The Couch Potato Report - September 6th, 2008

This week The Couch Potato Report peels a moving Canadian documentary, and an interesting Brazilian film.

I am a huge fan of documentaries! Sure, I enjoy films that come from the unique creativity of screenwriters, and I love comedies, but if given a preference, I will usually choose to spend an evening watching a documentary, because these films inform us about situations we might not hear about - good AND bad - and introduce us to folks we might never get to meet.

So even with all of the huge other releases that I have for you, this week's HOT POTATO is the Canadian documentary THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN.

THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN is a film that may haunt you. journey through the ashrams and streets of Vrindavan, India, the final resting place for many widows, who, essentially, go there to die.

Filmmaker Dilip Mehta's film is sort of follow-up to his older sister Deepa Mehta's WATER - which looked at the plight of widows in India circa 1938.

THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN put real faces on widows similar to those depicted in that Oscar-nominated Canadian film.

And instead of heavy-handed narration, he simply focusses his camera on the women and lets them tell their stories.

Sometimes, they aren't easy to watch, or hear - as the stories are mostly about widows who are abandoned by their families and relatives once their husbands die - but THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN is a great documentary as it will make you feel empathy for the people in it, without being political.

It is not an easy film to watch, but it is one that I think should be seen.

Switching gears completely, up next this week is one of my favourite films of all time! It is not a documentary, and it is not serious in any way...although it is serious fun!!

I am talking about Tim Burton's THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

Originally released in 1992 this stop motion animated film is primarily about Jack, the bored and unhappy "Pumpkin King" of Halloween Town.

He sets out to find something exciting and discovers "Christmas Town", eventually deciding to take over the duties of Santa to deliver toys to children around the world!

Canadian actress Catherine O'Hara - from SCTV and the HOME ALONE films - provides the voice of the movie's female lead, and potential love interest, Sally.

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS is now available in a new 2 DISC COLLECTOR'S EDITION, and even though several o fthe Special features are recyled from previous DVD releses of the film, there are also some all-new features, and the picture has never looked or sounded better.

If you love this film as I do, this new version is a must have.

And if you have never seen it, well as you might guess, I highly recommed this Academy Award nominated film!

It is beautiful to look at and listen to, the story and characters are all unique, and it is just plain fun.

Pick it up, and enjoy!!

If you are a fan of THE LITTLE MERMAID there is a chance that you could enjoy the next release I have for you this week, but I suspect that it is better suited to the child you now live with or know, as opposed to the child who still lives inside of you.

THE LITTLE MERMAID - ARIEL'S BEGINNING is not bad in any way, I actually enjoyed it, but it just doesn't have the magic of the original...a film I enjoy, maybe even more than THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!

THE LITTLE MERMAID - ARIEL'S BEGINNING is actually a prequel to the 1989 film that put Disney's Animation studios back on the map after years of less than stellar films.

In this movie, after the King outlaws music, Ariel and her six sisters live a humdrum existence, while governess Marina Del Ray scemes to take over the Chielf Of Staff position from Sebastian The Crab.

A chance meeting with a fish named Flounder changes everything.

THE LITTLE MERMAID - ARIEL'S BEGINNING is a direct-to-DVD film, and even though it is not as good as the original film, I still enjoyed it as I like the characters.

And I am sure kids, and many of the children inside adults will enjoy it too.

Next up is the 7-DVD Box Set THE WOODY ALLEN COLLECTION

THE WOODY ALLEN COLLECTION features the documentary WILD MAN BLUES about his Jazz Band's European tour, and six of his films, including MIGHTY APHRODITE.

The other movies in the set are DECONSTRUCTING HARRY, CELEBRITY, EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU, SCOOP, and one of my favourite Woody Allen films ever made BULLETS OVER BROADWAY, starring B.C. raised Oscar nominee Jennifer Tilly.

If you don't already own these films, THE WOODY ALLEN COLLECTION is a great way to get them all at once. Great stuff here!!

This week's entry in THE FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD is also great stuff, it is the Brazilian film THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION.

This film takes place in 1970 as two parents are scared and in a hurry to leave their son with his grandfather, but the father promises to return before the Brazilian National Soccer Team's first game in the World Cup.

The parents drop the boy off, and his Grandfather's neighbour tells him that he had a heart attack and died.

The neighbour looks after the kid, and together they exist. They don't necessarily grow or learn from each other...but their lives go on.

THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION has intrigue, politics, sports, friends, love...it almost has it all. Sadly, it is just a few emotional scenes away from perfect, but I still really enjoyed it.

THE YEAR MY PARENTS WENT ON VACATION is this year's second-to-last entry in the FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD and it is available now on DVD, along with the 7-DVD set THE WOODY ALLEN COLLECTION, the enjoyable THE LITTLE MERMAID - ARIEL'S BEGINNING, the superb 2-DISC COLLECTOR'S EDITION of Tim Burton's THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, and the moving Canadian made documentary THE FORGOTTEN (START CLIP HERE) WOMAN.

Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report

THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation of some of the genetically engineered foods that are now on our grocery store shelves, and how they are made.

This film features some Saskatchewan farmers - Marc Loiselle from Vonda, and Bruno's Percy and Louise Schmeiser.

Also next week, the documentary THE WORLD ACCORDING TO MONSANTO; and the FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD concludes with the Russian film POISONED BY POLONIUM: THE LITVINENKO FILE, about ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko.

I'm Dan Reynish. I'll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

For now, that's this week's COUCH POTATO REPORT.

Enjoy the movies and I'll see you back here next time on The Couch!

Prolific studio sessions cause U2 album delay

After predicting earlier this summer that its new album could potentially hit stores next month, Irish rock icons U2 have pushed the release back until 2009.

"We've hit a rich songwriting vein," frontman Bono said in a message posted at the group's website. "It gets a bit dark down here but looks like we've found diamonds not coal. I thought a while back we might have the album wrapped by now, but why come up above ground now if there's more priceless stuff to be found? ... We said to each other that if we got to the great place then we wouldn't stop.

"I'm always the one who underestimates how easy it is to simply 'put out the songs now', if it was just up to me they'd be out already!" he added. "But early next year people will be able to start hearing what we've been doing. We want 2009 to be our year, so we're going to start making an impression very early on."

Fall Out Boy Speaks Its Mind On New Album

"On some level, yes, this is a political record," Fall Out Boy singer/guitarist Patrick Stump tells Billboard of "Folie A Deux," due Nov. 4 via Island. "But it's a political record only insofar as anyone making music and paying attention to what's happening will make a record tinged with politics. You can't ignore it."

The band played at last month's Democratic National Convention in Denver, and is teaming with Rock the Vote until the election in November. At the Convention, Stump says the band kept its official comments nonpartisan, only encouraging people to register and vote. But, he adds, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama "is the most excited I've been about a candidate."

Fall Out Boys members are less forthcoming about the content of "Folie A Deux" -- bassist Pete Wentz says the record contains more "outside perspectives" and "fictionalized accounts" than previous efforts, but he declined to reveal any specifics.

"I'd rather let the listener interpret them," he says. "Every time you think we're talking about a girl, we're not, and every time you think we're not talking about a girl, we are."

Stump says an emphasis on the music was what Fall Out Boy was going for. "I felt frustrated with the last record because my voice was the focal point for many of the songs," he says. "When we were writing this one, we wanted it to be about all the parts coming together to form a whole."

Fall Out Boy will appear in this fall's teen comedy "Sex Drive"; the single "I Don't Care" will be featured in TV and radio ads for the film starting in September and will be used in the film's end credits. After the album is released, the band will team with the creators of the Got Milk? campaign to star in a series of ads called "Milk's Got Noise?"

An extensive tour will have to wait until the second quarter of 2009, as Wentz is expecting his first child with wife Ashlee Simpson.

Sting Can Be Your Hero, Baby

Every note you fake, it will look like Sting is watching you.

The British soft-rocker is the latest hitmaker to lend his image—and a strings-happy tune—to the megahot Guitar Hero franchise, which in recent years has welcomed Metallica and Aerosmith and noted strummers like Slash and Tom Morello into the pixelated fold.

Sting's upcoming contribution will be to the new Guitar Hero World Tour, which also boasts the stylings of Tool. Players will either be able to "take the stage" and play to wild crowds as Sting or "jam" alongside him on the song "Demolition Man."

This version of Activision's carpal tunnel-inducing funfest will also feature microphone and drumkit attachments for full-on battle of the bands—as well as composing and editing software, for those quieter moments when the keg is empty and your "drummer" is passed out on the floor.

New Seinfeld ad draws negative reviews online

NEW YORK - No soup for Microsoft?

The software giant's new ad starring Jerry Seinfeld has drawn largely negative reviews online after premiering Thursday night during NBC's broadcast of the National Football League's season kickoff game.

The ad was the start of a highly anticipated $300 million advertising campaign that Microsoft is launching in attempt to rebuff Apple's popular TV commercials, which have portrayed Microsoft and PCs as uncool.

In the commercial — which can be found at Microsoft.com and on video sharing sites — Seinfeld is walking through a mall when he spots Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates at a "Shoe Circus" store. The comedian then helps Gates pick out a new pair of shoes while the jokes come quick: showering with clothes on, Gates being a "10," platinum credit cards for a fictional shoe store.

It's a zany ad that packs a lot of quirkiness into 90 seconds. With no direct mention of Microsoft or its operating system, Vista, the commercial concludes with the slogan: "The future, delicious."

The ad was created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky — a firm with a reputation for oddness. Many technology and advertising blogs have turned to Seinfeld's trademark comedy description — "nothing" — to describe the ad.

"Huh?" wrote Abbey Klaassen for Ad Age. "You could be forgiven for not knowing what the heck Microsoft's new TV ad ... was about."

Dan Frommer, writing for the Silicon Alley Insider, pronounced the ad "not funny" and added that the mall shoe store setting "is not going to help Microsoft look any cooler."

For the blog Techcrunch.com, Michael Arrington noted that the "tech and geek crowd is a little underwhelmed" by the ad, which he said is "a far cry from the brilliant Microsoft v. Mac ads."

Brad Brooks, vice president of Windows consumer product marketing, said in a video posted on the Windows press Web site, that the ad is a "teaser" meant to "engage customers in a conversation ... to get the conversation going again about what Windows means in people's everyday lives."

Even if the reaction was mostly negative, Microsoft's ad has clearly succeeded in getting people talking.

Spider-Man 4: Tobey Not a Lock???Yet?

Los Angeles (E! Online) - Call it the battle of the contractual web weavers. Tobey Maguire's very interested in doing the next Spider-Man sequel, sure, and now there's word today that the deal is done. Not true at all, blab several top sources on the project, who say the news about Spidey 4—and maybe 5—is jumping the gun.

These film insiders insist that the Tobey sealed-up talk is "premature," though it does look like Maguire is headed toward putting on that sexy suit again. Tobe-doll made roughly $17 mil on the last flick alone, minimum, right? What idiot wouldn't for that kind of loot?

Here's how it's going down:

Maguire's very much into the gig and has done three flicks so far in the franchise that's made, what, 2 or 3 billion bucks worldwide? Yep. But as happened before, negotiations for Maguire's participation in the Sam Raimi series have been, uh, challenging. "He is not the pleasant person to deal with," insisted a knowledgeable contractual-type most familiar with Maguire's past Spidey goings-down.

Word, whether accurate or not, is being put out that Sony just might not be interested in retaining Mr. M's involvement, should he take too long in deciding if his poker-playing butt wants to stay with the Spidey family or not.

Then, wham! This silken-spun spittle today that Maguire's all scared and a "lock" on the pic. Not so, gab my blabbers. Also, sources at Sony confirmed Maguire is by no means a lock yet. Additionally, a rep for Sony screamed bloody spidey bites that the studio has never looked at another actor besides Maguire for the lead.

Too bad. Always wanted to see how Tobey bud Jake Gyllenhaal's ass would look in that getup, but then, that's another item, isn't it?