Ðarclyte's Blog

So, about a month go I found out that they were selling tickets for a 12:01am showing of TDK in IMAX theaters for last night/this morning. I went online and bought a ticket. About a week later, I went back to see if they had any tickets left for a friend who was curious. Nope, sold out. I haven't been to a midnight premiere in a long time, so yesterday I went to the theater's website to see if there was any information. Turns out that they also had a 3:30am showing in the IMAX that also was sold out. But the bigger news was that they also were showing TDK in all of the other 29 theaters at 12:01...and ALL of them were sold out! Holy Moola, Batman! There also was a 3:30am showing in one of the regular theaters, but it wasn't sold out as of yet. When I left the theater last night, there were so many people and cars there, that maybe they were showing it at 3:30 in ALL theaters. Wow!

Ok, so I got to the movieplex at 10:30. When I walked into the IMAX, it was 80-90% full already. Oh joy. It took me some time to find a seat, but I eventually found 1. How hard is it to find one seat, right? The time really dragged, and the people around me and I began making fun of the repetitive ads up on the screen and stuff. At 12:02, the previews started. There was a very brief teaser for the next Harry Potter...essentially just the title, the theme music, and a line of dialogue. It got great applause. Then they had the trailer for The Watchmen, which is a movie based upon the most acclaimed graphic novel of all time, written by Alan Moore. It's being made by the director of 300, and looks awesome. Then, TDK began.

Wow.

Just...wow.

There are at least 5 "Holy Crap" moments in this movie where you think to yourself, "Holy crap, what the Hell am I watching?" I mean that in a good way.

The movie starts, and it's relentless up until the end. I've never noticed a score that seemed so omnipresent and driving as in this movie. Even when it seems like maybe not much is happening, the score is driving, pushing you on, letting you know that, nope, it may not be time to take a breathe.

The writing is good, the acting is superb, and the directing was great.

And then there's the Joker.

What The Joker does in this movie is unlike anything I've ever seen. There are things that he does that are just mind boggling. The Joker is not just an "agent of chaos," he IS chaos. You have to wonder, why the heck would anyone live in Gotham City?

As for Heath... I was very affected by his passing. I didn't know him and had never met him, but I really enjoyed so many of his movies and I knew that his untimely passing would be a loss to fans of great movies and fans of this franchise. I also felt for his young daughter and loved ones. What he does in this movie is take what was written and portrays the character in such an interesting and truly unique way. This isn't Cesar Romero. This isn't Jack Nicholson. This isn't The Joker from Batman: The Animated Series/Justice League: Unlimited. This isn't even The Joker from the animated series, "The Batman" cartoon of the past few years. Nope, this is Hannibal Lecter if instead of becoming a doctor he had decided to become a criminal, and dropped acid everyday for 10 years while learning how to be the best there is. They say that genius and insanity are flipsides to the same coin in many cases. Well this Joker is the result of that coin being melted down and then recast into a knife blade.

There is some hype about Heath getting an Oscar nomination. Traditionally, actors who have died haven't done well with Oscar noms. Movies like TDK aren't taken seriously, either. I hope that this one changes all of that.

This movie is to comic book movies as The Godfather was to gangster movies. It is something so very different, and takes it to such a whole different level that it would be a shame if the writer, director, movie, and Heath weren't all given Oscar nominations. I'm not saying they should win, but at least recognize how truly amazing this film and Heath's role in it were.


I will say that the ending is a little bit of a let down in a way, because while I see why things go down the way they do, it doesn't mean that I have to like or agree with it. But even with that one small caveat, this movie is mind blowing.

Even if you're not a fan of "comic book" movies I would recommend this. Iron Man was great entertainment, and one of the best "comic book" movies ever made. The Dark Knight may be one of the best MOVIES ever made. Yes, it's based on comic book characters, and yes people are running around in masks and all of that. But, aren't ALL movies just actors "running around in masks" of one kind or another?

If you can see it in an IMAX, please do so. There are 20 minutes or so that were filmed with IMAX cameras, and seeing those scenes on an IMAX screen are awesome. You'll be glad you saw it, no matter where you see it.

Brian's gone...shocker!
Ok, just kidding.
I will say though that if you're gonna go first, Brian at least made an impression.
Most first evictees make no impact, and we know nothing about them.
Brian should be remembered, and his eviction may have further implications down the line.
As for Jerry being a sock puppet himself, early in the game the HGs typically try to do "the house's bidding" and go with the majority.
I LOVED the sock puppet show!
I love it when the HGs come up with their own entertainment.
From "duck ball" to "coaster toss" to the "Olympic Games" of Season 8, I love the ways they find to entertain themselves.
At this point, although Dan is a local guy, my favorite is Angie.
She seems smart and athletic, and could be a contender...although she seems to have ruffled some feathers. Another reason I like her.
I not only like the live audience, but I LOVE the new opening graphics!
The old style with the HGs walking and stuff had gotten stale, and the new style was pretty nifty and high tech.
I wonder how Brian will be shown on Sunday's opener.
Julie looked great! I didn't notice if she was buried in glitter like on Sunday's premiere.
Speaking of "Mrs Chen" as Dan mistakenly called her, I read on the live feeds the the other day that Brian & Jessie were talking about how hot Julie Chen is.
Jessie said something like, "She's married to some producer or somebody. I think a director. He must be a nobody though, that's why she kept her last name"
Nope. Not a mental giant that Jessie.
He seems to be the dimmest HGs, as most of the rest of them seem quite smart.
Any doubt that he'll nominate Renny?
If he's smart, he'll nominate her and Jerry (for having nominated him.)
But with so many HGs, it could be anyone.

Big Brother

Wow, what a way to crash and burn!
Talk about waaaaay overplaying your hand, sheesh!
Brian had Dan & Ollie and he could have brought in Jerry "officially" instead of on the sly. Then have Ollie bring in April and that makes 5. Had they been smart, they could have brought in a 6th, like Michelle perhaps.
Instead, his head inflates to the size of LA and he goes around telling people that HE could guarantee their safety and so on.
What a maroon. (Yes, I spelled it that way on purpose. I watched too much Bugs Bunny in my childhood.)
So Libra figures it out and get April upset. April goes after Ollie, and Ollie chose opposite of how most BB HGs choose. I won't use the term, but one word is "Bros."
Libra and Ollie get all the HGs except Brian, Dan and Renny to confront Jerry.
Brian and Jerry had a great idea. Put up Memphis who won the car and eliminate a big physical threat. But the other HGs would have none of that and "forced" Jerry to put up Brian...his former partner. Well, I don't fault Jerry for "breaking his word." Brian was NEVER really with Jerry and was fully intending on just using him. So for Jerry to turn the tables on him and break their deal first, I don't have an issue with that. If Brian would have been playing straight up with Jerry, then it'd be a different matter. He wasn't, so good for Jerry!
But now, I'd worry that Libra is going to go "power mad" since she essentially put together the coup.
Worse, this most likely means that Renny will be around for another week.
Ugh.
As for the Veto Comp, wow, that was pretty cool!
When the HGs first hit the honey, they were all like, What.The.Heck?
It was something else watching them all struggle through the honey. It seemed to take Renny forever to get out of it, and she instantly turned into Big Bird.
It was really odd seeing how the honey turned into stalagmites on the HG's arms. It created a cone of honey about 2' beyond their hands.
Crazy!
I don't have the feeds and I don't know what the mood in the house is, but I'm thinking that Brian is a goner. He has nobody to blame but himself. he could have "ran the house" and instead it looks like he'll be out the door.
What a maroon.

The Mole

(Craig is NOT The Mole)

I finally had a chance to watch the episode, I've just been swamped with work this week. I still haven't watched Middleman from Monday night, and I haven't seen a replay for NFNS yet.

Mark is the Mole.
If not Mark, then Clay.
I was a little shocked to see Alex go, I thought he'd outlast Paul.

ABC.com has hints and clues to the Mole's identity. There is a website that takes all those clues and observations from the show and tries to figure out who the Mole is. I'm betting by now they've figured it out. I've never gone into the website, I just saw it existed. I don't want to be spoiled for this.

I read that The Mole is in trouble. I'm sure it will finish off it's season since it's the Summer, but like Pirate Master last Summer, it could be kicked off the network to finish online. At any rate, a new Mole series looks unlikely. That sucks. I like this show, and the host has gotten better every week as he figures out what to do and say. I love that he tossed back at the Paul that not only has he (Jon) jumped, but he hit the target. I'm liking him more and more. I sure hope that there is a new Mole next Summer.

Craig is NOT The Mole.

I thought the episode was pretty good, although not quite as good as some of the episodes from last season. I guess that's to be expected as this episode serves to bridge last season to this.

Last season ended with Michael driving into the trailer of that truck, ala Knight Rider, believing that he was to be taken to meet with the people who "burned" him. It was a good way to end the season because had the series not been renewed, it at least gave a sort of closure to the primary storyline. So now that the series is back, they had to explain how he ends up back in Miami and get his friends and Mom back with him. It was a plausible solution to get him back in the game so to speak.

I thought that Michael's accent was fine and the plan to get into the office was plausible if not very tricky. I love the voice over explanations for what's going on and why. I have no idea if the concepts presented that way are accurate at all, but they make sense in the context of the show, so it works for me.

I also loved the "gunfight" between Michael and Fi. I especially loved her little smirk as she and Sam drove off. Later, I liked her innuendo with the guy at the desk in the office above the target. Fi: "It's very stiff." Guy at desk: "Let me pull it out." Welcome to late night on basic cable!

So, Michael was able to help the poor IT guy out, and get the info from the hard drive for "Carla" and not get caught or anyone killed. I have to wonder if "Carla" and her group didn't just off the IT guy and his family 5 seconds after that photo they sent to Michael was taken. Sure, they looked estatic in the photo, but they could have been led to believe they were going to be free, and then shot and dumped in some woods in Argentina. You never know.

I hope Sam's GF forgives him for the car. I'm not sure if the storyline Fi told him to use would work or not, but at least it was something that made him look heroic in the process of messing up her car.

As for Fi, I wonder why they decided to pass on the romantic angle. Maybe the writers felt that it had played out, and that Michael's objections were the right path for them to follow with the story. I'm glad that Fi will still help Michael out, it shows that she truly does care for him.

And can someone PLEASE get Michael's Mom a new coffee maker so she shuts up? Her character has been my least favorite aspect of the show, and the episodes always seem to grind to a halt when Michael ends up at her home. I liked it when he said that he had to go visit his mother, and then they didn't show it. More like that please!

I'm not positive, but I seem to recall reading that Tricia was the voice on the phone at the end of last season so I guess they didn't have to go back and rerecord the clip that ended last season when he was talking to her on the phone. I think she's shown that she's a very good actress, so I can't wait to see what the writers have in store for Michael and us thru her. Should be fun!

Canada on Strike was a pretty darn good episode of South Park. Yes, I know it aired nearly 4 months ago, but I stumbled onto something that came out of it that I want to share. Essentially, the episode was the SP guys making fun of the writer's strike. The story had Canadians appearing before a multi-national panel and demanding more money and then going on strike. But where would people find more money to give Canadians?

The SP kids quickly got tired of reruns of Terrance & Phillip, their favorite gross out comedy show which broadcasts from Canada. So they had Butters appear in a video that got millions of views on YouTube. The boys went to the "office of internet money" or somesuch to try to get money based off their millions of views. There they encountered many other infamous internet "stars" like the "Numa-Numa" guy, the sneezing panda, the "Chocolate-Rain" guy and others.
Eventually, they got "theoretical money" that the clip had "earned" from its millions of views.

The strike, meanwhile, took its toll on Canadians and had largely disastrous results, especially once Canadian workers found themselves replaced by "Danish Scabs," since Danes are the "Canadians of Europe."

But, the exchanges between Canadians proved to be hysterical. Apparently, Canadians refer to people as "friend," "guy" or "buddy." Or "fwiend" as pronounced by Canadians. I live near Windsor, and I haven't noticed this, so maybe it was just "artistic license." Whatever, it's funny! At any rate, there were a few exchanges between the strike leader and Terrance & Phillip where they said things like, "I'm not your friend, buddy," "I'm not your buddy, guy," "He's not your guy, friend," and on and on it'd go around and around for a bit. I found it hilarious!

Well, apparently so did LOTS of YouTube viewers, who began using those lines on each other in the comments of popular video clips. For instance, the clip of Miss Teen South Carolina looking like a complete idiot has people posting those lines one after the other instead of commenting on the clip itself.

Someone decided to make a "song" using those exchanges, and I somehow managed to stumble onto the "song."
Not bad!
But now, I can't get the "chorus" out of my head!!!
Watch the clip, or "you'll regret this day, fwiend!"

It really wasn't much of a surprise to me that Christina won. There's a good reason why she won so many challenges and the season as well...she can really cook well! Petrozza may be more seasoned and perhaps even more creative, but Christina makes elegant food that people enjoy eating.
I thought 2 things also pushed it her way last night. The design of their restaurants, and the lack of concentration on Petrozza's part.

Christina's restaurant really looked like a high end locale. If I were to pay the kind of prices that Ramsay charges, I'd hope to do it while sitting in that kind of elegance and comfort. Petrozza's was much more like a casual Italian restaurant that a top notch chef would own to appeal to the more "average" consumer looking for a nice night out, as opposed to someone looking for a true "fine dining" experience.

And then Petrozza ran out of not one, but 2 appetizers. That's no way to win a contest, especially when you're essentially "coming from behind." He did a decent job running his team, and his menu was more complex than Christina's, but what good is a menu if you run out of the choices provided?

I never realized until tonight that Jen is younger than Corey and Christina! She's only 24! And yet she claims to be "all that" and so much more experienced. I thought for sure that she was at least 28 or 29, but I knew the 2 Cs were both 25. I would hate to have her work for me, she's neither consistent nor a team player.

Ben, Corey and LouRoss were all pretty quiet tonight. I liked how Corey and LR seemed genuinely happy for Christina. Who'd have thought that Corey and Christina would end up working so well together. I doubt that they remain in touch, especially since Christina won, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were friends now.

I think that this was the most lackluster season yet, especially compared to Top Chef which had one of it's best seasons ever, and even Next Food Network Star which at least has nicer people. Nobody on HK seemed like they even deserved to win until it got down to the top 4 or 5 when Corey, Christina and Petrozza all seemed to emerge from the dimness of this season. And Christina just kept getting brighter and brighter each week. I felt really happy for her when she won and I think Ramsay made the right choice. Petrozza should make an excellent caterer, and should have some great dishes to offer people. I'm sure anyone would love to have him work for them in their kitchen, as long as he cleaned it up a bit, but he just doesn't seem to have what it takes to run a restaurant.

As I've noted before, Christina isn't really the "Executive Chef" at London:West Hollywood. The Chef that runs London:NY that was on last week is in charge of BOTH "London" restaurants, and there's yet another guy who runs the day to day operations at the new WeHo location (all according to various reviews of the place...lackluster reviews at that!)

Christina will be the "executive sous chef" and will be given some heady responsibilities, but she is not the "executive chef" as traditionally known. She is supposed to start in September. I wonder if she's finishing culinary school, training how to work in a Ramsay place and for her position, or both.

Did everyone catch that really funny commercial with Ramsay and the boom mic for Kitchen Nightmares that they finally aired again? Someone gets arrested this season! I can't wait!

They went "back to basics" and none of the 13 contestants know or have ever met each other.
Yay!
They include a gay bull rider; a Hooters girl; a 24 year old Catholic school teacher; a 53 year old socialite/hair dresser; and the oldest contestant ever, a 75 year old former Marine.

Each room in the house has a different decade as its theme, but it looks like the cast is themed for "election year." The bios all seem to talk about each HGs political and religious beliefs, and the house seems to be fairly equally divided between conservatives and liberals.

I'll take that as a "twist" over exes, lovers, and family members.

BB10 starts this Sunday, 7/13 at 8pm.

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/big_brother/

http://tinyurl.com/6af46p

http://tinyurl.com/5btrec

Here's an interview with the casting director:http://tinyurl.com/5hzwdd
She said there are 13 HGs, but 16 evictions! I wonder if like they do in other countries we'll see HGs added throughout the season, as opposed to being evicted and then brought back.

Although I've been a posting member here for quite some time, and a lurker before then, I still don't know how to do "tricks" with the posts.

How do I add an image to a post?
Does that apply to smileys and animated GIFs?

How do I add a video to a post?

Any other suggestions on things I may not know but should? Pretty much I just read and post, so any "tricks" would be appreciated.

~Mahalo!

Hey everyone in mole-land, this is your favorite morning show DJ with the Top 5 all time songs from reality shows! At # 5 is the original Big Brother theme song with lyrics written by the cast of the first season. At # 4 is "Take it back" by Damnocracy, the hard rock band created for the VH-1 series "Supergroup." Coming in at # 3 is "Trees" by Marty Casey from "Rockstar: INXS." At # 3 we have "Dirty Vegas" by J.D. Fortune also from "Rockstar:INXS." And at number one we have "Paul Free in Van Number Two" by Craig from The Mole!

I must have laughed for several minutes after they sang that song in the car. I kept rewinding and playing it back! Craig was just making up this traveling song, and suddenly tossed in the lyric "Paul free in van number 2." Then Nicole and Alex sang the line with him, and then all of them including Clay began singing it together. It was just so perfect how it worked and how it brought the car together, it was great!

The first "challenge" was all about trust where the group were chained together with a key to freedom and an exemption pass behind a closed window. If the group decided to allow one person to go get the key when the window was only one for a minute every ten minutes, then that one person would have enough slack from the chains to walk over and take it to free him or herself. If everyone freed themselves by dawn, more money would be added to the pot. If anyone took the exemption, all the remaining players would stay chained up, outside, all night and no money would be added to the pot. They actually got out of this in the shortest time possible with one person leaving every 10 minutes. Nobody took the exemption, so the money went into the pot.

The second challenge had a LOT of Mole behavior. First, Vickie's choice for the Mole, Craig, was allowed to not participate in the challenge and he got to pair up the others and then decide how they were to travel 5.5 miles in 45 minutes to a statue. If all teams made it in time, more money would go into the pot. If not, Craig would be exempt from elimination. Craig had mole behavior in that he said the word "exemption" at breakfast, which is how he got chosen to play his part in this challenge. The way that he said it was kinda odd, almost as if he knew and was emphasizing it. Also, he tried to make it as difficult as possible for the others to reach the statue in time by having them do crazy things like walk on stilts, walk in a scuba outfit, wear a camel costume for 2. Funny stuff, but they could have used scooters and bicycles.

My pick, Mark, showed all sorts of Mole behavior. Right off the bat, he kept saying that there's no way they'd make the 5.5 miles in 45 minutes. Look, it essentially worked out to 8 minute miles. I think that's pretty doable, especially since Craig, the weakest link, wouldn't have had to attempt to make it that far in that time. Mark got everyone all worked up to the point that they all agreed (except perhaps for Alex) to not even try to make the trip with the crazy conditions. Instead, they piled into the Mole Vans and DROVE to the statue. No money earned, and Craig got the exemption.

Nicole's mole behavior was to again try to sabotage the mission to make it look like she's the mole, but she was outdone by Mark so her whining only went along with his plan, instead of making it seem like it was her idea which is "probably" what she was going for. Clay threw in the towel, for no apparent reason, and looked a little suspicious as well.

Clay and Paul almost got into a fight the day before while driving from Santiago to Mendoza. Paul was being his usual hot headed self. Clay was being his usual calm self. Those 2 opposites didn't mix well. Clay used his intelligence to get under Paul's skin, who took the bait and went off and started calling Clay curse words. Clay asked if he wanted to pull over and step outside. Craig left the van to go into the other van. Paul then threw something at Clay (it wasn't going to hurt him) and then Clay threw Paul's "lemon friend" at him. Clay then moved to the other van, and Kristen moved to Paul's van. Paul, Kristen and Mark drove off in Van Number One, while Craig, Nicole, Alex, and Clay performed their anti-Paul sing a long in Van Number Two. Me, I just laughed and laughed at the catchy little ditty.

Craig is not The Mole no matter what Vickie says.
Nicole is not The Mole, even if she thinks that she is, and wants everyone else to think so too.
Clay could be The Mole.
Alex should be The Mole.
Mark is The Mole.

This is Darclyte at radio station MOLE saying, "Keep your feet on the ground when reaching for the stars because otherwise you may fall over and look like an asshat." So now I leave you with the number one reality song, "Paul Free in Van Number Two."
Go ahead and sing it.
You know you want to.

It's down to six and I already predict that the bottom 2 will be some two out of this group: Aaron, Adam and Jennifer. All of them have failed to really excel at either being on camera (Aaron,) cooking (Adam,) or both (Jen.)

Iron Chef and Bon Appétit magazine's Executive Chef, Cat Cora, was the guest judge for this round. I was surprised that she was wearing her Iron Chef attire, but she did wear "street clothes" for the elimination challenge later in the show. Of course, they showed the contestants talking her up as they do with all of the guest judges, but Shane seemed to take a fancy towards her. Sorry Shane, I think she may have the same taste in women that you do, and she's already in a committed relationship. I've never been able to find out if she and her GF got married, but the rings that I always see when she's on Iron Chef America sure says that they did. If you ever get the chance, check out her big honking wedding ring and band!

Cat had 6 covered plates each with 6 items that the remaining contestants had to pick blindly, then prepare a dish using all 6 ingredients and be able to explain the flavors of their dish for the camera. The six were teamed in pairs, allegedly to present their dishes in pairs. The joke was on the contestants, however, when once their dishes were done, they had to instead describe the dish made by their "partner" without even knowing what it was.

It was pretty painful watching them try to figure out what was in each dish and how to describe the flavors. I thought Shane was the only one who did a good job, with Lisa a close second. Aaron still doesn't know how to be in front of a camera and even said, "I'm not a camera person!" Umm, hello, this is the "Next Food Network Star" not the next "Bon Appétit Magazine Star." Poor Jen, she doesn't have much food knowledge and couldn't identify anything that Lisa had used to make her dish. I'm not sure she even got the chicken right. So, Shane won the round and was then able to not only pick what dish he and his partner were going to try to replicate for the elimination round, but also got to pick what dishes the other 2 teams were going to have to make.

Shane and Kelsey got the easiest dish, Beef Wellington, although for all of you Hell's Kitchen fans, it suuure doesn't seem to be very easy to make on HK. It was nice to have the dish fully explained here as they never really go into detail on it on HK. Aaron and Adam got Coq Au Vin, which is rooster cooked with red wine. Lisa and Jen got the hardest dish, Turducken, which is a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey. I think they would have fared better with Aaron and Adam's dish, and vice versa.

The judging group for this round included the NFNS judges, Cat, and a bunch of folks from Bon Appétit magazine, including that (self censored,) Andrew Knowlton, who was one of the judges for Next Iron Chef earlier this year.

Adam thought he could cook chicken with bone in, but thankfully, Aaron had bought boneless, skinless chicken filets as with less than 15 minutes to finish, they swapped out the boney chicken for the filets. The judges liked Adam, but Aaron again didn't know how to talk his way out of a paper bag. They were mixed on the food, but generally didn't think the chicken absorbed any of the wine, which is what Coq Au Vin is all about. FAIL!

Lisa and Jen seemed to be doing well until Jen, for reasons I'll never understand, decided to try to loosen the metal lid on a glass jar not by tapping it on the edge of the counter, but by haphazardly banging it on the edge. So, of course, the glass shattered all over the side dish that she was making (summer squash) and the duck confit that Lisa was making. Then, the turkey that Lisa cooked was too dry, so Lisa tried to fix it with a gravy, but made it too "herby" and Jen tried to "fix" it by adding chicken stock, but essentially ran out of time. The judges liked Jen's presentation, but were disappointed with all of the problems that left their meal incomplete. FAIL!

Shane and Kelsey seemed to make a great dish with great tasting, complimentary side dishes. The judges only seemed to not like the plating as they thought the color combos were not appealing. WIN!

So, Kelsey has now won 2 elimination challenges in a row, and Shane won both challenges for this episode. I think I'm safe in saying that Kelsey is now the front runner. She is a recent culinary school grad so she is knowledgeable, she's also cute and bubbly. I went to Red Lobster to try her dish, but not only did it have macadamias (which I could have dealt with,) but it had coconut. I asked if they could not add the coconut (thinking it was sprinkled on top) but I was told that it was mixed in the sauce so they couldn't leave it out. So, I didn't get to try Kelsey's Red Lobster Fresh Catch dish from last week like I had wanted.

There is a looong thread over at tv without pity that asks "has Food Network gone down hill" and most of the snarks over there say that FN is more about personalities these days than food or cooking. The NFNS panel judge, Bob Tuschman, who is VP of programming basically confirmed them last night. He told Adam that he's only made 1 (one!) dish that was good and that he's only hanging around because of his personality. I'm sorry, but if you can't cook, you shouldn't have a show on FN. Of course, that hasn't stopped Sandra Lee, but that's another whole blog in and of itself.

Well, I was right in that the bottom 2 were Aaron and Jen. I knew Jen was doomed when she failed so miserably at the first challenge. Aaron may not have been able to communicate to the camera, but at least he knew what he was eating. Then, Jen essentially shattered her team in the elimination challenge when she shattered the glass jar all over her side dish and the duck confit. She also messed up the gravy. Aaron may not have been able to converse with the camera or the dinner panel, but at least he gave them something to judge. So Jen went bye bye, seemingly without talking to or hugging anyone. That was kinda odd. Maybe she was just so upset, or maybe the others weren't fond of her. I don't know, but it was pretty quick and cold and only a "good bye" appeared to be yelled at her as she bounded down the stairs and out the door.

Aaron and Adam's days are numbered. Lisa is lacking in presentation skills, and Shane isn't as highly trained as Lisa and Kelsey. This is why I'm sticking with Kelsey FTW. Unless she loses it and punches Suzie in the nose or something. God, I'd LOVE to see that! Ever since last season, I just can't stand Suzie.

Unbeatable Harold actually had been made several years ago, and has been shown a very few times at various film festivals. Thursday night, the writer/star who is a local guy, Gordon Michaels, had his film open up the first ever Detroit Windsor International Film Festival. The festival is taking place at the Detroit Film Theatre which is located on one side of the Detroit Institute of Arts in the “cultural center” area of downtown Detroit. There was a red carpet, news and magazine coverage, photographers, a VIP section, and both an introductory to the film and a Q & A after with Mr Michaels.

A friend of mine had a minor role in the film, and it was at her invitation that I attended this screening with my cousin who is her best friend. It was very surreal to drive past the DIA and see a red carpet, limos, and photographers. Once inside, we bought our tickets, got our VIP wristbands, and went around to see the sights. The film theatre is an old style theatre in the tradition of the Fox Theatre, which is also downtown, or Radio City Music Hall, although the capacity is much smaller than those, maybe holding about 1,000 people. Before the show, we spent time with my friend who was all smiles and having her picture taken with everyone. She really has gotten quite a local following through her acting, volunteer work, and other film related work.

The film stars Gordon as Harold, an Elvis devotee working as a manager at a local steakhouse outside Reno, Nevada. He’s one of those guys that marches to his own drummer, and is seemingly oblivious to the fact that he’s a nobody and his life is pretty lame. Harold, however, just seems to take everything in stride and keeps chasing his pipe dream of someday becoming a tv meteorologist despite always being told that he doesn’t have any experience. Harold “keeps his fingers crossed” that one day, it’ll happen for him.

His boss at the steakhouse is played by Henry Winkler in a role I’ve never quite seen him in before. He’s a decent guy who honestly seems to care for Harold and the restaurant, but he also doesn’t seem to really work too hard at running the business given the mountain of incomplete paperwork on his desk, and seems to lay the lack of booming business on Harold. He also seems to have a penchant for younger ladies. Can you blame him?

Dylan McDermott who became friends with Gordon when Gordon appeared 4 times on “The Practice” is unrecognizable as Jake Salamander, a rock star who is making his big comeback. His look appears to have been largely inspired by Kid Rock. Dylan is interested in Wanda who catches him on a bed with two other women. Despite Jake’s protests that “it isn’t what you think,” Wanda leaves him.

Wanda is terrifically played by Nicole DeHuff who we find out at the start of the end credits has tragically died. She was married to the director, Ari Palitz, and they had always wanted to make a film together. Sadly, it would be her last as she contracted a form of pneumonia that went undiagnosed or perhaps misdiagnosed until it was too late to save her. She died a few months into the editing of this movie in February 2005. She was only 30 years old. Understandably, this is one of the reasons this film has taken so long to see the light of day.

Charles during plays Harold’s father, but spends his screen time in a retirement home and much of that in bed. Charles does a good job with what’s given to him. The same can also be said of Gladys Knight who plays a waitress at the steakhouse, and Phyllis Diller who appears to be a regular customer. I kept looking for the Pips to be busboys or kitchen staff, but nope, no Pips for Gladys. Zelda Rubinstein makes a brief appearance as a casino worker. Other recognizable names in the cast are Michelle Phillips, Tim Russ and Taryn Manning.

The film follows Harold as he meets Wanda who has car trouble after leaving Jake. Invited to come work at the steakhouse where Harold’s boss has chastised him to find a new waitress, Wanda takes him up on the offer after Jake pronounces that she can’t do anything, and the only thing that she can do is be the girlfriend of a rock star. Harold, meanwhile, manages to make an impression on the local tv station, but also begins to seemingly win Wanda over with his kind and goofy charm. Of course, Jake sets out to get her back and there are the usual things that happen in these sorts of films. All in all, however, it was fairly well written and very well performed having been based upon a short stage play that had been cowritten with Randy Noojin. The cinematography was good and the direction was adequate, and at times better than average.

After the movie was over, the writer/star held a Q&A session and spoke about the tragedy of Nicole’s most untimely passing. My cousin was nearly in tears after seeing the memoriam during the end credits and thought that it must have been for someone else (as she had removed her glasses and wasn’t quite able to read the memoriam card.) But no, it was Nicole who had died, and Gordon led a round of applause for her and her beautiful performance. After the Q & A there was cheese, spreads, and free drinks in the VIP section. There also was a gift bag with coupons to a number of local businesses as well as info on the festival and a number of the sponsors of the movie and the festival among other little goodies. My favorite item was the hunk of chocolate from a local chocolatier located about 3 miles from my home, and a Sirius Satellite Radio pen. Wow, I felt like a real Hollywood phony after I got my gift bag!

Unbeatable Harold is unlike most films that you’ll see these days. It’s a very light, pleasant, uplifting movie that rises above its budget, occasional hokeyness, and somewhat predictable plot. If for no other reason, I urge you to see this movie to support independent filmmaking and especially to pay tribute to the wonderful, but sadly final performance of Nicole DeHuff who was taken from us far too early and leaves us wondering what could have been.

TV Guide is reporting that Spiderman 4 is on the schedule for May 2011.
Nobody is attached to it yet, not even a script. That's a good thing, here are my suggestions:

First, they need to get rid of Raimi.
He's tired of the franchise. Hire the Russian guy who directed Wanted, the new movie with Angelina Jolie. He has a great visual style especially for action.

Second, recast Peter. Tobey is also tired of the role, and feels the need to CONSTANTLY take off his mask so we can see him "acting."
Spiderman doesn't take off his mask while fighting crime. Ever.
Jerry O'Connell had the perfect look for Peter and should have been cast originally. Jerry's only a year older than Tobey, but they should recast with someone who is only in his 20s.
But please, not Shia Lebeouf.
He's a good choice, but I'm sick of seeing him.

Recast Mary Jane. Mary Jane is supposed to be a tall knockout.
Tobey is so short, that they had to cast someone shorter, and while Kirsten is attractive, she's no knockout.
Megan Fox with red hair would be the PERFECT Mary Jane.

Also, recast Harry. He needs to be scrawnier and nerdier than James Franco. Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon on Big Bang Theory, would be a better choice. Or maybe the guy who plays Chuck on the tv series Chuck.

Now that the movie has been recast, make The Lizard the villain.
It's the perfect villain and story for a Spiderman movie.

I'm really enjoying this series more and more each week. I think that the host is getting more comfortable with his role as the program progresses and that has made it more interesting.

Tonight, they had 2 instances during the first challenge that were kinda kewl from my perspective. First, as the "selfless" team made their way up the Andes with their heavy loads of bricks, one of them suggested that they "don't look up, just keep looking at the ground and when we get there (to the top) we get there." About a year and a half ago I was visiting my friend in the Navy in Hawaii and we decided to hike up Diamond Head. At the time, I was about 40 pounds heavier than I am now, and I hadn't done something like that in a very, very long time. I remember as I was working my way up the crater that I thought something very similar to myself. So when I heard (whoever it was) make that remark, I had wished that they had shown who it was and I'd root for that person to win.

The other thing that took place made me laugh. At some point not to far from the end of their trek, someone in the "selfless" team said that if anyone were to give up now that they would be an "asshat." I think that may be the first time that term has ever been uttered on national tv. Well, at least it was the first time that I'd ever heard it on regular national tv.

After the first episode had aired, someone posted here on one of the blogs that they thought Victoria was the mole because she had the mole thumbprint on her helmet during the waterfall challenge. I had to watch the episode at abc.com, so I didn't see it and I wasn't going to go back and try to watch it online again. I didn't know what to make of it because I wasn't sure if it wasn't on all the helmets. Last week, the contestants were given underwear with a mole thumbprint, so it made me believe even more that everyone had the print on their helmets. Last night, Victoria was booted, so obviously, she's not the mole.

As for the mole, I don't think that it's Craig. He stands out too much to be the mole. I don't think it's the Nicole. She's trying too hard to make people think that she is the mole. If that's her strategy to throw people off because she IS the mole, then great job! I also don't think that it's Paul, he's just too unpredictable and doesn't seem to have the right temperment. I also don't think that it's Clay. Alex and Kristen are both excellent candidates, but I don't recall them doing anything to sabotage either. Of course, not doing something of notice would be the perfect mole.

At this point, I think the Mole is Mark. What better way to throw people off than to be shown obsessively taking notes in a journal and then freak out when the journal is burned. I haven't noticed him do anything much to sabotage, although he DID leave those bricks in order to take the scale. For now, I'm going to stick with Mark as The Mole.

This week we had appearances from the only celebrity who I look remotely like, Chef Tyler Florence, and a guy who looks like Mr Clean, Chef Michael Symon.

Tyler had the contestants perform a 60 second "skill test" where they had to show how to perform some culinary task on camera within 60 seconds. They were given tasks such as opening a coconut, trussing a chicken and peeling an artichoke.

I felt bad for Nipa. She was given a squid and asked to prepare it. She told Tyler that she didn't know how, but rather than give her a fighting chance by first showing her how to do it and then making her do it, he told her that she had to do it as it's part of being a professional.

In the words of the late George Carlin, bulls***! NOBODY on Food Network is going to go on camera and explain to the viewers how to perform ANY task that they don't know how to do. If Tyler and his crew decide that he's going to make a dish using ANY ingredient, if Tyler didn't know how to properly use it, he'd learn how and master it before ever getting in front of a camera to film it for his series, Tyler's Ultimate.

Even on Iron Chef America where the chefs are given a "secret ingredient" to work with (although prior to taping, they're given a list of 5 possible ingredients from which one will be chosen,) they choose to have all sorts of other items on hand to go with the possible secret ingredient and if they have no idea what to do with any one of the 5, believe me that they'd take the time to find out.

Case in point, Chef Bobby Flay has a series called "Throwdown" where he challenges "regular" people who are experts in some type of food. It could be BBQ ribs, cookies, blondies, jerk chicken, or whatever. Before each battle, Bobby takes time to work in the Food Network kitchens to prepare his dish he'll challenge the expert with. Sometimes, if given a dish that he's not entirely familiar with, especially if it involves baking, he'll go to some place in New York and learn how to make the item (such as bagels or muffins.)

So, I thought it was unfair to make Nipa have to perform a task and then criticize her performance. Yes, she laughed during it, but only because she didn't have a clue as to what she was doing, not that she was being disrespectful.

I also couldn't understand why they gave Shane such a hard time. Do a google search on how to drain coconut juice, you're supposed to puncture the "eyes" and drain the liquid. He tried to do that, but obviously didn't poke them far enough, and no liquid came out. Tyler chastised him for trying to pretend he was doing something correctly when he wasn't and then the judges later said the same thing. I'm not sure what they're talking about. He did the right thing, but the only thing that he did wrong was not puncture the "eyes" deep enough.

For the elimination challenge, Michael Symon asked them to prepare a fish dish that would appear on Red Lobster's "Fresh Catch" menu, and to make a second dish pairing the same fish with some odd item such as marshmallow fluff, cola, or fruit loops.

Again, poor Nipa was faced with an unfamiliar task. Now I know that there are Indian dishes that use seafood, but it depends on the region. I'm betting that the region that Nipa's family originated from was not on the coast and therefore didn't cook with seafood. Again, they tried to tell her that if she wants to be a FN star, that she'll have to work with fish. Umm, no. I don't recall seeing Giada make any Indian dishes or a dish using goat. She cooks Italian food. If Nipa had a show, she'd be making Indian food with a Midwestern flair. She wouldn't be making anything using seafood unless she learned how to do it first, and not in 60 seconds like the first challenge, or even 45 minutes like this one.

I also thought it was ridiculous of Chef Symon to say that her butchering of the fish offended him. Yes, it's wasteful, but she was unfamiliar with how to filet the fish and tried to do it, she just failed.

I was surprised that Lisa chose to make a fish tartare when she knew that was her dish for Red Lobster. I don't see a lot of raw foods served at Red Lobster. This again makes me think that she has no chance to win as she once again shows that she's too "Martha Stewartish" and too haughty taughty for the "average" person who watches Food Network. I've seen FN chefs prepare tartares, but not often.

It appeared that the winner would be either Shane or Kelsey, and Kelsey won for her second win on one episode. If she can't keep it together, I can see them looking at her as a younger Rachel Ray.

So, I wasn't surprised that Nipa was eliminated. When they had the one on one interviews with each contestant, I noticed that she was the only one wearing the same outfit from the first challenge, which seemed to signal to me that she got eliminated. Funny thing though was that she had a different outfit on when she got canned. At the end of the day, I think that she could have a successful show on FN if given a little bit of time and coaching, but she just can't compete with the types of challenges that this series presents.

I still don't get what they see with Adam, but I'm glad that he fell down, literally, in this episode. If Jen can get some confidence, she'd be the one to beat, but right now, Kelsey is the front runner. Until next week, of course.

P.S. RIP George Carlin. What a bad way to start my day to read news of his passing. And yet, Dane Cook is still alive and out on tour. No justice.

When I heard that Tim Russert had died, I was bummed because he seemed like such a genuine guy and really knew his stuff.
Now comes word that a legend who was the last of his breed has died.
Stan Winston, the special effects genius behind Terminator, Jurassic Park, Aliens, Predator and just about any movie over the last 30 years that had amazing creatures in it died last night of cancer. He was 62.
He was a combination of Ray Harryhausen who did stop motion animation such as the old Sinbad movies of the 70s and Clash of the Titans, and Rick Baker the makeup guy who did American Werewolf in London and Michael Jackson's Thriller.
He made incredible creatures come to life through makeup, full sized models, and miniatures.
Pretty much every major special effects leader working today trained under him at some point.
I just hope that some of his followers and his studio will continue to make "real world" effects, and not fully convert over to CGI.
His final masterpieces were the Iron Man suits used in the movie.
Sad, tragic, and just awful news.
At least his body is no longer in pain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Winston