New Rants And Raves Coming!

I promise new rants and raves are currently on their way (I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about 'Trasformers' once I see it) regarding more summer movies and the crop of new fall TV shows.

However, today I am simply stating that I have started a music blog that relates to my love of collecting vinyl records. It will feature fun tunes from many classic artists.

You can check it out at:

http://collectingvinyl.blogspot.com

Let me know if you have any ideas on how to make it the coolest vinyl blog out there (there are a lot).

The Ups And Downs Of Summer Blockbusters

I know I say this all the time, but I really should post more often. I guess it it just a really easy habit to break. So what have I been up to? Well, with summer here I got to mow my first lawn in almost fifteen years (Oh-the joys of being a new home owner). In that same vein I spent almost two full weeks remodeling our downstairs bathroom which ended up being both more time consuming and expensive than I had originally planned.

On the work front, I did spend some time working on some commercial spots for the 2010 winter Olympics, which while physically grueling ending up being moderately enjoyable and financially worthwhile (in fact, these commercials paid for the bathroom remodel--see how it's all connected). Here are some fun pics from the shoot:


But that's not really why you called. It's summertime, which as we all know is an excellent DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince song (from the hit-album 'Homebase'), but it is also the time for the so-called Summer Blockbusters (By the way; whatever happened to the Fresh Prince? We don't hear from him much anymore).

So far the summer blockbusters have been fairly disappointing. The first one I was looking forward to was the "Wolverine" movie which ended up being a muddled waste of time. Ever since Bryan Singer's second "X-Men" movie I guess I've had pretty high standards for a mutants-with-super-powers film. The movie failed on almost every level. Bad characters, odd pacing, and mindless action sequences may seem like a good formula for a summer blockbuster, but not necessarily for a good summer movie.

What was so great last year about both "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight" was that on top of being comic book movies, they had plots and characters (and casts!) that was on par with any other good movie.



I really liked what I saw in the 'Wolverine' trailer, the spot led me to believe the film was a true origin story. I imagined Wolverine like Christopher Lambert in "The Highlander", wandering through time unable to get hurt or die, falling in love only to have that love taken away. It seemed like it would work.




Unfortunately, every part of the movie that I was looking forward to happened in an opening five minute montage. You're telling me in a montage that indestructible Wolverine fought in all major American wars, but you don't think maybe there is some story there to tell?

Yeah, lets just skip over that real origin stuff and get to car chases and a rehash of things we saw and learned in "X-Men 2". I don't know where people come up with this stuff.

"Terminator Salvation" was also a waste of time. Did anybody involved in this film happen to watch the first two "Terminator" films? In the other Terminators (well, parts One and Two anyway) the stakes always seemed high, and you always believed that at any moment these killer robots would actually kill somebody. Mainly because they did kill people--they were Terminators! But when you make a Terminator film PG-13 instead of R, all of a sudden the unstoppable killing machines can't seem to kill anything.

John Connor can fight off the T-800 model (you know, the one that looks like Arnold) using nothing but his bare hands. Really? Again I say, did you see the first movie? That Arnold Terminator would not be so forgiving in a hand-to-hand fight.


What we had in "Terminator Salvation" is a watered down and boring version of a post-apocalyptic future. Sure there's killer robots, but unlike the other views of this future we have seen in the other films, the sun now comes out and we have some pretty nice-looking days. Gone are the black skies and rain, and endless lines of bleached human skulls being trampled by killing machines. This post "Judgment Day" world seems void of the dread we glimpsed in the other films. Now give me a whole movie set in that world, and I'll want to watch it.

Maybe that's the time travel angle, that this is actually a different future that the one we saw in the other films. In fact, I think the original "Judgment Day" was supposed to happen in 1997, which I guess I would've noticed if it had happened.

Speaking of time travel, if you haven't heard it by now the only movie of the summer so far not to disappoint is "Star Trek". I was really excited for this one and it did not let me down. I've seen it twice already (once on IMAX) and plan to go again soon.

Now I am biased in that I have been a "Star Trek" fan almost all my life and have seen every movie and every incarnation of the TV shows (including Star Trek: The Animated Series). Although I really enjoyed The Next Generation gang, my favorite crew was always the original. And this movie had everything I loved about the original crew.

Kirk was young brash. Spock was logical, and therefore intriguing and endlessly interesting. Scotty was arrogantly funny. McCoy was sardonic. Uhura could speak klingon. And Sulu still fences. Who am I forgetting? Oh yeah, Chekov. Well Chekov is now a seventeen-year old genius, who's accent still makes you smile.

This was a great group. Every character fleshed out to resemble the old characters, yet younger and fresher with a voice of their own. I loved the new "Star Trek".

I really liked the decision to take the characters everybody knows and loves, and then tell a whole new story about them. I hope I'm not giving anything away, but this "Star Trek" takes place in an alternate time-line than what we have seen on the the original TV series and the other films.

Some of the best "Star Trek" episodes and films involve time travel and alternate realities, and this movie incorporated those elements in a fascinating way (remember evil Spock from the episode "Mirror Image", it's like that--only way cooler).

J.J. Abrams new "Star Trek" is so far the movie of the summer (and it doesn't look like it will be beat, judging by the trailers for the "Transformers" sequel and the ridiculous looking "G.I. Joe" film) and what is great about it is it is not just for "Star Trek" fans. It is for anyone who is a fan of good movies. It has great characters, a fun story, and THEN cool special effects and explosions. Which in my opinion is what the best summer films are all about.

Well, that post was longer than I anticipated. I guess I will have to post more often to stop from doing that. There are many other films this summer to see, some cool music that has come out lately, and there are always discussions to be had on the new Fall TV schedule. I hope to continue to share rants and raves until I don't have any left (which will probably be never).

The Continuing Late Night Wars

Late night talk shows are a notoriously tricky business. For every winner like Jay, Dave, or Conan, we have had countless others trying to have their own piece of the late night pie.

I actually remember watching many of the shows come and go over the years. There was 'The Chevy Chase Show' on FOX (yes it was as bad as people remember), 'Into The Night' with Rick Dees (a radio DJ on late at night--that would never work--oops, sorry Carson Daily), 'The Magic Hour' with Magic Johnson (now that is exactly the train-wreck you'd think it would be). I vaguely remember even Pat Sajek from "Wheel Of Fortune" with a show for a while; not to mention Alan Thicke from "Growing Pains" had a show called 'In The Thicke Of The Night'. Clever title.

There was also 'The Arsenio Hall Show', perhaps best remembered for introducing a young audience to Bill Clinton and adding the phrase "Things that make you go hmmmmm" into the county's vernacular. We thank you.

Recently Jimmy Fallon has launched his talk show, the third incarnation of 'Late Night'. I've watched it a few times and it seems okay. The problem with any new show is it takes a while for the host to get his "sea legs" so to speak. Anyone who remembers the first year of Conan knows it takes a while for a host, no matter how funny or talented he is, to figure out his style and to get comfortable doing his own show.

For example, I watched Craig Ferguson a little bit when he first came on and decided I didn't think he was funny, and I didn't quite get what his style of comedy was. So, instead of sticking with that show, If I was ever up that late I would watch Conan. Flash-forward two years when my wife re-introduces me to Craig Ferguson and his show, and I suddenly realized that Craig's show is one of the funniest and most unique of all the late night talk shows. His humor is both low-brow and high-brow and the same time, with some very esoteric pop culture references thrown in for good measure.

What's my point? Give Jimmy some time to find his voice. He's funny now, but he will definitely be funnier and more confident later.

Also, am I the only one who thinks putting Jay Leno's show on in prime-time is a terrible idea? I know that NBC's theory is that it is so cheap to produce (compared to other hour-long shows) that it doesn't even matter if only a few people watch. Really, NBC? You want to exchange quality for quantity. I don't think that will work very well in the long run. I read recently that the NBC affiliate in the Boston area has already refused to show the new Jay show in the new time slot because they feel it will negatively affect their ratings for local newscasts. That's one reason. The other reason is simply that it is a dumb idea created out of desperation by NBC not wanting Jay's show to jump over to ABC (which was the plan prior to this bizarre NBC offer).

In the end though, as you are falling asleep, just pick the guy who makes you laugh the most. Spend a couple minutes with him at the end of your day. It's always good to go to sleep with a smile on your face, regardless of which guy you like. Well, except Jay. If you like him, you've got problems my friend.

P.S. Here's a clip of a hilarious bygone era. Late Night as it was originally intended, without the likes of Conan or Jimmy Fallon. We should all remember The Man Under The Seats:

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Well here I am again.

I know it has been a while since my last post, but I unexpectedly took a job on a feature film that pretty much used up all of my free time for the last six weeks. But now I'm done, and once I get my random thoughts together on the state of popular culture, I can once again start sharing my rants and raves with the world.

First off, some highlights from the movie I was working on. It was a low-budget horror film that took place at a ski resort. That meant that for the last six weeks I have been knee deep in snow and braving below freezing temperatures.

Spending that amount of time on a mountain pretty much in the middle of nowhere can be quite difficult, especially considering half the show was shot at night. I think our record low was six degrees. Brrrrrrrrrr.

Here in a shot from the basic location of the film up on the mountain.

I guess the view is better than some other jobs. It could be worse, it could be the inside of a cubicle.

Sometimes I don't know why film crews drag their equipment to the ends of the earth, just for the sake of entertainment. Hauling gear up a mountain can get pretty grueling, but it can also be pretty crazy at times. But man was it cold.

Making things difficult was also the fact that the actors, and therefore our cameras, had to spend the majority of the film 30+ feet up in the air. This made every little camera adjustment a major ordeal, not to mention the problems relating to wind and weather. Boy what a headache of a show!


Of course sometimes the fun of working on a horror movie is the little funny little things you see. Out of context, images like this next one seem to make no sense, but it is just one of the many fun aspects of working on this type of movie.


It is not every job where you can come across blood and severed limbs and instead of being totally freaked out, you actually find it quite amusing.

So I'm now back in the real world and trying to thaw out from my adventure on the mountain. I hope everyone has been doing well and I hope to be able to post more often.

I Fight For The Users

In case you haven’t heard yet, we’re living in the age of the geek. The Bible says, “Blessed are the meek….for they shall inherit the earth.” But many scholars now feel that that translation in not correct. After looking at the original Hebrew and Aramaic texts, the passage actually says, “Blessed are the GEEK….for they shall inherit the earth.” With last year’s biggest film being a Batman movie, the geek revolution is fully upon us and it shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.

In the next few months alone we have the uber-comic book movie “The Watchmen” not to mention the new reboot of “Star Trek”. But the news that really gets my geek blood pumping is that Disney is currently in pre-production on a new “Tron” film.

I love “Tron”. It is one of those films that so perfectly captured my imagination as a kid. I think my first exposure to the world of Tron wasn’t even the film, it was a ride.

In the early 80’s my parents took me and my family to Disneyland. Now Disneyland in the 80’s was the most awesome place to be in the universe. What I remember most about that first trip (I guess I only could have been six or seven) was Tom Sawyer Island, The Adventure Thru Inner-Space (which I recall scared me to death), and of course The People Mover.

At that time (although I can find few people who can actually remember this) The People Mover still took you all around Tomorrowland, but it also took you into the world of Tron. At one point in the ride you went into a dark tunnel, where the neon imagery of the Tron landscape would unfold in front of you while the soundtrack played. It made quite an impression.

A couple of years later I finally got to see “Tron” on videocassette, and it didn’t disappoint. The movie had such an amazing visual style and a story that was very much ahead of its time. It was the first film that I remember creating the premise of the world that exists inside your computer. Since this film was made before personal computers were commonplace, many people found that concept confusing.

Flash forward a few years and the story element of the “computer world” has become so normal that we see it in our biggest blockbusters. I remember when I first saw “The Matrix” and I couldn't help but compare it to “Tron”, a movie almost twenty years old at that point.

So how excited was I when I first got wind of a new “Tron” movie? Well, I hoped they wouldn’t screw it up with updating the look of the computer world too much. And I worried about it being a cheesy remake instead of a follow-up story. But then I came across this:

This was a “test-footage” trailer shown at Comic-Con last summer. I know it’s fuzzy and the audio is bad, but it shows that the new film makers are on the right track. It still looks like “Tron”. Also, you can hear the geektastic screams when Jeff Bridges shows up, reprising his role as Flynn, the videogame designer.

Also, early rumors report that Bruce Boxleitner will be back as the titular “Tron” or as his doppelganger Alan. It is always good to see Boxleitner again (I remember being a big fan of his because of a fun late-80's spy show called ‘Scarecrow and Mrs. King’).

The last time I saw Boxleitner was this season on NBC’s ‘Chuck’. He was there playing Chuck’s sister’s boyfriend’s father. I thought it was so funny that he was there, seeing as how the character Chuck is a sci-fi geek, and even has a “Tron” movie poster on his bedroom wall.

Now logic escapes me in how Chuck, obviously being a huge “Tron” fan himself, would not recognize that the one and only Tron is in his house for Thanksgiving dinner. You would think he would recognize him and say something.

Anyway, hold on for the new “Tron” (some have been calling it “Tron 2.0” and the teaser calls it “TR2N”, whatever that means). I hear with the amount of computer animation work we may not see it until 2011. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start getting excited about it right now. I know I am.

A Response To The Weather

Beware The Living Dead (And Dinosaurs!)

Guess what? I'm back. I been given a great gift of a slightly used desktop computer so that once again I can post my ramblings to the vast nothingness that are those pesky internets.

What have I been up to in the mean time? Well I've been watching the return of TV just in time for Feburary sweeps, getting myself situated for the upcoming Academy Awards, and I even had a little time to work last week. It was a very exciting Infomercial for a new power-tool that I'm sure everyone will need.

One quick note, I think the most fabulous news story I've heard in quite a while has to be the case of the computer hackers who keep chnging the displays on road-construction warning signs.

I know if there are zombies around, I would like to be properly warned. They also put one up telling motorists "Caution Raptors Ahead." Aparently nobody knows how the hackers are changing these signs since the system controling them is a city-owned internal-private server.

I guess Matthew Broderick was right in 'Wargames' when he said that no system is completely safe.

As long as they continue to give me a heads up about zombies and dinosaurs, I am totally okay with hackers doing this. Both the living dead and giant lizards can really wreak havoc on a morning commute.

P.S. By the way, if you do hear of a Zombie outbreak in your area, I sure hope your office is equipped with one of these emergency boxes; because it will sure come in handy as you work your way home.

Precious Bodily Fluids

Not to beat a dead horse but apparently I wasn't the only one to make the oberservation that Dick Cheney in a wheelchair reminded me of certain pop-culture moments. In fact Conan O'Brien made the same Cheney/Potter reference on his show (many hours after my blog post-- of course!).

I was reminded of "It's a Wonderful Life" but people could certainly see other things. Tom Brokaw made the comparison to "Dr, Strangelove" which is also very fitting. Here is that coverage:



And here is the ending of "Dr. Strangelove" one of the funniest films ever made about nuclear holocaust:

A Warped, Frustrated, Old Man

I know, I know. I haven't blogged in quite some time. I got busy with the holidays and I still don't have a computer to give me frequent access to the internet.

Anyway, just had a quick thought about todays big Obama inauguration. I watched it all unfold over several hours this morning and saw an excellent pop-culture observation.

Vice President Dick Cheney (actually--the former Vice President) was at the ceremonies today in a wheelchair. The news reported he had hurt his back while moving things out of his office. One would assume he was probably smuggling gold bars out of his office which would put quite a strain on one's back.

All day on the news they showed him being pushed around in this wheelchair, and at one point while he was outside he was even wearing a black hat.

I couldn't help but think he looked a great deal like Mr. Potter in Frank Capra's film "It's a Wonderful Life." Other than the wheelchair, I think I might be hard pressed to find any other similarities between the Mr. Potter character and the former Vice-President. What do you guys think?

That's all for now. Don't forget to watch the premiere of ABC's 'Lost'; still the best show on television.

Blood-Sucking Bond & Other Such Mussings

Okay, I know it's tough to follow a blog when that particular blog is seldom updated. I still haven't been able to replace my computer, and without daily internet access it is tough to check my e-mail, let alone blog. I'll try to do it as often as I can but until I can get a new computer, it might prove difficult.

Well what's been going on in the world of popular culture? Plenty by my watch. last week I went out to see the new James Bond movie "Quantum of Solace".

I had high hopes for it because I enjoyed "Casino Royale" so much, also I was one of the few that found the title interesting and intriguing. I mean you have the word "Quantum" which makes me think of the excellent late 80's TV show 'Quantum Leap' starring Scott Bakula as a time-traveling-body-shifting do-gooder (I have mentioned in past posts my affinity for anything involving entertainment and time-travel).

And then you also have "Solace" which to me makes me think of both the Russian sci-fi Tarkovsky film "Solaris" (they made us watch it in film school) and Superman's 'Fortress of Solitude' up at the north pole (I wonder how Superman and Santa Claus get along?).


So how was "Quantum of Solace"? I'd give it three stars. The action set pieces were really fun, but it lacked a polished story and the character development that made the last James Bond film so much fun. Big action set pieces with little story come out all the time, but James Bond is supposed to be different, the gold standard for all other action movies. I did, however, like the little wink to Bond fans with the Bond girl called "Fields" (in the credits she is listed as "Strawberry Fields"). Fields, a female agent, is killed and left on a hotel room bed covered completely in oil. The scene was an obvious homage to the famous Sean Connery Bond film "Goldfinger". I always appreciate when the new films reference the ones that came before it.

All in all, this new one is just okay. Of course James Bond has often faultered, with many of the later Bronson and Moore Bond movies being especially bland ("View to a Kill" and "Die Another Day" always seemed especially sad--with an exception being the "View to a Kill" theme song by Duran Duran--it's an 80's classic).










It has been requested that I blog about the Twilight phenomenom. To be honest I don't have a lot to say other than no matter what the teenyboppers of today think, there will never be a better teenage vampire movie than "The Lost Boys". I mean, this British heartrobe that plays Edward could really never hold a candle to the gravely gothic performance of a young Kiefer Sutherland as the ultimate bad-boy teenage vampire. Something tells me that if Kiefer's vampire met pretty-boy Edward there would be only one left standing. Heck, if Edward even came up against the teenage Frog Brothers (wannabe vampire hunters) he wouldn't stand a chance (Note: Contrary to poular belief, only one of the "Coreys" was a Frog Brother--it was Feldman)

I think I was one watching a late-night monster movie-fest on cable where they were showing "The Lost Boys". The host explained that the main theme of the film was essentially "How far would you go to sleep with Jamie Gertz?" Would you drink blood and become a vampire? I think the answer for most of us back then was a resonding 'yes'. And there's the real heart of the movie, and that heart is way cooler than anything the "Twilight" gang can come up with. I mean, even "The Lost Boys" tag line "Sleep all day, party all night...it's fun to be a vampire" is much better than "When you can live forever, what do you live for?" from the "Twilight" promotional materials. I hope to blog again soon. I've been itching to get to another "What's Raf listening to this week" post. I'll be here all week. Don't forget to tip your waiters.

P.S. Fun Fact: Regarding my love of time travel entertainment, and to show you how eveything in the pop-cutlure universe is connected--Did you know that Alex Winter who played Bill in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" is also one of the teenage vampires in "The Lost Boys". It's true! He's the first one to get killed by the Frog brothers! Now if only I can remember whatever happened to Ted.