Although unsupervised movie watching is ALWAYS a darn good idea in my book, TCM’s Underground kind of NEEDS a friendly yet slightly sinister guide to the treasures it holds within. Granted, the channel tried using a host in the past (Rob Zombie), but his tenure didn’t last all that long. I’d LOVE to do this job, as I know a bit about some of the films they run and don’t mind researching the ones I don’t know about. Then again, I’m not exactly the most exciting person on camera as I think I have an aversion to being filmed and I’m not at well-tempered enough to sit in a makeup chair (unless someone’s going to make me look like some monster from a 50’s “B” movie!).
Hmmm, perhaps a compromise is in order. I’ll pretend to host the films while watching at home (yeah, I’ll be talking out loud to my television. Quiet, you in the back!) and TCM can pretend to pay me for my efforts. Yeah, that should work out just FINE. La la la laaa. La la laaaa. I’m a STAR! (Cue the men in white coats in 3… 2… 1..)
I caught this news on a friend’s facebook post late last night and did a little hoot and short fist pump. While the official air dates have yet to be set by HBO, the company is finally rebroadcasting the entire groundbreaking series in high definition. What remains to be seen (pun intended, by the way) is HOW the episodes will look on that now standard format if they weren’t originally shot in that format. 4:3 was the standard back when the show originally aired back in 2001, although 16:9 HD televisions were creeping into the marketplace and very common by the time the show’s final episode aired seven years later. That said, poking around on a few message boards shows that either the show was shot in the wide format and cropped for the common man, the show was ONLY shot in 4:3 and we’re going to see less of what we should (boo) or we’re all just nuts and have fallen for a grand hoax. Damn you, internet! Anyway, if this does happen, GOOD. I can go and recommend this excellent series to a few friends who missed out on it and haven’t committed to buying that big DVD box set. If it doesn’t happen, hell, I’ll just hope HBO reruns the entire series on their On Demand channel like they did when I caught the series over the course of a few months thanks to them being smart enough to run a season a month.
And here we go (again)… Yep, we’re all settled in with this show now, and it’s pretty much the two camp thing going on here. People either like the show because it’s expanded past the comics and changed things up a bit to a lot or they hate the show because it strays too far from the comics, the people have become scarier than the walkers (which makes sense at this stage in the game) and they just want an action movie every week with explosions and last-minute escapes or whatever. Being in the former camp is the smarter move here, as you can go in and just enjoy what the writers have cooked up and not worry about some seething fanboy or girl raaaaaaging on a keyboard somewhere from the comfort of a zombie-free zone. Funny how some of these folks dislike the show yet keep watching it anyway, huh? Yeah, it just sucks to be them, but hey – it’s their time to waste and it does help the ratings stay in a good spot, I guess…
I’ve been avoiding coverage of all those overseas Doctor Who premiere shenanigans because I want to NOT have anything spoiled before that new season kicks off in ten days. I had to post this trailer just to let some of you know I haven’t forgotten the show at all, I’m just holding my breath and holding out until the 23rd when I can watch this at home like the rest of you who aren’t getting the chance to see this on a big screen with other lucky folks. Of course, I’ve been cheating a little, as the longest I can actually hold my breath isn’t long enough to still be breathing when the show kicks off the Capaldi era. I do know my limitations, folks…
A few years back, I once had to “explain” who Lauren Bacall was to a friend thanks to (of all things) a rather hilarious episode of The Sopranos where she was unceremoniously mugged by one of the main characters after an awards show:
When I said “explain” above, I didn’t do much in the way of talking at all other than to point him in the direction of Howard Hawks’ brilliant To Have and Have Not so he could see one tiny reason why she was so important. I’d say she got a lot more respect after that. And a whistle, most likely. This is turning into a kind of rotten week for falling stars, isn’t it? Still, while I’m not a believer in the afterlife, I’d bet that right about now, Bogie is sitting on a bar stool about to have a round when the doors swing open, a certain someone walks in with a cool breeze blowing behind her and without turning around, he lifts up his left hand which has two unlit cigarettes in it and says “What kept you, doll? I was getting bored here”, to which he’ll hear a smoky, purred “You were getting lonely here, you mean…”, as the lady takes both smokes and lights them then passes one back to him as he’s turning around.
If you’ve never been exposed to the entertaining wonder that is Classic Arts Showcase, it’s time to upgrade your television viewing experience. I could bore you with a retelling of the history of this fully funded highbrow clip show that runs seemingly endlessly in eight hour blocks on cable networks across the country (and is now online for even more people to check out), but that’s what the link to the official site is for. Actually, CAS is rarely “boring” unless you COMPLETELY hate the arts and don’t want to see some of the most unique and completely RANDOM performances from stage, screen and even TV, many of which are unavailable elsewhere.
In case you’re THAT lazy, here’s what the CAS site says about their programming:
Expect the Unexpected
There is no program guide for CAS, because the beauty of CAS is that you’ll never know what to expect. One moment you might be watching a rare film of George Gershwin performing one of his own compositions on the piano, and less than five minutes later you might see Beverly Sills in a great moment from a classic opera. Each weekly eight-hour show is downlinked by hundreds of channels across the country at different times, with different schedules. The element of surprise — not knowing exactly what’s coming up next — is part of what CAS is all about. The goal is to generate excitement and build a new audience for the wide range of performances presented through the arts.
And I can VERY safely say that the randomness indeed makes CAS so much fun to watch. Yesterday I happened to flip by the channel here with about 45 minutes of free time floating about and caught a long clip from a Hitchcock film, a bit of Swan Lake, an aria or two, a clip from the film Aria, a fun bit of an old TV show that had a waltz turning into a sort of sock hop and back again, and part of a Nat King Cole TV performance before I had to head out the door. How cool is that? Sometimes you’ll see old animation, sometimes a musical performance or super-arty film segment, an brief interview with a long dead genius and more. This fragmented presentation recalls MTV in its early days when it played stuff seemingly at will, although if you watch CAS long enough, you’ll see there’s a method to the non-madness.
Anyway, if you’re bored this summer thanks to the TV dry spell, give Classic Arts Showcase a look-see and if you find yourself strangely addicted to it, well… my work here is done.
First, the TOO obvious joke after watching that clip: “I wonder if those computers come in a laptop size!” (canned laughter) Yeah, well… I woke up too early this morning, people – that’s the best you’ll get from me today.
Okay, I actually had to check my cable guide to see if we get WGN America here (nope!), but I’m still in luck as MANHATTAN will be rebroadcast here on WPIX after it premieres. Anyway, it’s not a show about NYC at all, folks. It’s about the Manhattan Project and the creation of America’s first atomic bombs from 1942 to 1946. I happened to see a review of the first episode in the newspaper this morning that recommended the show,so I guess I’ll be checking it out this Sunday.
If, for whatever reason you still haven’t seen AMC’s The Walking Dead and are now interested in playing a bit of catch up binge-watching or you’re a fan wanting to stay in one place and practice for some “actual” zombie apocalypse by hunkering down with some rations and camping out indoors while all hell breaks loose outside, here you go. AMC will indeed be running EVERY episode of the show starting Friday at 9AM/8c. Right after the final episode of Season 4 ends on Sunday night at 9pm, there’s some NEW contest afterwards – a Talking Dead Season 5 Preview Special, hosted by Chris Hardwick with guests The Walking Dead Showrunner and Executive Producer Scott M. Gimple and actress Aisha Tyler. I’ll probably catch that special just because all of the shows I normally watch are on hiatus and I’ll be bored to tears (unless I have a game or movie to occupy me of course).
I generally avoid these pre-season antics because as I’ve noted countless times, I prefer to go in cold to a new season of a favorite show, not get a head full of information swirling around for months or a year or however long it takes to complete a season of shooting. Of course,I could simply forget what I’ve seen by the time Season 5 rolls around, as there’s so many other things going on…
Okay, I waited the required amount of days of mourning for those who bought the farm on the final episode of Season 4, so here’s a wrap up of sorts. Well, not having read the books other than bits and pieces of two of them, I’ll say I was nicely surprised at how things ended this season. I knew Tyrian wasn’t going anywhere (yet), so his rescue and revenge bits were lovely to see. Now you know why bathroom doors have LOCKS these days, people.
As for the battle of the century THIS episode (or Brienne of Tarr versus The Hound), it was certainly fierce and bloody, but I figured it wouldn’t be a head-popping as that last big one on one fight on the show. I guess that’s the end of one of these characters, but as we don’t see an actual death, I wouldn’t be surprised if that old dog pops up in a future season. Of course, that bit has been done already, so perhaps he’s gone for good. Oh well. There are plenty of other mean men (and ladies) left on the show to get ticked off at…
So, today is Father’s Day and yes, every daddy-o on Game of Thrones has got problems of a sort to deal with or has been a problem to someone else that’s been resolved (or will be at some point). Tonight’s the season finale, so it’ll be edge of the seat time while it’s rolling out fates for assorted dads and non-dads alike. My own father is no longer with us these days, so save for this sole post I’m taking the bulk of today off just to get a little breather before I reboot Monday and resume a bunch of stuff I need to follow up on. If you own dad/granddad or any pop you know is still around (and you get along these days), do something nice for him today – that’s an order, by the way.
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 