Sleepers

Sleeping isn't easy sometimes and late night TV is usually more irritating than anything else. So when there's nothing good on Coast to Coast AM I will tend to pick something from the On Demand menu to put me to sleep. Here are a few examples that I've actually managed to see in their entirety after many viewings. Before I nodded off, that is.

Woman Wanted - This was a terrific snoozer and I watched it more than a few times before I even got past the first couple minutes. Holly Hunter is the woman hired as a housekeeper by father Michael Moriarty and son Kiefer Sutherland. These two men are the textbook definition of dysfunctional, thus made by the death of their wife/mother. Holly, in one of her less annoying performances (she can be wonderful, but more often she makes a chainsaw sound soothing), gets the two talking and relating to one another - before she starts sleeping with both of them, that is. There are good parts, but mostly slow and agonizing. Good to watch if you ever want to get the tough guy "24" image of Sutherland out your head. His shortpants wardrobe made me laugh out loud more than once.

House of Wax - No, not the 3-D classic from 1953 starring Vincent Price and Carolyn Jones, but the equally low budget schlocker from 2005 with "24" star Elisha Cuthbert and the infamous Paris Hilton. While I did drift off once or twice to this one, it's really, believe it or not, quite good. This House follows a familiar formula of many 1970s drive-in horror flicks and does it well. Elements that stand out are the stereotype empty town, the creepy guy who cleans up roadkill and the actually big budget house made of actual wax. The house pays off big time in the end, but it must have been a bitch to film. Paris Hilton really shines in this movie because she is essentially playing herself, not a heiress mind you, but otherwise herself, and because of it she comes off very reall and very believable. Not as much a waste of time as I originally thought, and a few good scares as well. Check it out.

"Mighty... Familar"

"Mighty... Familar" - My review of Mighty Avengers #1 is now online at Avengers Forever.

You can check it out here.

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Avengers Assemble!

The Best Show on Television You’re Not Watching

"Day Break" - Canceled by ABC after too few episodes this has been completed and is available to watch on ABC.com. The exact URL: http://abc.go.com/primetime/daybreak/index.html. Don’t miss it! Day Break is a wonderful suspense-mystery-thriller that breaks down like a cross between Groundhog Day and "24." Detective Brett Hopper, played by Taye Diggs, has been framed for a murder he didn’t commit. If that’s not exciting enough, he’s living that same day over and over and over again just like our friend Bill Murray, only it’s not funny – it’s deadly serious. There are excellent performances by Adam Baldwin, Moon Bloodgood and Mitch Pileggi as well. Other than maybe "Heroes" and that other canceled show "Kidnapped," "Day Break" is the best show to come out of last season. A shame it was canceled, but thanks, ABC, for letting us see it through.

Quickies 3-4-2007

God Said, "Ha!" - I have always been a fan of Julia Sweeney's work on the big and small screens and her writing. Well, almost everything. I can't say I've ever been a fan of her "It's Pat," which unfortunately what she is primarily known for. There is thankfully very little of "Pat" in this flick. God Said, "Hi!" is Julia's fairly successful one-woman stage show set on film. She talks about her experiences with a brother dying from lymphoma and her own battle with cancer. She manages to inject humor into the situations smoothly and effortlessly. There are also difficult parts where you know she's having trouble continuing where you know know she just wants to run off stage crying. Sweeney holds it together though, and puts on a wonderfully bittersweet and amusing show.

FM - This used to be one of my favorite movies both before and after I worked in radio. Unfortunately with the radio industry so changed in the last decade or so, the entire concept of this flick is outdated, like a piece of ancient history. Many hilarious performances, Martin Mull especially, displays why he was so popular in the 1970s. Highlights include bits of a Linda Ronstadt concert and a Tom Petty cameo. Great music of the era.

The Conversation - A terrific thriller that I can watch again and again. I never tire of Gene Hackman in this one. He is at his most intense pre-Luthor brilliance. His character reputedly even reappears in 1998's Enemy of the State. Great twist ending and fun early performances by Harrison Ford, Cindy Williams and Teri Garr.

The Black Dahlia

The Black Dahlia - Pretty impressive work from Brian DePalma, while a wonderful film noir voyage, set in subtle sepia tones, back to Hollywood’s glory days of detective flicks – this has little to do with the Black Dahlia other than the protags just happen to be working on that case. Not many of the real facts of the case are present here either. The flick goes on too long but is still worth it. Great musical number by k.d. lang and bizarre yet enjoyable performances by Fiona Shaw and John Kavanagh as the Linscotts. Josh Hartnett is great, Aaron Eckhart disappoints and Balto rules.

Little Black Dress - This is a short film about making a good impression and judging a book by its cover. It’s also about sexuality and empowerment. But most of all – it’s about how hot Rosario Dawson is. Well, not really, but still… Wow! Serious props to writer/director Talia Lugacy.

Overnight - This is essentially a documentary about the making of The Boondock Saints and the rise and fall of Troy Duffy. At its core however, it’s a warning to all young filmmakers, and a step-by-step instruction manual on how to f yourself in the a.