BREAKING NEWS: According to this morning’s OMAHA WORLD HERALD, Omaha will be one of the venues for this year’s auditions–eventually to be featured in one of their early programs starting in January, 2008.
Auditions will be held August 10. Apparently, there is some wristband-handing-out procedure for the two days prior. Details at the American Idol site.
Good luck. We promise not to laugh at you! (Right…)
I am still loving this show.
Viewership has been disappointing, and the show immediately went to a once per week format (Tuesdays on FOX) rather than their planned two per week.
Each week you see five or six short films. Some of them are pretty good (a few of these folks are going to be famous some day), and some not so good. But that’s what I like about this show: The critics have very intelligent and helpful critiques about what makes a good film and what doesn’t work.
If you have any interest in the film business (and it is still what I’d like to do when I grow up), this is a great teaching tool and quite entertaining.
And again, the hostess is the best thing that CNN ever gave us:
Adrianna Costa…sigh…
While I’m in a nostalgic mood: in the unlikely event that you have never seen this wonderful movie–ENTER THE DRAGON–run, don’t walk to your video store to pick it up. Or order it on NETFLIX. You are no friend of mine until you do…:
I like Michael Moore’s movies. Yeah, they can be a little manipulative but…so can our friends at FOX NEWS.
There has been much todo in the press about his upcoming new movie SICKO, a documentary about the American health care industry. It is my understanding that it is universally well-reviewed–even by those that think Mr. Moore is the Anti-Christ.
If you object to giving any of your hard-earned dollars to Mr. Moore, you may be pleased to know that the movie is available all over the place on the Internet. Just GOOGLE “SICKO torrent” for the torrent. Don’t know what a torrent is? Ya gotta be kidding me.
The “illegal” (sort of) download has Mr. Moore’s blessing (sort of). No, really! Not saying that his distributor is that wild about the idea, but here is Mr. Moore on the issue:
Personally, I’m going to wait for it to be in the theaters–it’s fun to watch his movies with others around. Not that many movies you go to where there is almost always spontaneous applause at the end.
“Don Herbert, who explained the wonderful world of science to millions of young baby boomers on television in the 1950s and ’60s as “Mr. Wizard” and did the same for another generation of youngsters on the Nickelodeon cable TV channel in the 1980s, died Tuesday. He was 89.
“Herbert died at his home in Bell Canyon after a long battle with multiple myeloma, said Tom Nikosey, Herbert’s son-in-law.
“A low-key, avuncular presence who wore a tie and white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, Herbert launched his weekly half-hour science show for children on NBC in 1951.
“Broadcast live from Chicago on Saturdays the first few years and then from New York City, “Watch Mr. Wizard” ran for 14 years.
“Herbert used basic experiments to teach scientific principles to his TV audience via an in-studio guest boy or girl who assisted in the experiments….[Rest of Obituary]
Well, we find out tonight.
I would be very suprised if Tony is killed in tonight’s series finale. Too good for him.
THE SOPRANOS, the greatest t.v. drama of all time needs to finish with the greatest tragedy of all time. To me, that has to mean him surviving but losing immediate family members–probably at least one of the kids. Meadow seems the most uncorrupted and the greatest tragedy would be there, but Anthony, Jr., is certainly a child in peril this season. (I’ve been very impressed with Anthony Jr.’s acting this season–and he’s a clone of my son Clint by the way).
Again, the best thing that has ever been on t.v. Get the DVDs for Season 1 and start watching. (Second best series ever on t.v.: a tie between SIX FEET UNDER and THE WEST WING).
Anthony, Jr., & Clint–separated at birth?
I am loving this show.
It’s pretty much AMERICAN IDOL for budding movie directors–very similar format.
Each week, the directors (15 remaining) have to make a mini-film–some of which are incredible and some just so-so. If you’re coming into the season late, you can go to the main website and they have archived the episodes you have missed so far. They also have streaming video of the 18 one-minute movies that were shown last week.
The show is on Mondays at 7 Central, with a results show a la AMERICAN IDOL on Tuesdays at 7 Central.
If you love movies and how they’re made, you’ll love this series. (Also highly recommended: OPERATION GREENLIGHT, a now-defunct HBO Series. The first two seasons are available on DVD).
ON THE LOT also has the lovely Adrianna Costa as its host:
…sigh…
“A Dutch reality television show in which a terminally ill woman is to select one of three contestants to receive her kidneys when she dies is to air this week despite criticism that it pushes the boundaries of the format too far. “The government has called for De Grote Donorshow (The Big Donor show) to be dropped because it is “unethical” and “wretched” but the broadcaster BNN said it would go ahead to highlight the difficulties of searching for kidney donors.
“In the show, due to be broadcast on Friday, a woman identified only as Lisa, 37, will select a recipient based on their history, profile and conversations with their families and friends. Throughout the 80-minute show, viewers will be invited to send Lisa text messages to advise her….” [Rest of article]
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Then again, maybe if it heightens awareness of the need for organ donorship this is not such a bad thing. Shame on you if you don’t have a donor card in your wallet!
The Freakonomics Blog has more here, with links to other articles they’ve had on the issue.
[Update: By now, all of you have probably learned that this story was a hoax. I feel so used! 
Actually, I had waited a day to see if there was any truth to it, but when I saw it in the newspaper, well golly--I figured that now it just had to be true! Technically, it was a semi-hoax in that there really was a program promoted in the Netherlands with this premise that turned out, just before airing, to have been this hoax to create awareness for the organ donation problem]
“CAIRO, Egypt — Customs officers at Cairo’s airport on Thursday detained a man bound for Saudi Arabia who was trying to smuggle 700 live snakes on a plane, airport authorities said.
“The officers were stunned when a passenger, identified as Yahia Rahim Tulba, told them his carryon bag contained live snakes after he was asked to open it.
“Tulba opened his bag to show the snakes to the police and asked the officers, who held a safe distance, not to come close. Among the various snakes, hidden in small cloth sacks, were two poisonous cobras, authorities said….”[Rest of article]
“CAIRO, Egypt — Customs officers at Cairo’s airport on Thursday detained a man bound for Saudi Arabia who was trying to smuggle 700 live snakes on a plane, airport authorities said.
“The officers were stunned when a passenger, identified as Yahia Rahim Tulba, told them his carryon bag contained live snakes after he was asked to open it.
“Tulba opened his bag to show the snakes to the police and asked the officers, who held a safe distance, not to come close. Among the various snakes, hidden in small cloth sacks, were two poisonous cobras, authorities said….”[Rest of article]
