Yeah, Yeah...I Know...It's Late...

Before you say anything, I know. It's late. But it's OK. Honest. I've been busy, you know, working and watching movies, and traveling all over western Canada. But now I'm back, and I'm writing (well, by the time you're reading this, I've technically written...but I'll forgive it if you will)...

Anyhow, onto bigger and better things than pointing out the obvious.

Last week, I discussed the late, great Owen Hart, and I'll just offer a brief update this week. Owen's funeral was held hear on Monday, and about 1,500 people turned out outside the funeral home where his services were held. I didn't watch CNN or any of those broadcasts, so I don't know if they covered it, but it was the top story for the local broadcasts. Regardless, Owen's wife offered a very touching eulogy, and I was impressed that so many people showed up to say goodbye.

One other thing I'd like to touch on is the WWF's handling of the situation. I was willing to give the WWF a thumb's up until they played footage from Owen's funeral on Monday Night Raw. Owen's wife specifically asked that this not be shown on any WWF programs because it would be exploitative (and she's right). She specifically told Vince McMahon this ahead of time, and he went ahead and did it anyhow. For years I've watched wrestling deteriorate, and I think I've finally had enough. I won't be tuning into another WWF broadcast until after Vince McMahon is gone. The man is a sleazeball, no more, no less.

OK...on to some DVD related stuff for a change.

I received an email from some of the people over at Sharpline Arts, who produce supplemental materials for DVDs (documentaries, et al). Anyhow, they're most recent work has just been released in the form of the Alien special edition DVD, and the controversial "fifth disc" that goes along with the Alien Legacy four pack.

The disc is controversial not because of its content, but instead for the fact that it's only available to purchasers of the entire four pack, and that it was initially intended for inclusion directly on the Alien disc. Suffice it to say, given the multitude of extras on the disc (including a Sharpline Arts produced audio commentary with director Ridley Scott), there wasn't enough room, so the documentary was shifted to a fifth disc which can only be ordered by mail. While I'm not terribly happy with Fox for their distribution method, there are two good things about it. One, the documentary is being released (after all, they don't HAVE to release anything), and two, I believe in rewarding people who make bigger purchases, and Fox has done this by offering the fifth disc only to those people who purchase the entire Alien Legacy series.

Fox was supposed to have sent me screener copies of the DVDs, but I haven't received them as of yet. If I don't get them by Friday, I'm going to assume I was lost in the shuffle and just buy the four pack. If I end up with two sets, I guess we'll just give one set away on the site - damn you lucky readers.

Sharpline Arts also has some other material out there in the form of the outstanding special edition DVD of The Thing. I haven't had opportunity to thoroughly peruse this disc as of yet, but once I do I'll be sure to post a review.

And one more upcoming Sharpline Arts project, The Last Starfighter DVD. A lot of people I know aren't big fans of this film because the CGI effects work is obviously very early. I'm a huge fan for exactly the opposite reason. The Last Starfighter represented (to me at least) the turning point when special effects were not limited by what you could build as a model. I'm really looking forward to Sharpline's work on this disc, since I've read that the included documentary goes into great detail on how the effects were accomplished at the time the film was made. I've requested a screener from Universal, and Catherine S. Pierce (no relation) over there at Sharpline has offered to bully the appropriate people if necessary...

As a last Sharpline Arts note, once I've had a chance to better peruse their materials, I've arranged to do an interview with David C. Fein who is the producer of the special edition content on the Alien DVD (among other things). I plan on really grilling him about what goes into these supplements (so be prepared, David!). Hopefully I'll be able to arrange the interview for sometime next week (I'll make sure to warn you all when it's coming).

I notice that Jeffrey Wells made mention of this site over in his column at mrshowbiz.go.com. Thanks Jeffrey! We appreciate the exposure. I've mentioned Mr. Wells' column here before, but just let me reiterate. He offers a wonderful alternative to the "happy" entertainment journalism out there. It's almost a gossip column, but it's gossip about the business rather than the people (i.e. you'll read about production problems on the latest Universal flick, but not about how Tom Cruise likes to prance around naked in his back yard). Ironically enough, now that I've said that, Wells' editorial at this point mentions how disgustingly saccharine all the entertainment television (i.e. Entertainment Tonight, Showbiz Today, et al) is. I have to concur. I've been known to vegetate in front of ET from time to time, but I think it has more to do with Mary Hart's voice temporarily lobotomizing me than anything else (same thing happens to me whenever I flip past Baywatch). Anyhow, for those of you who are entertainment junkies like me, I'd highly recommend Jeffrey's column. It's published twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays usually...or maybe it's early Wednesday and Friday mornings...I can never keep track. It doesn't really matter, though, because Mr. Showbiz is easily the best resource on the web for entertainment news and should be checked religiously at least five times a day.

Another feature Jeffrey's been running as of late it a series of short mentions called "Very Bad Things" where he covers moronic clichés in movies. He's covered cats who yowl for no reason (he's obviously never met my two cats...), and clip on earrings among other things. There are a number of things like this in flicks, and lots of them do no less than absolutely piss me off.

Working in the computer industry, one of my major pet peeves would be almost anything written about computers in screenplays. From moronic techno-gibberish to computers being taken hostage from remote locations, the majority of computer-related plotlines in movies are just dumb. My best example of this...the end of Jurassic Park, "this is UNIX...I KNOW this." UGH!

I also hate the fact that every single secure building in a movie has a vent which can be used to enter an exit any portion of the building. Want to escape from Alcatraz? Use the air conditioning system. Want to break into the Pentagon? Use the air ducts, you fool!

I could go on for days about this kind of thing, though, so I'll leave that to Jeffrey (but I think I will email him the air duct thing...).

Now, to go from talking about Jeffrey Wells to lifting shamelessly from him. The quote of the week.

Nobody got last week's quote, which surprised me. I figured it was pretty obvious.

The quote is from The Cable Guy starring Jim Carrey. The wench is played by none other than Janeane Garofalo, who is one of the best comediennes of our time. I picked the quote because my wife and I actually ate at Medieval Times when we were in LA. My quick restaurant review? The food was no hell, but the entertainment was great (and yes, they serve Pepsi).

This week I'm going to go with a quote from a new DVD release which I just finished watching. It's a comedy, starring a very famous Canadian who has a bit of a Peter Sellers side to him. As usual, email me the name of the movie as well as the actors.

Tony: Excuse me sir, I'm with the San Francisco police department, this is official police business. I would like to commandeer this vehicle!
Driver: No.
Tony: What do you mean, "no"?
Driver: I happen to know for a fact that you have no right to commandeer my
vehicle.
Tony: Please, can I commandeer this vehicle?
Driver: No.
Tony: You're just not going to bend on this commandeering thing are you?
Driver: No.

That's it for this week...but the nice about having to wait this long is it's not that long until next week! Until then...