Oscar nominations were announced this morning and while there were some surprises, it's a wide-open race with very few contenders and major surprises. Where's Scarlett Johansson? Where's Cold Mountain? Johnny Depp got nominated? Here are some of the major categories.
Best Picture
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lost in Translation
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit
Achievement in Directing
Fernando Meirelles, City of God
Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
Peter Weir, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Clint Eastwood, Mystic River
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog
Jude Law, Cold Mountain
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
Sean Penn, Mystic River
Best Supporting Actor
Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
Benicio Del Toro, 21 Grams
Djimon Honsou, In America
Tim Robbins, Mystic River
Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider
Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
Samantha Morton, In America
Charlize Theron, Monster
Naomi Watts, 21 Grams
Best Supporting Actress
Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog
Patricia Clarkson, Pieces of April
Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River
Holly Hunter, Thirteen
Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain
At quick glance, best supporting actor seems to be the most competitive category as Del Toro and Robbins both excelled in their roles. I thought Watanabe did as well but his movie doesn't have widespread support. Overall, despite 7 nominations, Cold Mountain is the big loser with no Nicole Kidman, no best picture nom, and no best director nom. The big actors also lost out with Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe not getting nominated. In the best picture category, it seems it's Lord of the Rings to lose with Lost in Translation and Mystic River battling it out for second.
The rest can be found on the Oscar web site. Winners will be announced February 29. My wrong predictions will start before then. It may not be so wrong this year; I did get 15 out of 24 last year.
1/27/2004
1/26/2004
The Apprentice on NBC has quickly become one of my favorite shows to watch, but it has become a pain to figure out when it's on.
Originally, it was scheduled for 8 pm Wednesdays. It had a special premiere from 8:32 to 9:59 on a Thursday. Great episode which did boffo ratings.
CBS, mindful of this potential juggernaut, then schedules a new episode of its biggest hit, CSI, equally good, to go up against The Apprentice on Wednesday.
At the last minute, NBC schedules a repeat of the first episode of The Apprentice on Wednesday to be followed by a new episode the next day at 8:30. CBS backs down by scheduling a Cold Case rerun in CSI's place.
The second episode does better than the first, but NBC pleads to the public that this is the last time on Thursday. From now on, there will be ONLY Wednesday showings at 8.
Wednesday the 21st arrives and NBC keeps its word by showing the third episode of The Apprentice (Sam got fired! Did you see the look on his face?). It gets killed in the ratings, going down 50% from the week before. It wasn't anything CBS did. It was Fox and their own hit, American Idol. Watching no-talents perform in front of Simon is apprently much more preferable than watching the evolution of Donald Trump's hair (Trump claims he spent 30 hours a week on the show. How? He's in it for like 5 minutes tops.).
Soon after the bad ratings news hit, NBC says The Apprentice's home is Thursdays and will always be Thursdays, now at 9:00, where it will compete against, yes, new episodes of CBS' CSI.
And in this new age of TV, we're still waiting if it's going to be changed again.
Originally, it was scheduled for 8 pm Wednesdays. It had a special premiere from 8:32 to 9:59 on a Thursday. Great episode which did boffo ratings.
CBS, mindful of this potential juggernaut, then schedules a new episode of its biggest hit, CSI, equally good, to go up against The Apprentice on Wednesday.
At the last minute, NBC schedules a repeat of the first episode of The Apprentice on Wednesday to be followed by a new episode the next day at 8:30. CBS backs down by scheduling a Cold Case rerun in CSI's place.
The second episode does better than the first, but NBC pleads to the public that this is the last time on Thursday. From now on, there will be ONLY Wednesday showings at 8.
Wednesday the 21st arrives and NBC keeps its word by showing the third episode of The Apprentice (Sam got fired! Did you see the look on his face?). It gets killed in the ratings, going down 50% from the week before. It wasn't anything CBS did. It was Fox and their own hit, American Idol. Watching no-talents perform in front of Simon is apprently much more preferable than watching the evolution of Donald Trump's hair (Trump claims he spent 30 hours a week on the show. How? He's in it for like 5 minutes tops.).
Soon after the bad ratings news hit, NBC says The Apprentice's home is Thursdays and will always be Thursdays, now at 9:00, where it will compete against, yes, new episodes of CBS' CSI.
And in this new age of TV, we're still waiting if it's going to be changed again.
1/22/2004
Happy New Year folks. Chuc Mung Nam Moi. It's the Year of the Monkey, so yeah, good fortunes and good health. According to the Lunar Calendar, it's the year 4702. Damn, and just when I was starting to get used to writing 4701 on my checks.
Anyone who watched the preview for American Idol's California episode next week might have seen them poke fun at an Asian guy who was singing pretty horribly. (Actually, all Asians seem to be voted out long before the real competition begins.) If you don't remember him, he had the haircut of Datman and said he had no professional training whatsoever. It surprised me to see the person walking by me at the bus stop was him. I guess he goes to Berkeley. And that's sad.
Speaking of Berkeley sightings, I'm sorry, I haven't seen Gordo from Lizzie McGuire.
Anyone driving down University Avenue should make sure they are driving at the ridiculous speed limit of 25 for the next few days. They put up one of those speed radars that shows you how fast you were driving. For the past few days, the police have been waiting at corners to pull people over for those speeding. At one point, 5 cars were pulled over at once. And Berkeley's worried about a budget deficit?
Anyone who watched the preview for American Idol's California episode next week might have seen them poke fun at an Asian guy who was singing pretty horribly. (Actually, all Asians seem to be voted out long before the real competition begins.) If you don't remember him, he had the haircut of Datman and said he had no professional training whatsoever. It surprised me to see the person walking by me at the bus stop was him. I guess he goes to Berkeley. And that's sad.
Speaking of Berkeley sightings, I'm sorry, I haven't seen Gordo from Lizzie McGuire.
Anyone driving down University Avenue should make sure they are driving at the ridiculous speed limit of 25 for the next few days. They put up one of those speed radars that shows you how fast you were driving. For the past few days, the police have been waiting at corners to pull people over for those speeding. At one point, 5 cars were pulled over at once. And Berkeley's worried about a budget deficit?
1/20/2004
Observations on this the first day of school:
I woke up before my alarm clock. What does that say about me? Am I sleep deprived? (Most likely.) Was I really excited about school? (Please let that not be the answer.) In any case, I got up at 6:30 for my 8:00 class when I wanted to get up at 7. Predictably, I was tired the rest of the day.
With Fiona Apple's "A Mistake" blaring through my headphones, I scurried up to Latimer. Got there early yet no seats available. Had to sit in the aisles. Game theory sounds like a nice class. A boring talk involving bureaucratic stuff was highlighted by the auction example. I'd seen this done when I was in micro, but this seemed more fun today. Basically, people bid for a $5 bill. Highest bidder pays the 2nd highest bid and gets the bill while the 2nd highest bidder must pay for his bid but gets nothing. The auction got crazy with the bids getting pushed to $15. All this for a $5 bill. Luckily, the prof let them off the hook.
After recharging with ramen (really not good for you), it was time for some complex analysis. This time, I got a seat but the class still filled up to capacity levels. The professor doesn't really look the part. He looked like a freshman when he walked in. Worse yet, he dressed just like I would, with a sweater and khakis and whatnot. He actually got into some material, but once he explained about an hour's worth of stuff, he proclaimed "And that's how you prove the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra." I looked at my friend next to me and replied, "Really? Was that what we were doing?" Sprinkled in the lecture were mixed up words like when he used inextricably when he meant explicable and another one I just can't remember. But it was really good.
Right after was the California class with the locally famous Professor Cain. You might have seen him on the news talking about California politics. What? You've never seen the news? Your loss. Cain certainly fits the adage of the camera adding 10 pounds. He looks really fat on TV but really skinny in real life. He also seems to think that all students have pot in their rooms and are mostly Democrats; two assumptions that probably turns out to be right in Berkeley.
Okay, I'm tired. Don't bother me for now.
I woke up before my alarm clock. What does that say about me? Am I sleep deprived? (Most likely.) Was I really excited about school? (Please let that not be the answer.) In any case, I got up at 6:30 for my 8:00 class when I wanted to get up at 7. Predictably, I was tired the rest of the day.
With Fiona Apple's "A Mistake" blaring through my headphones, I scurried up to Latimer. Got there early yet no seats available. Had to sit in the aisles. Game theory sounds like a nice class. A boring talk involving bureaucratic stuff was highlighted by the auction example. I'd seen this done when I was in micro, but this seemed more fun today. Basically, people bid for a $5 bill. Highest bidder pays the 2nd highest bid and gets the bill while the 2nd highest bidder must pay for his bid but gets nothing. The auction got crazy with the bids getting pushed to $15. All this for a $5 bill. Luckily, the prof let them off the hook.
After recharging with ramen (really not good for you), it was time for some complex analysis. This time, I got a seat but the class still filled up to capacity levels. The professor doesn't really look the part. He looked like a freshman when he walked in. Worse yet, he dressed just like I would, with a sweater and khakis and whatnot. He actually got into some material, but once he explained about an hour's worth of stuff, he proclaimed "And that's how you prove the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra." I looked at my friend next to me and replied, "Really? Was that what we were doing?" Sprinkled in the lecture were mixed up words like when he used inextricably when he meant explicable and another one I just can't remember. But it was really good.
Right after was the California class with the locally famous Professor Cain. You might have seen him on the news talking about California politics. What? You've never seen the news? Your loss. Cain certainly fits the adage of the camera adding 10 pounds. He looks really fat on TV but really skinny in real life. He also seems to think that all students have pot in their rooms and are mostly Democrats; two assumptions that probably turns out to be right in Berkeley.
Okay, I'm tired. Don't bother me for now.
1/19/2004
I really don't know how people could stand to watch American Idol for all the weeks it is on, but this week is the only reason to watch this show. Not only will you find the most talented folks at the infancy of their future stardom, you'll also see Simon just mock and put down the not-so-talented. To its core, it's just mean that these people get picked out of a crowd only to be picked on for the enjoyment of the audience, but for this show, that's what sells, not the tedious and slow elimination of competitors down to just one.
Just a couple of days ago when I talked about the Iowa caucus, I mentioned that if Senator John Kerry finishes second and Senator John Edwards could finish third, that would go a long way toward winning the nomination. Polls had shown the race tightening up but the non-stop bashing of former Governor Howard Dean and the need for a fresher voice than the old-hat of Rep. Richard Gephardt has pushed Kerry to a win in Iowa with Edwards a very strong second, putting both in strong position for New Hampshire next week. Dean is probably disappointed with his 3rd place finish but he has run a more national campaign so look for him to stay in contention. However, Gephardt's run is over. Picked by many to win in the state where he won the caucus in 1988, a very weak 4th place finish with very little support in the upcoming primaries has convinced him to withdraw as soon as tomorrow. Taking his place are two people who didn't compete in Iowa to focus on New Hampshire: General Wesley Clark, who has attracted the Clinton vote and is the only one running neck-and-neck with Dean in the national vote, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, on the ticket in 2000 but running in the single digits and hoping for a bounce similar to the one Edwards has seen. The clock is ticking for Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich to leave the race but these two are in it to contribute their voice on the issues.
Just a couple of days ago when I talked about the Iowa caucus, I mentioned that if Senator John Kerry finishes second and Senator John Edwards could finish third, that would go a long way toward winning the nomination. Polls had shown the race tightening up but the non-stop bashing of former Governor Howard Dean and the need for a fresher voice than the old-hat of Rep. Richard Gephardt has pushed Kerry to a win in Iowa with Edwards a very strong second, putting both in strong position for New Hampshire next week. Dean is probably disappointed with his 3rd place finish but he has run a more national campaign so look for him to stay in contention. However, Gephardt's run is over. Picked by many to win in the state where he won the caucus in 1988, a very weak 4th place finish with very little support in the upcoming primaries has convinced him to withdraw as soon as tomorrow. Taking his place are two people who didn't compete in Iowa to focus on New Hampshire: General Wesley Clark, who has attracted the Clinton vote and is the only one running neck-and-neck with Dean in the national vote, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, on the ticket in 2000 but running in the single digits and hoping for a bounce similar to the one Edwards has seen. The clock is ticking for Al Sharpton and Dennis Kucinich to leave the race but these two are in it to contribute their voice on the issues.
From the Mercury News yesterday:
New California Secretary of Education Richard Riordan may need a lesson or two when it comes to interacting with female college students.
During a state community colleges board meeting last week in Sacramento, the affable, shoot-from-the-lip former L.A. mayor held forth with officials, including student board member Desirree Abshire. She splits her time between City College of San Francisco and the University of California-Berkeley.
Abshire told Riordan she was worried that higher tuition fees would hurt middle-income students who are out on their own and can't get aid.
"The middle income gets the short end of the stick in everything,'' Riordan said, commiserating. Then he added: "You could marry a wealthy man.''
That old-school comment caused a moment of stunned silence among audience members. But Abshire -- who said she may have set herself up earlier by joking about being a single young woman -- didn't miss a beat.
"There are no wealthy men at Berkeley,'' she said.
New California Secretary of Education Richard Riordan may need a lesson or two when it comes to interacting with female college students.
During a state community colleges board meeting last week in Sacramento, the affable, shoot-from-the-lip former L.A. mayor held forth with officials, including student board member Desirree Abshire. She splits her time between City College of San Francisco and the University of California-Berkeley.
Abshire told Riordan she was worried that higher tuition fees would hurt middle-income students who are out on their own and can't get aid.
"The middle income gets the short end of the stick in everything,'' Riordan said, commiserating. Then he added: "You could marry a wealthy man.''
That old-school comment caused a moment of stunned silence among audience members. But Abshire -- who said she may have set herself up earlier by joking about being a single young woman -- didn't miss a beat.
"There are no wealthy men at Berkeley,'' she said.
1/16/2004
Hi all. Can't believe it's only 4 days until my last semester at Berkeley. This winter break has sure gone by fast. And in a few short months, I'll be an unemployed college graduate. Shudder at the thought.
During the boredom that was econometrics last semester (I got out of Duncan's class with a B; I'm still pondering on how I managed to do that with the horrible final I took), I started to make a list of things I learned through my 4 years of experiences at Berkeley. I'm up to 59, so if you have some worthwhile, smart-alecky remarks, drop a line. I'll publish sometime toward May.
I went up to Berkeley this past Tuesday to check on the apartment and see how much the books are (crazy/expensive). My friend though convinced me to join him in applying for this tutoring job in Oakland. There were only a few openings yet from what the lady in charge told me, more than a hundred apps. Since it was some dinky after-school program that paid $20 an hour for like 10 hours work, I didn't expect the competition to be fierce but we showed up and there were credentialed teachers, a psychologist, and some retired folks among others. Suffice it to say, we were rejected.
And BART! Poor BART is really poor. I found that they raised the fares by 10%. Too late for me without any extra spare change so I had to resort to putting my credit card in the dumb machine to get a large enough ticket. Going to Union City now sets me back 3.35.
While Monday is Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, in terms of presidential politics, it's the kickoff of the campaign season with the Iowa caucus. A caucus is a meeting of the members of a political party where they listen to the merits of each candidate, side with one of them, leave themselves open to change their minds while they get beaten up physically or verbally (or hey, it might be civil), count again, then assign delegates for the convention. Heading up into the caucus, former Vermont governor Howard Dean was the runaway leader by winning the invisible primary and leading in all major nationwide, Iowa, and New Hampshire polls. Just three days away though, all the challenges to Dean's leadership seem to be taking its toll. General Wesley Clark's entry into the race has tightened the race nationally and in New Hampshire while a three-man attack from Senators John Kerry and John Edwards as well as Congressman Dick Gephardt has made the Iowa caucus a close 4-man race. Dean and Gephardt have the highest of expectations since Dean is the front-runner and Gephardt is from next door Missouri. Winning the expectations game is key to any election; look at Bush in the 2000 debates: he did merely better that expected with Gore could not meet his high expectations, portraying Bush as the winner and Gore the loser. A second place finish by Kerry and even a third place finish by Edwards will go a long way toward winning the nomination. However, the Bush machine will be tough to beat with its $200 million war chest, an improving Iraq, and an improving economy.
During the boredom that was econometrics last semester (I got out of Duncan's class with a B; I'm still pondering on how I managed to do that with the horrible final I took), I started to make a list of things I learned through my 4 years of experiences at Berkeley. I'm up to 59, so if you have some worthwhile, smart-alecky remarks, drop a line. I'll publish sometime toward May.
I went up to Berkeley this past Tuesday to check on the apartment and see how much the books are (crazy/expensive). My friend though convinced me to join him in applying for this tutoring job in Oakland. There were only a few openings yet from what the lady in charge told me, more than a hundred apps. Since it was some dinky after-school program that paid $20 an hour for like 10 hours work, I didn't expect the competition to be fierce but we showed up and there were credentialed teachers, a psychologist, and some retired folks among others. Suffice it to say, we were rejected.
And BART! Poor BART is really poor. I found that they raised the fares by 10%. Too late for me without any extra spare change so I had to resort to putting my credit card in the dumb machine to get a large enough ticket. Going to Union City now sets me back 3.35.
While Monday is Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, in terms of presidential politics, it's the kickoff of the campaign season with the Iowa caucus. A caucus is a meeting of the members of a political party where they listen to the merits of each candidate, side with one of them, leave themselves open to change their minds while they get beaten up physically or verbally (or hey, it might be civil), count again, then assign delegates for the convention. Heading up into the caucus, former Vermont governor Howard Dean was the runaway leader by winning the invisible primary and leading in all major nationwide, Iowa, and New Hampshire polls. Just three days away though, all the challenges to Dean's leadership seem to be taking its toll. General Wesley Clark's entry into the race has tightened the race nationally and in New Hampshire while a three-man attack from Senators John Kerry and John Edwards as well as Congressman Dick Gephardt has made the Iowa caucus a close 4-man race. Dean and Gephardt have the highest of expectations since Dean is the front-runner and Gephardt is from next door Missouri. Winning the expectations game is key to any election; look at Bush in the 2000 debates: he did merely better that expected with Gore could not meet his high expectations, portraying Bush as the winner and Gore the loser. A second place finish by Kerry and even a third place finish by Edwards will go a long way toward winning the nomination. However, the Bush machine will be tough to beat with its $200 million war chest, an improving Iraq, and an improving economy.
Cold Mountain
Under the backdrop of the Civil War, two lovers are thrown on different paths trying to find their way toward each other. Ada (Nicole Kidman) and Inman (Jude Law) fell in love at first sight on Cold Mountain but when the war broke out, Inman was forced to enlist for the Confederacy while Ada lived with her minister father (Donald Sutherland). Being an educated woman, Ada didn't know the first thing about keeping a house and would be tougher so when her father died. Her neighbor friend, Sally (Kathy Baker), recommended a lady to help with the upkeep, Ruby, played by Renee Zellweger. Meanwhile, with letters pouring in from Ada (okay, only 3 got through) pleading for Inman to come home, he does just that, deserting the army after he is hurt. Soon, it becomes a long, treacherous journey back to Cold Mountain, complete with many different characters met along the way including Giovanni Ribisi, Natalie Portman, and Philip Seymour Hoffman that resembles Odysseus' trip home in The Odyssey.
The movie is very realistic in its portrayal of the South ravaged by the war and director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) builds upon it with fresh performances filled with emotion, highlighted by another good performance from Zellweger. But the problem with dealing with the backstory of the Civil War rather than the war itself is that it's awfully boring. I really wasn't expecting to see two hours of Kidman trying to keep her house in order while screaming out Inman's name once in a while, yet ultimately that's what happened. Law plays the typical man where nothing gets in his way in his journey to the ultimate goal of finding Ada, even if it means deserting his army, running away from hunters, and refusing the temptations from at least two women along the way. Small performances sprinkled along the way provide a lot in terms of action and drama but don't contribute to the main, albeit long-distance, love story of Ada and Inman, making this movie nice to watch but ultimately a little bit tedious. 3 stars
Under the backdrop of the Civil War, two lovers are thrown on different paths trying to find their way toward each other. Ada (Nicole Kidman) and Inman (Jude Law) fell in love at first sight on Cold Mountain but when the war broke out, Inman was forced to enlist for the Confederacy while Ada lived with her minister father (Donald Sutherland). Being an educated woman, Ada didn't know the first thing about keeping a house and would be tougher so when her father died. Her neighbor friend, Sally (Kathy Baker), recommended a lady to help with the upkeep, Ruby, played by Renee Zellweger. Meanwhile, with letters pouring in from Ada (okay, only 3 got through) pleading for Inman to come home, he does just that, deserting the army after he is hurt. Soon, it becomes a long, treacherous journey back to Cold Mountain, complete with many different characters met along the way including Giovanni Ribisi, Natalie Portman, and Philip Seymour Hoffman that resembles Odysseus' trip home in The Odyssey.
The movie is very realistic in its portrayal of the South ravaged by the war and director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) builds upon it with fresh performances filled with emotion, highlighted by another good performance from Zellweger. But the problem with dealing with the backstory of the Civil War rather than the war itself is that it's awfully boring. I really wasn't expecting to see two hours of Kidman trying to keep her house in order while screaming out Inman's name once in a while, yet ultimately that's what happened. Law plays the typical man where nothing gets in his way in his journey to the ultimate goal of finding Ada, even if it means deserting his army, running away from hunters, and refusing the temptations from at least two women along the way. Small performances sprinkled along the way provide a lot in terms of action and drama but don't contribute to the main, albeit long-distance, love story of Ada and Inman, making this movie nice to watch but ultimately a little bit tedious. 3 stars
1/15/2004
Tremors 4: The Legend Begins
Growing up, there were a few "so bad, it's good" movies that I liked very much. Clue, Spaceballs, Three Amigos!, and Bloodsport pretty much defined my bad movie experiences as a kid. Another that joins that list is Tremors. With Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, and 4 graboids, this horror/action film had the right comedic touch to make it a cult hit for many fans, including myself. Soon, its creators saw the potential for moneymaking and went ahead to make two sequels and a TV series, which has really hurt the franchise since they've been so bad, it's really bad. Now, a fourth installment is upon us and like its two predecessors, this prequel is straight-to-video and DVD.
Michael Gross (someone who can't get a job since he's been part of every Tremors venture) plays Hiram Gummer, the late 1800s owner of a silver mine inherited to him by his father. He's summoned from the east coast to his Rejection, Nevada mine upon hearing that his mine is struggling. When he arrives, he finds that his mine has closed and the town is being abandoned, with only a handful of people staying behind. The only mine worker left, Juan (Brent Roam), tells him that men come in but never come back out and believes creatures are in there. Gummer believes this to be preposterous and hires some local folk to accompany him to the mine and investigate. When these local folk are killed, Gummer sees the quick worms that are burrowing out of the ground and hires an experienced quick-shot gunman to take care of it. By now though, the baby worms have turned into the large ones seen in the first installment of the series and are headed to the town, forcing the townspeople to make their own stand there.
The successful original had the ability to not take things seriously when dealing with these worms, extremely helped by the buddy antics of Bacon and Ward. However, future installments seem to have lost this comedic touch and focus entirely on the worms and its new evolutionary capabilities while in the process, taking things way too seriously. In this installment, the only comedy that can be found is of their surroundings, essentially making fun of the 19th century amenities and technology to take on a 20th or 21st century worm. Like all Tremors films, they've got the fright down to a t, with the graboids coming out every which way they can, but the unbelievable way the cast handles them gets them knocked down a few points. 1.5 stars
Growing up, there were a few "so bad, it's good" movies that I liked very much. Clue, Spaceballs, Three Amigos!, and Bloodsport pretty much defined my bad movie experiences as a kid. Another that joins that list is Tremors. With Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, and 4 graboids, this horror/action film had the right comedic touch to make it a cult hit for many fans, including myself. Soon, its creators saw the potential for moneymaking and went ahead to make two sequels and a TV series, which has really hurt the franchise since they've been so bad, it's really bad. Now, a fourth installment is upon us and like its two predecessors, this prequel is straight-to-video and DVD.
Michael Gross (someone who can't get a job since he's been part of every Tremors venture) plays Hiram Gummer, the late 1800s owner of a silver mine inherited to him by his father. He's summoned from the east coast to his Rejection, Nevada mine upon hearing that his mine is struggling. When he arrives, he finds that his mine has closed and the town is being abandoned, with only a handful of people staying behind. The only mine worker left, Juan (Brent Roam), tells him that men come in but never come back out and believes creatures are in there. Gummer believes this to be preposterous and hires some local folk to accompany him to the mine and investigate. When these local folk are killed, Gummer sees the quick worms that are burrowing out of the ground and hires an experienced quick-shot gunman to take care of it. By now though, the baby worms have turned into the large ones seen in the first installment of the series and are headed to the town, forcing the townspeople to make their own stand there.
The successful original had the ability to not take things seriously when dealing with these worms, extremely helped by the buddy antics of Bacon and Ward. However, future installments seem to have lost this comedic touch and focus entirely on the worms and its new evolutionary capabilities while in the process, taking things way too seriously. In this installment, the only comedy that can be found is of their surroundings, essentially making fun of the 19th century amenities and technology to take on a 20th or 21st century worm. Like all Tremors films, they've got the fright down to a t, with the graboids coming out every which way they can, but the unbelievable way the cast handles them gets them knocked down a few points. 1.5 stars
1/13/2004
Love Actually
The Beatles insisted that love was all you really needed. Watching this movie, there may be such a thing as too much. Director Richard Curtis follows 9 couples around as love drives them crazy. At the focus of the movie is Hugh Grant, playing the Prime Minister. As a bachelor, he becomes smitten with the new coffee girl (Martine McCutcheon). You know where the relationship is going when the President of the United States (a cameo by Billy Bob Thornton) hits on her and Grant indirectly denounces him in front of the press. Also in the mix is Colin Firth who falls for a Portugese lady, the Prime Minister's sister (Emma Thompson) who questions the love of her husband (Alan Rickman), and Peter's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) best friend Mark admitting his love for Peter's wife, Juliet (Keira Knightley) through flash cards.
There are some genuine, well, lovely moments that occur in the movie. The little kid, Thomas Sangster, running after his American love in the airport can just melt a heart. Firth overcoming the spoken language barrier to convey the true universal language through marriage is nice too. Bill Nighy provides great comic relief throughout the movie as an aging rocker forced to change a lyric to his popular song. Other than that, what the movie considers to be love creeps into places where you least expect it. It seems the world we see in "Love Actually" becomes a little too perfect that it becomes very hard to believe. The fact that there are 9 love stories and many more people involved contributes to this disbelief in the sense that it cuts off the courting process when focusing on 4 or 5 couples would have made an equally great movie. 2 stars
The Beatles insisted that love was all you really needed. Watching this movie, there may be such a thing as too much. Director Richard Curtis follows 9 couples around as love drives them crazy. At the focus of the movie is Hugh Grant, playing the Prime Minister. As a bachelor, he becomes smitten with the new coffee girl (Martine McCutcheon). You know where the relationship is going when the President of the United States (a cameo by Billy Bob Thornton) hits on her and Grant indirectly denounces him in front of the press. Also in the mix is Colin Firth who falls for a Portugese lady, the Prime Minister's sister (Emma Thompson) who questions the love of her husband (Alan Rickman), and Peter's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) best friend Mark admitting his love for Peter's wife, Juliet (Keira Knightley) through flash cards.
There are some genuine, well, lovely moments that occur in the movie. The little kid, Thomas Sangster, running after his American love in the airport can just melt a heart. Firth overcoming the spoken language barrier to convey the true universal language through marriage is nice too. Bill Nighy provides great comic relief throughout the movie as an aging rocker forced to change a lyric to his popular song. Other than that, what the movie considers to be love creeps into places where you least expect it. It seems the world we see in "Love Actually" becomes a little too perfect that it becomes very hard to believe. The fact that there are 9 love stories and many more people involved contributes to this disbelief in the sense that it cuts off the courting process when focusing on 4 or 5 couples would have made an equally great movie. 2 stars
1/09/2004
This is the Spring Movie Preview. Technically, most of it is not spring. It includes winter too. But I'm sure you don't care. So here are the movies I'll probably be watching the next 4 months and others that will be making headlines.
Chasing Liberty - See that? The title means something. Liberty is like freedom. With Mandy Moore playing a president's daughter who suddenly runs away, she's trying to become free and independent, like she's chasing liberty. (January 9)
My Baby's Daddy - It's a Three Men and a Baby redux except that instead of one baby, now there's three! (January 9)
Along Came Polly - Ben Stiller gets the urge to start dating his childhood friend, Jennifer Aniston. (January 16)
Teacher's Pet - An animated feature based on the Saturday morning cartoon. Man, don't we yearn for how Saturday mornings used to be? (January 16)
Torque - One gang of motorcycle bikers chases another gang of motorcycle bikers. Lemme guess: with SUV's? (January 16)
The Butterfly Effect - Ashton Kutcher tries his hand at drama involving the mind. Once we see it, it could be his greatest movie ever or his greatest comedy ever. (January 23)
Mindhunters - The first big-star action pic of the year finds a group of FBI agents trying to figure out which one of them is a serial killer. (January 23)
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! - An actor (Josh Duhamel) unexpectedly falls in love with a hometown girl (Kate Bosworth). (January 23)
The Perfect Score - A group of students can't copy answers from the person next to them on the SAT's so they instead break in and get the answers ahead of time. (January 30)
The Big Bounce - A simple job for caretaker Owen Wilson leads into something much, much more. (January 30)
You Got Served - Courtroom drama? No, no. Hip-hop dance comedy. (January 30)
Barbershop 2: Back in Business - The barbershop is threatened by corporate types who want to provide some competition. (February 6)
Catch That Kid - Kids rob a bank to get money for a surgical operation. Yeah, you know, makes sense. (February 6)
Miracle - Kurt Russell plays Coach Herb Brooks in this film documenting the 1980 USA Hockey team. (February 6)
50 First Dates - Drew Barrymore can't remember that she dates Adam Sandler. I guess she'll need to watch The Wedding Singer. (February 13)
Against the Ropes - Meg Ryan plays a boxing manager in a true story. (February 20)
Eurotrip - 4 teens embark on a trip to Europe filled with sex and alcohol. (February 20)
Welcome to Mooseport - The former President of the United States decides to run for mayor in the town where he has retired, making things very competitive. (February 20)
The Passion of the Christ - Director Mel Gibson lets us see his vision of how things were when Jesus was killed. (February 25)
Club Dread - A superstar cast (okay, just Bill Paxton and a few other people) must stop a guy from killing everyone with a machete at a swank resort. (February 27)
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights - Well, its dirty dancing, only set in Havana. (February 27)
Twisted - Ashley Judd gets to investigate murders. What's so twisted? All of the victims are her former lovers. (February 27)
Hidalgo - Fresh off Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen embarks on a journey of his own, this one with his horse in a race. (March 5)
Starsky and Hutch - A remake of the '70's series starring Ben Stiller as Starsky and Owen Wilson as Hutch. (March 5)
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London - This tale of Frankie Muniz as a young spy may not be as successful as its first go-around without his co-stars Hilary Duff and Angie Harmon. (March 12)
The Girl Next Door - How can you not fall in love with the beautiful girl next door, especially when she's a porn star? (March 12)
The Prince and Me - Are they raiding '80s comedies? After My Baby's Daddy, we get this pic evoking memories of the hilarious Coming to America starring Eddie Murphy. Here, Julia Stiles gets wooed by a prince. (March 12)
Spartan - Val Kilmer tries to find the president's daughter after she's kidnapped but soon discovers something far more sinister. (March 12)
Dawn of the Dead - Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, and others must flee zombies in a mall. (March 19)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Jim Carrey undergoes a procedure to forget about Kate Winslet, but soon he figures that's gonna be a tough task to undertake. (March 19)
Jersey Girl - Starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, hopefully, it's not Gigli 2. (March 19)
Never Die Alone - YAY! That's all we needed! Another DMX film. Here he's dead and David Arquette gets to read his diary for a hour and a half. (March 19)
Taking Lives - Angelina Jolie is on the hunt for a serial killer who takes the identities of the people he kills. (March 19)
The Ladykillers - Tom Hanks' triumphant return to cinema is through a Coen Bros. film involving a heist. (March 26)
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed - Remember how bad the first one was? (My review was three sentences long.) Well, they wanted to make my life miserable by making a second one. I know, just don't watch it...but I'll have to suffer through the commercials. (March 26)
Envy - In this long-delayed flick, Ben Stiller is envious of Jack Black's fortune. (April 2)
Hellboy - Comic books continues its revival with this film about a demon who leads his agents to investigate the paranormal. (April 2)
Home on the Range - Another Disney animated feature involving animals, this time, cows. (April 2)
Mean Girls - Lindsay Lohan gives mean girls at her new high school a taste of their own medicine. (April 2)
Johnson Family Vacation - Raiding '80s comedies continues as Cedric the Entertainer leads his family across the country with hilarious results. (April 7)
The Alamo - Hopefully, they're not looking for Pee Wee's bicycle 'cuz there's no basement at the Alamo. (April 9)
Ella Enchanted - Anne Hathaway only wants Prince Charmont but obedience seems to be getting in her way. (April 9)
Walking Tall - The Rock gets to break some skulls when he becomes sheriff of a corrupt county. (April 9)
The Whole Ten Yards - It's a sequel to the original film about a crazy hit-man and a dentist. (April 9)
Connie and Carla - Nia Vardalos and Toni Collette become drag queens after witnessing a mob hit. (April 16)
Kill Bill Volume 2 - Uma Thurman has two down, three to go. (April 16)
The Punisher - Thomas Jane takes matters into his own hands when the law can't. Yes, based on the comic book. (April 16)
Man on Fire - When a bodyguard (Denzel Washington) fails at his job, it's his mission to take vengeance on those responsible. (April 23)
Secret Window - Johnny Depp gets threatened by a psycho who believes Depp stole his idea for a book. (April 23)
Without a Paddle - 3 friends go out looking for the money their lost friend was obsessed to find only to find themselves in comedic situations. (April 23)
Breakin' All the Rules - Here's a twist. A man (Jamie Foxx) writes a book about how breaking up is hard to do. (April 30)
Godsend - Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos find that cloning done by Robert DeNiro isn't so perfect. (April 30)
Laws of Attraction - Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore are both divorce attorneys who get married to each other, hoping to avoid the same problems they see at work. (April 30)
Chasing Liberty - See that? The title means something. Liberty is like freedom. With Mandy Moore playing a president's daughter who suddenly runs away, she's trying to become free and independent, like she's chasing liberty. (January 9)
My Baby's Daddy - It's a Three Men and a Baby redux except that instead of one baby, now there's three! (January 9)
Along Came Polly - Ben Stiller gets the urge to start dating his childhood friend, Jennifer Aniston. (January 16)
Teacher's Pet - An animated feature based on the Saturday morning cartoon. Man, don't we yearn for how Saturday mornings used to be? (January 16)
Torque - One gang of motorcycle bikers chases another gang of motorcycle bikers. Lemme guess: with SUV's? (January 16)
The Butterfly Effect - Ashton Kutcher tries his hand at drama involving the mind. Once we see it, it could be his greatest movie ever or his greatest comedy ever. (January 23)
Mindhunters - The first big-star action pic of the year finds a group of FBI agents trying to figure out which one of them is a serial killer. (January 23)
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! - An actor (Josh Duhamel) unexpectedly falls in love with a hometown girl (Kate Bosworth). (January 23)
The Perfect Score - A group of students can't copy answers from the person next to them on the SAT's so they instead break in and get the answers ahead of time. (January 30)
The Big Bounce - A simple job for caretaker Owen Wilson leads into something much, much more. (January 30)
You Got Served - Courtroom drama? No, no. Hip-hop dance comedy. (January 30)
Barbershop 2: Back in Business - The barbershop is threatened by corporate types who want to provide some competition. (February 6)
Catch That Kid - Kids rob a bank to get money for a surgical operation. Yeah, you know, makes sense. (February 6)
Miracle - Kurt Russell plays Coach Herb Brooks in this film documenting the 1980 USA Hockey team. (February 6)
50 First Dates - Drew Barrymore can't remember that she dates Adam Sandler. I guess she'll need to watch The Wedding Singer. (February 13)
Against the Ropes - Meg Ryan plays a boxing manager in a true story. (February 20)
Eurotrip - 4 teens embark on a trip to Europe filled with sex and alcohol. (February 20)
Welcome to Mooseport - The former President of the United States decides to run for mayor in the town where he has retired, making things very competitive. (February 20)
The Passion of the Christ - Director Mel Gibson lets us see his vision of how things were when Jesus was killed. (February 25)
Club Dread - A superstar cast (okay, just Bill Paxton and a few other people) must stop a guy from killing everyone with a machete at a swank resort. (February 27)
Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights - Well, its dirty dancing, only set in Havana. (February 27)
Twisted - Ashley Judd gets to investigate murders. What's so twisted? All of the victims are her former lovers. (February 27)
Hidalgo - Fresh off Lord of the Rings, Viggo Mortensen embarks on a journey of his own, this one with his horse in a race. (March 5)
Starsky and Hutch - A remake of the '70's series starring Ben Stiller as Starsky and Owen Wilson as Hutch. (March 5)
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London - This tale of Frankie Muniz as a young spy may not be as successful as its first go-around without his co-stars Hilary Duff and Angie Harmon. (March 12)
The Girl Next Door - How can you not fall in love with the beautiful girl next door, especially when she's a porn star? (March 12)
The Prince and Me - Are they raiding '80s comedies? After My Baby's Daddy, we get this pic evoking memories of the hilarious Coming to America starring Eddie Murphy. Here, Julia Stiles gets wooed by a prince. (March 12)
Spartan - Val Kilmer tries to find the president's daughter after she's kidnapped but soon discovers something far more sinister. (March 12)
Dawn of the Dead - Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer, and others must flee zombies in a mall. (March 19)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - Jim Carrey undergoes a procedure to forget about Kate Winslet, but soon he figures that's gonna be a tough task to undertake. (March 19)
Jersey Girl - Starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, hopefully, it's not Gigli 2. (March 19)
Never Die Alone - YAY! That's all we needed! Another DMX film. Here he's dead and David Arquette gets to read his diary for a hour and a half. (March 19)
Taking Lives - Angelina Jolie is on the hunt for a serial killer who takes the identities of the people he kills. (March 19)
The Ladykillers - Tom Hanks' triumphant return to cinema is through a Coen Bros. film involving a heist. (March 26)
Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed - Remember how bad the first one was? (My review was three sentences long.) Well, they wanted to make my life miserable by making a second one. I know, just don't watch it...but I'll have to suffer through the commercials. (March 26)
Envy - In this long-delayed flick, Ben Stiller is envious of Jack Black's fortune. (April 2)
Hellboy - Comic books continues its revival with this film about a demon who leads his agents to investigate the paranormal. (April 2)
Home on the Range - Another Disney animated feature involving animals, this time, cows. (April 2)
Mean Girls - Lindsay Lohan gives mean girls at her new high school a taste of their own medicine. (April 2)
Johnson Family Vacation - Raiding '80s comedies continues as Cedric the Entertainer leads his family across the country with hilarious results. (April 7)
The Alamo - Hopefully, they're not looking for Pee Wee's bicycle 'cuz there's no basement at the Alamo. (April 9)
Ella Enchanted - Anne Hathaway only wants Prince Charmont but obedience seems to be getting in her way. (April 9)
Walking Tall - The Rock gets to break some skulls when he becomes sheriff of a corrupt county. (April 9)
The Whole Ten Yards - It's a sequel to the original film about a crazy hit-man and a dentist. (April 9)
Connie and Carla - Nia Vardalos and Toni Collette become drag queens after witnessing a mob hit. (April 16)
Kill Bill Volume 2 - Uma Thurman has two down, three to go. (April 16)
The Punisher - Thomas Jane takes matters into his own hands when the law can't. Yes, based on the comic book. (April 16)
Man on Fire - When a bodyguard (Denzel Washington) fails at his job, it's his mission to take vengeance on those responsible. (April 23)
Secret Window - Johnny Depp gets threatened by a psycho who believes Depp stole his idea for a book. (April 23)
Without a Paddle - 3 friends go out looking for the money their lost friend was obsessed to find only to find themselves in comedic situations. (April 23)
Breakin' All the Rules - Here's a twist. A man (Jamie Foxx) writes a book about how breaking up is hard to do. (April 30)
Godsend - Greg Kinnear and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos find that cloning done by Robert DeNiro isn't so perfect. (April 30)
Laws of Attraction - Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore are both divorce attorneys who get married to each other, hoping to avoid the same problems they see at work. (April 30)
1/07/2004
Happy New Year folks, and while not much has changed for me one week later, mostly meeting friends and family and whatnot, the world certainly has.
If you believe the news media though, the most earth-shattering event that has occured was Britney Spears getting married in Las Vegas and then having it annuled 55 hours later. People close to them claim that Britney was of sound mind and body when they got married. Well, we know at least half of that statement is right. But eventually, it was the realization of what they were getting into that was the end of it and soon enough, it would be described as a joke. So they weren't prepared? Let's see, they limo to the chapel, are denied for not having a marriage license, go to the courthouse and get the license, and then go back to get married. Seems to me they thought it through. The big loser? The brief husband, Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld?), who did not have the presence of mind to sign some pre-nup to cover him for the rest of his life.
Then there's the crazy Ohio lady who believed she won the lottery. The jackpot was $168 million and a lady filed a police report saying she lost the winning ticket after she dropped her purse in a store parking lot. The news was so astounding to some that people came to the parking lot in the middle of the night armed with flashlights to try to find it. Meanwhile, the next day, another lady claimed the jackpot after she had the winning ticket and a ticket from the previous week to prove she has used these numbers before. However, the first lady, who admits she has had a questionable past, still believes it is her ticket. We'll see how this goes.
Then there's Mars. After the Europeans failed to land on Mars, NASA one-upped them by landing Spirit on the Mars surface and taking a picture of some rocks. Yep, $400 million well spent. While I wish them luck on their quest for life in a mysterious mud puddle they've landed on, here's hoping an alien pops up, laughs at the primitive technology and throws it across the valley.
Then there's rock, paper, scissors. Now here's a sport destined to follow in the line of wacky things to be seen on ESPN (preceded by the Spelling Bee, the Math Bowl, the Geography Bee, miniature golf, chess, scrabble, among others). The current issue of Rolling Stone features a commentary on the World Rock, Paper, Scissors championship. 320 competitors get whittled down to one for the $5,000 check through best of three contests. What's next...pick a number?
Then there's the presidency. Primary season starts up soon as Democrats eliminate 8 nominees to get 1 guy to face George W. Bush in November. The first caucus, in Iowa, occurs January 19. The front runner is Howard Dean, quickly brushed off just a year ago, but now a contender thanks to his grassroots efforts. Rising though is General Wesley Clark, widely rumored to be a Vice Presidential candidate, but if he's so popular as a V.P., why not go for the big one? And that's exactly what he's done. The frontrunners from a year ago are behind these two: Gephardt, Kerry, and Lieberman. John Edwards needs to win his birth state of South Carolina to have any hope in the race and Sharpton, Braun, and Kucinich hope to have their voice heard. A debate was held yesterday and Kucinich was the noteworthy one with his dazzling array of pie charts a la Perot in 1992. Only problem? It was a radio only debate.
Then there's Mad Cow Disease. People seem to be taking this issue with ease. Even though mad-cow infected beef made its way to Maxim Market in East San Jose and 6 area restaurants, there doesn't seem to be any beef backlash or boycotts. The In and Out Burger I went to was packed. Then again, if you want a place that serves no beef whatsoever, head to Taco Bell.
Then there's Cal. Geez, one semester left and look, I didn't do half-bad last semester. Really, I think it was my best one. Of course, I was distracted by the sports. It seems in college sports, when you have football and basketball, only one is bound to be successful, you can't have both. Sure, there are exceptions but Cal is no exception. As football languished in last place, basketball flew high with a NIT championship and 3 straight NCAA tournament appearances. Now, football is becoming revitalized, highlighted by the Insight Bowl win over Virginia Tech. And what happened? Basketball now sucks. Sure, we can point to the three freshmen starting and the slumps last year's starters are in, but the media and the coaches had high hopes for the team, expectations that are not being met. It hit bottom when Cal lost to Washington State at home, where Cal had lost 5 times in the last three years yet have already lost 3 times this year alone. Washington State is by no means a basketball power, yet, and Cal did lead heading into the final few minutes. Now the team is 5-6 with 16 games to go. Usually, 17 wins are enough to make the tournament, meaning they need to finish 13-5 in the conference, a tough task since last year's stellar team also went 13-5.
Finally, Mitch Hedberg's new CD is out in stores entitled Mitch All Together. $9 at deepdiscountdvd.com. Here are some quick one-liners.
-I like refried beans. That's why I want to try fried beans 'cause maybe they're just as good and we're just wasting time.
-Mr. Pibb is the replica of Dr. Pepper, but it's the B-S replica 'cause the dude didn't even get his degree. Why'd you have to drop out and make pop so soon?
-I went to a doctor and all he did was suck blood out of my neck. So don't go to see Dr. Acula.
-I wanna hang a map of the world in my house and then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to but first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down.
-I've got a business card 'cause I wanna win some lunches.
-I bought myself a parrot; the parrot talked but it did not say "I'm hungry" so it died.
The Spring Movie Preview, technically covering most of the winter movies, is coming up next. The one with the most controversy is "The Passion of the Christ" opening on Ash Wednesday, February 25. From Catholic Mel Gibson, it documents the last hours of Jesus before his crucifixion in Jerusalem. Whatever religion you are, this movie is sure to spark discussion. You can search for the real trailer on the web, but for a little comic relief on such a serious subject, watch this version of the trailer re-dubbed to the tune of Kill Bill's "Battle Without Honor or Humanity".
If you believe the news media though, the most earth-shattering event that has occured was Britney Spears getting married in Las Vegas and then having it annuled 55 hours later. People close to them claim that Britney was of sound mind and body when they got married. Well, we know at least half of that statement is right. But eventually, it was the realization of what they were getting into that was the end of it and soon enough, it would be described as a joke. So they weren't prepared? Let's see, they limo to the chapel, are denied for not having a marriage license, go to the courthouse and get the license, and then go back to get married. Seems to me they thought it through. The big loser? The brief husband, Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeld?), who did not have the presence of mind to sign some pre-nup to cover him for the rest of his life.
Then there's the crazy Ohio lady who believed she won the lottery. The jackpot was $168 million and a lady filed a police report saying she lost the winning ticket after she dropped her purse in a store parking lot. The news was so astounding to some that people came to the parking lot in the middle of the night armed with flashlights to try to find it. Meanwhile, the next day, another lady claimed the jackpot after she had the winning ticket and a ticket from the previous week to prove she has used these numbers before. However, the first lady, who admits she has had a questionable past, still believes it is her ticket. We'll see how this goes.
Then there's Mars. After the Europeans failed to land on Mars, NASA one-upped them by landing Spirit on the Mars surface and taking a picture of some rocks. Yep, $400 million well spent. While I wish them luck on their quest for life in a mysterious mud puddle they've landed on, here's hoping an alien pops up, laughs at the primitive technology and throws it across the valley.
Then there's rock, paper, scissors. Now here's a sport destined to follow in the line of wacky things to be seen on ESPN (preceded by the Spelling Bee, the Math Bowl, the Geography Bee, miniature golf, chess, scrabble, among others). The current issue of Rolling Stone features a commentary on the World Rock, Paper, Scissors championship. 320 competitors get whittled down to one for the $5,000 check through best of three contests. What's next...pick a number?
Then there's the presidency. Primary season starts up soon as Democrats eliminate 8 nominees to get 1 guy to face George W. Bush in November. The first caucus, in Iowa, occurs January 19. The front runner is Howard Dean, quickly brushed off just a year ago, but now a contender thanks to his grassroots efforts. Rising though is General Wesley Clark, widely rumored to be a Vice Presidential candidate, but if he's so popular as a V.P., why not go for the big one? And that's exactly what he's done. The frontrunners from a year ago are behind these two: Gephardt, Kerry, and Lieberman. John Edwards needs to win his birth state of South Carolina to have any hope in the race and Sharpton, Braun, and Kucinich hope to have their voice heard. A debate was held yesterday and Kucinich was the noteworthy one with his dazzling array of pie charts a la Perot in 1992. Only problem? It was a radio only debate.
Then there's Mad Cow Disease. People seem to be taking this issue with ease. Even though mad-cow infected beef made its way to Maxim Market in East San Jose and 6 area restaurants, there doesn't seem to be any beef backlash or boycotts. The In and Out Burger I went to was packed. Then again, if you want a place that serves no beef whatsoever, head to Taco Bell.
Then there's Cal. Geez, one semester left and look, I didn't do half-bad last semester. Really, I think it was my best one. Of course, I was distracted by the sports. It seems in college sports, when you have football and basketball, only one is bound to be successful, you can't have both. Sure, there are exceptions but Cal is no exception. As football languished in last place, basketball flew high with a NIT championship and 3 straight NCAA tournament appearances. Now, football is becoming revitalized, highlighted by the Insight Bowl win over Virginia Tech. And what happened? Basketball now sucks. Sure, we can point to the three freshmen starting and the slumps last year's starters are in, but the media and the coaches had high hopes for the team, expectations that are not being met. It hit bottom when Cal lost to Washington State at home, where Cal had lost 5 times in the last three years yet have already lost 3 times this year alone. Washington State is by no means a basketball power, yet, and Cal did lead heading into the final few minutes. Now the team is 5-6 with 16 games to go. Usually, 17 wins are enough to make the tournament, meaning they need to finish 13-5 in the conference, a tough task since last year's stellar team also went 13-5.
Finally, Mitch Hedberg's new CD is out in stores entitled Mitch All Together. $9 at deepdiscountdvd.com. Here are some quick one-liners.
-I like refried beans. That's why I want to try fried beans 'cause maybe they're just as good and we're just wasting time.
-Mr. Pibb is the replica of Dr. Pepper, but it's the B-S replica 'cause the dude didn't even get his degree. Why'd you have to drop out and make pop so soon?
-I went to a doctor and all he did was suck blood out of my neck. So don't go to see Dr. Acula.
-I wanna hang a map of the world in my house and then I'm gonna put pins into all the locations that I've traveled to but first, I'm gonna have to travel to the top two corners of the map so it won't fall down.
-I've got a business card 'cause I wanna win some lunches.
-I bought myself a parrot; the parrot talked but it did not say "I'm hungry" so it died.
The Spring Movie Preview, technically covering most of the winter movies, is coming up next. The one with the most controversy is "The Passion of the Christ" opening on Ash Wednesday, February 25. From Catholic Mel Gibson, it documents the last hours of Jesus before his crucifixion in Jerusalem. Whatever religion you are, this movie is sure to spark discussion. You can search for the real trailer on the web, but for a little comic relief on such a serious subject, watch this version of the trailer re-dubbed to the tune of Kill Bill's "Battle Without Honor or Humanity".
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