MY Best of 2011: Movies and Television

Instead of a Top 10, I'm just doing a BEST OF, they are my "best of" if you don't like them I'm sorry, go make your own list!

Best Movie of the Year: DRIVE

Best Super-Hero Movie: SUPER

Best Super-Hero With a Shield Movie: CAPTAIN AMERICA

Best Super-Hero With a Hammer Movie: THOR

Best Time EVER At a Movie: MIDNIGHT SHOWING OF HARRY POTTER & THE DEATHLY HOLLOWS:PART 2

Best Movie I SHOULDN'T Have Liked: WATER FOR ELEPHANTS 

Best Comedy: HORRIBLE BOSSES

Best Kids Movie: THE MUPPETS

Favorite Returning Television Show: BREAKING BAD

Favorite Guilty Pleasure Television Show: ONCE UPON A TIME

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Favorite Cartoon: THE AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES 

Favorite Sitcom: MODERN FAMILY

San Diego Comic Con 2011

That time of year again. I personally haven't been since 2007(when I took the above picture) but the geek inside of me had stayed glued to the computer during Con weekend, reading all the updates and watching the videos.

Looking over the schedule this year I feel a bit more stressed about seeing things, 4 years ago I worked for Troma at the convention so I didn't get to see much. This year I'm overwhelmed just glancing at the agenda. I envision a lot of line sitting and waiting, perhaps losing my temper at the people not moving quick enough in front of me. Debating if I should bring Xanax...

My two main goals is to see the Sarah Michelle Gellar "Ringer" panel and "The Walking Dead" panel. I'd also love to get some Twilight Zone exclusive figures, and perhaps a few other the other exclusives but I'm not holding my breath. With 125K people going to be there and production runs of 1000-2000 on some of the toys my odds aren't good.

Guess I better finish packing, grab a few Z's, wake my ass up at 4am and drive to the airport to hop my flight. I'll be back sometime next week I guess with a Con roundup.

Harry Potter and the Tired 36 year Old!

I'm not gonna lie, I'm hurting this morning. Can't complain too much as I did it to myself. I just had to see Harry Potter at midnight. "No you didn't" you say. But I did. Here's why:

I love going to the movies(Duh) but I really haven't gone at midnight since...well Deathly Hollows Part 1. Why does a man in his mid-thirties need to go to a childrens movie? The answer is simple, it's the atmosphere. Being amongst the Harry Potter crowd is the best film going experience I have ever had going at any hour of the day. "Amongst the nerds and geeks with the wands and hats? you ask. Yes!

This crowd will sit silently still, eyes glued to the screen regardless of age, sex, or race. They will cheer and laugh at the right times and wipe away tears if need be at the same time. They make going to the cinema the perfect experience for me.

Deathly Hollows is the only book in the HP series I read, everything else I knew came from the movies and Wikipedia so I'm sure I missed a lot but at the same time I don't feel i missed anything at all. The movie series has done a good job at creating a separate but parallel universe for anyone to join in and enjoy and for 10 years I invested my time and emotion into it. And it paid off.

The film is excellent, picking up at the exact moment it left off and chugging along at full steam until the epic final battle. David Yates(the director of the last 4 films) is without a doubt the best director is the series. I honestly can't think of anyone that could have done a better job. Once again the main 3 kids knock it out of the park. Preparing myself I watched the other 7 films in the past six weeks and it's amazing to watch these young kids mold into excellent actors. Of course that's not to take away from the rest of the cast, each shining in their own way.

Going into the film I said only one thing and that I was sure Mama Weasley was gonna get the biggest cheer of the night, and sure enough as soon as "Not my daughter, you Bitch" spilled from her lips the theater went nuts. It was an awesome moment, followed 4 seconds later by her second equally loud cheer. I'll admit it, I had goose bumps.

It's hard to talk about a movie without giving away any spoilers so I gotta shut up or I'll be giving away the whole film. If you can watch Part 1 again right before going, it makes Part 2 that much better. I'm sad to see it go but so glad I got to experience it with the family, friends, and muggles I did for the past 10 years.

Thanks Harry!

The State of Network Television

NBC, ABC, FOX, and all the other Networks are once again asking me to invest my time into their new Fall programming, in in some cases their Summer shows also.

But they don't really give me one good reason to. They expect that based on a certain genre I'll tune in, or due to a certain actor I should be dying to see their product. I'm sorry Mr. Network Head Honcho but you have screwed me way to many times in the past for me to really consider looking into something you're hoping will be the next big thing. Does "Drive", "Happy Town", "The Cape", "Harper's Island", "Law & Order", "Arrested Development", "Freaks & Geeks"(brilliant move by the way most of these kids have pretty much gone onto become big stars). That's just to name a very, very, very small list. Don't even get me started on shows you give 3 weeks to before pulling off the air.

Perhaps, and this is but a suggestion, but perhaps you could start investing in MY time since you expect me to invest in your product. I'm proposing doing something similar to sports figures and having guaranteed contracts to go along with you're shows. Oh well if the ratings are low and the show is shit, someone is still taking the time to watch it so let them finish out the season.

Low ratings are your own fault anyway, if you stopped shifting the damn time slots we'd know when things were on.

And you could also stop green lighting everything that comes in the door. Or ask the creators "do you have a general direction you want this to go, could we end it in the number of seasons we have you contracted to?"

Had you done this when someone proposed "Outsourced" you would have known it was going to be a bad idea. Seriously who said "In the middle of a recession I bet the hundreds of thousands of unemployed Americans will laugh about their jobs being given away to India". That was pretty much the equivalent of green lighting an Al Qadea comedy sitcom after 9/11.

The line has to be drawn somewhere so that time and money isn't just being wasted on the studios and my part. Otherwise I'll just keep waiting for the DVD set.


I'm just saying.