Is it cynical of me to question the wisdom of NBC trying to adapt the British detective series Prime Suspect for American TV? It probably is, but after the disappointment of Life on Mars (I know, some of you liked the ABC version, but I was not in that camp), I have worries about the way American writers and producers rework excellent British TV shows and suck the life out of them in the process.
What makes Prime Suspect particularly of concern is that the British show had a great actress starring in it. Helen Mirren has deserved every award -- Oscar, Tony, Golden Globe -- that she's received. As the tough-as-nails detective chief inspector Jane Tennison, she was simply amazing.
Two-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep does an amazing job of bringing Julia Child to life in the new movie Julie & Julia. Watch the clips that Bob posted recently and you'll understand why I'm sure this film will earn Ms. Meryl another Oscar nomination. That will be number 16, breaking her record of 15 nominations thus far.
But did you know that Dan Aykroyd steals the movie right out from under Meryl Streep's nose ... not to mention Amy Adams, too? It's true. Director Nora Ephron wisely included the famous Saturday Night Live sketch called The French Chef, in which Dan masterfully skewered Julia's TV show. The cry, "Save the liver" is still one of the funniest lines I've ever heard -- and still use when the occasion calls for it!
The folks at our sister site Cinematical are working hard to give you news and reviews of the best -- and worst -- the silver screen has to offer. Here are some of their musings on the latest blockbusters, indies, and everything in between:
G.I. Joe may have won the weekend box office, but when I was at my local theater on Saturday afternoon, I didn't hear one person in line ask for tickets to see it. So why did people stay away? Check out the review here.
I saw the trailer for It's Complicated in front of Julie and Julia this weekend. It stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin, and makes me hope that there will be more movies for the over-50 crowd. Cinematical seems to be cautiously optimistic about it.
Julie and Julia opens today, so I thought it would be fun to compare the real Julia Child with Meryl Streep's movie version. Below are two videos. The first is the real Julia Child making an omelet on her show The French Chef, and the second is a clip from the movie.
Child had a deeper voice than most impersonators would have you believe, but it looks like Streep does a good job.
It was the best of Oscar it was the worst of Oscar. It wasn't the best show I've ever seen, but was it the worst Oscars ever as one friend emailed me? I think there were features that worked and features that tanked. There could have been more star power -- where were Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jim Carrey, Sandra Bullock, Christian Bale, Tyler Perry (he had the biggest box office opening last week!), etc.? Forget about stars from the '70s...
Anyway, I had predicted that the Oscars would stink. Well, I was wrong, or half-wrong. Separate from whether you agreed with the winners -- I did by and large -- or you didn't, what about the broadcast? I think if you had seen all the nominees (or at least the Best Picture noms), you probably had a rooting interest and were amused by most of the show. However, the other half was pretty bad. After the jump, what worked versus what did not.
The news comes just weeks after Applegate earned an Emmy nomination for her work as an amnesiac trying to undo her past misdeeds on Samantha Who?. In addition to continuing to work on her series, Applegate is also scheduled to appear on the Stand Up To Cancer telethon on September 5th. The telethon, which will be simultaneously aired on CBS, NBC and ABC, will also feature Meryl Streep, Sally Field and Jennifer Aniston, among others.
Since the cancer was detected early through a doctor-ordered MRI and Applegate is continuing her work schedule, hopefully the cancer will be easily beat. Here's to a full and speedy recovery.
"Clusterf@#k to the White House": Fred Thompson is Frankenberry and Barack Obama is Batman. FACT. Another good fact to note is that Rudy Giuliani's 9/11 sex dreams are absolutely terrifying. I was surprisingly grossed out by the cartoon image of the 9 giving it to the 11. Maybe it was because the 11 looked like it was enjoying it too much. Yeah.
Okay, so who gives a darn about the real candidates (or number sex)?! Let's move on. Super-special announcement! Stephen Colbert rolled in to the studio and attacked the Daily Show crowd. God, I'm so jealous of that audience. Screw you, October 16th Daily Show audience, screw you. Oh, sorry, that wasn't the announcement. The announcement was what Stephen said once he sat down and cracked open a beer. He's definitely going to consider running for President!... in the South Carolina primaries. He elaborated later on the Colbert Report that he's doing it as a "favorite son". NoFactZone.net has got thisbusiness covered, transcript and all. Also, I must commend the show for their use of the waving flag on the screen behind Stephen. Nice touch.
Fans of Joss Whedon know he is very active in the charity organization called Equality Now, which "works to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world." He recently was honored by the organization for his work and for the awesome female characters he has created in all of his television shows and movies. After being introduced by Meryl Streep, Joss gives a great speech explaining why he writes women characters so well. It's clever, funny, and so very Joss Whedon. It's also inspirational as it takes a stab at Hollywood and stupid reporters. I think he gives the whole speech without any notes. (You may have already seen this since it's been on YouTube since June, but it was new to me)
Turner Broadcasting just inked a deal with NBC
Universal that puts a bunch of movies, including this winter's King Kong, on its networks in 2008. Not sure if
the NBC network had the first right of refusal on that movie, but you would think so.
Along with King
Kong, Turner also bought the rights to air these movies in 2008:
The Ice
Harvest, starring Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack;
Doom, starring The Rock;
Two for the Money, starring Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey;
Is it cynical of me to question the wisdom of NBC trying to adapt the British detective series Prime Suspect for American TV? It probably is, but after the disappointment of Life on Mars (I know, some of you liked the ABC version, but I was not in that camp), I have worries about the way American writers and producers rework excellent British TV shows and suck the life out of them in the process.
The folks at our sister site 
It was the best of Oscar it was the worst of Oscar. It wasn't the best show I've ever seen, but was it the worst Oscars ever as one friend emailed me? I think there were features that worked and features that tanked. There could have been more star power -- where were Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jim Carrey, Sandra Bullock, Christian Bale, Tyler Perry (he had the biggest box office opening last week!), etc.? Forget about stars from the '70s...
"Clusterf@#k to the White House": Fred Thompson is Frankenberry and Barack Obama is Batman. FACT. Another good fact to note is that Rudy Giuliani's 9/11 sex dreams are absolutely terrifying. I was surprisingly grossed out by the cartoon image of the 9 giving it to the 11. Maybe it was because the 11 looked like it was enjoying it too much. Yeah.
Fans of Joss Whedon know he is very active in the charity organization called 
Turner Broadcasting just inked a deal with NBC
Universal that puts a bunch of movies, including this winter's King Kong, on its networks in 2008. Not sure if
the NBC network had the first right of refusal on that movie, but you would think so.
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