The Couch Potato Report - November 10th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a film that might make you proud of Canada's health system, and my so-called life.
I have six new releases to tell you about this week,… so let me jump right into it with the main release this week, the Hot Potato if you will, Michael Moore's SICKO
A film that might actually make you feel good about the health care system in this country, even if you are still on a waiting list.
SICKO is a the latest documentary film by the man who gave us FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, and in this one Moore that investigates the American health care system.
Specifically, he rips apart the for-profit health insurance and pharmaceutical industries and compares the non-universal and for-profit American system with the universal and non-profit systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba.
And even if our country doesn't come off as well as any of the rest of those, and even if you are on a waiting list, we are still better off than the Americans portrayed in this film.
The next time you feel like the Canadian medical system is letting you down...watch this film!
SICKO is not a perfect documentary, mainly because Moore never gives the American companies or doctors the right to defend themselves.
Instead, he just focusses on the systems in those other countries, and how great they are.
What the movie is, is sad, inspiring and heartbreaking. No matter what your health, or your position on any waiting lists, you will be surprised by what you see.
And I mean that in both a good and bad way.
SICKO is a film I highly recommend, as it will definitely get you thinking.
Another movie that will make you use your brain is the foreign film THE BOTHERSOME MAN from Norway.
This is one weird flick!!
This movie starts out with a man waiting for a train while a couple kiss pationately at the other end of the platform.
As the train arrives, the man steps in front of it.
Fade to black...title sequence...and a bus arrives in a desert with nothing there except a gas station and some power lines.
We learn the man's name is Andreas, and as he is driven to a nearby city we find out - as he does - that he has arrived with no memory of how he got there.
He is then given a job, an apartment, even a girlfriend...a girlfriend who doesn't seem to mind when he meets a different woman he likes better.
Eventually he makes an attempt to escape the city, but he discovers there's no way out...and your thoughts on where - exactly - he is will depend on a wide array of things.
Your upbringing, your religious beliefs, your own moral code! They will all play a part in how yoy decide where this BOTHERSOME MAN is.
My thoughts? Get THE BOTHERSOME MAN into your DVD player as soon as you can, and enjoy the mind games it plays with you.
Oh, and watch it with a friend, so you can discuss it afterwards.
Our next release this week is one that you might not want to invite a friend over to watch...or even watch it by yourself.
That release is I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY, a film that features Kevin James from the TV show KING OF QUEENS as Larry, a Brooklyn firefighter whose wife died three years ago and left him to raise their two children alone.
In order for his kids to be protected in the event of his death, he needs to get married so he will have a beneficiary in his will.
So he asks his best friend in the fire department, the very heterosexual Chuck, played by Adam Sandler.
Eventually Chuck agrees, and the problems begin when the state decides to investigate their situation.
Jessica Biel plays a lawyer who gives them some advice.
The two men do get married, and then the comedy ensures...or the filmmakers wish it would.
I admit that I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY has some good intentions, but most of the jokes fall flat.
The first part of the film is entertaining, fun and funny.
The second part is just awful and just a tad too preachy.
I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY isn't the worst film you'll ever see, it isn't even Sandler's worst film, but it is only worth you rtime if there is nothing else you feel like seeing.
I have a couple of TV Shows On DVD Box Sets to tell you about now, and I will get right to them with the beloved - by some - nineties TV series MY SO CALLED LIFE.
This show is making it's debut on DVD and many people are very excited about that. Me? Well, let me use a clip from the show itself that says everything I am thinking right now.
MY SO CALLED LIFE stars Clare Danes from ROMEO & JULIET and SHOPGIRL as a 14-year-old girl who is trying to get through life at home, at school and with her first love.
In the show, we share her ups and downs, as we go through her transitions, and if you relate to this show, I am sure it is one of your all-time favourites.
Personally, I watched a few episodes of this show when it ran from August of 1994 to January of 1995, and when it was cancelled after only 19 episodes, I didn't mind.
And when Entertainment Weekly magazine hailed it as "the greatest cancelled television series of all time." I didn't understand why.
For me "Why" is simple, while the writing, acting and stories are all relateable to anyone who ever went to High School, but it just didn't hold my interest.
If this is your favourite show of all-time, or you are a teenager going through High School right now, or you know someone who is, maybe this is a box set for them.
It isn't one for me.
But our next release this week is a show for me: That release is THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON of the SCRUBS.
SCRUBS is the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning comedy about the professional and personal lives of several characters working at a teaching hospital.
It is one of my all-time favourite shows on TV because it features slapstick, fast-paced dialogue, and surreal moments, and this season there was even a musical.
Even though THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON of SCRUBS isn't as good as seasons one through five, I still enjoyed it, although I wouldn't recommend you start with SEASON SIX...go back to the beginning.
And after you and your kids enjoy RATATOUILLE - the latest animated film from PIXAR that is now on DVD - I also suggest you go back to the beginning of Pixar itself with THE PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION - VOLUME 1.
This exceptionally entertaining and interesting disc gives us a look at how the studio got it's start.
The DVD is a 54 minute look at a studio that changed how you and I get to see animated films today and their evolution is very interesting.
Plus, THE PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION also features all of the short films that have played in theatres before TOY STORY, FINDING NEMO, THE INCREDIBLES, and the aforementioned RATATOUILLE.
This disc is a keeper!!
The very entertaining PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION - VOLUME 1, the not as good as the previous seasons COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON of the TV show SCRUBS, the beloved - just not by me - TV show MY SO CALLED LIFE, Adam Sandler's mildly funny I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY, the superb foreign film THE BOTHERSOME MAN and the surprisingly effective Michael Moore documentary SICKO are all available now on DVD.
Enjoy!!
HBO Books 'Extras' Finale
HBO has a little pre-Christmas present for fans of its show "Extras": The final episode of the series.
As they did with their version of "The Office," Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are sending "Extras" out with a special episode titled "The Extra Special Series Finale." The 80-minute special, which checks back in with background actor-turned-sitcom star Andy Millman (Gervais), is scheduled to air Sunday, Dec. 16.
He's found success on a widely viewed but critically savaged sitcom, but Andy still finds he wants something more -- respect. His quest to be taken seriously leads him to take "drastic measures that will turn his life upside down."
Gervais Plans 'Extras'-Special Conclusion
Fellow regulars Merchant, Ashley Jensen and Shaun Williamson (Barry off "EastEnders") will be back for the finale, along with a host of guest stars. Among the famous faces appearing in the special are Clive Owen ("Elizabeth: The Golden Age"), David Tennant ("Doctor Who"), George Michael and TV chef Gordon Ramsay.
Gervais hardly lacks for respect in real life. He won the Emmy for outstanding lead actor in a comedy earlier this year, and both "Extras" and "The Office" have won numerous awards in the U.K.
`Bourne' earns 3 People Choice Nods
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - "The Bourne Ultimatum" was among leading nominees for the 34th annual People's Choice Awards, organizers said Thursday.
The spy thriller was nominated for favorite movie, favorite action movie and favorite "threequel." Leading man Matt Damon was nominated for favorite male action star.
He's up against Johnny Depp, who got nods in the male action star and favorite male movie star categories. Jessica Alba scored nominations for favorite leading lady and favorite female action star.
In music, Justin Timberlake earned nominations for favorite male singer and favorite pop song. "Give It to Me," a Timbaland song on which Timberlake is featured, garnered a nod for favorite hip-hop song.
Other multiple nominees included "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and "Transformers."
Winners will be announced Jan. 8 during an awards show broadcast on CBS.
The nominees are:
1. Favorite Movie: The Bourne Ultimatum; Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End; Transformers
2. Favorite Family Movie: Evan Almighty, Ratatouille, Shrek the Third
3. Favorite Action Movie: 300; The Bourne Ultimatum; Transformers
4. Favorite Movie Comedy: Knocked Up; The Simpsons Movie; Wild Hogs
5. Favorite Movie Drama: Disturbia; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Premonition
6. Favorite Threequel: The Bourne Ultimatum; Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End; Spider-Man 3
7. Favorite Independent Movie: Becoming Jane; A Mighty Heart; Sicko
8. Favorite Female Movie Star: Halle Berry; Sandra Bullock; Reese Witherspoon
9. Favorite Leading Lady: Jessica Alba; Drew Barrymore; Queen Latifah
10. Favorite Female Action Star: Jessica Alba; Jodie Foster; Keira Knightley
11. Favorite Male Movie Star: Johnny Depp; Denzel Washington; Bruce Willis
12. Favorite Leading Man: Jamie Foxx; Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson; Joaquin Phoenix
13. Favorite Male Action Star: Matt Damon; Johnny Depp; Bruce Willis
14. Favorite On Screen Match Up: Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker in Rush Hour 3; George Clooney and Brad Pitt in Ocean's Thirteen; Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 3
15. Favorite TV Drama: "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation;" "House;" "Law and Order: SVU"
16. Favorite TV Comedy: "The King of Queens;" "My Name is Earl;" "Two and a Half Men"
17. Favorite Animated TV Comedy: "Family Guy;" "King of the Hill;" "The Simpsons"
18. Favorite Sci-Fi Show: "Battlestar Galactica;" "Doctor Who;" "Stargate Atlantis"
19. Favorite Competition/Reality Show: "American Idol;" "Dancing with the Stars;" "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
20. Favorite Game Show: "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?;" "Deal or No Deal;" "Jeopardy"
21. Favorite Female TV Star: Sally Field; Katherine Heigl; Jennifer Love Hewitt
22. Favorite Male TV Star: Patrick Dempsey; Charlie Sheen; Kiefer Sutherland
23. Favorite Scene Stealing Star: Richard Belzer from "Law & Order: SVU;" Neil Patrick Harris from "How I Met Your Mother;" Chandra Wilson from "Grey's Anatomy"
24. Favorite Funny Female Star: Ellen DeGeneres; Whoopi Goldberg; Wanda Sykes
25. Favorite Funny Male Star: Will Ferrell; Adam Sandler; Robin Williams
26. Favorite Talk Show Host: Ellen DeGeneres; Jay Leno; Oprah Winfrey
27. Favorite Female Singer: Beyonce; Fergie; Gwen Stefani
28. Favorite Male Singer: John Mayer; Tim McGraw; Justin Timberlake
29. Favorite Group: Daughtry; Maroon 5; Rascal Flatts
30. Favorite Rock Song: "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's; "Home" by Daughtry; "Makes Me Wonder" by Maroon 5
31. Favorite R&B Song: "Beautiful Liar" by Beyonce with Shakira; "Because of You" by Ne-Yo; "Shut up and Drive" by Rihanna
32. Favorite Country Song: "I Need You" by Tim McGraw with Faith Hill;
"Never Wanted Nothing More" by Kenny Chesney; "Stand" by Rascal Flatts
33. Favorite Hip-Hop Song: "Give It to Me" by Timbaland feat. Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado; "Party Like a Rock Star" by Shop Boyz; "Stronger" by Kanye West
34. Favorite Pop Song: "Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie; "Irreplaceable" by Beyonce; "What Goes Around...Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake
35. Favorite Song from a Soundtrack: "Read My Mind" by The Killers from "Friday Night Lights;" "What I've Done" by Linkin Park from Transformers; "You Can't Stop the Beat" by the Cast of Hairspray from Hairspray
36. Favorite Reunion Tour: Genesis; The Police; Van Halen
37. Favorite New TV Comedy: Aliens in America; Back to You; The Big Bang Theory; Carpoolers; Cavemen; Chuck; Reaper; Samantha Who?
38. Favorite New TV Drama: Big Shots; Bionic Woman; Cane; Dirty Sexy Money; Gossip Girl; Journeyman; K-Ville; Life; Life Is Wild; Moonlight; Private Practice; Pushing Daisies; Women's Murder Club
Bees, rats among animated Oscar field
LOS ANGELES - Rats, bees, ogres and penguins are among the stars of the 12 movies competing for the top animation prize at the 80th Academy Awards.
Contenders for the feature-length animation Oscar announced Thursday by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences include the rodent story "Ratatouille," the bug tale "Bee Movie," the ogre sequel "Shrek the Third" and the penguin comedy "Surf's Up."
Also in the running are "The Simpsons Movie," "Beowulf," "Alvin and the Chipmunks, "Meet the Robinsons," "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters," "TMNT," "Tekkonkinkreet" and "Persepolis."
A committee of academy members will pick three nominees, which will be announced on Jan. 22. The entire academy membership will be eligible to vote on the winner for the Feb. 24 Oscars.