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We've mentioned in this space that 2007 has been a surprisingly strong year for movies, and from the looks of things, we haven't seen anything yet. The fall's lineup includes some highly anticipated titles, including American Gangster, There Will Be Blood, The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War and Atonement, the last of which I've already seen and for which I predict great things.
Two of the big names arrive in metro theaters today: Paul Haggis' In The Valley of Elah, which examines the impact of the Iraq war on returning soldiers and their families, and David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, which blew away audiences at the recent Toronto International Film Festival. It was impossible ticket to get there - believe me, I tried.
Eastern Promises is a violent look into the Russian criminal underground in London. It reunites Cronenberg with Viggo Mortensen from A History of Violence. Right now, it's getting 86% positive reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.com and critics are almost universally praising a bathhouse fight scene that, for many reasons, will never air on network television.
If you're looking for something a little slower and less bloody, check out In The Valley of Elah, which has a lower 70% tomatometer rating, but you can't blame its pedigree. With three Oscar winners in its principal cast and Paul Haggis at the helm (his credits include directing Crash, writing Million Dollar Baby and co-writing Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima), this post-war story should resonate with a lot of people. Most of the critics have faulted its manipulation, but have lauded Tommy Lee Jones' lead performance.
In the weeks to come, we can expect to see Into The Wild, The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford, Across the Universe, Lust, Caution and In the Shadow of the Moon. It's a good time to be a fan of good movies. And if none of those appeal to you, you might opt for Good Luck Chuck, The Gameplan or the latest Resident Evil sequel instead.
You just won't see me there.
Jeff Field
NBC Action News Executive Producer
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If you're tired of getting the same by-the-numbers action adventure or unfunny comedy when you go to the video store, here's the perfect list for you. A film buff has assembled an impressive survey of the best foreign-language films of all time, excluding those less than five years old.
Yes, they mean reading subtitles, but the titles on this list reward you for your efforts with a rich viewing experience. And they range from crowd-pleasers like the romantic fantasy Amelie and the sentimental Cinema Paradiso to groundbreaking genre titles like Z, Open City and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, to the deep-thinking stories of Bergman, Truffaut and Kieslowski.
You might have to search for some of these films: most Blockbuster "foreign" sections contain a few recent hits and a lot of soft-core skin flicks. One good place to look is the library. I can't speak for all of the metro library systems, but I know you can find some very obscure films in the collections of Johnson County. And you can't beat the rental price.
After trying some of them, you may come to find they're not all that foreign. If you like The Hunt for Red October, you'll love Das Boot. If you like Goodfellas, you should really see City of God. If you like The Magnificent Seven, check out its inspiration, The Seven Samurai. My children love the films of Spirited Away director Hayao Miyazaki, who's considered the Walt Disney of Japan. Recent titles that were ineligible for the list, but still worth seeing, include Pan's Labyrinth, The Lives of Others, and the forthcoming The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, which will be a strong contender for this year's Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
I haven't seen all the movies on this list, but I've seen about two-thirds of them. I plan to complete the full 100 someday. If you don't think there's anything good at the video store, maybe you're not looking in the right places. I recommend printing out this list, and using it as your cinematic road map.
Jeff Field
NBC Action News Executive Producer
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Regular readers of this blog know that we've been trying to get as many people as possible to watch NBC's Friday Night Lights, arguably the best show on broadcast television right now. It's certainly one of the best shows that not enough people are watching.
The show was given a second season, but was shamefully ignored by the Emmy awards. In two weeks, it begins a new challenge: winning viewers over on Friday nights, where logic suggests it should air, but reality understands that most people have better things to do of Fridays than watch television. That would include visiting the real world of high school football so expertly portrayed on the show. Of course, regular fans of the show know that football is secondary to the strong characters and off-the-field stories.
The show is out on DVD now, with a money-back guarantee. Later this season, NBC will let you download missed episodes for a week for free. There's no real reason not to try it. If you're not drawn in by four episodes, you can move on. Bill Simmons at ESPN.com makes a similar case in this well-written essay. Maybe he can win over some of the people I can't seem to reach.
Please watch. That's all I can ask. Reward folks for putting together a great show in today's homogeneous television environment.
Meantime, if you're already a fan, here's a reward. Thank me later.
Jeff Field
NBC Action News Executive Producer
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If you were among those baseball fans who didn't want to see Barry Bonds break Hank Aaron's career home run record, you may not be able to change history, but you can send a message.
Pop culture entrepreneur Marc Ecko recently bought the ball that Bonds slammed into the right field bleachers in early August. Rather than simply keep it locked away in a personal collection, he's letting America's baseball fans decide what to do with it. He's asking them to vote on the internet for one of three options: a) donate it to the Hall of Fame unblemished, b) brand it with an asterisk and then donate it to the Hall of Fame, or c) shoot it into outer space forever. Going, going, gone.
Ecko says that's the reason he bought the ball for three quarters of a million dollars: to give fans a say in how Bonds' record will be remembered. Of course, he's probably not too upset about all the publicity it's generating for him, either.
Bonds, as you might imagine, isn't crazy about the idea. "He bought that ball for $750,000 and that's what he's doing with it?" he asks. "What's he's doing is stupid." Stupid or not, it's Ecko's money and it's our vote. You can cast a ballot here between now and September 25th. We'll let you know how it turns out.
How would you vote? Step up to the plate and give us your thoughts in the comments section.
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We don't hear a lot of news stories coming out of Maine, but there's one making headlines this week that's getting a lot of attention. It's about a woman who checked a controversial, but acclaimed, book out of two libraries with no intention of ever returning them.
The book in question is "It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health". It was written to help pre-teenagers understand puberty and the sexual issues they'll face as young adults. JoAn Karkos took issue with the book, saying its content, especially its cartoonish illustrations, "promotes promiscuous sex" and is "intended to distort, undermine and destroy traditional family values." She recently wrote a letter to editor saying "Sexual predators have got to love this book." Karkos is not alone in her complaints: the American Library Association says it was the most-challenged book of 2005, and has been singled out by Concerned Women of America and the American Life League. However, the book has also
But what Karkos did could involve the police. After checking out copies from two libraries, she wrote a letter saying she would not return them, but enclosed checks for the purchase price. That's not good enough for the library, which hopes to avoid setting a precedent. It's threatening to bring the police into the matter unless the books are returned, calling the matter "clearly theft." The library says if Karkos deems the book inappropriate for its shelves, there's a system in place for her to challenge them. The library also says the controversy has generated a huge demand for the book, and wants the copies back so it can lend them to other patrons.
What do you think about this? Should Karkos be allowed to permanently remove copies of objectionable books from the library as long as she pays for their replacement? Does this set a dangerous precedent for others to remove titles they object to? If you were the library, how would you handle it?
Give us your thoughts in the comments section.
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Scientists, with apparently little else to do with their time, have just completed a new study on the restroom habits of men and women. Specifically, they want to know who is more likely to wash their hands after using the facilities.
They conducted phone surveys to see what people said they did, and then asked observers to spend time in restrooms to see what they really did. They're lucky they didn't have any Larry Craig moments, if you ask me.
Surprise, surprise - they found that some of the 93% of those who claim to always wash their hands were lying. Women were likely to soap up about 88 percent of the time. The fellas did so only 66 percent of the time. Frankly, I think that number for the guys may be a little high, especially at public places like movie theaters and Arrowhead Stadium. Most people at the stadium will rush into the facilities, do their business and rush back out, hoping not to miss a minute of the action. Just something to think about when you high-five the guy in the seat next to you.
Of the four cities they surveyed, Chicago had the highest percentage of hand-washing adults, followed by New York, Atlanta and San Francisco.
Is this a bigger deal than just a case of nasty hands? Doctors say frequent hand-washing is the very best thing we can do to protect ourselves and the population from the spread of contagious diseases. This is National Clean Hands Week, so if you're among the percentage that skips the sinks in the public restrooms, this might be a good time to reassess that decision.
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The Chiefs have yet to play their first meaningful game at Arrowhead Stadium, and there are some folks ready to write off the season. After Sunday's loss to the Chicago Bears, the Chiefs now stand at 0-2 and have a trip to San Diego awaiting them in two weeks.
Now that you've seen the Chiefs play a couple of games, what are your predictions for their final record? Who will they knock off for their first win? Will they improve when they return to familiar surroundings next Sunday?
Call an audible in the comments section. We want to hear your thoughts!
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The release of 3:10 to Yuma today may have you in the mood to catch a western. Entertainment Weekly's web site has listed fifteen classic "must-see" western films, ranging from High Noon to Tombstone. While you could probably come up with a few additional titles (Kevin Costner's underappreciated Open Range, for example), it's hard to argue with the ones that made the cut. And if you've seen all of these, why not check out some of the films of Japanese master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa? His work inspired some of the westerns on the list.
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (1969)
Dances With Wolves (1990)
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1967)
High Noon (1952)
Lonesome Dove (1989)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Once Upon A Time In The West (1969)
Red River (1948)
The Searchers (1956)
Seven Men From Now (1956)
Shane (1953)
Tombstone (1993)
Unforgiven (1992)
The Wild Bunch (1969)
What's your favorite western? What would you add to this list? Mosey on over to the comments section and give us your thoughts.
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Remember Sesame Street's character The Count?
He has nothing on Jeremy Harper, the million man.
As we wrote earlier this summer, the Birmingham, Alabama native has spent his waking hours counting to one million. Right now, he's at the 900,000 mark and expects to reach the magic number on September 14th. All the while, he's been raising money for PUSH America, a charity which serves people with disabilities.
Jeremy hasn't left the house and hasn't shaved since the stunt started in June, and promises he won't until he's done. A webcam is keeping him honest. You can watch it right here. Viewers can even pay ten bucks and wake him up with a loud and annoying sound. For $75, he has to dance to the entire song of the Macarena. That's just cruel.
He recently announced his immediate post-count plans: a shave, a trip to a Birmingham bar, a University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers football game, and probably a little alone time with his surprisingly tolerant girlfriend. Next month, he plans to host a late night comedy show on the internet. The few times I've peeked in on the web cam, he was too busy counting to be funny. I'll take his word for it.
His friends probably have a sense of humor, though. They've posted an on-line poll for Jeremy's next stunt. Right now, the option "count backward from a million" is leading the vote.
There goes three more months of his life!
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The idea of television's "premiere week" is getting more outdated every year. Not only are networks staggering the start of their new shows, they're also giving viewers a chance to see them long before the first episode airs.
Last year, NBC made the pilot episodes of Heroes and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip available on Netflix three weeks early. The move paid off for Heroes, which came out of the blocks like gangbusters and never looked back. While Studio 60 didn't survive the season, it wasn't because of its pilot, which was probably the strongest of its 22 outings.
This year, you can see three of NBC's four fall dramas early. In fact, you can see them right now. Blockbuster has a DVD with the pilot episodes of Journeyman, Life and the highly-anticipated CIA caper Chuck. There's also a trailer for NBC's remake of Bionic Woman, but no full episode.
My neighborhood Blockbuster let me check this disc out for free, though I've heard other stores around the country are charging the price of a normal rental. Time Warner, Comcast, DISH Network and DirecTV customers will be able to see these episodes on demand, starting next Monday. I understand that will be your first chance to see Bionic Woman and find out if creator David Eick can mine another masterpiece out of 70s-cheese, just as he has with Battlestar Galactica.
If you're interested in any of these shows, why not take an early look? If you like what you see, you can tell your friends to watch the shows on their real premiere dates later this month on your NBC Action News Station.
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Here's a case that ought to make an interesting courtroom drama. A self-proclaimed gambling addict is suing an Indiana casino for offering her giveaways and advances so that she could continue to gamble. Jenny Kephart has lost more money in casinos than most people make in a decade. She continued to get money from the casino, even though gambling debt had driven her into bankruptcy a few years earlier. Even more interesting is that she's being sued by the same casino over some of that money she borrowed to wager - and never repaid. Should casinos have to protect gamblers from themselves?
Read this article to get background on the case, then give us your thoughts on whose side you'd be more likely to take. I think I can guess where some of you will stand on this one.
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USA Today is wrapping up its look back at the past quarter-century with another list detailing the most influential people, places and things that have changed our lives since 1982. As the paper gets down to its final two weeks, they're getting to some of the most significant categories, and today's list deals with the most influential people.
There are surely some questionable listings and rankings on the list, and there are some names you probably won't recognize right away (Howard Schultz, anyone?) You're welcome to criticize their picks and offer your own in the comments section.
You can also read the paper's justification for each person here.
25. Homer Simpson (as a symbol of the everyman)
24. Ryan White
23. Russell Simmons
22/21. Bill & Hillary Clinton
20. J.K. Rowling
19. Nelson Mandela
18. Howard Schultz
17. Michael Jordan
16. Deng Xioping
15. Sam Walton
14. George W. Bush
13/12. Sergey Brin & Larry Page
11. Mikhail Gorbechev
10. Bono
9. Pope John Paul II
8. Lance Armstrong
7. Stephen Hawking
6. Osama Bin Laden
5/4. Francis Collins & J. Craig Venter
3. Oprah Winfrey
2. Ronald Reagan
1. Bill Gates
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Entertainment Weekly has a little Labor Day treat for all of you who are enjoying the holiday with the day off, not to mention those of us for whom it's just another day the office. The magazine has listed its picks for the top 20 slackers or work-avoiders in movies and television shows.
Can you tell which shows/movies the characters hail from? Some of them are easy (Homer Simpson) and others are very tough (Travis Birkenstock). Most people will get 12-15, but don't feel back if you get stuck on some of the obscure ones.
Click here for the slide show that gives you the background on each character. If you can name all twenty without checking the answers, you're so well tuned into pop culture that you might need to step away from it for your health's sake. If you google all 20 before peeking at the answers, you're working too hard. It's Labor Day, after all.
Travis Birkenstock
Peg Bundy
Ferris Bueller
Creed
Lindsay Bluth Funke
Peter Gibbons
Jay & Silent Bob
Kim Kelly & Daniel Desario
Cosmo Kramer
Maynard G. Krebs
Zack Morris
Chris Peterson
Norm Peterson
Cliff Poncier
Shaggy
Homer Simpson
Sarah Silverman
Jeff Spicoli
Karen Walker
David Wooderson
What other famous pop culture slackers can you think of? Give your answers in the comments section.
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Hard to believe it's been 10 years since Princess Diana died in that tunnel in Paris. It's one of those events, like JFK's assassination, the Challenger explosion and the 9/11 attacks, where many people remember where they were when they heard the news.
It was an unusually hot Saturday on a Kansas City Labor Day weekend. The Royals were hosting the Cardinals at Kauffman Stadium and I was debating whether to listen to the game on the radio or find a late summer movie to see. Something made me turn on CNN, and I saw the line on the screen saying "Princess Diana Seriously Injured in Crash" and that her companion, Dodi Fayed, was dead. No one seemed to know much more than that, yet Tom Cruise was already on the phone with the network to offer his take on what happened.
I didn't get around to the ball game or the movie. I watched TV all night, flipping through channels, trying to find someone who had something new to say. I surfed the internet, but the online news sources weren't quite as instantaneous as they are today. I finally saw one network switch to the BBC feed, which had Diana's photo on the screen with funeral music.
It's funny how a news story thousands of miles away, involving someone you never met, can grab your attention. I never paid much attention to Diana, the celebrity. I did watch her famous wedding to Prince Charles and the arrival of her two sons, but I'm hardly the type to scour People magazine, read the tell-all books about her, or even leave a bouquet of flowers outside the palace in her memory. But the story of her sudden and tragic death riveted me that night, and continues to hold my interest to this day.
Jeff Field
NBC Action News Executive Producer
What do you remember about Princess Diana's death? What other news story do you have vivid memories of? Give us your thoughts in the comments section.
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Fans of NBC's hit Heroes are counting down the days until the show's return on September 24th, and if you're one of those counting the days, there's news this morning about what you can expect from the show's sophomore season.
This morning's USA Today has a long preview about the new characters we can expect to see, what may happen to some of the ones in peril at the season finale, and how the producers plan to hold viewers attention over the course of many months (there'll be two major story lines, not just one). The show will cover a lot of geographical ground this year, too - from 17th century Japan to post-Katrina New Orleans. We can also count on appearances from David Anders of Alias, Nichelle Nichols from Star Trek and Kristin Bell from Veronica Mars.
Click here to read the entire article. There are some minor spoilers, though, so don't read it if you don't want to know the smallest details.
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