The Couch Potato Report - January 9th, 2010
This week The Couch Potato Report peels six new releases and ten things I hate about you.
Up first this week is the Box Set for THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON of the made-in-Indian Head, Saskatchewan CBC Series LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE.
In this third season, Amaar finally discovers whether Rayyan accepted JJ’s marriage proposal and the season primarily follows that answer, in addition to offering stories featuring the fictional town of Mercy, Saskatchewan’s unique cast of characters.
I have always thought that LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE works best when it is educational and informative, as well as entertaining and in SEASON THREE it continues to do allows viewers to learn more about Muslims and their beliefs and faith.
This season of LITTLE MOSQUE also has figs, dates, double dates, blind dates, blind men and in-laws…so, if you are a fan, don’t miss this three disc set!
As you may know, I have been spending some time over the past few weeks, and will continue to spend some time over the new few weeks, doing the weather on CBC Television’s Supper Hour News Show – CBC News: Saskatchewan at 5 pm, 5:30 pm, and 6 pm.
Since I started, I have been dying to give a forecast that includes the name of this next film…but haven’t been able to work it in…not yet anyway.
So, this morning, I hope you don’t mind if I pretend that I am doing the weather, as I talk about this next film…here goes.
Temperatures have been well below seasonal averages here in Western Canada over the past few days, but things are looking up! This morning’s forecast is CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS!
:)
That was fun…okay, back to the movie review… CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS is a fun animated film for the whole family that is loosely based on the children's book of the same name by Judi Barrett and Ron Barrett.
It is about an inventor in a small town in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean who creates a machine that makes food fall from the sky like rain.
The great voice cast in the film stars Bill Hader from SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and Anna Faris from the made-in-Saskatchewan film JUST FRIENDS, along with the great James Caan, Mr. Bruce Campbell, Neil Patrick Harris and the one and only Mr. T.
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS has a ton of great pop culture references hidden in it, and many great and quite obvious jokes as well.
I really like this movie, and I highly recommend it!!
And trust me…someday, I will, use the name of this film and book in a weather report. You have my word on that!!
When CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS was released in theatres, it was available in 3D, and the extra dimension added to the fun of food falling from the sky. It hasn’t been released with the added dimension for home viewing, but it is such an entertaining film, it doesn’t need it.
THE FINAL DESTINATION…on the other hand…does need that third one…because this film uses it as a gimmick, and not just to enhance a well-written script.
But…that said…it does use the gimmick quite effectively!
THE FINAL DESTINATION is the fourth – and many believe final - installment in the Final Destination film series…a series that is centered around predestination, and precognition, in relation to death…specifically, how you can foresee, and possibly avoid it.
Each one of these movies has elaborate, often gory death scenarios, and they have had moderate success, primarily to people who like this kind of movie.
THE FINAL DESTINATION doesn’t steer that far from the formula. In this one a teenager has a premonition of a deadly race-car crash and helps save the lives of his friends, and some other people in the stands.
BUT…death then sets out to collect those who evaded their end.
As I said, the film was released to theatres in 3D, and so when the characters die, they do so with everything flying toward the audience, in order to take advantage of the added dimension.
Some will think that cool, primarily the people who have seen the other three films in the series.
I neither loved or loathed THE FINAL DESTINATION. It is what it is, a horror film in 3D with lots of gore.
If that appeals to you, check it out!! In the home versions, you can choose to watch it in either 3D, or the regular 2D.
The next release that I have for you is one that I thought would be a very entertaining and uplifting documentary about some young adults using music to try and help give them a better life.
Unfortunately we don’t necessarily get that from THE HIP HOP PROJECT.
Sure, the folks we meet in the film are living tough lives, and the words they write, sing and rap are true and insightful…but the songs they are creating aren’t very good. I like rap music, but the end result here is simply a film that is interesting at times…but not really that good.
THE HIP HOP PROJECT introduces us to a group of New York City teens who write music about the tough issues affecting their lives in hopes of having their song included on a compilation CD that is being produced.
And if the movie was just about their struggles and lives, it could have been what I expected it to be. Unfortunately, too often, it strays away from the teenagers and focuses too much on the man who is heading up The Hip Hop Project, a former homeless man named Kazi who has pulled his life together.
Don’t misunderstand me, his story is interesting, but he isn’t creating music…the kids are…and so in this documentary about music, I wanted music….and when it focused on Kazi, I just lost interest.
THE HIP HOP PROJECT is not a horrible documentary, but in the end, I didn’t care for it, and I don’t like the music that was produced through the project, so I wouldn’t buy the CD either.
I love the idea of trying to give kids a better life through music, just not this film made about them.
From a new documentary about Hip Hop music, let’s go back in time now to a Saturday morning television show that ran from 1973 to 1986.
A show about THE SUPER FRIENDS!!
SUPER FRIENDS first aired on September 8th, 1973 and features Superman, Batman and Robin, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman, along with Wendy, Marvin, Wonderdog and the language of the day.
I loved this show when I was a kid, and I really enjoyed watching the 2 DVD Set SUPER FRIENDS – SEASON ONE, VOLUME ONE this week!!
I especially enjoyed hearing Ted Knight and Casey Kasem voices amongst the cast!!
If you used to watch it as well, don’t miss this chance to bring your SUPER FRIENDS home once again!!
Finally this week, the BLU RAY BEACON shines on a movie that is now a decade old. It was the film that introduced many of us to a talented young actor named Heath Ledger called 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU.
In addition to the late Mr. Ledger, the film also stars Julia Stiles and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and it is a loose adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew set in a modern high school.
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU wasn’t a film I loved when it came out, but as I sat and watched the new 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, I have to admit that I do like it.
I like this movie a lot, and if it is one of your favourites, you need to check it out!
If you have never seen it, don’t miss the chance to see the great talent of Heath ledger at work. This movie was the start of a great career that ended all too soon.
The 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of 10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT YOU, THE FINAL DESTINATION and CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS are available on Blu-ray and DVD.
THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON of the made-in-Saskatchewan show LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE, THE HIP HOP PROJECT and SEASON ONE, VOLUME ONE of THE SUPER FRIENDS are all available now only on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
BABY FORMULA and BIO DAD, two very Canadian different films about Mothers and Fathers; the potential multiple Academy Award nominee THE HURT LOCKER.
Also next week, THE SCARY MOVIE FRANCHISE and THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA.
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 again next time on The Couch!
NBC stations want Leno back on late shift, but will Leno and Conan go along?
LOS ANGELES - NBC has instantly created TV's hottest drama, a storyline with ego, pride and millions of dollars at stake: how to fix the problem it created by moving Jay Leno to prime time.
Faced with poor ratings for both "The Jay Leno Show" and Conan O'Brien's "Tonight Show," the network is said to be considering returning Leno to his 11:35 p.m. EST slot and moving "Tonight" to midnight - a change that NBC's hard-hit affiliate stations would eagerly welcome.
Many stations have complained that the ratings for their 11 p.m. newscasts have plummeted because Leno's 10 p.m. show is such a weak lead-in.
"I think Jay Leno's a great performer. He's just at the wrong place at the wrong time. There's nothing wrong with making mistakes. There is something wrong with not correcting them," said Bob Prather, president and chief operating officer at Atlanta-based Gray Television Inc., whose station group includes 10 NBC affiliates.
Lisa Howfield, general manager of NBC affiliate KVBC in Las Vegas, said: "I'm excited to have Jay land back in late night. It sounds like a great lineup."
Whether Leno accepts a truncated, half-hour version of his prime-time comedy and talk show remains to be seen, as does O'Brien's response to getting less than a year to prove himself as host of "Tonight."
O'Brien is averaging 2.5 million nightly viewers, compared with 4.2 for Letterman's "Late Show," according to Nielsen figures. And the younger audience that O'Brien was expected to woo has been largely unimpressed, with O'Brien and Letterman's shows tying among advertiser-favoured viewers ages 18 to 49.
NBC's contract with O'Brien reportedly allows the network to move "Tonight" to 12:05 a.m. EST but no later, at the risk of substantial financial penalties. With a two-year contract said to be valued at about $28 million per year, O'Brien would have to think hard about walking away.
Any change would probably not take effect until March, after the Winter Olympics on NBC.
Network executives have been talking with Leno, O'Brien and their representatives to work out a solution. Meanwhile, online reports about the possible changes prompted the network to issue statements of support for both men, while declining to commit itself to keeping Leno's show on in prime time.
Leno's show has averaged 5.8 million nightly viewers since its fall debut, about the same number who watched his final "Tonight" season. By comparison, the season's top-rated 10 p.m. network drama, CBS' "The Mentalist," has an average audience of 17.5 million.
While Leno gleefully poked fun at NBC's woes in his Thursday monologue, even playfully toying with the idea of bolting to the Fox network, O'Brien refrained from commenting on "Tonight" and hasn't spoken about it publicly otherwise.
The drama verges on a rerun, recalling the messy battle for "Tonight" that Leno and David Letterman waged in the early 1990s when Johnny Carson decided to surrender the throne. Leno claimed it in 1992, with Letterman becoming his competitor at CBS.
In November, Leno told Broadcasting&Cable magazine he would have preferred to stay with "Tonight" and would take the job again if NBC offered it. But for O'Brien, the shakeup would be a snub.
"NBC has dealt with this talent in an unusual way, to put it nicely," industry analyst Bill Carroll said Friday.
After picking O'Brien to succeed Leno as the "Tonight" host, NBC took the revolutionary step of moving Leno to prime time to keep him from jumping to a rival network and to hold down production costs, since a talk show is cheaper to make than a series.
But affiliate displeasure grew quickly when Leno's show proved a poor lead-in for the local late newscasts that generate significant station revenue - and which depend on 10 p.m. shows to funnel viewers to them.
"The performance forced the issue. Unfortunately, the ratings, particularly in November, were such that it was not something the network could ignore," said Carroll, an analyst with Katz Television, a media-buying firm that advises local stations.
NBC affiliates saw their late newscast ratings drop 5 per cent to as much as 25 per cent with Leno in place, Carroll said.
Carroll said Comcast Corp., which has agreed to buy NBC from General Electric Co. in a multibillion-dollar deal, probably weighed in on the woes affecting the network's schedule. NBC has been lingering in fourth place in the ratings behind CBS, Fox and ABC.
According to reports this week, NBC has as many as 18 pilots for prospective new series, more than enough material to fill Leno's five hours a week of prime time.
KVBC's Howfield said the 10 p.m. vacancy should be filled with hourlong dramas. She suggested starting with "Law&Order: Special Victims Unit," which was bumped to 9 p.m. by the prime-time Leno experiment.
Prather also backs a return to traditional series.
"The sooner they can get what I call regular prime-time programming back in there, I think they'll be fine. NBC owned Thursday night for years with 'ER' and there's no reason they can't own nights like that again with good programming," he said.
Officer let Halle Berry bypass airport security line
A Montreal police officer "took the personal initiative" to move American actor Halle Berry, her Canadian partner and their daughter to the front of a lengthy U.S. customs queue at Trudeau airport earlier this week, a police spokesman said Friday.
Oscar winner Berry, Quebec model Gabriel Aubry and their daughter were spotted bypassing a long lineup Monday before they boarded a Montreal airport flight to Los Angeles — an incident reported by Quebec media outlets and slammed by at least one blogger.
Insp. Jimmy Cacchione, who heads the Montreal police force’s 36-member airport unit, acknowledged the officer's move had nothing to do with keeping the celebrity family safe.
Cacchione said the officer made the decision to let the couple through after a spur-of-the-moment request by Aubry.
"The husband of Ms. Berry asked if they could go faster through the line because they were late and they had the baby," Cacchione said. "The officer took the personal initiative to allow them to go through the line faster, but that's not something the Montreal police supports."
Cacchione added that the officer will not be reprimanded and the police airport unit will institute stricter rules for the future.
Escort by police 'a bit exaggerated': blogger
Before police reacted to Quebec media reports, freelance journalist Maričve Paradis said in her French-language blog that other passengers in the same line as Berry and her family had to wait as long as an hour.
"I need to make one thing clear … I have absolutely nothing against Halle Berry, or movie stars," Paradis wrote.
"They are probably nice people living in a world that's different from mine! I just find that an escort by the Montreal police strikes me as a bit exaggerated. Couldn't she have been escorted by an agent from Air Canada or the airport?"
"It was a very hard morning that day because there were so many people," Paradis told CBC News from Los Angeles on Friday.
When she and her husband arrived at the gate only minutes before the plane was scheduled to take off, Paradis said she was scolded by Air Canada staff.
"We would not have been late if we were Halle Berry," Paradis said.
Heightened airport security measures brought in after an alleged bomb plot was foiled following a transatlantic flight to Detroit on Christmas Day resulted in long lineups for passengers travelling to the United States over the holidays.