme Makeover by sending Christian pop star Amy Grant to small-town USA to grant wishes of three people per episode. Hopefully it doesn't get lost in the noise.

Saturdays are reserved for movies and CSI repeats. 'Nuff said.

Feel free to debate/comment.

September 9-11 Box Office

2005-09-12T09:14:00.000-04:00

"The Exorcism of Emily Rose" ran away and hid with the title this weekend, not only cracking $30 million, but also being the only film to earn more than $10 million this weekend. The film's opening weekend was also the third strongest September opening since numbers started being tracked.

Top 10 (courtesy Box Office Mojo):

1 The Exorcism of Emily Rose $30,200,000
2 The 40-Year-Old Virgin $7,901,000
3 Transporter 2 $7,200,000
4 The Constant Gardener $4,854,000
5 Red Eye $4,600,000
6 The Man $4,025,000
7 The Brothers Grimm $3,314,000
8 Wedding Crashers $3,225,000
9 Four Brothers $2,950,000
10 March of the Penguins $2,525,000

"The Man", starring Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy was savaged by critics and moviegoers avoided the film in droves. More proof that, despite the fact that Sam Jackson is one of the greatest character actors in movies today, he cannot open a bad movie on strength of name alone.

Big crash and burn for Virgin, Transporter, Red Eye and Brothers Grimm, as each film's revenue was over 40% lower compared to last week. Despite this, Emily Rose's opening powered the weekend to buck the trend of under-performing weekends seen through most of the summer. Box Office receipts were up 16% compared to the same weekend in 2004.

Opening wide next week: Just Like Heaven, a romantic comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage.

September Movie Releases

2005-09-12T06:56:00.000-04:00

Courtesy The Digital Bits. Visit them for a complete list fully linked to Amazon:

September 6:

Toy Story 10th Anniversary Edition
The Chase
Legacy Series editions of The Sting, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Deer Hunter
Crash
Greta Garbo Signature Collection (incl. Anna Christie, Anna Karenina, Grand Hotel, Mata Hari, Ninotchka and a collection of Garbo silents)

September 13:

Fever Pitch
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Man Who Fell to Earth (Criterion Collection)
Ben-Hur - 4-Disc Collector's Edition
Rumble Fish (Special Edition)
Coal Miner's Daughter - 25th Anniversary Edition
Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie

September 20:

Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D
Carlito's Way - Ultimate Edition
Mallrats - 10th Anniversary Edition
Outsiders - 2-disc Special Edition
Scary Movie 3.5
Longest Yard - Collector's Edition (Adam Sandler version)
No Direction Home
From the Earth to the Moon - Signature Edition

September 27:

Lords of Dogtown
Robots
Are We There Yet?

Fans of the thriller are in for some goodies in October, starting with THE definitive Alfred Hitchcock collection (includes 14 films, among them Psycho, Rear Window, The Birds and Vertigo), The Interpreter, reissues of the Fog, the Fly and the Fly II (the month of October is brought to you by the letter F) and a lot of major big-screen films, including BATMAN BEGINS.

September TV DVD Releases

2005-09-09T07:34:00.000-04:00

These are just the ones I consider major. For a complete list, visit TV Shows on DVD.

September 6

21 Jump Street - Season 3
Buffalo Bill - Season 1 and 2
Bullwinkle - Season 3
Lost - Season 1
MacGyver - Season 3

September 13

Cheers - Season 6
Brady Bunch - Season 3
Everybody Loves Raymond - Season 4
Frasier - Season 6
Las Vegas - Season 2
Taxi - Season 3
Tony Orlando and Dawn - The ULTIMATE Collection

September 20

Battlestar Galactica - Season 1
Crime Story - Season 2
Desperate Housewives - Season 1
From The Earth to the Moon - Signature Edition
Pretender - Season 2
SpongeBob Squarepants - Absorbing Favourites

September 27

Amazing Race - Season 1
Law and Order: SVU - Season 2
SpongeBob Squarepants - Season 3
Enterprise - Season 3

October is also looking good, with season 1 of CSI:NY and the third Looney Tunes Golden Collection already on the books. Movie releases and Fall TV analysis still to come.

24 - Season 4

2005-09-09T07:19:00.000-04:00

Coming out on December 6 (click here to pre-order for $69.99 on Amazon.ca). Here's a breakdown of the contents of the set, courtesy of The Digital Bits:

All 24 episodes will be presented in anamorphic widescreen, with Dolby Digital 5.1 audio. Extras will include audio commentary on 7:00AM-8:00AM (by Joel Surnow and Mary Lynn Rajskub), 12:00PM-1:00PM (by Joseph Hodges and Jon Cassar), 1:00PM-2:00PM (by Kim Raver and Joseph Hodges), 2:00PM-3:00PM (by Stephen Kornish and Peter Lenkov), 3:00PM-4:00PM (by Evan Katz and Shannon Doherty), 4:00PM-5:00PM (by Nestor Serrano and Stephen Kronish), 8:00PM-9:00PM (by Tim Iacofano and Shohreh Aghdashloo), 9:00PM-10:00PM (by Roger Cross and Bryan Spicer), 12:00AM-1:00AM (by Jon Cassar and Sean Callery), 1:00AM-2:00AM (by Paul Gadd and Ken Kobett), 4:00AM-5:00AM (by Matt Michnovetz and Duppy Demetris) and 6:00AM-7:00AM (by Bob Cochran and Scott Powell), some 35 deleted scenes available for viewing in a branched mode within each episode (and also separately with optional audio commentary by John Cassar on Disc Seven), 4 behind-the-scenes featurettes (including Breaking Ground: Building the New CTU, Blood on the Tracks, Lock and Load and 24 Conspiracy: Minute One to Minute Twenty-Four), a preview trailer for Season Five, a trailer for 24: The Game, The Longest Day music video and a 24: Season Five Prequel video (shot on location during the production of Season Five, which bridges Season Four and Five).

The prequel video is a valuable feature. Fox provided a 15-minute mini-episode with the third season box that introduced Habib Marwan and Erin Driscoll and explained why Jack was no longer employed by CTU at the start of the season. The season 4 prequel will likely be crucial in helping Jack get back to the U.S. after being rendered persona non grata at the end of season 4.

Fall 2005 TV Premieres

2005-08-31T08:44:00.000-04:00

As a TV junkie, I always want to know when my favourite shows kick off in the fall. So, as a service to the loyal reader, here's what I have found out:

For starters, NBC is trotting out just about everything the week of September 19. Saturday remains movie night (also true on ABC) and a number of popular series return the same week, including 6 new shows(hyperlinks take you to info about the new shows):

Monday: - Premiere Date September 19
8 PM: Surface
9 PM: Las Vegas
10 PM: Medium

Tuesday: - Premiere Date September 20
8 PM: The Biggest Loser - Season Premiere September 13
9 PM: My Name is Earl
9:30 PM: The Office - already on (returned August 17)
10 PM: Law and Order: SVU

Wednesday: - Premiere Date September 21
8 PM: The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
9 PM: E-Ring
10 PM: Law and Order

Thursday: - Premiere Date September 22
8 PM: Joey
8:30 PM: Will and Grace - Season Premiere September 29
9 PM: The Apprentice
10 PM: ER

Friday: - Premiere Date September 23
8 PM: Dateline
9 PM: Three Wishes
10 PM: Inconceivable

Sunday: - Premiere Date September 25
8 PM: The West Wing
9 PM: Law and Order: CI
10 PM: Crossing Jordan

Next, we have ABC, who have so much confidence in their fall schedule (including 7 new shows), they have announced seven mid-season replacements on their fall schedule page.

Monday: - Premiere Date September 12
8 PM: Wife Swap
9 PM: Monday Night Football

Monday After NFL season: - Premiere Date Early 2006
8 PM: The Bachelor
9 PM: Emily's Reasons Why Not
9:30 PM: Jake In Progress
10 PM: What About Brian

Tuesday: - Premiere Date September 27
8 PM: According To Jim - Season Premiere September 20
8:30 PM: Rodney - Season Premiere October 4
9 PM: Commander in Chief
10 PM: Boston Legal

Wednesday: - Premiere Date September 21
8 PM: George Lopez - Season Premiere September 28
8:30 PM: Freddie - Season Premiere October 5
9 PM: Lost
10 PM: Invasion

Thursday: - Premiere Date September 29
8 PM: Alias
9 PM: Night Stalker
10 PM: Primetime Live

Friday: - Premiere Date September 23
8 PM: SuperNanny
9 PM: Hope & Faith
9:30 PM: Hot Properties - Season Premiere September 30
10 PM: 20-20

Sunday: - Premiere Date September 25
8 PM: Extreme Makeover - Home Edition
9 PM: Desperate Housewives
10 PM: Grey's Anatomy

Next up is Fox. The far weaker fall season repeats Season 1 of House and relies heavily on its Sunday evening block of animation shows, while introducing 6 new shows.

Monday: - Premiere Date September 19
8 PM: Arrested Development
8:30 PM: Kitchen Confidential
9 PM: Prison Break - Season Premiere August 29

Tuesday: - Premiere Date September 13
8 PM: Bones
9 PM: House

Wednesday: - Premiere Date September 14
8 PM: That '70s Show - Season Premiere November 2
8:30 PM: Stacked
9 PM: Head Cases

Thursday: - Premiere Date September 8
8 PM: The O.C.
9 PM: Reunion

Friday: - Premiere Date September 23
8 PM: Bernie Mac Show
8 PM: Malcolm in the Middle
9 PM: Killer Instinct

Saturday: - Premiere Date September 10
8 PM: COPS
8:30 PM: COPS
9 PM: America's Most Wanted

Sunday: - Premiere Date September 11
7 PM: Animation Encores
7:30 PM: King of the Hill - Season Premiere September 18
8 PM: The Simpsons
8:30 PM: The War At Home
9 PM: Family Guy
9:30 PM: American Dad

And that brings us to CBS. The defending ratings champ enters into their first post-Raymond season introducing 6 new shows.

Monday: - Premiere Date September 19
8 PM: The King of Queens
8:30 PM: How I Met Your Mother
9 PM: Two and a Half Men
9:30 PM: Out of Practice
10 PM: CSI Miami

Tuesday: - Premiere Date September 20
8 PM: NCIS
9 PM: Amazing Race - Season Premiere September 27
10 PM: Close To Home - Season Premiere October 4

Wednesday: - Premiere Date September 21
8 PM: Still Standing
8:30 PM: Yes, Dear
9 PM: Criminal Minds - Season Premiere September 22
10 PM: CSI:NY

Thursday: - Premiere Date September 22
8 PM: Survivor: Guatemala - Season Premiere September 15
9 PM: CSI
10 PM: Without a Trace

Friday: - Premiere Date September 23
8 PM: Ghost Whisperer
9 PM: Threshold - Season Premiere September 16
10 PM: Numbers

Saturday: - Premiere Date September 24
8 PM: Crimetime Saturday (rotating CSI reruns)
9 PM: Crimetime Saturday (rotating CSI reruns)
10 PM: 48 Hours Mystery

Sunday: - Premiere Date September 25
8 PM: Cold Case
9 PM: Weekly Movie

Comment and opinion to follow.

Welcome

2005-08-30T12:52:00.000-04:00

So, here we are. I have often felt myself to be a bit of a repressed reviewer. For those reading that do not know me, I am a true child of the media age. In a year, I will listen to over 100 CD's, watch about that many movies, actively follow about 5 or 6 TV shows and watch a few more on DVD, and read about 20 books and numerous magazines and newspapers. I think I want to start sharing my reading/listening/watching experiences through the act of writing reviews. This will also serve as a form of release for me, a place where I can vent a bit about things that I think are right/wrong in the modern media, specifically how I think that we are losing our opportunity as viewers/readers/listeners to exercise our imagination or to be captured emotionally/intellectually by the product being created today.

Anyways, please come visit regularly. I hope to publish frequently and to offer ideas and insight to modern media that will be, first, interesting to read and, second, lead to intelligent discussion.