Showtime

The holidays are just around the corner, and we know what it means for US theatres. Finally, some good cinema and really entertaining blockbusters. Studios will be lining up for the public's holiday spending spree and fielding their finest this year to catch Oscar's attention.

I haven't gone crazy over any of this year's movies so far, so I'm looking forward to this and next month's line up. There's Rendition, topbilled by actors I respect (the Meryl Streep, Reese Witherspoon, and Jake Gyllenhaal) and Lions for Lambs (again with the Meryl Streep and Robert Redford, and I think I'm forgetting someone else). I'm also looking forward to seeing American Gangster starring Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington, and We Own the Night with Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg.

Is it me or are Hollywood movies during Oscar season becoming less and less about good stories but more displays of on-screen star-power fireworks? Surely, one can always check out selections from Sundance, Venice, or Cannes if wants to see carefully crafted storylines and well written screenplays. It's also possible that the trend these past few years are character-driven stories such that the actor and his/her portrayal becomes the automatic gauge of a film's value. I remember the time when "uglifying" female leads became guarantees for Oscar wins (Paltrow in Shakespeare In Love, Swank in Boys Don't Cry, Berry in Monster's Ball, Theron in Monster, Swank again in Million Dollar Baby, Kidman in The Hours). No, they didn't all win Best Picture, but I felt that the actresses turns helped kept the public awake and in their seats until the credits rolled. Genocide due to boredom would have been the case otherwise.

Oh well, this trail of thought is becoming pointless so I better write about something else. Oh, I wanna see Lust, Caution and Across the Universe, the former because it's Ang Lee and Tony Leung's in it, and the latter, for its soundtrack and the A Clockwork Orange feel.
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I love watching and reading Steve Carell's interviews. PDI has an interview with "The 40-year-old Virgin" and "The Office" star where, when asked how he and his wife met, he shares a nerdy dialogue to make a point about how shy he was. I swear I could've figured in this dialogue in the past, or I'm sure this is how I'm going to ask someone out in the future. Here it is:

She would say things like, "If I ever went out with a guy like you, that would be neat." Then, I'd say "If I asked someone like you on a date, that would be weird - and I'd be scared about you saying no!" She replied: "I don't think I'd say no if someone like you asked me."

Lol. Pity the third person.
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Iron Man and Green Lantern are coming to the big screen soon.

I miss Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Guy Gardner, Captain Marvel, Ice, and Fire. I wonder if they're in any Justice League comics currently in circulation. We shouldn't forget the brave heroes who fought alongside Superman in his tragic encounter with Doomsday.

I also miss Gambit and Jubilee.
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Writers are staging a strike in Hollywood to demand royalty from profits earned in "other" media such as podcasts and video streaming be included in their contracts. I would like to strike back at them for not writing Heroes as well as they should. I was really, really disappointed by the first season finale. And for stretching Lost to such unreasonable lengths. And for generally ending shows less spectacularly than their entire runs; think Dawson's Creek, The X-Files, BtVS, ER (what happened to this show?), The West Wing, Felicity (remember Megan's time-travel spell?), Alias (parricide galore), Just Shoot Me, Will and Grace, Ally McBeal, Gilmore Girls. But still, TV networks should give these brains their due. I will happily endure one (usually the last) crappy season than not have three or five seasons of great TV.

I miss Jack and Bobby.