May 30, 2008 felt ages away.

When it was finally May and pre-order tickets were available, I pounced on presale tickets like a crazy, rabid fan (reminiscent of my younger days when Spice World first came out and my friends and I insisted on going on opening day, all giddy and hyper as we counted down the days). And on the evening of May 30th, you can bet your fancy Jimmy Choos that I was lined up in front of the theatre. However, unlike some more rabid or, erm, “dedicated” fans in attendance, I did not do so while wearing stilettos.

Now I have the movie on DVD (find out how you can get the DVD for free below), a great companion to my collection of DVDs of the series. One word: FABULOUS!

Similar to other movies that draw upon the notion that the audience has some sort of background knowledge on the overall narrative, it starts off with a nostalgic flashback of where the girls were since we last saw them. Charlotte is still with Harry, Samantha is (shock!) still with Smith Jarrod, Carrie is still with, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, Mr. Big and Miranda is still with Steve but seems to be in a “relationship rut” between the two. Things aren’t exactly the same though: Charlotte is now embracing family life with Harry and their adopted child (the one she broke news of to Harry in the last season of the show) and Samantha is now a one-man lady, not to say she doesn’t feel weighed down by the ball and chain of monogamy — she is, after all, still Samantha Jones. Within the last few years in the world of Sex and the City, the dynamics of their relationship with their significant others has evolved –for better or for worse, in Miranda’s case– and so has their friendship. Nonetheless, seeing the four girls together and talking over breakfast about anything from gossip to taboo topics (i.e. “colouring” which takes on a whole different meaning now), it’s just like putting on a comfy sweater… as cliché as that sounds. It’s a familiar feeling and you know I get a kick out of nostalgia.

More than one storyline is interwoven throughout the movie, but the main storyline and the one that was most engrossing is about Mr. Big’s proposal to Carrie and the subsequent wedding. Just when you thought that Mr. Big simply wasn’t the committing type, he goes and proposes. This is not to say it was something done without any cajoling from external factors (it began with apartment hunting, Mr. Big’s purchasing a luxurious apartment for him and Carrie and then Carrie’s paranoia about “not sealing the deal” after hearing about another woman who was kicked to the curb after her relationship went south). Still, even if Mr. Big initially nonchalantly agrees to make it official, it’s nice to see Mr. Big is ready to commit to Carrie. Aside: I’ve always been a Mr. Big fan and while Aidan was, by all accounts, the perfect boyfriend/husband, I just never liked him with Carrie. And don’t get me started about Aleksandr Petrovsky… although I did like Jack Burger, even if he was a ginormous jerk in the end.

The other storylines involve the other girls, each dealing with their own issues: infidelity, sense of loss of self, and infertility. The movie also brings back familiar faces from the show, including Candice Bergen (Carrie’s boss at Vogue) and Willie Garson (the always entertaining Stanford Blatch). New to the Sex and the City-verse is Jennifer Hudson, who plays Carrie’s assistant. She doesn’t really add much to the story, though she has a storyline of her own, but her performance was decent.

The movie doesn’t really require the viewer to be a Sex and the City aficionado, knowing every reference to the television show and every character’s background stories. It is still enjoyable on its own merits but being a fan of the show, or at least familiar with the characters, does make the experience much more entertaining. There are parts, such as the mini fashion show Carrie puts on of memorable outfits from the show, that were surely added as a gleeful homage to the show, much to the delight of fans. But while we’re on the topic, let’s not forget the fashion. If you missed seeing the outfits fashion maven Patricia Field put together for the characters back when the show was on, the ensembles you will see in the movie will definitely not disappoint. 

Get the DVD for free! Special offer at Sears

Timeless. Feminine. Chic. An exclusive gift, available only at Sears. Beginning October 18th, visit your nearest Sears fragrance department and with the purchase of a Lovely Sarah Jessica Parker Eau de Parfum Spray 100 ml/3.4 oz, you will receive a copy of the much anticipated DVD release, Sex and the City The Movie. Limit one bonus per customer while quantities last. This gorgeous perfume is a beautiful blend of mandarin, rosewood, lavender, apple martini and bergamot. The heart is of orchid, patchouli and finishes off to cedar, white amber, woods and musk. It is a lovely, sophisticated scent that is not very overpowering. “Lovely” was also ranked the second runner-up fragrance in Glow’s Readers’ Choice 2006. Click here to view promotional poster.

DVD Special Editions And Features:

Widescreen Bonus Features: Audio Commentary by Director Michael Patrick King
Full-Screen Bonus Features: Audio Commentary by Director Michael Patrick King
Unrated Widescreen 2-disc Extended Edition Bonus Features:
Disc 1: Audio Commentary By director Michael Patrick King
Disc 2: Additional Scenes; A Conversation With Sarah Jessica Parker And Michael Patrick King; The Fabulous Fashion Of Sex And The City; Fergie in the Studio: The Singer recording Labels Or Love For The Soundtrack
Blu-ray Edition Bonus Features: Audio Commentary by Director Michael Patrick King; Additional Scenes; A Conversation With Sarah Jessica Parker And Michael Patrick King; The Fabulous Fashion of Sex And The City; Fergie in the Studio
Blu-ray Exclusive Content: Two Interactive Features (Games): Sex and the City: The City; Dish It!

The free DVD with purchase at Sears is the Widescreen, one disc version.

As far as DVD features go, and I am a huge fan of watching special features on DVDs, a mere audio commentary track is kind of lacking — especially for those who have been anticipating the release for home entertainment. Even as a one disc DVD, I would have loved to have seen more bonuses, in the way of bloopers, deleted scenes and interviews with the cast (not just Sarah Jessica Parker) about reuniting after all these years. Perhaps even a feature about shooting in New York City, with the crowds and fans that would go to the filming locations to check out the movie in process. Maybe they are “bonus featured-out” after all the DVD releases of the show (I’m still rather bitter that season 6 was split into two parts, thereby causing me to have to pay twice to get the full season).

Act I came out July 15, 2008.
Act II came out July 17, 2008.
Act II comes out July 19, 2008.
All acts will stay up free for viewing until midnight Sunday July 20th. After that, it will VANISH off the website but will be released on DVD at a later date (along with some extras).

Seriously, go and watch it, go now. Or buy the episodes on iTunes.

He has a PhD in Horribleness!

Related article and more photos

Teaser

Addendum: I happened to have stumbled upon a Dr. Horrible fansite, when I came across Felicia Day’s website and blog. After skimming through the content and her blog entries, I’ve come to the conclusion that she is kind of awesome… in that, she likes the same things I do and therefore, in my mind, that makes her awesome as well. According to her blog, she is a writer in addition to being an actress, she enjoys video games (including Nintendo DS, which I am a huge nerd for), she is a fan of web 2.0, and she likes to blog and review things in her blog.

Truth be told, I wasn’t really a huge fan of hers, per se, when she played one of the Potential Slayers on Buffy (although I do recall she was one of the least annoying girls of the group). But that’s probably because I thought the Potential Slayers sucked up too much screentime from my beloved Scooby Gang in season 7, the very last season of the series. Since then, I hadn’t followed her career, which is a shame because The Guild (a web series she created) is actually pretty entertaining. Now, I am a fan. I think I’ll even go rewatch my season 7 Buffy DVDs just to refresh my memory of her role on Buffy. This time, I won’t be fast-forwarding so much of the “Potential Slayer scenes”.

Alvin and the Chipmunks starts off with the back story of how the chipmunks came into Dave Seville’s (Jason Lee) life. The film opens on a snowy forest, where we see the [CGI created] chipmunks singing Daniel Powter’s “Bad Day” on top of an evergreen tree and storing away food for the winter when suddenly, the tree they are perched upon is chopped down. With the chipmunks still hidden within the branches, the tree is transported into the lobby of JETT Records where it will serve as the Christmas tree and also, coincidentally, where Dave Seville is scheduled for a meeting. Dave meets with Ian (David Cross), a JETT executive, to go over a new song he has written but Ian informs him that he will never find any Justins or Britneys to sing that song because, frankly, it sucks. Dejected and rejected, he leaves the building but on his way out, he steals a huge basket of muffins. Kind of getting his comeuppance for the blow to his ego in the form of baked goods. And just as Dave is making his way out of the lobby, the chipmunks have gotten out from the tree and are making their big escape. They spot the muffin basket and jump right in. Long story short, and a rendition of “Funky Town” later, they become a part of Dave Seville’s life.

Blasphemy, I say!

As other Chipmunk aficionados will attest, that does NOT hold true to the origin of the Chipmunks tale. Not by a long shot! Those familiar with the cartoon will remember that the chipmunks’ mother had to abandon her three babies one winter because she had to leave her home in the forest and they would not survive if she brought them along. So with their best interest at heart and with much sorrow, she left them on the doorstop of Dave Seville, a man who was kind to the forest animals. She had intended to come back for them in the spring but she saw how happy they were with him, so decided it was best to leave them in their new home. Even years later, I still distinctly remember that scene of the mother chipmunk leaving Alvin, Simon and Theodore on the doorstep and me, a wee youngin’, getting all weepy over the sentimentality of the whole thing. I can understand changing some parts of the “Chipmunk-verse” to adapt to the audience of today, but to rewrite history so much that it somehow loses its authenticity and what made the story heartwarming? Not impressed.

Speaking of Chipmunk performed songs, besides “Funky Town” and “Bad Day”, Alvin and the Chipmunks also sang the classic songs fans of the television show will remember, “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” and “Witch Doctor“. The first rendition of “The Chipmunk Song” sung along to the piano was similar to the original version but then eventually, after being put on JETT Records, it was completely remixed to reflect the songs of today’s top 40 with the end result being this, errr, Fall Out Boy-esque ditty. And don’t get me started on what they did to “Witch Doctor”. It’s now, like, some sort of lame Kidz Bop fusion of Pussycat Dolls meets The Black Eyed Peas on a lot of helium! Apparently I am the only one who finds these remakes somewhat disturbing because those Youtube comments from the kiddies are almost all positive. Maybe I’m just too old for this. I guess this is just one of the ways the movie makers were trying to make the Chipmunks “cool” for the youth of today. In any case, those Chipmunk songs, man are they hard to get out of your head after listening to them. It’s worst than getting that darn Chumbawamba song out of your head (you know the one!).

And even more creepy was hearing Alvin say “what’s up, playa” in the movie. That just felt offputting, even though I know Alvin is the cooler, “rebel chipmunk” and in today’s world, I suppose that would equate to using “gangsta speak”. But the 10 year old inside of me couldn’t help but cringe upon hearing that.

Another one of my qualms about the movie may be a bit hard to explain but perhaps if you were a fan of the television show, you would know what I am talking about. In the cartoon, it was explicitly understood that the chipmunks were, well, chipmunks but it was also implicitly understood that they were like deformed children due to their stature and somewhat similar appearance. I mean really now, they were as big as regular kids when compared to Dave! As you see from the picture to your left, they really just look like chubby cheeked children with strange hair ‘dos that matches their skintone and with an unfortunate wardrobe of nightgowns. With this perception and frame of reference, I took in the stories when I was young. Now, it’s actual (CGI’d) chipmunks that are the size of regular chipmunks (i.e. really small as opposed to the giant, kid-sized Chipmunks I am used to) alongside actual humans and real scenery. With the live-action adaptation, it’s really a suspension of belief and reality when taking in the story whereas before, it was simply preposterous all around and that was fine because it was just a cartoon, if that makes ANY sense at all. In other words, it was just a different experience back then, regardless of the age difference.

It was, however, nice to see David Cross in the movie as Ian the evil music exec who steals the Chipmunks away from Dave. But maybe I am just too used to seeing him as Tobias Fünke, former analrapist turned actor, to be able to see him as anything “evil”. (Sidenote: I really miss Arrested Development!) The quirkiness he brought to the storyline was a nice added touch to the movie and made it that much more entertaining.

Alvin and the Chipmunks is surely a movie targeted at a brand new generation, a generation who, according to the Youtube comments, are not familiar with the “old school” Alvin and the Chipmunks and thus have nothing to compare the movie to. It’s definitely not for those of us who are looking for a nostalgic experience that lets us reminisce on our wistful childhood memories. Ultimately, if it’s an audience that’s purely watching the movie without any preconceived notions about what exactly the Chipmunks were in its heyday, it is actually quite enjoyable. However, if you are one of those children of the ’80s who watched Alvin and the Chipmunks so much as a kid that you will immediately start singing along to the theme the second you hear the familiar riffs, then this 2007 version of Alvin and the Chipmunks will be rather disappointing.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Comedy Central’s Motherload is like the “interweb mecca” for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report fans. It offers a fairly large archive of clips for both shows, streamed for free 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whenever you wanted a Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert (or *insert your favourite correspondent’s name here*) fix, you knew where to go. Because we all know with the recent Viacom (Comedy Central’s parent company) versus YouTube lawsuit, it’s pretty much the only source for video clips for these shows.

Then there was news of a better, more spectacular and centralized new site set to be revealed in October for fans of The Daily Show. The new TheDailyShow.com was trumpeted as “the ultimate online destination for ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ fans”. No longer would The Daily Show have to piggyback off the main Comedy Central website and, most exciting of all, the new site would feature video clips from every episode dating back to 1999, the year Jon Stewart took over the reins of The Daily Show, and would be expanded to include the show’s entire video history, totaling well over 13,000 high-quality clips [ source ]. It was a TDS fan’s dream! (The Colbert Report currently does not have plans to have a similar video archive centric website of its own Updated Sept 2008: Colbert Nation has received a facelift and now has a video archive available)

Unfortunately, and quite sadly so, us TDS fans up north are being left out. We’re just on the outside, looking in, whimpering and greatly irritated by the fact that when we now click to either ComedyCentral.com or TheDailyShow.com, we are greeted by this lovely page seen on your right… before being redirected to thecomedynetwork.ca. Thanks a lot CTVglobemedia.

Doing some research on the topic, after being outraged for a good while and ranting on Colboard, I now understand it has to do with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (better known as the CRTC) regulations. Thanks to my numerous communication studies courses and discussing the CRTC in relation to media content, I can give you a brief synopsis of what they do. They are the ones that are responsible for enforcing strict rules in terms of Canadian content and autonomy, including making sure there are those simultaneous substitutions for US network broadcasts. Essentially, they ensure that Canadian content and the Canadian people are being upheld, and that Canadian companies are given a fair shot in their home market.

Well that’s good and great, I’m all for more Canadian content and supporting the Canadian companies, but why can’t I, along with my fellow Canadians, watch online content (i.e. full episodes) streamed for free by networks like CBS, NBC, FOX and now, Comedy Central?

This is why:

In a major May 1999 decision on “New Media”, the CRTC held that under the Broadcasting Act the CRTC had jurisdiction certain content communicated over the internet including audio and video, but excluding content that is primarily alphanumeric such as emails and most webpages. It also issued an exemption order committing to a policy of non-interference. [ source ]

CRTC is preventing Comedy Central from trying to take that autonomy and use it to subvert the Canadian network (the simulcasting partner) who owns the rights to it, the Canadian network in this case being CTV. The fact that we could watch content on Motherload for so long somewhat surprised me, considering CTV has had the rights to both shows for quite awhile now. Ultimately, I guess that means CTV can do with The Daily Show and The Colbert Report content as it sees fit. Which, right now, seems to be offering a version of TheDailyShow.com that pales in comparison to the Comedy Central version. Its video archive is decent, all streamed through CTV Broadband. But after viewing the original TheDailyShow.com site via a web proxy, it seems to not be as expansive in coverage over eight years of Jon Stewart hosted episodes and lacks the ability for commenting, an important interactive feature of web 2.0 media and community building. It also doesn’t allow for video embedding so you can’t share the video clips on a blog or other website, unlike the original. Overall, I like the video player on ComedyCentral/TheDailyShow much, much more than the one on CTV Broadband. But luckily, although unable to stream video on TheDailyShow.com via a web proxy, you can grab the embedding code for videos in order to watch them on another site. It’s tedious, but hey, there you go. Ack, it looks like they have disabled streaming of videos embedded elsewhere, as well!

You’ll otherwise miss out on gems like this (which I tried to locate on the CTV/Comedy Network version of The Daily Show site, to no avail. Maybe it’s there and I just couldn’t find it. The search feature is not so intuitive as I had noticed while searching up Even Stepven clips).

While it has been said by TPTB at CTV that this new site is still being worked on and they are working out the kinks currently (we just a day or two ago got the ticket request page unblocked!), it supposedly will not merely be a mirror of the TheDailyShow.com website. I just hope that when they say they are “working out the kinks”, it means they are planning to expand their video archive to make it on par with their US counterpart. One suggestion is to send emails to the Comedy Network as mentioned on this Colboard thread, particularly Scott Henderson, the Senior Director of Communications.

Update: Download Hotspot Shield and these videos should then work. This solution has worked great for me, at least.

Pegged as a “forensic fairy tale” and acclaimed by critics, Pushing Daisies is easily the best new television show of fall 2007. It’s not very often I become instantly enamored with a new show, particularly with the way network execs love to toy with new shows and cancel them at the drop of a hat, thus devastating those who were starting to become invested in said shows. This show, though, I think has real potential (worthy to note: I am writing this a few minutes after its first broadcast on ABC so the ratings have not yet come in).

The premise of Pushing Daisies is based on the idea that a guy can bring dead people back to life with a mere touch of a finger. With another touch, the person is dead again… this time, forever. One minute or less between touches, no repercussions. Any more than one minute and another person’s life, based on random proximity, is taken instead. Pretty simple and straight forward, right? Not really. The background story is that the guy, Ned, used to have a huge crush on his neighbour, a girl named Charlotte but whom he referred to as “Chuck”. In an attempt to bring his own mother back from the dead, he ended up taking the life of Chuck’s dad. Only later did he realize the part about the second touch bringing on permanent “deadness”, and so his mother ended up dead yet again after a goodnight kiss. Their lives took a drastic turn after their respective tragic events.

The beginning shots of Ned and Chuck as kids were very aesthetically different from what you would usually see on television. It can be best described as a technocoloured dreamscape. There’s use of claymation and bright blue skies, it just had a very distinctive look. It really set the tone for the rest of the show because it gave it a feeling of a fairy tale, albeit one involving dead bodies. And pies.

Ned grew up to become a pie maker, making his pies in his own pie diner called “The Pie Hole”. He lives with his dog Digby, who happens to be the first dead being he brought back to life as a child and thus is now no longer able to touch. All is well until his secret ability is discovered by Emerson, a private investigator who happens to witness Ned in the act accidentally. They decide to become a team and solve the mysteries of “who dun-nit” by asking the deceased who killed them within the one minute alloted and then collecting the reward money.

One news story about a female was murdered on a cruise ship catches Ned’s eye. Turns out the dead chick on the cruise was Chuck, his childhood neighbour and childhood crush, whom he had his first kiss with. He and Emerson go to find Chuck in order to find out who killed her. After she’s brought back to life, she tells Ned that she doesn’t know who killed her and after some reacquainting, she asks him for a kiss so that he would be her first and last kiss. She suddenly stops herself and asks, “Or if that’s weird?”. He replies with, “That’s not weird. It’s magical”. *swoon* Their faces hover, their lips all puckered up, and he just cannot plant that kiss on her, as that would mean she would be forever dead. A minute passes and the owner of the funeral home dies. There begins a perfectly magical relationship between two meant-to-be soul mates who forever more cannot lay even a finger on the other. Can you say angst?

My thoughts

I cannot say enough good things about this show. The smart storytelling, the witty banter, the quirkiness, the overall cinematography, the casting, it was just perfect. The narration, by Jim Dale who you may know from the U.S. Harry Potter audio books, adds another dimension to the overall “fairy tale” feel to the show. But it’s not just a fairy tale-esque kind of show, it also brillantly blends comedy, mystery, and romance into one great package. The show operates on a level that assumes the audience is not composed of ignoramuses, but rather, people who can read into the nuances within the show. It’s also interesting to see a TV couple who is not even slightly physical with each other, as is the case with most TV couples and those who offer only some physical contact but not the whole shebang, the audience (or “shippers” for that couple, rather) will raise their fists to demand more (for example, with Grissom and Sara on CSI). In Buffyverse, even Angel and Buffy, who were not able to have sex as that would result in Angel losing his soul (again), were able to touch and kiss. I am really looking forward to seeing how this relationship between Ned and Chuck progresses and evolves throughout the show. If the writers continue to come up with charming and imaginative scenes or moments like the “touchless hand holding” we got at the end of the first episode, I am sure it will keep audiences watching and the hearts of fangirls pitter-pattering.

It’s not really anything we’ve seen before and can say, “oh it’s another reincarnation of so-and-so” and in that sense, it might be a challenge to attract an audience. If everyone gave it a shot, I’m sure they would find something to love about it. If you missed it, you can stream it online at ABC’s website if in the U.S. or on CTV Broadband if in Canada.

Related links: Official website, Wikipedia, The Pie Maker.

Trailer

Controversy has been swirling around CBS’ Kid Nation for as long as the concept was first brought to the media’s attention. Its premise being a reality show about 40 kids living on their own and running a town (Bonanza City) for 40 days. AND WITH NO ADULTS! Exploitative? Probably. Entertaining? Absolutely! If not just good old entertainment for the masses, at least it’s an interesting social experiment.

Upon hearing about Kid Nation, my interest was immediately piqued and so I eagerly awaited the season premiere, which was this Wednesday, September the 19th. Did it meet or exceed my expectations? Sure it did. I don’t know whether it’s going to be one of those reality shows I watch out of genuine interest (i.e. Little People, Big World) or watch for the sheer ridiculousness of it all (i.e. Flavor of Love, Littlest Groom and even America’s Next Top Model with the increasingly over-the-top Tyra antics).

On the up-side, to my surprise, I am actually quite impressed by these kids. I had expected mostly whiny, annoying, spoiled kids throwing tantrums or being menaces (and there are some, you can’t gather 40 kids without having at least having one). Some of them displayed maturity beyond their years and their will to persevere, even when things were bleak, was admirable. They were actually able to organize themselves to accomplish things, like cooking for the first time. The awarding of the gold star was also a nice touch. A gold star, an award given out by the “town council” every week to the kid who demonstrates leadership skills and makes a positive contribution to the town, is worth $20,000. Besides the cash, it’s a good lesson to teach the kids: that hard work pays off and you should strive to rise above the pack. In this first episode, the winner of the gold star, Sophia, didn’t actually know about the existence of the prize and still tried her best to lead the group in the right direction. Overall, it offers a valuable learning experience even if it is rather unconventional and its methods, somewhat questionable. Learning to cooperate and collaborate is imperative in this kind of predicament, and it’s a good skill to instill.

As I said, this is definitely an interesting social experiment. Kids, taken out of their natural element, are able to subsist and function in their own governed social system — free of adults, or almost free of adults (considering the host and the crew). I just wonder if it will get to the point of chaos a la Lord of the Flies. Let’s not forget that a child’s brain is not fully developed and as such, they are not able to engage in logical reasoning, control impulses, and understand the reactions of others as well as adults. That difference in biology could result in some dramatic situations (read: huge ratings). Imagine the kind of stuff that gets people boiling mad to the point of insanity on shows like The Real World, Survivor, Big Brother, America’s Next Top Model, and etc, and those are, supposedly, rational adults!

I still highly doubt that the show is completely “adult free” in that there will not be any adult interference whatsoever. I don’t know what goes on behind scenes, but I don’t think that the show would completely disregard the children’s basic welfare. If it ever did get to a lawless, Lord of the Flies type situation, I am almost certain that someone will step in and intervene. The parents may have given the show free reign with their kids, so it says on the site, but I think they’d probably want their kids back in one piece. So as to avoid lawsuits, there has to be some kind of help, particularly in drastic circumstances.

I’ll keep on watching. And if Kid Nation 2 does happen, and it looks like it will because there’s already an application on the website, I will probably watch that too. Heck, if I had a kid, I’d sign him or her up. Bring mommy home 20 grand! To be honest, as I think about how I was at that age, I am not sure I could say that I too would be able to do what some of them were able to when placed in such a situation. I’d probably be like Jimmy, the kid who was sobbing and wanting to go home soon after arriving (and later, did indeed go home). This show isn’t really even as exploitative and controversial as it was first made out to be, besides it being based around the members of society we see as most vulnerable and innocent. I’m sure shows like MTV’s Fat Camp [documentary special], Shaq’s Big Challenge and the like, are much more exploitative. But I guess since those shows target obese kids in the name of (or the disguise of) helping them or promoting healthy eating habits, then that’s okay.