Finding Something Good While Flipping Through Channels

If I'd seen the listing in a TV Guide, I probably wouldn't have even bothered watching it. Instead, I was flipping through channels this morning, came upon it, and couldn't stop watching. It was "Shot In The Dark", a documentary by Adrian Grenier of "Entourage". I'm now sorry I missed the very first part, because it was an incredibly well-done film.
Grenier has done a documentary about going to see his father for the first time in 18 years. While Grenier claims he doesn't harbor any anger or resentments about his father not being there, you can tell in some of the questions he asks him that there is something bubbling underneath the surface. "Shot In The Dark" shows so many sides of relationships- not just Grenier's own relationship with his father, but the dynamics of his mother and father; his father and his stepmother; his grandparents; and the whole history of how and why things happened to bring Grenier to where he is today.
I could certainly relate to the angst of Grenier's father- you can tell he loves his son while at the same time he is uncomfortable and doesn't know what to say to him. I've often felt the same way about my children, and I at least got to see my kids once or twice a year in their formative years. I didn't have an 18 year gap like this one. I can only imagine what Grenier's father must have felt.
At the same time, just as my children are certainly justified in some of the feelings they have about my absence in their lives, Grenier would certainly be justified for any of his negative feelings towards his dad. His father could have called more and he didn't. He could have written and he didn't. Even when they meet, it is at Grenier's grandparents home. Grenier's father won't take him to his own home just an hour away where he lives with his wife.
Again, Grenier claims in the film he doesn't harbor any ill will towards his father, but that wasn't the impression I got from watching. Even after seeing his father, another nine months goes by without any word from him, until Grenier finally decides to call him. At that time, he finally gets to sit down with his stepmother and understand the dynamic that was going on between her and his father and how that affected Grenier's having a relationship with his father.
The ending was kind of weird, with two ficticious, set-up "reunion" scenes, one where Grenier's father totally rejects him and another where they see each other again in an open field, hug and tell each other they'll always be together. While I understand it was presented as "The two ways I fantasized this might end when I first started this" scenarios, it had a negative effect on me, making me question if any of the "reality" that preceded the ending was set up as well.
This is a documentary worth watching. It will tug on your heart strings. I'm not sure how many more showings it will have on HBO, but if you also have digital cable, you can still find it anytime on HBO on Demand. If not, rent "Shot In The Dark" when it comes to your video store.

Why I Sometimes Hate Being In The Media

I understand demographics. I understand that certain segments of society want to know things about people that other segments could care less about. I understand celebrity obsession, especially in the younger demos. Today's celebrity news finally gave me something from which I could not refrain from expressing my disgust with the very industry that provides me my living.
If you're waiting for the Paris Hilton rant at this time, you're absolutely wrong. While her life and lifestyle has become so caricatured it's become laughable, the one that finally got me today was the "exciting" news that the Spice Girls have agreed to reunite and go on a world tour.
This is why I sometimes hate being part of the media (and for anybody in the UK reading this, understand that I'm speaking from an American perspective. There may be a different way of looking at this story there.). This is a group that had only a handful of hits, of which the first is the only real one worth remembering. They only released three albums in all, the last one barely registering on the charts here. They broke up seven years ago. Yet there has been news of the Spice Girls or individual members of the Spice Girls for seven long interminable years when they have not done anything worth mentioning.
Oooo, one of them married a famous soccer star. Wow, one of them is having Eddie Murphy's baby. Hey, none of them has done anything for seven freaking years!!! And the media is responsible for constantly keeping them in the public eye for doing nothing!
It is because of the proliferation of non-stories like the Spice Girls, individually and collectively, that allow the Parises and Nicoles of the world to infiltrate our brainwaves. I understand the free market rules and the stories wouldn't be there if people didn't buy the papers and magazines and watch them on the tube. Yet, I can't help but think that this Spice Girls Reunion Tour isn't going to sell as many tickets as the promoters are expecting, at least not here in the US. I'll be interested in seeing if the dollars of the reality come close to matching the dollars of the hype.

The Weekly "Lot" Round-Up

It's good to see that my negative criticisms of "On The Lot" are starting to dwindle a little bit. There were only two negatives tonight and, unfortunately, there's nothing the producers are going to do to change them: 1) the atrocious outfits of the hostess and 2) the sexist remarks that are starting to make Garry Marshall look like a dirty old man.

Beyond that, this was probably the best episode of "On The Lot" so far. The show got off to the best start ever when they showed last week's loser of the audience vote was told right away instead of having to suffer through waiting a week and then getting the news in front of a live audience. The producers finally understand that these people are grown-ups and deserve some dignity.

Then there were the six films of the week. While none of them totally blew me away, it was the most consistent set of films to date. Even Hillary, who's lucky to still be in the running after her first two movies, had a reasonably entertaining comedy in "Under The Gun", about a mother-daughter team robbing a sperm bank. It wasn't great, but it was the best thing she's done to date.

My favorite to win it all, Zach, came up with another crowd pleaser in "Die Hardly Working", showing the end of a boring day at work. There were no special effects from the master, but lots of sound effects that made it a winner.

Another of my favorites is Will, who this time out gave us "Nerve Endings", a comedy about brain surgery that was absurd and hilarious. David's "How To Have A Girl" was mildly amusing with two lovers trying to be in the dominant position in order to get the gender they want in a child- they just don't agree on the gender. Adam's "Discovering The Wheel", concerning a car that magically appears to a group of cavemen had some funny moments, the best of which was having even cavewomen attracted to the caveman who tames the hot car. The ending left a lot to be desired.

My overall favorite was the first film of the night, "Doctor-In-Law". This one took the well-trod path of an in-law not approving of a spouse and gave it two extra dimensions. First, Shalini made it a father-in-law, son-in-law battle instead bickering women. Then she gave it the extra twist of letting the son-in-law get his revenge. I was not big on Shalini's last film about a gay Indian comic because of it's limited appeal. This time out, with Korean actors, she told a funny tale that any nationality could relate to. "On The Lot" is slowly but surely getting better as a show. Give it a watch next week!

Sunshine On A Cloudy Night

Time for the weekly "On The Lot" update. I'm happy to report the producers finally listened. The elimination from last week happened early in the show and without too long of a drumroll as arrogant Marty, who did the 3-minute trailer that wasn't really a movie, got the boot.
I had high hopes for this week, knowing that two of the strongest filmmakers from the first round, Zach and Will, were up tonight. I'm pleased to say that made tonight's show so much better than last week's. Will Bigham's movie, "Glass Eye," was amusing but not nearly as strong as his first film. There were also different genres tonight. We had a supposed horror film, "The Orchard", which didn't work at all. The dramatic "Lost" was a bittersweet tale of the end of a relationship. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either. "Born Blood" was interesting- I liked the way it was shot, but I expected more out of the ending. Finally there's "Sunshine Girl" and I'll say it here and now: with close to two months left in the competition, I will be very surprised if Zach Lipovsky doesn't win this thing. He's already shown he can do special effects and comedy. Tonight he showed he can tell a story that warms hearts, too. He seems to be taking pages straight from the Spielberg school of movie career advancement. Considering who the executive producer of the show is, that's a pretty good idea!

Killer Movie

Let me say two things right at the top:
1) Kevin Costner isn't my favorite actor.
2) A movie with a serial killer as the "hero" shouldn't work.
So it almost amazes me to say, I loved Costner, the movie works and "Mr. Brooks" is the best movie I've seen in 2007.
This movie is as dark as it gets, but the combination of excellent performances and great writing make this a must see in the summer of 3-quels.
Kevin Costner does not play a bad guy very often, but as Earl Brooks, he turns in what I consider to be his best acting performance ever. He was a menacing serial killer while at the same time a tender and loving husband and father. William Hurt, as the "voice" inside Mr. Brooks' head, also turns in his strongest performance in years. And the plot ties together with the sub-plots (some of which were a little far-fetched) so beautifully, you might not cheer for Mr. Brooks, but you certainly won't help but admire his ingenuity and his intellect. As for the ending, all I will say is that it hits home to any parent who sees his or her own negative traits manifest themselves in their children. I often gauge how good I think a movie is by how many times I look at my watch to estimate how much time is left in the film. I'm happy to say "Mr. Brooks" is the first movie I've been to this year in which I haven't checked my watch once. Don't miss it!

Style Over Substance

Style won out over substance on this week's "On The Lot." In more ways than one. I have refrained from complaining about the show's hostess, but now it must be said. By the dress she was wearing tonight, even she wants us to see she's more style than substance. Why they have this woman hosting the show when she's nothing more than eye candy I'll never know. Making matters worse, this week's films as a whole were a lot weaker than last week's. If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be "Beeline", about a single mother blackmailed by her son into getting him a Playstation 3. The first film, "Polished", about the revenge of an office janitor, was funny but paced way too slow. The other three films were truly style over substance. There was a lot of originality in the cinematography and the editing but very little cohesive storyline. "Love At First Shot" had a subplot that was infinitely more interesting than the main plot. "Dance With The Devil" was the second time Marty Martin really just delivered a trailer for a supposed longer movie. In other words, he shot an ad instead of a film and we only get a rough idea what the "movie" would have been about. The final film, "Edge On The End", was all style- an MTV music video type of style wrapped around a concept of life but not a story. I know these are filmmakers and not writers, but the prize they're going for requires filmmakers who know how to tell a story. Sadly, for all their cinematographic talents, most of tonight's entrants do not. As for the vote from last week's episode, there were two travesties. The first was that Hillary did not get voted off. The second was making the lowest two sit through the whole show before telling them their fate. I'm going to keep watching the show, but like tonight's films, I now realize that as much as I like the concept of the show, what the producers are giving me is more style than substance.

An Icon You Never Thought Of (But You Should)

Let's talk music. I worked in radio for 20 years and can tell you the music business is hard. The average shelf life of a good artist is five albums- generally 7 or 8 years. You can count the number of bands and/or musicians from a generation who last more than ten years (not including the hangers-on who move to the oldies tours) at probably less than 20, the number who last more than 20 years can be counted on perhaps two hands. For my generation, the short list includes Elton John, Billy Joel, Clapton, Rod Stewart, Santana, Springsteen and little else (the Rolling Stones was the generation before me). For the next generation, we're talking the likes of Madonna, Bon Jovi, U2 and Michael Jackson (for better or worse).

That's pretty rarefied air. So it was with great surprise that, while I was listening to tunes on my iPod the other day, I realized there is another musical artist getting ready to enter his 25th year of putting out albums. And yet, even the most die-hard pop music fan might not come up with his name if they were asked. In fact, he's coming up on 25 years of making albums without hit singles on them. Some radio play yes, but hit singles, no. 25 years tells you a couple of things- first, he must be a good musician and second, he must be a pretty decent song-writer. This guy is both of those things but rarely gets credit for it. In fact, you should really listen to his stuff carefully and discover just how talented musically he really is. So, just shy of a quarter century in the music business, I would like to seriously honor him and submit that he is an icon in his own right, fit to share that status with the U2's, Stones and McCartney's of the world- I give you..... Weird Al Yankovic!

Heroes Well-Written 'Til The End

I've been taking the last week catching up with "Heroes", NBC's show about normal people whose genetic mutations give them abilities, ie super powers. I had caught the show off and on this season and liked it, but this was my chance to really watch the storyline. "Heroes" is an exceptionally well-written show. I watched this show carefully to see where it's obvious the writers made something up that doesn't jibe with what happened before ("24" is a prime offender) and suprisingly, "Heroes" 1st season was well thought out, especially with so many intersecting characters. In fact, after watching the first 22 episodes, what faults I did find were of the nitpicking variety, so I won't even bring them up. The one thing that really bothered me, though, was the ending of the season finale, episode 23. Everything was great up to the end of the climax, after Sylar was defeated and Nathan flew Peter to the upper reaches of the atmosphere to explode and save New York City from ruin. Then, with allies Parkman and D.L. lying in the street with bullets in them and her Dad suffering at least a broken arm, Claire- who earlier in the season brought Peter back from the dead and saved Ted Sprague from blowing up- inexplicably doesn't do anything to heal any of these people!!! It especially irked me to see her walk off in the "sunset" with her father limping and with his arm in a sling. What kind of daughter are you anyway, Claire???

Ah, but all things considered, I look forward to Season 2 and finding out 1) what happened to the Haitian; 2) what power does Nathan and Peter's mother have; and 3) who is the person worse than Sylar who can see Molly when she tries to find him? And I hope that the current characters don't instantly band together like some "Fantastic Four" organization, What made the series so good in season 1 wasn't the characters' super powers per se, but their process of discovery of their powers. If "Heroes" can keep that, it will continue to be a winner.

"Knocked Up": OK, But Not A Knock-Out

The good news here is that "Knocked Up" can be described as a man's romantic comedy and not a chick flick! All of the same territory is covered as the typical chick flick but since it's from a male perspective, the look and feel are entirely different. So as a male, this is reason to celebrate!
There is a lot to like in "Knocked Up"- some of the scenes are incredibly funny and true to life. My personal favorite scene was when the suspected-of-cheating husband is caught...taking part in a Fantasy Baseball draft. The resulting argument of the spouses, followed by the car argument between Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl are as true to life as relationship arguments get.
Character-wise (I hope I'm crediting the right actress) Kristen Wiig is hilarious as one of Heigl's bosses at E! Entertainment Television. Underplaying in monotone, she consistently earned my laughter as someone who wants to be everyone's friend while disagreeing with everything that anyone else says. I almost spilled my soda when she said, "This is Hollywood. We hate liars."
Still, for all that's good in "Knocked Up", I could never quite buy a lot of the premise. After getting pregnant from a drunken one-night stand, it's never clear to me A) why Alison chose to involve Ben in the first place, knowing he was happily unemployed, socially inept and generally a poor role model, and B) why she eventually fell for the guy, who was obviously beneath her physically, fiscally, educationally and socially.
There was a bit of gratuitous nudity that didn't need to be there, although I thought the shot of the baby's head crowning in the delivery room was the worst offender of gratuitousness.
Despite those flaws, though, there is enough good to this movie to reccommend it. If you're tired of the usual formula romantic comedies, go see "Knocked Up" for a refreshing change of pace.

Dough: The Musical Rocks!

OK, this is going to be my summer obsession. The ratings suck to the point that they're cutting back to one episode per week. And the show itself is still being overdramatic in a bad reality show kind of way. But the films shown on "On The Lot" are worth the aggravation. This week, five films were shown and one of the five will be voted off. Film #1, "Broken Pipe Dreams" was clever and gets kudos for using a Boston Terrier. Film #2, "Teri (Blind Date)" OK, but seemed a bit derivative. Film #3, "The First Time I Met The Finklesteins" was like a bad "Meet The Fockers" and was terrible. Film #5, "Laughing Out Loud: A Comic Journey" had beautiful photography but I found the subject hard to understand because of his accent and I wasn't expecting a documentary. But to me, the most original of the night was Film #4, "Dough: The Musical." With a "Little Shop of Horrors" type song and stylistic feel and clever lyrics, it was a total winner for me! Make sure you check it out!
http://www.thelot.com/episodes/?ep=6&vd=68