http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Wed, 4 Jan 2006 05:18:34 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/01/04/051834.php Eric JamesSo I'm attempting to watch the Fiesta Bowl last night and I'm shocked to see that the game has been letter-boxed for my dissatisfaction. Apparently, we were having heavy rain with a little bit of hail. For those of you not familiar with Atlanta, this was a crisis of Katrina-like proportions, or at least you would get that impression if you tried to watch the first half of the Ohio State and Notre Dame game.WSB decided to run a two-inch blocker (so people with flat screen televisions like me couldn't block it out). On top of that they placed a colored key code so you could look at the map they placed in the lefthand corner, right under their logo, to see that it was raining. Occasionally, a thick red line would scroll across, repeating the same tired information that indicated that pretty much their entire broadcast area was under a heavy thunderstorm warning and that tornado watches had been issued. If this wasn't enough, they decided to run a five-inch blocker bar down the lefthand side in their station's logo colors. They also felt the need to tell me it was WSB, as if the ABC circle on the right hand side wasn't specific enough.A tornado watch means there has been no tornado spotted, but a watch was issued due to the weather conditions, and since heavy thunderstorms are rather noticeable, they decided to take away almost 20 percent of the screen to say that there was no tornado in the Atlanta area and there were areas of heavy rain. For some reason they thought I wouldn't notice this by looking outside my window, and even sounded a horn occasionally to draw my attention to the crawl on the bottom the screen that repeated the same information for two hours.I could normally just chalk this up to the fact that this weather team is overly excitable because in Atlanta heavy rain is considered an emergency and they were probably salivating over the idea of actually having a tornado to cover. The truly offensive thing, however, is they would stop running the needless letter-boxing during commercials. Not only that, they would wait for the commercial break to end so they could minimize the screen and talk over the coverage.Now I’m all for weathermen giving us information that can save our lives, but this guy didn’t even have up-to-date news. He came on just after the ND fumble recovery in the first half to tell us “Heavy hail had been reported in Lilburn and that there was a small circular motion to a storm system." But of course, by the time they told us that (again waiting for the game to break in), it was several minutes old and something we really didn't need to know.The reasons for this wholly offensive, blatant disregard for a major bowl game were two: Ad revenues and because the second-string reporter (the main guys all had the night off) wanted to get some good clips for his reel.Mike Dreadan of WSB told me it’s station policy: "During a watch, this information is on screen during programming, but not during commercials."As if television “news” hadn’t sold its soul enough, a watch isn’t important to issue ad buy rebates, but it is important enough to ignore the content ABC doesn’t pay WSB to air.So after getting really, really angry, I sent a rather insulting letter at 6:10, about midway through the second quarter. At 7:10, during halftime, this is the response I got back.“TOO BAD NOBODY DIED, OR YOU WOULD HAVE A GUILTY CONSCIENCE...JERK “ It was probably just some college intern, but I think it speaks volume for the station as a whole. They don't care about the people watching their progams, just so long as they don't flip the channel during the commercials.In an apology email Dreadan sent me today, he pretty much summed up the station’s policy this way: We don’t want to cover any of the action so let's just make the screen as small as possible and run our cut-in during the game as briefly as possible because we don’t want to return any ad revenue.I realize that broadcast networks give away their program free over the airwaves and they have to pay the bills somehow, but polices like this make the ads more important than the program itself. I don’t have cable right now and I only get the nine channels I can pick up through the air. That said, the only reason I watch ABC is for Lost, because even with limited choices it still isn't worth watching. Sports41794@blogcritics.org Wed, 4 Jan 2006 05:18:34 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/01/02/120656.php Eric JamesIt’s a brilliant moment of courage and insanity when Don Quixote mounts his tired steed and charges into what his fevered mind believes is the maw of a dragon. In reality it’s an old man in burnished armor charging a windmill, but in his mind it was a dragon, and it takes uncommon courage to do so.I’ve always loved underdogs. My very first hero was Alan Kulwicki, a slightly odd ball engineer from Wisconsin who decided he could win championships in NASCAR as an owner/driver. He was the first to do it in almost 50 years and he is the only one to do it in the 13 years since.There are people who say damned the odds, I can do it, watch me. Right now Robby Gordon is attempting the very same thing.Gordon, the only competitive owner driver in NASCAR, is right now racing in the Dakar rally raid. The 16-day event races from Portugal to Senegal on the African coast. It is the longest, most grueling automotive endurance race in the world. An American has never won it and very few have finished it.Until last year no American had even won a stage of the Dakar. Robby Gordon changed that, winning two stages as the rabbit for the Red Bull Volkswagen team. The powerhouse Volkswagen team invited Robby back again this year, but he turned them down. He didn’t get a better offer, or figure that his chances were better with another established team. No, Robby decided to build his own.No American team has ever done well in Dakar -- I don’t know if any have even finished. It seems like such a stupid move. Why go and put all that pressure and stress on your shoulders when you’re coming of a very rough NASCAR year and really have to perform this year to keep your sponsors?But that’s Robby for you. He’s the sort of guy who say’s, "That’s not a windmill, it’s a dragon. Watch me beat it."He’s with an untested team (his NASCAR team has a horrible reliability factor) driving a Hummer H3, which has never been entered in this kind of competition before. He doesn’t have teammates to scout the course for him, or help him if case of mechanical problems. He doesn’t have a lot of things, but after the first stage in Africa he’s only about four minutes out of the lead and sits in eight place overall.The scary thing is the first segments were really designed for much smaller cars then the H3 and he’s only four minutes back. The man runs the Baja 1000 and won the Baja 500 last year. If Robby can keep running without any major crashes or mechanical problems he stands a good chance of winning this as they run deeper into the desert.If he wins it will be an upset of galactic proportions. It would be akin to the America winning the World Cup or Jamaica winning the bobsled competition -- it just shouldn’t happen, but it might.You can follow Robby Gordon’s progress on his own site RobbyGordon.com, or at Dakar.com and apparently the Outdoor Life Network is doing reports, but since I don’t have cable I really don’t know.Godspeed, Robby. Sports41710@blogcritics.org Mon, 2 Jan 2006 12:06:56 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/12/17/134521.php Eric JamesMaybe once I’m published I’ll get really ripped and get to carry around a drum-fed Tommy gun like Adrian Brody in Peter Jackson’s King Kong.Really it’s fitting that the hero in Jackson’s epic re-make is a writer because it is his staff of writers and sense of story telling that sets the hobbit-like director apart from the other big-film directors. Star Wars and War of the Worlds both had massive budgets and nifty special effects, but they were both lacking story.Jackson’s Kong isn’t just a remake for the sake of showing off the latest special effects, but rather recasting a touchstone, epic picture in a new light. Jackson’s flick is full of heart, adventure and love.The action sequences in this film are phenomenal. As movie goers, we are used to action scenes being a certain length, or accomplishing a certain goal and then ending. Chases, battles and of course the final moments go on twists and turns, and when you think they’re, over another round takes place.The film is beautiful, and while it drags a little bit in the beginning it’s really worth it’s three plus hours worth of footage.My only real gripe with the film is that the final line uttered by Jack Black, who does a passable job of playing someone other than himself, is unnecessary and remarkably cheesy.Four stars or whatever. Video41153@blogcritics.org Sat, 17 Dec 2005 13:45:21 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/12/07/185947.php Eric JamesRent is the first Broadway-musical-turned-Oscar-hopeful slated for the end of the awards season to hit the theaters this year. Winner of the Pulitzer and a handful of TonysThe cast is primarily the original Broadway ensemble (Tracie Thoms is new as Joanna and Rosario Dawson who did play Mimi on stage, but replaced Daphne Rubin-Vega who was pregnant) only problem that brings is that the actors are nine years older than when the show premiered so Rosario Dawson at 26 is playing teenaged Mimi. That and I didn’t buy Anthony Rapp or Adam Pascal as straight men. Although, as it turns out Adam Pascal is not only married to a woman but has a child as well.The musical is a phenomenal accomplishment that will forever stand as a testament to the dedication and talent of Jonathan Larson. Most “Major” musicals that have become part of America’s cultural lexicon have been written by teams; Rogers and Hammerstine, the Gershwin Brothers, Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. I think people team up because it’s such a daunting task to write a story and put it to music. It’s been my experience that you only get so much talent, and if you’re super good at one thing you tend not to be so good at another. Larson wrote every note of Rent in a year’s time. He had already written a half dozen musicals and the closest he ever got to a hit was tick tick... BOOM. According to urban legend Larson was a gay man who died of AIDS. Actually he was a straight man who is believed to have died as result of complications of Marfam Syndrome before Rent’s opening night. Since watching the show on Saturday night I’ve been thinking a lot about the creative process. Rent makes great business out of living the live Boheme. At one point in the title song Roger and Mark ask themselves why they choose to live this way. It raises the question, is sacrifice important to art?Dee Smith of Twisted Sister relates the story of sitting by the pool behind his million dollar home and trying to write the next teen angst anthem and failing. The result was “Be Cruel to Your School.”Hemmingway and Poe were self destructive alcoholics. Truman Capote and Phillip K. Dick both did a lot of drugs that shortened their lives. Hawthorne lost his mind. J.K. Rowling was dirt poor. Emily Dickinson lived an emotionally unfilled live and Shakespeare was likely a tormented bi-sexual.So many authors that have had great strife in their life went on to create beautiful and lasting works of fiction. Of the three-top sell authors of the last decade Michael Crichton and John Gresham both had six-figure incomes only Stephen King had to struggle, and I think he is the only one of the three that will have some of his work stand the test of 100 years.Last year I ended February with $19 in the bank and $10 in my wallet. I was dirt poor, but I got a lot of work done on my book, possibly the best work done on my book. Going forward is I have this secure corporate job that makes me financially content.I have an opportunity to move to New York where all things creative grow, but I don’t think the timing is right. Am I being making the right decision for my financial future, or the wrong decision for my creative future.The feeling of contentment writing checks as bills come in is so rewarding. I don’t have to live in fear of an $30 overdraft fee anymore. It’s rewarding, but is it too rewarding.My future doesn’t depend on my writing any more and that scares me. When I was waiting tables I knew the only thing that would ever get me out of that was my book, and now my book is second to my job, my nice corporate job with benefits. The question is will my security hurt my creativity. Video40666@blogcritics.org Wed, 7 Dec 2005 18:59:47 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/11/22/184807.php Eric JamesAquariums are supposed to be places for the enlightenment of the community but in Georgia we now have a massive tribute to the ego and elitism of Home Depot founder Bernie Marcus instead.The shrouded in secrecy aquarium in downtown Atlanta is the largest aquarium in the world. Too bad no one in the middle class will ever see it. The museum has recently announced its admission prices and I don't know what's more offensive, that everyone 13 years and up will have to pay $22.75 or that a 3-year-old will have to pay $17.00. For a family of four it comes to $79.50 just to get in the door. Since you won't be allowed to bring in private food if you want to stay longer than 4 hours you'll probably have to eat at the food court featuring $4 cans of soda.It doesn't get any better for season passes either, which cost $55.09 for adults and $43.25 children. By the way your season pass will be "personalized" with your picture in order to prevent you from sending family and friends when they're in town.There's going to be a $7 parking fee, twice that at Underground Atlanta. Bringing a family of four expenses $86.50 before food and heaven forbid a souvenir. I seriously believe that Bernie Marcus conspired to create a playground for the rich. Marcus has called it a gift to the city, that he wanted to pay back the city. It's the largest aquarium and thanks to his rich friends it is debt free. But if it's supposed to be a gift and it's debt free, why does it cost so much just to get in the door?Only two things can explain the astronomical prices for the aquarium; either they over built their mission, or wanted to create a playground for Atlanta's elite.At every turn the aquarium founders could have chosen a more cost effective measure. Why have two whale sharks when all the other large aquarium have just one? Why build an IMAX theater when the city already has four and one is probably only 10 minutes away? Why establish an exclusive relationship with uber-expensive Wolfgang Puck to provide premium concessions and catering? Speaking of Puck why create a higher quality kosher kitchen to cater to a very small minority of Atlanta's population, most of whom don't keep kosher rules anyway? Why create exclusive displays for donors and for whomever can afford the astronomical ballroom rentals? Why do they need to raise another $5 million for a veterinary school and why was it not included in the original plan?Why? Because either they went out of their way to forget that an aquarium is primarily an educational facility or Marcus and his rich beyond belief friends decided they wanted to have a really nice playground where they don't have to deal with people below a certain class.Does anyone think that the price was set without serious demographic research? They priced the city, decided what their operational costs would be and then set the price at the current level in order to attract the same level of clientele that spend $300 for Thrashers tickets and then never watch the game.My friends tend to think that the price will go down in a while. If the museum can meet its operating budget the price isn't going anywhere but up. In five years single ticket prices will probably be $30 for adults and $20 for 3-year-olds and up.I hope this goes down as Atlanta's biggest debacle since the city was torched at the end of the civil war. I hope that the aquarium is emptier than a library on a Saturday night. I hope it hangs like an albatross around the city's neck because it's too damned expensive. Culture39933@blogcritics.org Tue, 22 Nov 2005 18:48:07 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/11/05/134148.php Eric JamesWhat’s a Marine to do in a war dominated by air power?Based on the memoir by the same name Jarhead is an intelligent, moving look at Marines who trained for years to be soldiers only to participate in a war where their talents were not needed.Jarhead documents the journey of Anthony Swofford from recruit to Marine Scout Sniper in Desert Storm. It’s a sort of biopic that drags at times and several scenes tend to drag on, like we all knew his girlfriend was going to leave him, but they spent about 20 minutes of movie show that.Overall it has a feeling of other war movies like Catch-22, Apocalypse Now and Platoon but has a wholly independent feeling. There are some hauntingly powerful scenes and once they actually start marching into Jamie Foxx gives a powerful performance as Staff Sargant Sikes. Peter Sarsgaard continues his part as delivering powerful performances in supporting roles. Also Jake Gyllenhall buffed up and proved he actually can act and not just look pretty, so that was nice for him.Swofford has described his book a pro-war story and the movie reflects that to a certain point. It leaves out parts of Swofford’s book where he said the whole invasion felt like a publicity stunt and that the war was about oil and personal fortunes.It’s a gripping piece and is probably one of Universal’s best bets for Oscar gold. I could easily see nominations for Jake Gyllenhall for lead actor, Peter Sarsgaard for supporting actor, Sam Mendes for direction and possibly best picture nod as well. ed: JH Video39079@blogcritics.org Sat, 5 Nov 2005 13:41:48 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/09/20/105609.php Eric JamesLost has won an Emmy, which can be seen as either a good thing or a bad thing for the science fiction community.Lost is the first show with heavy sci-fi elements to win an Emmy, true to form none of its actors won, but the show itself was recognized. Never before has a show from this genre won a non-technical Emmy. Not the groundbreaking works of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek, not Rod Sterling’s powerfully written Twilight Zone, not even the critically acclaimed X-Files.In a few weeks a host of light sci-fi shows, probably inspired by Lost, will take to the airwaves. Invasion, Threshold and Surface all deal with aliens slowly invading modern-day America and the WB has some cheep sci-fi show planned too. Why should producers and network executives take a chance on a more hard core sci-fi show with it’s massive special effects budgets when shaking trees will win you Emmys for a whole lot less?Battlestar Galactica is a perfect example. Hailed by many critics as one of the best dramas on television and pulling in about 3 million viewers per episode during a horrible Friday night time slot the series still isn’t taken seriously. Monk and The Shield both have smaller or similar audiences and have Emmy wins, but not Galactica.In the end I’m happy that Lost won, but I just don’t think it’s going to open any doors. Video36515@blogcritics.org Tue, 20 Sep 2005 10:56:09 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/09/15/232308.php Eric JamesIn the waning hours of Dragon*Con Peter David told a throng of Star Trek faithful that if not for the unwitting efforts or Majel Barrett Roddenberry one of his most beloved books, Q in Law, would never had made it to press.The comedy based on a relationship between Q and Lwaxana Troi and the ensuing madness of bringing together two of Trek’s oddest characters. The book is known for several outrageous moments, which drew the ire of (Now former) Paramount executive Richard Arnold who was in charge of Star Trek licensing.Arnold had initially approved the book in outline form but balked when the finished novel came across his desk, David said. After several weeks of fighting back and forth about the nature of the book David went to a convention, where he decided to read from the un-publishable book.“I could see that Richard was there in the audience and I went ahead and read part of the book, to great response,” he said. “That generated a memo from Richard that next week that contained two mandates; One, authors may no longer read from unapproved Star Trek books at conventions, and that Q in Law is completely unacceptable in it’s entirety and cannot be published.”Unwilling to the let the project die David brought a galley copy and a cover proof to Barrett at a convention.“I’m on the cover she said, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on a cover,” David said. “I gave her the book and she said that she would read it. She read it all on the flight home.“Monday morning Majel sweeps into Paramount office in full Lwaxana Troi mode just glowing about this new book,” David said. He explained that he didn’t mention the political situation to her.Shortly after her visit a list of “corrections” arrived at David’s door.“Richard sent back a list of things that were unacceptable and without fail he had picked everything that Majel loved, loved about the book,” he said.The book was printed almost exactly how Barrett had read it. Books36266@blogcritics.org Thu, 15 Sep 2005 23:23:08 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/09/09/084659.php Eric JamesRobert Jordan promised to finish up his spiraling epic Wheel of Time in front of several hundred fans at Dragon*Con."I'm committed," Jordan said answering a fan's question. "It's going to be 12 books even if the 12th book is 1,500 pages long. So if you have to bring a luggage cart get ready."Jordan has increasing been taking hits from his readership who are unhappy that 15 years after the first book, The Eye of the World, appeared, the series still has not finished. Although he has taken some criticism from fans throughout the web almost all of the questions were rather softball. The closest thing to confrontational question was a fan who asked about the open-ended nature of the series."It's never been open ended," Jordan said. "I could have written the last scene of the last chapter of the last book back in 1984, sealed it in an envelope, take it out when I finish the last book and the wording might have changed, but nothing else."The release date for Knife of Dreams has been pushed back several times, but Jordan called the October release date for the book "rock solid." He said the 11th book in the series would be about the same length as Winter's Heart.To much applause and a hissing of "yes" throughout the crowd, Jordan announced the current plans for visual adaptations of the series."I think the plan is to do three films, and do the rest of the books a series on the Sci-Fi Channel or HBO," he said.A production company called Red Eagle has bought the rights to Eye of the World, and has attached an initial screenwriter. Jordan said he is waiting to see an outline for the script. This is not the first time a company has tried to film the sprawling epic. Jordan reported that NBC had once obtained the rights to produce a six-hour mini-series but nothing came of it.He also said that the Wheel of Time comic book would continue for the time being.One of the more interesting personal notes that came out of the conference is that Jordan used to be the dungeon master for his son's Dungeons and Dragons campaign. They finally went off and found a new DM because "as far as I'm concerned if the role says you die, you die," he said with complete seriousness. "There is no starting over with the same powers and the same character you had before. If you die, you're dead." Edited: PC Books35798@blogcritics.org Fri, 9 Sep 2005 08:46:59 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/09/06/194848.php Eric JamesWickedly hot Tricia Helfer, who plays wickedly evil Six on Battlestar Galactica, reviled a few spoilers and dropped several hints while at Dragon*Con this week.“We kind of got Six into a box somehow and we’ve been trying to figure out how to get out of it inside the limitations of an ensemble show,” she said. “When your character is in some one else’s head all you find yourself doing is reacting to what goes on in their head. You don’t really have an arc, or a story of your own.”The planned fix is coming in the form of Geena, a “new version of Six with a different look and a different agenda.” Although Helfer didn’t say what this different version was up to, she mentioned several shows upcoming will feature both her characters heavily. Helfer said she doesn’t really know why running about in Gaius Balter’s head.“During the first season I thought I had put a chip in his head,” she said. “The during the second season I thought he was going crazy. Now I just don’t know. She’s been right a few too many times to just be his conscious or something.”Six makes references to God’s plan, but Tricia admitted to having no idea what God’s plan actually is.“I’ve asked Ron (More, executive producer and co-creator) a number of times what is the plan is, because it’s very hard to get the tone right if you don’t know where the whole thing is going,” she said. “He hasn’t told me… so I just have to have faith in Ron that it will all work out in the end.She also hinted about the Cylons that still could be hiding among the fleet.“I know who one is, and I don’t think you’ve seen them on screen yet,” she said. (Note: I don’t know if meant the designation or the quantity.) “But yes, everyone you’ve seen on screen so far could be a Cylon.”Sadly, Helfer also confirmed the rumored plans for the show.“The Sci-Fi Channel has ordered 20 episodes, and we’re on number 12 now,” she said when asked about a possible season three. “I think the plan is to air 10 this summer and then 10 more starting in January, and that would be a third season.”So what that means is despite being Sci-Fi’s highest rated show ever Galactica still can’t get a full season ordered. In fact the second and third seasons would be 10 episodes each, shorter the first season’s 13 episodes. Video35597@blogcritics.org Tue, 6 Sep 2005 19:48:48 EDT