The Couch Potato Report - December 13th, 2005
This week The Couch Potato Report features one of the best, and one of the worst films of the year.
It has been said that laughter is the best medicine.
I put that theory to the test one week in late August when I was in need of some hilarity.
Luckily I wasn't disappointed, and I felt better after one dose, but I went back for two more.
The medicine I took was a movie called THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN.
Steve Carell from ANCHORMAN and BRUCE ALMIGHTY is THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN.
The plot of the film is exactly what the titles suggests, it's about how a 40-year-old virgin named Andy looks for love.
Not just sex, but love.
Along the way Andy discovers chest waxing, speed dating, and he is encouraged by his friends and co-workers.
THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN is incredibly funny, all of the main and supporting characters are personable and interesting, and the dialogue is always entertaining, and sometimes insightful.
When I needed to laugh, this movie made me laugh, and every time I have watched it since, I still laugh just as hard.
I don't think you can ask for more from a comedy than that.
THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN is one of my favourite films of the year.
On the other hand is THE ISLAND.
I wouldn't call THE ISLAND the worst film of 2005, but it is definitely close.
In the film Ewan McGregor from BIG FISH and Scarlett Johansson of LOST IN TRANSLATION star as clones.
They are residents of what they perceive to be a utopian facility sometime in the mid 21st century.
Every resident of this carefully controlled environment hope that they are chosen to go to the "The Island" - reportedly the last uncontaminated location on the planet.
But soon McGregor's character finds out that he, and everyone else in the facility are clones.
After that, the film's interesting premise is thrown aside and THE ISLAND becomes a run and hide, explosion and chase film.
That isn't too big of a surprise as the movie was directed by Michael Bay, the man responsible for the less-than-subtle films ARMAGEDDON and PEARL HARBOUR.
McGregor and Johansson are both talented, personable actors with great physical appeal, but they are wasted in THE ISLAND and if you watch the movie your time will be wasted as well.
To recap, I think THE ISLAND is a waste of your time.
Some other people think that sitting and watching TV is the ultimate waste of time.
For others - like me - watching TV is an enjoyable way to relax and be entertained.
When I was in high school I used to relax and be entertained by MIAMI VICE. Soon after I completed my education, THE SIMPSONS became a staple of my daily and weekly TV watching.
Now, there are new box sets available for both shows!
MIAMI VICE: SEASON TWO and THE SIMPSONS: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON.
The former continues to follow the adventures of the vice squad detectives of the Miami Police Department; specifically the adventures of Crockett and Tubbs.
The 3-disc set for SEASON TWO features the 22 episodes of the 1985-86 season and begins with "Prodigal Son," a two-hour episode that transplants Crockett and Tubbs to New York.
Along the way are guest stars Peter Allen, Gene Simmons, Pam Grier, Phil Collins, Bruce McGill, David Strathairn, Little Richard, Bob Balaban, and G. Gordon Liddy.
MIAMI VICE is a TV show that is a product of the 80s, and many of the episodes reflect the period so effectively that at times it does seem a bit dated.
But that is also a part of its charm. I enjoyed MIAMI VICE in the 80s and I still recommend MIAMI VICE now because it remains a great show and a great waste of time.
MIAMI VICE ran from 1984 to 1989 and the year it went off the air was the same year THE SIMPSONS debuted.
THE SIMPSONS: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON contains all 25 original episodes, and another incredible array of commentaries, deleted scenes and extras.
Some of the episodes in the season include the answer to "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", the Radioactive Man movie, Bart selling his soul for five dollars, "Lisa the Vegetarian", featuring Paul and the late Linda McCartney, "King-Size Homer", Sideshow Bob returns, former President George Bush moves next door, "Homerpalooza", and "The Treehouse of Horror' special features Homer in 3-D.
My favourite is "The Simpsons 138th Show Spectacular', hosted by Troy McClure - who is voiced by the late, great Phil Hartman.
THE SIMPSONS is still airing new episodes, and will be back next year for it's eighteenth season, but it is the episodes in the seasons that are already available on DVD that make it worth watching, owning, and laughing at.
And even if watching TV is a waste of time, remember laughter is the best medicine.
THE SIMPSONS: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON, MIAMI VICE: SEASON TWO, THE ISLAND and THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN are all now available at a store near you.
Coming up in three weeks on the next Couch Potato Report
Bill Murray stars as a man who travels across the country to find his son in BROKEN FLOWERS, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are WEDDING CRASHERS, and the TV show FIREFLY becomes the movie SERENITY.
Also on the next Report, Jennifer Connelly's talent and beauty can't save DARK WATER and Jessica Alba only has her beauty on display in INTO THE BLUE.
And then there is the documentary GRIZZLY MAN about two grizzly bear activists who were killed in October of 2003 while living among grizzlies in Alaska.
I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in twenty-one days.
For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS, Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!
Bateman, Ostriches Set for 'Scrubs' Appearances
Completing a "trade" that began more than eight months ago with Zach Braff appearing on "Arrested Development," Jason Bateman is set to guest-star on an episode of "Scrubs" later this season.
Along with a handful of ornery ostriches.
Bateman's appearance on the NBC show, which is about to begin its fifth season, has been in the works for some time. "Scrubs" creator Bill Lawrence is an avowed "Arrested Development" fan, and Bateman is friendly with several "Scrubs" writers. Schedule conflicts, however, meant that he wasn't able to do a guest spot last season.
The plan then called for Bateman to work on an episode shot earlier this fall, but his scenes had to be delayed after he had surgery to remove a benign polyp from his throat (production on "Arrested" also stopped while he recuperated). The "Scrubs" crew shot the rest of the episode and will film Bateman's scenes in January, Lawrence says. Provided Braff is over his ostrich-induced trauma by then.
About the birds: In the episode, Braff's J.D. is miffed that a patient (Bateman) whom he worked hard to treat didn't offer so much as a thank you. J.D. and Turk (Donald Faison) decide to track him down and extract a word of gratitude from him. What ensues "will be a sign of how weird the show has gotten on some level," Lawrence says.
"So we go by his house, and he has a sign on his gate that says 'Beware of birds.' And when we go into his gated property, we see about 10 ostriches," Braff says, laughing.
"He's a domestic ostrich farmer," Lawrence adds. Braff, still laughing, picks up the thread: "He's got 10 domestic ostriches, and they surround us. One of him puts his hoof, or whatever you call it, on the gate and locks it. And they surround us and beat the hell out of us."
Lawrence: "By the way, on a real note, if you're ever doing a TV show or movie, ostriches are the scariest animals on earth. They kick with the power of a horse [but] with a claw on the end" of their feet."
"So Bill thought it would be funny to place me in a gated area with 12 of them," Braff says. "Anyway, to make a long story short, the ostriches beat the hell out of us and hurl me through a plate-glass window into his home, where we find Jason Bateman, who's the keeper of them. And he's a pretty crazy guy."
An airdate for Bateman's "Scrubs" episode hasn't been scheduled yet. The show returns to NBC Tuesday, Jan. 3.
NEW CD RELEASES FOR DECEMBER 13, 2005
Anti-Social Music (members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Hold Steady and more) Sings the Great American Songbook (Peacock)
Beck Guerolito (remixes of all songs from "Guero"; w/the Beastie Boys' Ad Rock, Boards of Canada, the Dust Brothers' John King and more) (Interscope)
Bo Bice (from 2005 American Idol) The Real Thing (DualDisc same day; w/Nickelback's Chad Kroeger, Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora and ex-Evanescense guitarist Ben Moody) (RCA)
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan Ramblin' Man EP (V2)
Coheed & Cambria Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV: Volume 1. From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness (CD/DVD combo; Special Edition) (Columbia)
Disturbing tha Peace Ludacris Presents (limited-edition CD/DVD combo available same day) (Def Jam)
Flipsyde We the People (Interscope)
James Friedman Go Commando! (mix CD w/tracks by the Rapture, Bloc Party and more) (Defend)
Jaheim Ghetto Classics (Warner Bros.)
Josie Mel Rasta Still De ‘Bout (Minor7Flat5)
Lamb of God Killadelphia (CD/DVD combo) (Epic)
Dave Matthews Band The Complete Weekend on the Rocks (eight CDs/DVD; live album from September 2005 shows at Red Rocks) (RCA)
Slim Thug Already Platinum (Chopped and Screwed) (Geffen)
Tyra Introducing (Universal)
Youngbloodz Ev'rybody Know Me (w/Lil Jon, Young Buck, TLC's T-Boz and more) (LaFace/Zomba)
VA Draft Radio Volume One (two CDs; mixed by the X-Ecutioners' Total Eclipse and Bad Seed) (Draft)
VA Snoop Dogg Presents: Welcome to tha Chuuch - Tha Album (Koch)
OST Aeon Flux (score by Graeme Revell) (Varése Sarabande)
OST King Kong (Peter Jackson remake w/Naomi Watts and Jack Black) (Decca)
OST Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - the Complete Recordings (four CDs; w/new artwork, packaging and extensive liner notes) (Reprise)
OST The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (two-CD special edition available same day; live-action adaptation of C.S. Lewis classic; w/songs from Alanis Morrissette, Tim Finn and Imogen Heap plus original score by Harry Gregson-Williams) (Disney)
OST Water (score by Mychael Danna) (Varèse Sarabande)
DVD Bow Wow/Omarion Scream Tour IV: Hearthrobs Live (Columbia)
DVD Erasure The Show - Live in Cologne (Mute)
"Kong" Crowned by AFI
King Kong has crashed award-show season.
The great ape's outsized new movie--that would be King Kong--towered above the competition as the American Film Institute on Sunday unveiled its year-end picks for Movies of the Year.
Because the AFI doesn't play favorites among its favorites, Kong only towered above the likes of action-figure collector Andy Stitzer because he's taller. But as far as the institute is concerned, King Kong and The 40-Year-Old Virgin are created equal, and are equally good.
Even more than the critics awards unveiled in the last few days, the AFI's take on what made for great cinema in 2005 ran the gamut of proven crowd-pleasers (40-Year-Old Virgin) and expected crowd-pleasers (the as-yet unreleased Kong) to quiet art-house fare (the divorce drama The Squid and the Whale).
The list also includes the quickly established usual suspects: Brokeback Mountain; Good Night, and Good Luck; Capote; and A History of Violence.
Brokeback, the gay cowboy western, won Best Picture honors from the Los Angeles and New York critics. Good Night, George Clooney's docudrama about CBS Newsman Edward R. Murrow during the McCarthy Era, claimed the Best Film title from the National Board of Review. Capote has earned multiple kudos for its star (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and its screenplay. A History of Violence has William Hurt in Oscar play with Supporting Actor kudos from the L.A. and New York critics.
Rounding out the AFI's Movies of the Year selections: Crash, the Oprah Winfrey-boostered look at extreme racial tensions in Los Angeles; Munich, Steven Spielberg's upcoming take on the birth of modern terrorism at the 1972 Summer Olympics; and, Syriana, the political thriller starring Good Night director Clooney.
All but Kong and Munich are currently in theaters. Kong tries to tramp into Titanic territory starting Wednesday; Munich opens Christmas Day.
The film picks were voted on by a 13-member panel of filmmakers, critics, historians and the guy who directed all the Austin Powers movies.
Forever fond of lists, AFI empowered a second jury panel to compile a list of the year's 10 best TV shows. Among the atypical award winners: Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica; UPN's Veronica Mars; and, Showtime's Sleeper Cell.
Ensuring that no Oscar aspirant will want for a free chicken meal between now and March, AFI will fete its honorees at Jan. 13 luncheon in Los Angeles.
Here's a complete look at the group's official selections for Movies of the Year (listed alphabetically):
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Good Night, and Good Luck
A History of Violence
King Kong
Munich
The Squid and the Whale
Syriana
And here are AFI's official selections for TV Programs of the Year (listed alphabetically):
24
Battlestar Galactica
Deadwood
Grey's Anatomy
House
Lost
Rescue Me
Sleeper Cell
Sometimes in April
Veronica Mars
DreamWorks Sale Highlights Studio Obstacles
LOS ANGELES - Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen tried to harness their collective star power in 1994 to do what hadn't been done in more than 70 years — start a Hollywood studio from scratch. They called it DreamWorks SKG, the letters standing for the last names of the founders.
Sunday, DreamWorks ended its 11-year run as an independent company by agreeing to be sold to Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc., in a deal valued at $1.6 billion. The sale highlights the enormous, perhaps insurmountable, challenges facing an independent company with hopes of competing against massive media conglomerates.
"It's very hard for anyone to enter the business from the ground up," said Harold Vogel, author of the book "Entertainment Industry Economics."
"It's not the talent of the individuals. They were superb, they had a brilliant idea, they had connections. But the costs of running the business ran much faster than they expected."
DreamWorks accomplished much in its short life, including winning several Academy Awards, producing a hit TV series and making the most successful animated movie in history.
The company, under Geffen and Spielberg, will continue to make films that will be distributed by Paramount.
DreamWorks Animation SKG, under the leadership of Katzenberg, was spun off into a public company last year and is not included in the Paramount deal, although it will distribute its films through Paramount.
DreamWorks had grand plans to become a major player in music, film, television, video games and the Internet. But over the years, it scrapped plans to build a high-tech studio lot in Los Angeles, sold DreamWorks Records to Universal Music Group and curtailed its TV production.
"When Steven, Jeffrey and I started the company and had to put an entire infrastructure together from day one, we had hoped to be able to make enough films to rationalize the cost of being our own distributor," Geffen said Sunday.
"Sadly, we were never able to make enough films to make that economically sound."
Distributing is a fixed cost that runs into the tens of millions of dollars for a staff that can sell films to theaters in the U.S. and abroad.
A handful of independent film companies still remain, including the Canadian company Lion's Gate Films.
Lion's Gate has been able to build a substantial library of films, in part through acquisitions. An extensive film library from which to sell pictures on DVD and to cable and television is key to producing the kind of cash that can reduce the risks of box office flops.
"Library values are like real estate in Southern California — they generally go up every year," said David Miller, an analyst at brokerage firm Sanders Morris Harris.
DreamWorks was able to build a library of only 59 live-action film titles. Ownership of the more lucrative animated films was transferred to DreamWorks Animation.
A number of production companies make films but distribute them through third parties. Those companies include Pixar Animation Studios, which produces one film a year and distributes through The Walt Disney Co. Revolution Studios, which made such movies as "The Fog" and "Rent," distributes its movies through Sony Pictures.
One company trying to succeed where DreamWorks failed is The Weinstein Co., formed by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein.
The brothers formed Miramax in 1979 and sold it to Disney in 1993. Earlier this year, they left Disney to form their own company after disagreements with Disney's management.
The pair left behind their library of around 800 films and, like DreamWorks, is starting from scratch to make and acquire films and build their own distribution network.
The Weinstein Co. does have the right to make sequels of some of its Dimension films, including "Sin City" and "Scary Movie." And it just entered a joint venture to distribute its own DVDs, which will save it potentially millions of dollars in fees over the years.
The Weinstein Co. has raised about $500 million in cash and an equal amount in debt financing. That might not be enough. Vogel says a minimum of $2 billion is needed to comfortably finance both the production of a full film slate and distribution.
"The barriers to entry are high, which is why guys like the Weinsteins and anyone else who wants to go out and start this has to find external financing," Miller said.
"The risk remains very high that businesses like this will crash and burn," he said.
Prince Signs Deal to Release New Album
NEW YORK - Prince, who has put out most of his music on his own record label over the past decade, is aligning himself with a major label once again. The 47-year-old superstar has signed a deal with Universal Records to release his upcoming album, "3121," early next year. A press conference was scheduled Tuesday in Los Angeles.
Prince had a similar deal with Columbia Records in 2003; that label distributed his acclaimed comeback album, "Musicology," for NPG Records, Prince's label.
Also Tuesday, VH1 and its affiliated networks, including Tempo and VH1 Soul, are scheduled to premiere the singer's new video, "Te Amo Corazon (I Love You Sweetheart)," directed by Salma Hayek.
"Salma heard the song and came up with the original concept," Prince said of the actress in a statement. "Salma is the most thoughtful, attentive director I have ever worked with. An absolute joy."
VH1 will also make the song available on its Vspot broadband channel and VH1 Mobile.
'Brokeback Mountain' Leads Globe Pack
NEW YORK - Wildly varying films have received kudos from critics during this busy awards season, from biopics about Johnny Cash and Truman Capote to classic stories about romance and a royal ape.
But one appears to be riding to the front of the pack heading into Tuesday's Golden Globe nominations: "Brokeback Mountain."
The story of cowboys who fall into forbidden love in Wyoming has been named the year's best picture in recent days by critics groups in New York, Los Angeles and Boston; its director, Ang Lee, has received top honors from all three and from the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.
One of the film's stars, Heath Ledger, won the best-actor award Monday from the New York Film Critics Circle, and his co-star, Jake Gyllenhaal, was named best supporting actor by the National Board of Review. "Brokeback Mountain" also appears on the American Film Institute's list of the top 10 movies of the year.
Tom O'Neil, a columnist for the awards Web site theenvelope.com, said "Brokeback Mountain" is one of only two shoo-in nominees for best drama at the Golden Globes, scheduled for Jan. 16; "Good Night, and Good Luck," about Edward R. Murrow's battles with Sen. Joseph McCarthy, is the other. The film from director George Clooney received the best-picture award Monday from the National Board of Review, which described it as "extraordinary."
"There is a curious consensus building behind `Brokeback Mountain,'" O'Neil said. "At the same time, we're seeing previous front-runners like `Munich' and '(Memoirs of a) Geisha' fall behind. Neither film has gotten the enthusiastic support of film critics, which is a crucial element behind a best-picture rival."
"Brokeback" also has all the key ingredients needed for a best-picture Oscar nominee, O'Neil said — and the Golden Globes increasingly have been a predictor for Academy Awards success in recent years.
"It is epic, it's a wide-screen, big-canvas movie. Oscar voters frequently confuse best picture with big picture. This is big in its ideas, in its cinematic range, in its landscape views of Wyoming in the '60s," he said. "It feels important — it's making a social statement about something that's becoming more acceptable in America but is still slightly dangerous."
Similarly, the fact that Lee has received so much praise could bode well for him. The veteran Taiwanese helmer lost the best-picture and best-director Oscars for his 2000 martial arts epic "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," though the movie did win for best foreign-language film, and Lee won a Golden Globe from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for best director.
"There is a feeling that this is a director who is overdue for his laurels," O'Neil said.
Beyond "Brokeback" and "Good Night," about six other movies could sneak into the best drama category, he predicted. One of them is "Capote," which has earned Philip Seymour Hoffman rave reviews and best-actor honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review, the Boston Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Online.
O'Neil said "King Kong," Peter Jackson's epic remake and one of the year's most anticipated films, probably won't get a Globe nod, but it should be a best-picture nominee at the Oscars.
In the musical or comedy category at the Golden Globes, "Walk the Line" is a likely contender. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Cash, but Reese Witherspoon runs away with the movie as his on- and off-stage partner, June Carter Cash. The performance has earned Witherspoon best-actress awards from reviewers in New York and Boston.
"Even in the Hollywood, commercial, popcorn genre she's worked in, she has extraordinary respect from a cross-section of critics here," said Gene Seymour, film critic for Newsday and president of the New York Film Critics Circle. "She's very, very engaged in her character — she really knows what to do in front of a camera, always. She has an amazing capacity to connect with people."
Other possible nominees, O'Neil said, include "Pride and Prejudice," "Casanova" (which also stars Ledger), "Mrs. Henderson Presents" and "The Squid and the Whale," a dark comedy about divorce which has earned writer-director Noah Baumbach top screenplay honors from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics Circle. The New York Film Critics Online named "Squid" the year's best movie.
"There were a lot of quality films and I think you're seeing it in all different genres," said Annie Schulhof, National Board of Review president. "If you're in the mood for a biopic, go see `Capote,' go see `Good Night, and Good Luck.' If you're in the mood for a political thriller, you have `Syriana.'"