...that fell apart pretty fast...

So much for On the Lot... It start out fairly strong - then turned into a bizarre American Idol clone with movies - then the results show...yikes. The host is certainly no Ryan Seacrest - awkward, shouty and without the smooth skills needed to handle an hour long voting results show. Very abrupt in some of her lines, which were copped right from Seacrest's book of annoying viewers with promising the results...right after the break.

Let's not even talk about "Getta Rhoom" and how that could have landed into the top three...and how the poorly done, poorly conceived Crazy Taxi clone movie wouldn't get the person behind that the boot...

Not pleased...when do I get Hell's Kitchen back?

The Lot has turned into American Idol

I suppose it had to, now we just have to see what happens as Carrie Fisher and Garry Marshall jockey to see who can become Paul Abdul. Unless the short subject has anything to do with toilet humor or gives the impression of mocking the mentally challenged - then all bets are off.

Last night the format changed from the Survivor/Apprentice-style of the show where we see the directors at their tasks to the American Idol style where we see the fruits of their labors. Some, like the first with the interpretive dance, were very clever. Some, like the cab ride are jaw droppingly bad. If I were to predict two of the three to go home on the results show tonight, I'd have to say the directors of the cab ride short and the one that offended pretty much everyone with the treatment of what the director called a "nerdy" guy in the movie theater. His definition of "nerdy" must differ from pretty much everyone else. Those two - gone for sure. The third - I don't know rightly. There are a few at risk people - namely the NYC Film School grad who pretty much set up her camera on a tripod in a cramped kitchen and turned it on and called it good. I'm pretty sure she was going for avant-garde, but it failed pretty miserably. If she's lucky she'll hit the middle of the pack and hopefully she can make up for this in coming weeks.

I don't mind the AI-style performance/results show setup, but hopefully we'll also be able to throw in the Survivor/Apprentice style behind the scenes drama as the director's work on their features every week. That means we'd get three episodes a week, but I'm perfectly fine with that and lets the audience know a little bit of what went on to get the movies they are watching done.

On X-Wings and TIE Fighters...

Today is one of the holiest days of Geekdom - the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars. George Lucas should be proud - two and a half good movies out of a series of six isn't bad these days, really (The original trilogy, minus the Ewok bits from Return of the Jedi). Actually, the visuals of Attack of the Clones are very impressive, but story-wise...meh...sorry hardcore fans...

But the original movies, the first one especially, wow...great experiences. I'll gladly concede that The Empire Strikes Back is the superior movie as far as characterization and plot development, but for the pure popcorn movie going experience and wide-eyed wonder for 8-9 year old, to me, it's tough to beat the original Star Wars.

I'm not a super-devote to the films - I can't tell you where the Millennium Falcon was built and who built it and the serial number to Luke's X-Wing without checking online resources, but I do enjoy the movies - believe me...

So instead of some story of how Star Wars is the greatest thing ever, and my non-existent opinion on the spin off media like books and comics, let me just tell you how much I do love these movies by listing the number of times I have bought them in various formats:

The first time I bought the Star Wars trilogy was on video tape, pan and scan format right after high school. Crummy, horrible transfers of course, just get those films out on tape and people will buy them.

The second time was just a few years later, still on video tape - but this time in widescreen format so i could see the whole image as it was shown in theaters. Of course - they also promised this is the last time the movies would be made available on video. Liars.

Then I got a laserdisc player - so of course I had to get the movies on laserdisc, of course in widescreen. Bliss and heaven. For those who don't know, laserdiscs are also very heavy when moved in large groups. The size of an old record album, but made of two layers of metal sealed in plastic. I would never want for Star Wars again.

Hey! Cool! They're doing a definitive edition of Star Wars on laserdisc! The print is cleaned up and looks fantastic and the box set has all the movies and tons of extras! Yes. I bought it.

Remember the Special Edition with newly enhanced visual effects? They trotted that out on laserdisc in a box set...last time it was going to be made available, by the way...ever... Yeah, it was mine.

Then the DVD revolution came upon us like wildfire...and...no Star Wars on DVD. I felt a little vindicated on my laserdisc purchases, which I reduced to just my precious Definitive Edition set for space since I got rid of all my other laserdiscs in favor of DVDs. Eventually I saw the writing on the wall and got rid of that set too...just in time for...

The Star Wars Trilogy on DVD - in a lovely widescreen edition in a box set - only time it's going to be released you know...so get it now while you can...and I did. Special Edition only - because the original theatrical editions no longer exist of course. Which is too bad because those are the versions I'd really like to have. It's a pity I won't be able to legally own them on DVD...

Until of course the single movie releases of all three movies with both the Special Edition and original editions in each set. Which, since it has the original versions, I had to have.

If you've been keeping up - that's seven times I've bought the original Star Wars movies in three different formats. Twice on video tape, twice on DVD, three times on laserdisc. Oh, and let me point out that since laserdiscs were a format marketed towards the real movie buff, some releases weren't cheap. Guess which movies fit into that category?

I should point out that I do have the new trilogy of Episodes I-III on DVD. Purchased once. That is all. Just saying.

Thanks, George, for everything. Take the family out to dinner tonight and celebrate. It's on me. Really. Add up what I've paid so far - and that's just for the movies. No doubt you could get a really good meal out of it.

Blake FTW!

Like he has a chance at winning American Idol tonight. But wouldn't it be nice? However, after last night's performance, Jordin seemed to have it all buttoned up for a clean victory. I guess it didn't hurt that the final song they both sung was tailor made for Jordin (and as a side note, it's as wonderful as every other American Idol victory song is - horrific and sappy). Blake clearly hated it and it showed, Jordin and her little fake tear at the end sold it's awfulness to the audience. If that wasn't a fake tear then I shudder just a bit inside at the thought. Ah, but the pair of them are lucky (luckier still is Melinda who was eliminated right before having to sing such a terrible song) and will both go on to fame and fortune in some form. Blake being goaded by his friends into trying out for a show he had never seen. Jordin, equally lucky and as she said last night concerned that she might not get to audition due to the sheer number of people in Seattle for the tryouts. Well, other than the fact that she had to stop work on her second CD in order to be flown up by the corporate sponsors.

So, yes - full support behind Blake, but won't be shocked when Jordin wins. Besides, Blake as I have said has a full career ahead of him behind the scenes as a producer.

But now that American Idol is winding down, what's next on the horizon? Well, On the Lot of course. The first episode was last night right after American Idol, and annoyingly, while AI is in glorious High Definition, On the Lot - not so much. Hopefully if the show survives to a second series, they'll switch it up to HD for the viewers.

Do I like On the Lot? Does Superman hail from Krypton? Yes - this is a show I can get behind totally and without embarrassment. The first episode last night dealt with the initial 50 being handed their first assignment: do a pitch session with the three judges (right now Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner and Garry Marshall) with a randomly selected log line. Woe those who thought their first assignment wouldn't be something like this. It's pretty much how anything in the movie biz starts, but that didn't stop some people from suddenly losing their nerve and not knowing what to do. There were a few very impressive crash and burn victims, two pretty much knew that they blew it, one who gave it his all in the pitch and thought at least he would be memorable. Memorable, yes. In the same way an ear infection is memorable.

The bottom 14 were then dropped from the process and the remainder were given their first 2 and a half minute film assignment - divide up in groups of three and create a movie based on the premise "Out of Time." They were provided with locations, equipment and actors. The groups were to come up with a script and then direct, shoot and edit the short film in 24 hours.

As we left last night's episode we were shown the various meltdowns and behind the scenes issues that can arise when trying to meet a hard deadline. Oh, it was glorious to watch those who can't function in a team environment try to cope... This is the weeding out of those who may have talent, but not the patience or ability to work together with others and who have not yet learned the Fine Art of Compromise.

Joker! Joker! Joker!

So this morning as I woke up I wondered what I would write about today, just to keep some semblance of momentum going before I leave for The Trip of a Lifetime (which, as should come as no surprise, has been delayed). I considered talking about the new Goldfinger DVD I started to watch over the weekend. The restoration of the picture is nothing short of a revelation to how that movie looks. Of course, since it's my favorite Bond movie ever, I may be biased a bit. But beyond that, at a technical level, the print looks brand new...amazing...

But that's not what I'm going to ramble over. Oh, no...it was going to be...but then I see this. Before anyone makes with the clicking, it's a link to an article on Newsarama with a picture of Heath Ledger as the Joker in the next Batman movie. It's certainly not the smiling psychotic we've seen before. The picture is actually a bit disturbing and if that's what the Joker is really going to look like in this film, maybe it would be best to leave the kids at home for this installment. If they want some good Batman stories with the Joker, get them the DVDs of the excellent Batman the Animated Series show from a few years ago. Great for kids without insulting their intelligence or being too terribly violent.

I'm no prude by any stretch, and I'm not saying I'm clamoring for a Joker like Cesar Romero's version from the 1960's TV show, but...wow...maybe they're taking this way over the top to get the film oriented towards an adult audience. Sure, I'll go see it, Batman Begins was fantastic, and I'm sure this will be just as good. But how would you market this to an audience that will have a significant portion of children? What would the action figure look like? T-shirts? School backpacks? I've got to guess that the Joker they'd use for external marketing would be the more traditional "big wide grin" version. But parents beware, I'm going to guess that this Joker will be more like his first few appearances in the comic where he was very lethal and showed little mirth.

Melinda was robbed...

Maybe it was complacency, maybe it was conspiracy...but Melinda Doolittle, the most talented singer to hit the American Idol stage was voted off the show last night. That's a shame. All three finalists are talented to be sure and worthy to be there, but I was pulling for Melinda to make it to the finish. With the news that maybe Jordin is perhaps a ringer, my ideal finals for this year would have been Melinda and Blake Lewis. With this final two, I'm going to have to move my support over to Washington state's favorite beatboxer, Blake.

We'll see how it all turns out next week...

Some comics thoughts...

There are some (or I have decided that there are some) unwritten rules of life and death in comics books. Mainly because life and death in comics are fairly fluid and flexible. They are:

1. Uncle Ben is dead.
2. Thomas and Martha Wayne are dead.
3. Krypton exploded.
4. Bucky is dead.

Without these deaths, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman would never be, or at least be as we know them, and Captain America's post-60s life might be radically different. Now to justify the grim body count.

1. Uncle Ben is dead. When Peter Parker got his powers, his first thought was not to help those in need and be the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man we know and love today. Nope. His first thought was pretty much how he could make a quick buck with these powers. Uncle Ben was still alive, and admittedly, he quick buck was to actually help Ben and his Aunt May. However, there was very little altruistic about Peter in that first story - until the end when due to Peter's inaction Uncle Ben is shot and killed and Peter learns that With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility. If Uncle Ben lived, the character of Peter would possibly remain on some pro-wrestling circuit. Not as much fun to read about, much less make a series of very successful movies about either.

2. Thomas and Martha Wayne are dead. The Waynes are of course the parents of Bruce Wayne and their murder in Crime Alley (you think they'd know to avoid that neighborhood with a name like that...) in front of Bruce is what drove him to train himself both mentally and physically to become Batman. Without the tragic death of his parents, Bruce Wayne would have no reason to become Batman and would likely not be as socially maladjusted as he has been recently portrayed. Unlike Superman, whom I will talk about below, Bruce Wayne - carefree billionaire playboy is the mask, Batman is the real persona. Up until about a half year ago, Batman was portrayed as a very driven individual at the cost of friendships and trust and fear was the name of the game. Powers that be have apparently decided to tone things down a bit and for good reason. The paranoid mania that version of Batman had would get anybody else locked up.

3. Krypton exploded. This is simple - if Krypton didn't explode, Jor-El would have no reason to send Kal-El to Earth to grow up to be Superman. Unless he just didn't like kids I suppose and was a total jackass. But Lara, his wife would probably put the kibosh on plans he would have to shoot the child off to the depths of space. I'd hope. If Krypton didn't explode, Kal-El would grow up on Krypton and as the son of a prominent and respected scientist (or formerly prominent and respected scientist if Jor-El predicted the doom of Krypton and nothing happened - but let's pretend in this continuity Jor-El was not predicting a cataclysm and Krypton didn't perish), Kal-El would grow up to be probably a scientist or teacher himself perhaps. An average Joe on a world far, far away. But that didn't happen, and so we get Superman, Clark Kent's disguise when he wants to go into action to save the world from Braniac or Luthor or something along those lines. Kal-El, raised by Johnathan and Martha Kent as Clark Kent is the true persona of the character, Superman is what he adopts to help others - not scare the life out of everyone near and dear to him like Batman. It helps that his closest friends are not that bright and can't recognize Kent without his glasses.

4. Bucky is dead. Bucky is, or was, Captain America's young partner in WW II. The story goes that on their last mission together, Bucky was killed while Cap was thrown into suspended animation until thawed by the Avengers. Yup. I'd call that one far-fetched too. So when Captain America returned to the scene he brought along all his baggage and survivor's guilt and motivation to basically not bring teenagers into a battle zone. Well, plus his perspective of having lived in the World War II era and the modern day and a desire to never see something like WW II again. This is the weaker of the arguments and rules, and the first one to be violated as now Bucky is apparently alive again, but that's OK, Captain America is dead. Quite the trade-off. Or something. If Bucky had lived, Cap's character would have been different, perhaps as it's portrayed in the Ultimate Marvel universe where Bucky did live and Captain America is a bit more...hard edged...than normally portrayed.

It could be argued that Abin Sur also had to die for Hal Jordan to get his ring and become Green Lantern of sector 2814. However, Abin Sur was a total stranger to Hal Jordan when the ring was passed on and if he were to be brought back as a living character, it wouldn't have the impact on Hal if, say, Krypton were restored and Superman could go home and visit the family whenever he liked.

Just a thought...

...the judges have drawn their daggers...

...and pointed them right at Blake Lewis. Last night's American Idol was disco night. Or BeeGees night. Or something. Sean Connery was on hand to provide guidance this week to the final four contestants. Oh, wait...no, that was Barry Gibb. Never mind.

The first four performances of the night got so-so reviews from the judges. Randy was "yo-yo-yo...keepin' it real, dawg," Paula was distracted by shiny objects and Simon was clearly bored out of his skull. Perhaps, like the country genre, Simon is not predisposed to enjoy the disco sounds of the 70s? I may be mistaken.

The performances were actually not that bad. Melinda was her usual solid, dependable self, Blake wasn't bad, except this week the beatboxing worked against him, Lakisha did a very interesting version of Stayin' Alive I thought and Jordin was good too.

But, as I mentioned, the daggers were drawn from all three judges towards Blake. He was savaged by all three - even Paula! I'm not sure why. Yes, the beatboxing didn't work in either song for me, and the songs would have been better served to not have them, but that still doesn't explain the total shift in attitude towards him.

The second song for Melinda is where she came alive. Wiley if it was intentional - start the show slow and then on the second song where you're really going to make your impression cut loose. However, she should listen to the judges admonishment to bring her A-game next week to really hammer home she's a winner. If it was a gambit, it worked since Simon praised her, in a really backhanded way that she would be in the semi-finals based on the second half of the song. Simon also dug into Jordin as well - not as bad as he did Blake, but still got in a dig.

My ideal final two is Jordin and Melinda with Melinda to win. She's got it all for American Idol, at least what it should be. Talent in heaps and modesty to match. Jordin too, but I was taken with Melinda's constant look of surprise that she's got what it takes at the start and haven't gotten off that wagon. While the claws came out for Blake last night, I'm thinking Lakisha could go tonight instead and put Blake into 3rd place overall. Not that I think he actually cares. He's getting exposure in heaps right now and while he's a good singer, his true talent lies behind the scenes I feel with his abilities as a producer. He may record a CD or two, but he's destined to make heaps of money as a music producer and right now he's starting to build the contacts to do so. Good for him!

And you may hate American Idol with a passion, and if so, that's fine, especially after the Alabama karaoke bar winner from last year, but this set of the Final Four are all solid, good performers, even if I had to endure my Melinda upset, I really wouldn't be bothered with any of the others winning this year.

Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Just a test of image uploading. Our test here has two cult favorite Justice League International members Booster Gold and Blue Beetle from DC Direct. Oh, and Booster Gold's flying robot computer pal, Skeets.

The Blue Beetle figure has been out for a while and for a bit was going for a pretty penny on eBay, Booster Gold came out just last week in the first wave of action figures for 52. It's been a long wait to finally pair these two up in plastic, but it's worth it. Not to press my luck, but if they ever decide to do an L-Ron action figure, I'd be a pretty happy camper over that too.

Hint: It's 52

A math question: What is the answer to Booster Gold + Teth Adam + Ralph Dibney + Steel + The Question + Renee Montoya + Adam Strange + Animal Man + Starfire + Dr. Will Magnus and a supporting cast of thousands?

Answer: 52

Or rather, 52 - the weekly series from DC. Weekly. For 52 weeks. On time and no delays. That's something to be commended for and the behind the scenes coordination to keep the series on time has got to be called out for being a model of efficiency, or at least controlled chaos. DC, I salute you.

For those not familiar with 52, it was a weekly series from DC that ended just yesterday that reflected one week in real time for the DC Comics characters and had interweaving stories with primarily the above listed characters. In this year the Big Three of the DC Universe (Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman) were out of action.

But did the series work? Well, like I said, what do you get when you add in Booster Gold... After finishing week 52 last night and reflecting on the series as a whole, it really did seem like a group of mini-series all tied together with a central theme. If they were broken up into a group of individual mini series titles, they would have had various degrees of success, but gather them together and give them the backbone of Black Adam's rise and fall from grace and you've got a fairly entertaining collection of yarns. But the ending did unfortunately seem a bit pat, even if it did feature Booster Gold, a favorite of mine since the late 80's and early 90s Justice League International (the bwah-ha-ha days). If 52 was not going to happen, these could have been a coda to Infinite Crisis #7 and printed within those pages.

Then again, I've always been of the theory that after 52 there would be Infinite Crisis #8-#12 eventually to finish the story. Since next week Countdown starts (another weekly series running for an entire year), I still expect the Infinite Crisis storyline to continue eventually and run a full 12 issues to match the run of the original Crisis on Infinite Earths story from the 80s. They're just stretching things out for us far longer these days, and the idea I believe is that everyone is going to start realizing that things still aren't settled from the most recent Crisis. Red skies at night, Monitor's delight...

I'd like to get this off my chest...

If you've known me for any length of time, say, more than 5 minutes, you know that I am a huge Beatles fan. You might also know that between Wal-Mart and Target, I'm a Target guy. This doesn't mean the two should necessarily mix. Specifically, the "Hello, Good Buy" ads in the store and the commercials using "Hello, Goodbye"
as the music. As clever a use as it is, I'm fairly sure that Paul McCartney didn't write the song or any song to help sell stuff. Although I do have to say in the commercial, it's a very pretty arrangement of the song. But I'd rather it, or any Beatle-tune not be used for selling items.