Speaking of my proclivity for cover bands (What? You weren't?)...
I noticed that a new episode of Pushing Daisies had once again appeared on my DVR this week (it's a good thing I'm lazy and hadn't removed the show from the scheduled recordings). I didn't get around to watching it until this past Wednesday night, but after watching it I was filled with renewed hope that reports of the show's cancellation had been made in error.
Sadly, I discovered (in the newspaper, of all places) that the show was still dead and ABC was just airing the last three episodes out of the kindness of their hearts. It's so disappointing that such a brilliant show couldn't find an audience.
And speaking of brilliant shows with cover songs being performed, how about Jeffster on Chuck? The boys of Jeffster aren't exactly Kristen Chenoweth-caliber singers (I don't know if it's even them singing), but I love a good cover, regardless - especially if it's an 80s "classic."
Thankfully, the networks decided against using the method of bart-likes-it-so-we-must-cancel-it for Chuck's return next season, so it will be returning. But I've heard rumors of big changes, so I hope they don't decide to axe Jeffster. That would be a bummer. Either way, the matrix-esque ending of the previous season does have me psyched for Chuck's return.
How cool is that?
Pushing Daisies wasn't the only show I watched that got axed, though none of the others were known for wondrous cover versions of classic songs.
Life was one of the few "drama" type shows I watched last season. The show didn't feature any cover songs, but it did have a knack for picking the perfect emotive background song for every scene. And I will miss the Monk-like Zen detective stories of Charlie Crews (and his gorgeous sidekick, Detective Reese). The season/series finale was so great that I got chocked up watching it.
And now it's no more. So sad.
I will also miss Earl and Randy's exploits in Camden on My Name is Earl. Even though the show was straying dangerously far from its premise of Earl making up for all the bad stuff he had done before discovering karma, it was still full of golden comedic moments. Randy, Joy, and the Crab Man were all brilliant - as was the cast of minor characters surrounding them.
I'm shocked that Scrubs made the move to a new network and nobody tried to save Earl.
I watched every episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but often had no idea what was going on...so the show's cancellation probably shouldn't be much of a surprise (although Lost is still going strong, so an easily understood plot obviously isn't a requirement for successful TV). In my opinion, the season (and now "series") finale was probably the best episode of the entire series.
Now we'll never know what happened to John Connor and how the war with the machines evolved without him.
On a slightly unrelated note, it looks like they've also pretty much put a bullet in Legend of the Seeker (but having never read the books on which the series is based, I don't know if they're just following the story from the books or trying to wrap things up before the show is canceled - I haven't heard anything about the show's demise). The bad guy is dead, the origins have all been explored and the seeker's forbidden love is no longer forbidden. What's left now?
To be honest, this show really only had one thing that brought me back week after week (or whenever the episodes aired - if not for the DVR, I doubt I could have kept up at all): the confessor, Bridget Regan.
The rest of the cast (is it me or does the seeker look like Bud Bundy?), plot, acting, etc are pretty unremarkable.
I watch too much TV. But at least there's a possibility that I'll be watching less of it next year.
The new Mandy Moore CD, Amanda Leigh came out last week and we picked up a copy earlier this week. I've had a couple of days to listen to the tracks while working.
It's okay. About what I expected, though not as bad as I'd feared. One of the songs, Merrimack River, reminds me of The Beatles in a "I ripped off The Beatles" sort of way (like that Tears for Fears song Sowing the Seeds of Love). There's a short instrumental version of the song that's also fun to listen to.
Most of the other songs aren't bad, they're just...forgettable. They remind me of the Emmy Rossum album I bought a couple of years ago (I thought I had menioned it here, but i can't find it if I did). Both Mandy and Emmy obviously have beautiful voices, but there's just no hook for their songs (at least not on Amanda Leigh - Wild Hope had several catchy tunes). They roll off your brain without sticking. The first single from Amanda Leigh, I Could Break Your Heart Any Day of the Week, is just as banal on the album as it sounded in the video I saw. It could have been sung by Britney Spears or any of the other semi-talented pop-clones out there. Blah. Then again, no one can dispute that Mandy Moore's voice is every bit as impressive live as it is on the album - there's no reliance on studio magic for her albums.
Maybe the songs will grow on me as time passes. Or maybe Wild Hope was Mandy Mooore's one really good album (unless you're a fan of her early bubblegum pop crud - and if that's the case you can stop reading anything I have to write now) and the rest of her output will sound mediocre in comparison.
I also saw My name is Bruce for the first time this week. As a word of explanation for the other 99.9% of the universe that has never heard of this film, it basically pokes fun at Bruce Campbell's B-movie star status.
Why do I mention My name is Bruce in the same breath as Amanda Leigh, when Mandy Moore is young and talented and on top of her game (though not exactly a major box office draw), unlike Bruce Campbell whose best days are probably behind him? (I do like Bruce's character in Burn Notice, but that's not what brings me back week after week.) The horrible acting and uber-low-budgetedness of My name is Bruce made me cringe and reminded me of the disappointment I felt when buying and listening to not only Amanda Leigh, but Chris Isaak's Mr Lucky a couple of moths ago. I'm a big Chris Isaak fan, but I listened to the whole album without finding a single track that...well, stood out for me.
But I did like the artwork (all done by Chris Isaak himself) of the CD booklet thingy. Very cool.
Maybe it's not the music, maybe it's me.
A-ha! I did write about the Emmy Rossum CD I picked up (Inside Out) almost two years ago, but I just never got around to posting it. And even though this is not exactly newsworthy, I'm going to share it now since I mentioned Emmy's CD briefly above...
I had a Borders coupon good for 40% off any CD a couple of years ago (they still send them out periodically), so on the last day it was good I went to see if they had any CDs that I wanted. And even though Borders does have a large selection of CDs - with pretty good variety - they were sorely lacking in anything and everything I looked for. One CD did catch my eye, though, as I was looking for Dolores O'Riordan's solo album (I know, I'm a big girl): Emmy Rossum's mug on the CD cover.
I picked up the CD, looked it over and hoped I was looking at an album of cover songs.
The track list:
1. Slow Me Down 2. Inside Out
3. Stay (I'd hoped for an Oingo Boingo cover)
4. Falling
5. The Great Divide
6. Lullaby (I'd hoped this was a Cure cover)
7. Don't Stop Now (I was thinking that was the Queen song)
8. High
9. A Million Pieces
10. Rainy Days And Mondays (this was obviously a cover)
11. Anymore
So when I couldn't find anything else I really wanted, I decided to pick this CD up (the fact that it was only $10 before my 40% discount also played a part) and took it out to the car for a listen.
Emmy Rossum does have a nice voice and is a skilled singer...but the forgettable music backing her vocals and the whispy, breathy style of too many of the songs just didn't impress me. It's a lot like Enya, if you're into that. It's just not my cup of tea, I supppose.
I'm surprised that I hadn't mentioned Fanboys here before now, but I've been slacking. I finally had a chance to see the movie this week. I can't remember where or when I first heard about this movie, but the premise resonated strongly with my geek-centric worldview, so I've been eagerly awaiting its release. For the first few months, anyway.
And then it completely failed to arrive in a theater near me. Or even in a video store near me, so I had little choice but to keep waiting patiently.
And waiting.
Finally, it was released on video (amid tales of being re-edited and rendered into a barely recognizable teen comedy that was bereft of everything that made the film's original concept worthwhile) and I received my long-reserved DVD from Netflix (luckily, movies don't even have to exist on DVD yet in order to be reserved on Netflix or I may have forgotten how anxious I was to see this).
I'd like to say that the ten thousand years it took to create, edit, re-edit, and finally release this movie to DVD were worth the wait, but the final product isn't life altering. It is a touching homage to the geek-nation - comic book collecting, Star Wars/Star Trek obsessing, and socially retarded nerds are paid a fitting tribute.
Here are a few low-res photos from the film (snagged from IMDB).
There's only one way to begin a movie about Star Wars fans: with the infamous text-scrolling-through-space introduction that has been ripped off by so many movies before.
A short time ago, in a galaxy not so far, far away....
FANBOYS
Episode VII
RETURN OF THE SAGA
The year is 1998 and it is a
period of galactic civil war.
Scratch that. There's no civil
war. That would be crazy!
However, the past fifteen
years have been a dark time
for Star Wars fans.
But there is hope. A new
Star Wars film is on the
horizon. In 199 days, 3 hours,
33 minutes and 31 seconds
the most anticipated movie
of all time will be released.
In the remote state of Ohio,
two best friends and lifelong
Star Wars fans have drifted
apart. Little do they know
that on Halloween night their
paths will cross again....
Ever wonder where these
words are flying? Maybe
aliens in another galaxy
will one day read this and
think WTF?
sent from my iPhone
(warning, there is a little bit of profanity in the clips from the film - not too much though, it is PG-13)
Oh yeah, did I mention that Kristen Bell (recently of Heroes and previously of Veronica Mars) was geeking it up in the movie? Nice.
The guy who looks like Booger from Revenge of the Nerds runs a comic book store (all the main characters are in their early twenties and seems to have opted for the no-college road in the game of Life) which employs both the gigantic-glasses wearing nerd and Kristen Bell. And apparently sexual harassment isn't a problem in comic books stores in 1998 (or 2009, if my local comic book store is typical - on the infrequent occasion that there's actually a visitor from the other gender there).
Jedi Mind tricks - who hasn't tried that one at least once? Oh, and I'm lazy, so I'm mostly going to share what I liked about this movie through clips I ripped from the DVD last night.
I'll try not to ruin the movie with any humongous spoilers, but the 4 friends (and eventually the girl) embark on a road trip to Skywalker Ranch. And stuff happens - including a confrontation with a bunch of Trekkies in the town of Captain Kirk's birthplace (I don't know if it was William Shatner's real birthplace or Captain-Kirk-the-character's birthplace). Trekkie-bashing is a pretty common theme of the movie. And always good fun.
Khan!!!! Too funny.
I didn't camp out for the opening of Episode I, but my little brother-in-law did - and he saved a spot in line for me (after work). It wasn't a whole lot different from the scene in the clip below - except I didn't see anyone who looked like Kristen Bell sporting a Slave girl Leia costume. There were Star Wars nerds in costume, Star Wars nerds playing Star Wars trivia games, and Star Wars nerd having light saber battles in the line that snaked around the theater and through the parking lot for about a quarter of a mile. And this was just the line to buy tickets before the first showing a week or two later.
Good 'ol Randy. He would have loved this movie.
Speaking of Randy, last week (May 16) marked one year since he left us. I had planned to mention him (not a day goes by that we don't remember something he used to do or say to make us laugh), but I just never quite got around to it.
