entertainment catch-all
This morning as I was going through the daily links I realized that there were several small stories over the past few days that I've been meaning to blog about, but blog-malaise or pressing work has prevented it. So, welcome to your hodge-podge Columbina entertainment posting:
Finally, some news on Alias, specifically that the good folks at ABC are moving it to Wednesday nights, thus renaming Hump Day as J.J. Abrams Day. This will no doubt send shivers through loyal Alias fans who now will cringe at the possibility that their beloved show is going belly-up-- never change time slots people!! To console my fellow Alias viewers, I have this to offer: when Mulder and Scully moved from Fridays to Sundays, we X-Philes were very afraid. But it turned out okay for us (at least until the end of Season Seven) and the day and time shift acted as a catalyst to reposition the show for a larger and more enthusiastic audience. So be brave, and think about all the time you'll save since your two favorite shows are on the same night back to back.
Tom Hanks has been cast as Robert Langdon in the movie adaptation of The Da Vinci Code. First off, nothing against Tom Hanks, who I think most people can agree is one of the greatest actors to have graced the silver screen, and I would generally say that there are few roles beyond his grasp... but this is one of them. I can't see Hanks walking around a college campus with students calling him "the Dolphin." As someone who inspires the devotion of all his students, a great teacher with a love of "good, clean fun", a thinking man, yes. But Langdon is younger (though not by much), more athletic in appearance, and by the end of the book, he's essentially an action hero. If the book had been written twenty years ago, Harrison Ford would've been a shoo-in. Now, I have grappled with liking the book but disliking its premise and the fact that it is essentially a carbon-copy of every other book Mr. Dan Brown has ever written, but I was keeping tabs on this movie. I'm willing to give Hanks the benefit of the doubt; but all I can say now is that they better get a damn good actors to play Sophie Neveu and Sir Leah Teabing (and they'd better be French and English, respectively!) if they want to carry this off.
Bridget Jones: the Edge of Reason has come out into theaters and got itself bashed by critics. Honestly, I don't know what to think. I can't seem to remember over-whelming critical praise for the first installment, which wasn't overwhelmingly awful considering it's such a chick flick. But both of the books have always had a place on my Bookshelves of Shame, otherwise known as Fluffer-nutter Book Central (see Da Vinci Code, above), and the second one especially. There is something heartening in the screwed-up happy-ever-after of BJ's sequel; most of the successful couples I know have gone through those phases/fights where they question what they have, take a breather and act miserably, and then return to the way things were with a greater appreciation of one another. Not only that, but I thought that Bridget's parents finally got to redeem themselves in the second book and prove that amidst all the silliness, they actually care about their daughter and seek out what's best for her (even if sometimes they believe that goes along with force-feeding marriage with dowdy sweater-wearers). Will I see the movie then? Probably, though if things keep up they way they are, most likely it will be on video.
Production Stills are now up for the new Dave Barry movie, "Guide to Guys", based on his very funny book. Fun running commentary and some great pics of John Cleese on set as some sort of researcher. Also, Mr. Cleese's website is finally up and running, though sadly for all of the good bits you need to become a paid member. What is up with this, web-citizens? First Salon.com, then the Readerville forums, and now JohnCleese.com. Free the internet!!
And lastly, though this isn't directly entertainment related, via mirabilis, archaeologists are planning to x-ray King Tut to finally close the book on the eternal question surrounding his demise, murder or natural causes. Which is exciting entertainment for me, at any rate. Maybe good ole Zahi Hawass will do a Fox prime-time special on it-- he hasn't gotten nearly enough screen time lately...
Finally, some news on Alias, specifically that the good folks at ABC are moving it to Wednesday nights, thus renaming Hump Day as J.J. Abrams Day. This will no doubt send shivers through loyal Alias fans who now will cringe at the possibility that their beloved show is going belly-up-- never change time slots people!! To console my fellow Alias viewers, I have this to offer: when Mulder and Scully moved from Fridays to Sundays, we X-Philes were very afraid. But it turned out okay for us (at least until the end of Season Seven) and the day and time shift acted as a catalyst to reposition the show for a larger and more enthusiastic audience. So be brave, and think about all the time you'll save since your two favorite shows are on the same night back to back.
Tom Hanks has been cast as Robert Langdon in the movie adaptation of The Da Vinci Code. First off, nothing against Tom Hanks, who I think most people can agree is one of the greatest actors to have graced the silver screen, and I would generally say that there are few roles beyond his grasp... but this is one of them. I can't see Hanks walking around a college campus with students calling him "the Dolphin." As someone who inspires the devotion of all his students, a great teacher with a love of "good, clean fun", a thinking man, yes. But Langdon is younger (though not by much), more athletic in appearance, and by the end of the book, he's essentially an action hero. If the book had been written twenty years ago, Harrison Ford would've been a shoo-in. Now, I have grappled with liking the book but disliking its premise and the fact that it is essentially a carbon-copy of every other book Mr. Dan Brown has ever written, but I was keeping tabs on this movie. I'm willing to give Hanks the benefit of the doubt; but all I can say now is that they better get a damn good actors to play Sophie Neveu and Sir Leah Teabing (and they'd better be French and English, respectively!) if they want to carry this off.
Bridget Jones: the Edge of Reason has come out into theaters and got itself bashed by critics. Honestly, I don't know what to think. I can't seem to remember over-whelming critical praise for the first installment, which wasn't overwhelmingly awful considering it's such a chick flick. But both of the books have always had a place on my Bookshelves of Shame, otherwise known as Fluffer-nutter Book Central (see Da Vinci Code, above), and the second one especially. There is something heartening in the screwed-up happy-ever-after of BJ's sequel; most of the successful couples I know have gone through those phases/fights where they question what they have, take a breather and act miserably, and then return to the way things were with a greater appreciation of one another. Not only that, but I thought that Bridget's parents finally got to redeem themselves in the second book and prove that amidst all the silliness, they actually care about their daughter and seek out what's best for her (even if sometimes they believe that goes along with force-feeding marriage with dowdy sweater-wearers). Will I see the movie then? Probably, though if things keep up they way they are, most likely it will be on video.
Production Stills are now up for the new Dave Barry movie, "Guide to Guys", based on his very funny book. Fun running commentary and some great pics of John Cleese on set as some sort of researcher. Also, Mr. Cleese's website is finally up and running, though sadly for all of the good bits you need to become a paid member. What is up with this, web-citizens? First Salon.com, then the Readerville forums, and now JohnCleese.com. Free the internet!!
And lastly, though this isn't directly entertainment related, via mirabilis, archaeologists are planning to x-ray King Tut to finally close the book on the eternal question surrounding his demise, murder or natural causes. Which is exciting entertainment for me, at any rate. Maybe good ole Zahi Hawass will do a Fox prime-time special on it-- he hasn't gotten nearly enough screen time lately...
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