Breaking news!  (By way of EW’s Michael Ausiello - seriously, can I have this guy’s job?  I’d be totally awesome at it!)

Series creator Rob Thomas has been chatting with Miss Mars herself, Kristen Bell, about the possibility of bringing the canceled show to the big screen.  It seems like there has only been a little bit of chatter about it, and Thomas is working on two other shows at the moment.  It’s probably not worthy of super-intense speculation at this point, because I’m sure anytime a TV show has been canceled, every show-runner and star have at least entertained and talked a little bit about the possibility of a movie.  Still, it’s good to know that they’re considering it and would both be enthusiastic about the project and don’t have that “I’m over it, we told the story we needed to tell, I want to move on with other things and not be remembered for just one show despite the fact that it was awesome” mentality.

The show definitely worked well in the format of a TV show, playing with a few long running mysteries that take a full year for Veronica to work through while new easier cases pop up weekly.  I would guess that in a single two-hour movie there would be a larger focus on one overarching conspiracy, but I’m confident that the writers would make it work.

P.S. I do realize that it may be weird for me to be jonesing for more VM when I still have another season of the show to go through, but I just can’t help it.  I’m just that sure that when we finish season three (whenever that may be), I’ll still want more Veronica, Keith, Logan, and Wallace.

And while we’re on the subject of canceled shows becoming movies, what’s up with the Arrested Development movie?  Everyone in the cast has said they’d sign up for it, and I think the latest was that series creator Mitchell Hurwitz was working on a script. That would also be a damn safe bet to be an amazing movie. (Remember when George Michael and Maeby were on an episode of Veronica Mars?  That was awesome.)

Entenmann’s makes a lot of quality products, of this there is no denying. However, the crown jewel in their lineup are the delicious creations known as Popems. Popems, for those of you unfortunate enough to have never encountered these little bite-sized pieces of heaven, they combine everything you could ever want in a snack: chocolate donut holes that are frosted and covered with festive and edible sprinkles that vary depending on the season. For the Fourth of July, Popems are made with red, white, and blue sprinkles, Valentine’s Day has Popems with pink and red jimmies, St. Patrick’s Day gets ones with green sprinkles, and so on.

These delicious morsels are not to be confused with the non-special-occasion-based Pop’ems or Pop’ettes. Those donut holes are just plain donut holes, usually without the glazing and always without the sprinkles. Even the “chocolate” Pop’ems aren’t actually chocolate - they are just plain donuts covered in a chocolate frosting layer.  Good, sure, but they are not through and through chocolate like the ones covered in glazing and sprinkles for Popems.   To further differentiate Pop’ems form their far superior cousins, these varieties are given apostrophes in their names, suggesting that they are named Pop’ems because you pop them into your mouth.  Note the difference:

     

Though the Popems (without the apostrophe) are consumed in the same way, the lack of an apostrophe implies that this specific brand is pronounced “Pope-umms,” rhyming with “fe-fi-F0-FUM.” Why this distinction was made by the good people at the Entenmann’s company is far beyond my comprehension, but I also don’t understand why they would even bother making, boxing, and selling Popems without the glazing and sprinkles in the first place.

Nor can I possibly understand why Popems are hard to find except around holidays.  Does Entenmann’s take some perverse pleasure in keeping their most amazing product off the shelves for months at a time?  Or is it your standard business move, where they have to keep the Popems off the shelves, replaced by the sprinkle-less Pop’ems, in order to drive up demand for the unbelievably delicious non-apostrophed variety?  If so, I think they should be brought up on charges over scrupulous business ethics.  I want, nay, I DEMAND my Popems be available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.  Is that too much to ask for?

When I first heard that there was going to be a movie version of the new CGI-animated series The Clone Wars, I got really excited. After all, here was another chance to see Star Wars on the big screen! I thought after Episode III, that was it, but no!  Here was another chance for a possible midnight show (although that didn’t end up happening - oh well.)But for some reason, most of the other Star Wars fans I spoke to were less than ecstatic about this new movie. It wasn’t “real” Star Wars, they reasoned. This was just a cartoon.

Kids stuff.

Well, those people are both right and wrong. The Clone Wars is, unarguably, more designed for a younger audience. But not in an over the top, Jar Jar Binks stepping in Bantha poo-doo kind of way; rather in more of a Harry Potter sort of way.  Death is a real theme in those novels and movies, and kids today in general aren’t being talked down to.  “Young adult” has come to be a lot more “adult” than “young.”

Still, there are things about The Clone Wars that hardcore fanboys won’t like: the way the battle droids are used for constant laughs (although I should mention that “Roger roger!” was NOT used to death as I had feared), the way that Ashoka Tano, Anakin’s new apprentice calls Anakin “Sky-guy,” and Artoo “Artooie,” and of course, there’s the matter of the Hutt family.

There have been a lot of gripes about the Hutts in this movie, and while I understand that seeing Jabba’s son (aka Stinky, aka the Hutt-lette) was a little jarring at first, plot wise it totally makes sense; Jabba controls the Outer Rim, and the Republic wants him as an ally, so they seek to reclaim his kidnapped son to get in his good graces.  Although as it turns out, the Separatists were behind the plot in the first place, and were hoping to further splinter the Republic by forcing them to fight the Hutts as well as the Separatists.

As the Hutt plot is being explained, Anakin and Obi-Wan are off fighting a battle, and Anakin is given a new Padawan.  The further exploration of the character of Anakin is, I think, one of the primary draws of this series.  In the live-action movies, we see how powerful Anakin is, but only in glimpses.  And the guy is, after all, the Chosen One, so it makes sense that he would have kicked all kinds of ass during the Clone Wars.  But not only is there potential for cool battle scenes, this movie and TV show provides the opportunity to see Anakin as a good man, a good friend to Obi-Wan, and a good Jedi.  And part of being a good Jedi is teaching new Jedi the ways of the Force.

Ashoka is bound to rub some people the wrong way, but I liked her, and the way that she interacted with Anakin.  Skywalker was not the easiest apprentice for Obi-Wan, and now Anakin is learning first-hand what it is like to try to teach a stubborn and head-strong student. In the movie, he is at times frustrated with her, but he also becomes protective of his new Padawan, and their relationship has a lot of room for growth.  Of course, the fact that she is not in Episode III doesn’t bode well for her, but perhaps her downfall will provide further motivation for Anakin’s slip into the dark side.

Ashoka is the only new main cast member in the film, and all of the familiar Episode II and II guys and gals are all there.  Asajj Ventress, Count Dooku’s apprentice that was introduced in the Cartoon Network Clone wars series, returns as a main villain.  Apparently, she did not die when Anakin force-pushed her off the cliff in that series.   (As an aside, those cartoons had their fun parts, some great moments that set-up the opening of Ep. III, and that very cool scene where Anakin is “knighted.”  That said, I can see why George Lucas said they were too “cartoon-y.” All of the characters can more or less fly, and Mace Windu dispatched entire armies of battle droids single-handedly.  But I like the fact that they kept some elements of that series in with the new one.)  Most of the voice actors are new, with the exceptions of Christopher “As-long-as-I-don’t-have-to-do-back-flips” Lee, Anthony “No-one-else-can-ever-voice-Threepio-EVER” Daniels, and Samuel L. “Why-yes-as-a-matter-of-fact-I’d-love-to-be-in-your-new-movie” Jackson.  But the new actors all do fine jobs, and none of the characters sounded particularly off.

Of course, the visuals are amazing, and the battle scenes really showed off what they can do with CGI animation.  Obi-Wan’s beard could have used a little more movement, but maybe he just has stiff facial hair.   My biggest complaint with the movie has to be Jabba’s uncle.  I don’t want to spoil it, but when you meet him, you’ll know what I mean.  He was just too over the top, and his story wasn’t necessary to the plot except as a way to shoehorn Padmé and Threepio into the action.

Overall, The Clone Wars was really enjoyable, and if you are able to tap into the kid in you to enjoy some silly moments, you’ll be in for a treat.  The action was fun, the animation was good, and the stories and characters that were introduced have a lot of potential in their new upcoming series.  There will likely be some more missteps along the way, like with Jabba’s uncle, but I have faith that those will be the exception as opposed to the rule, and that the majority of the show will be pretty damn cool.

Alan’s Score: 8.1 out of 10

DVD’s were great, but I think their time has come and gone. And no, I’m not talking about Blu-ray discs as the next big great thing either, because they have the main flaws of DVDs. Allow me to elaborate.

When VCR’s first invaded people’s homes, they were a revolution - not only could you record things off the television, but you could watch theatrically-released movies in the comfort of your own home whenever you wanted to. This is something we all take for granted now, but at the time, it was a pretty big deal. With the advent of DVDs, we got a huge bump in quality and durability of our movies, and the benefit of being able to jump to any chapter without the annoyance of fast forwarding/rewinding through the entire tape was a great improvement. And then the special feature was born, which allowed for all kinds of additional content to be added onto the discs for enthusiasts. Blu-ray further amps up the quality of our video and allows for even special-er features, but it fails to deliver a profound leap forward for the medium.

Here’s what I want: I want to be able to buy a movie or TV series and watch it wherever and whenever I want. DVD’s are portable, and can be watched on most computers or on portable DVD players. But portable DVD players tend to have pretty short shelf lives. (I consider myself an authority on this matter, especially after yesterday when not one, and not two, but THREE portable DVD players busted on me in a single day. That’s got to be some kind of record.) But that shouldn’t be enough - I should be able to watch these movies on my portable media device, my cell phone, or wherever else I want.

But wait, you say! I CAN do that - if I buy movies on iTunes, I can watch them on my computer and my iPod. But here’s where that model fails: if I want to watch them on my TV, I have to buy their AppleTV peripheral. And what if I don’t have an iPod - those files aren’t playable on other kinds of players. And what if I already have the DVD - why should I have to buy the movie a second time?

Of course, it is possible to take a DVD that you already own and get it to play on your iPod or PSP or any other device you have, but it requires some work. Think about how easy is it to take a CD and rip it and turn your music into digital files that will play anywhere and on anything. Why is it so much harder to do the same thing with movies?

I’ll tell you why. Because with audio files, there is a common file type that everyone accepts and uses, the mp3. Apple has pushed their own company specific format, but the DRM backlash has been strong, and now that they face competition from many other major outlets such as Amazon, even the iTunes store has started selling DRM-free mp3 files that are playable anywhere.

But even still, the music business has suffered, and so the TV and movie studios are awfully nervous. They want to keep their customers shelling out the bucks for their properties, and they hope that people will buy the same movie on DVD, UMD, Blu-ray, and on iTunes. (And worse, sometimes they do.) But isn’t there a better way?

Let’s use The Simpsons as an example. The first ten seasons (so far) have been released on DVD, and being a big fan, I have bought them all. Which is great, but what happens when I want to watch a marathon of Season Six? Every six episodes, I have to get up from my couch, open up the DVD case, take out the last DVD, insert the next one, wait for it to load, and then be told six times that copying DVDs is illegal, that the views expressed in the commentaries don’t reflect the actual views of anyone, and oh yeah, seriously, copying DVDs is a crime. Now I ask you, isn’t that analogous to the annoyance of having to fast-forward a VHS tape?

What if I could have every episode of The Simpsons ready for me to access straight from the couch? It should be easy to watch entire seasons straight through, to skip ahead, to rewind, pause, to switch on commentaries or to select bonus features, all from my remote control. But that’s not all. If I start to watch an episode but am interrupted, I should be able to continue the next day on my commute by watching on my cell phone, my iPod, or my Zen, or any other player that I have.

This could easily be done by having all of the media stored on a server, and instead of buying physical discs, you buy access to the content. You could then have access to said media from any product that is registered to you, i.e. a TV, portable player, cell phone, computer, or whatever. Easy. Oh, and if you’ve already purchased the content before, say on DVD or Blu-ray or whatever, you should be able to still get access to the same thing digitally.

Now don’t get my wrong - I want the studios to make money here, and they still would. The fundamental difference is that their business model would have to evolve from treating their customers as chumps who will shell out cash for anything, and instead treat us as valued fans. Look at how many movies have been released countless times not only on different formats, but just on DVD. (Scarface, Princess Bride, Terminator 2, and many others have seen countless “special” editions be released over the years.) The old model says that if you put the same movie in a new box, and maybe add a special feature or two, people will buy it again. Then the studios can repeat that formula on any new formats that come out.

But in my new model, you only buy the content once. Getting back to my Simpsons example, I should have access to the first ten seasons digitally (because I already paid for them on DVD), and then if I wish to buy subsequent season, I can do that. And then if Fox decides to make a high-definition copy of old seasons available, instead of re-buying what I’ve already purchased, I could just upgrade for a fee to 1080p. (And then again in a few years to 2060q or whatever comes next.) If they want to make new featurettes on anniversaries or whatever, those too would be available to purchase a la carte. Die-hard fans will keep buying upgrades and additions, and causal fans won’t. But the studios stand to make even more profits by completely cutting out the manufacturing and shipping costs associated with discs. (This whole thing is a lot more environmentally sound, too.)

You may say I’m just dreaming, and that this is just a pipe-dream that is many years away. But it shouldn’t be. If the content is good, people will pay for it. But we shouldn’t have to pay for it over and over again. Nowadays watching media just at home or just on the go isn’t enough, and it’s about time the people controlling the content accepted that.

Critics have long derided the lack of originality on TV.  But just for fun, let’s look at some shows that are now officially in development for the small screen:

A new 90210 show.

A new Hawaii-Five-o.

A show based on the 1987 movie “The Witches of Eastwick.”

And a show based on the J. Lo movie “Maid in Manhattan.”

Here’s the thing: TV shows based on old properties CAN be awesome: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and though I’ve never seen it, I’ve heard good things about Friday Night Lights.  (Hell, I used to even like Alien Nation way back when…)  But it seems to me that there are way better properties that could be modernized and would have a better shot than say, last year’s quickly canceled Bionic Woman.  Here are my top five picks:

1. Goonies - There was talk about a sequel some years back, but why not just expand the franchise into a long running show?  A new group of kids, mentored by one or two of the original gang, have to save their families from foreclosure, unemployment, and those pesky rising gas prices by constantly seeking out all the rich stuff they can find.  One-Eyed Willie makes an appearance in the season finale in a flashback/dream sequence.
2. Quantum Leap - The best show with the worst ending, a “next generation” thing would be perfect.  There have been talks about a big screen movie, or a made-for-TV movie, or even a new TV show going on forever, so what’s the hold up?  Sam’s daughter goes leaping around in time looking for her Dad.  Perfect.  Scott Bakula would totally be down for a cameo (I just volunteered him.)
3. Evil Dead - Everyone loves Ash, and even though Bruce Campbell has moved on, the role could easily be recast with a new one-handed hero who cracks wise while battling the undead.  They could take it in a more serious Buffy-esque direction, but I think they should go for full on camp.  It’s been a while since kitschy was trendy - maybe it’s due for a comeback?
4. Spinal Tap - A mockumentary on TV?  We know the concept can fly thanks to The Office, so why not bring back the guys who practically invented the concept?  It could be a limited series run, like the BBC Office/Extras, where Nigel, Derek, and David gear up for a big reunion album and tour.  But wouldn’t you know it, wackiness ensues along the way…
5. The King of Kong - A reality series that follows around nerd hero Steve Weibe in his quest to reclaim his Donkey Kong record.  Though Billy Mitchell and Mrs. Weibe might prefer to let this whole thing go, it would definitely rate high in the geek demographic.  Bonus: possible spin-off for Brian Kuh about his personal quest for glory, entitled: When’s MY Kill Screen Coming Up?

What do you think?  Any other ideas?

Well wouldn’t you know it, Buffy didn’t stay dead for long. The Scoobies were trying to live life as normal as possible, having the Buffy-bot do the usual Buffy jobs, but it just wasn’t the same, and Willow decided to bring Buffy back from the beyond. It seemed almost like a given that we would find out that Buffy had been suffering in some hell dimension like Angel did before her, but the twist that she was actually in Heaven and that now the real world was her own private version of hell was a great twist. The show also didn’t rush having Buffy being back to her old self, as the experience has clearly changed her, and it’s not going to be easy for her to just get back into the swing of things. (Side note - now that Buffy died again, does another new Slayer pop up somewhere in the world? Or since the line split into two when she died the first time, would a new one emerge only if/when Faith dies?)

Giles had been threatening to leave for a while, and it makes sense that once Buffy was gone he would finally get up and go. And though it might have been frustrating for him to have to turn around and come right back thanks to Buffy’s resurrection, at least he’s building up valuable frequent flier miles. Still, it wasn’t much of a shocker that he was going to leave again, especially with him being removed from the credits and getting the old “guest starring” routine. It might have been slightly more surprising had they kept him in the main credits and then suddenly dropped him like they did with Oz and Riley before, but it still probably would have blown away no one. That said, even in light of Joyce’s death, I found Giles’ leaving to be pretty emotional. I understand his point that he feels he is holding Buffy back, but at the same time he has become more or less family to her, and so his active decision to leave was still harsh and painful.

The teaming up of Warren the robot-builder, Jonathan the nobody/superstar, and Andrew the who-the-hell-is-this-guy as super-villains seemed a little arbitrary, but they are just so darn nerdy that it is fun to watch them. Although they aren’t anywhere near as threatening as some of the other bad guys who have come through Sunnydale before, which is a shame.

On the other hand, Willow is getting more and more powerful, and given her descent into power and the not-at-all-subtle DVD cover (really, there was nothing else they could have put on the box?), it seems like one hell of a safe bet that she’s going to become more of a force to be reckoned with as the season goes on. But Willow’s transformation has been handled well, as a gradual process over the years. It seemed like last season the writers were using Willow’s magic as a crutch; whatever was going on, Willow had a spell ready to help move the plot along. But it has taken it’s toll on her, and that redeems some earlier writing that may have just seemed sloppy.

However the magic=drugs analogy felt really hackneyed. I mean, I get that power can be like a drug, but come on, going to a dealer who provides you with extra powerful “spells” that feel great but then make you come crashing down? How is that magic? How is that even an analogy? I’m pretty sure nothing like that has happened to Harry Potter…

On to “Once More, With Feeling.” This episode had been hyped up for a while, but I have to say that it didn’t disappoint. The songs were all really well written and well sung, but not only was it just amusing to see everyone singing and dancing, but the episode really moved some serious plot threads along well. Given this episode and Dr. Horrible, maybe Joss should give up on TV and focus on musicals for a living. I hated to see the cracks in Xander and Anya’s relationship, but they are moving pretty quick, and despite the fact that Anya is technically over 1,000, in her new form they are both fairly young to be getting married. And it seemed like only a matter of time before the gang found out that Buffy was in Heaven, and that Tara would discover Willow was messing around with her mind, but it is truly remarkable how so much could happen in what very easily could have been a simple throw-away episode.

As for Buffy and Spike, the second they hooked up I found myself angry. Actually angry, which is a weird emotion to have over two fictional characters getting together, but I couldn’t help it. Their history alone seems destined to keep them apart, not to mention their exes. If Angel hated Riley, how would he feel knowing that his true love is shagging Spike of all people/creatures? And how could Buffy reason to date a guy who dated Drusilla and Harmony? I understand that on some twisted level Spike is the only one who gets Buffy, and that he provides her with a real need, but honestly, she should have some better judgment here. I think I’ve heard that there’s a porn spoof of this show called Buffy the Vampire Layer, and at this point it’s almost not even a parody, as Buffy has slept with just as many vampires as she has humans. For a Vampire Slayer (emphasis on that “S”), you’d think that would be somewhat of a no-no. One exception might be bad enough, but two? Really?

So far the show has maintained it’s momentum from Season Five, and despite the weird range of emotions it puts me through, I am still hooked, as evidenced by my blinding speed going through as many episodes as possible. I might slow down for a bit to catch up on some other DVDs I’ve been meaning to get too, and I’m afraid I might have hit the downturn that Raf mentioned with episode 11, “Gone,” which featured an invisible Buffy. Cough.

Eh, I talk big, but I’ll be back to Buffy before I know it…

If you hadn’t heard, there were rumors going around of a third Ghostbusters movie being made that would star the original quartet of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson, but also with the more “current” group of Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Steve Carell, and Romany Malco coming in as the next generation who would take over the franchise.  (Apparently even in a new generation, the main four guys need to be one-quarter black.)

I have my reservations about restarting long-dormant franchises, especially with the recent Indy IV debacle.  (Although Rocky Balboa and Live Free or Die Hard proved it could be done well…)  But I like that this would be a sequel instead of another ridiculous remake/reboot, and if it has Bill Murray’s blessing, I’m naturally on board.

Alas, it came out yesterday that Paul Rudd hadn’t heard anything about these rumors, although he did add, “I would do it in a second with those guys. But do you think it’s a good idea to redo ‘Ghostbusters’? It’s a classic.”  I like the fact that he acknowledged that it would be wrong to do an out and out remake, because he’s right - it is a comedy institution.

(Of course, this kind of a remake is still acceptable.)

Meanwhile, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which looks all kinds of awesome, vanished from the line-up of games to come this fall due to the merger between Activision and Vivendi.  But now there is word that Sony Pictures wants the game released, and they are looking at timing it for next year to coincide with the original movie’s 25th anniversary.  While it sucks to have to wait until 2009, it does give the developers more time to fine tune the game, and hopefully that’ll work out better for everyone.   And if there is in fact no Ghostbusters 3 coming to a theatre near me, I definitely want this game, which was written by Aykroyd and Ramis as a third movie, set in 1991, and starring the voices of all the original cast members, except for Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis.  They’ll be missed, but the ability to use the Wiimote to fire proton streams is just too cool for me to stand.

It took us a while, but Courtney and I finally finished the second season of Veronica Mars.  Raf, you mentioned that this season would get a little more complicated, and you weren’t kidding.  There were a lot of times along the way that we had to pause the DVD and say, “Wait.  Which Fitzpatrick did what to who?”  And we polished the season off in a few months - I’d imagine that it could have been really tough watching it over a regulation nine-month season.  Also, when you think about it, the main mystery of Season One was pretty straight-forward.  This season however had multiple long-haul arcs going on at once: Aaron Echolls’ murder trial, Logan’s arrest for murder, as well as the main mystery of who caused the bus crash.  And not only were there more stories, but they were all pretty complex.But despite the complicated nature of the season, there was still plenty of Veronica Mars, and the gal remains awesome.  She had some really vulnerable moments, her usual I’m-smarter-than-you moments, as well as a couple of times when she used some questionable logic, like when she lied to her dad about Duncan.  The show added a few cast members this year, and that along with the more complicated mysteries led to the show feeling like it had less Veronica over-saturation than last year, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing on paper, but the fact remains that she is the most interesting character, and so the fact that there were times when she felt like a supporting player was a little frustrating.I wasn’t too sad to see Duncan go halfway through the year, as he had gotten pretty stale.  He loved Veronica, and she loved him, but their story had definitely runs its course.   I missed Wallace a lot more when he left, but that was only temporary.  His story with Jackie was mildly interesting, but I wasn’t crazy about how quickly she went from nemesis to friend.  I guess Miss Mars is just awfully forgiving like that for her boy Wallace.  The Casablancas brothers could have stayed as recurring characters as far as I’m concerned, but at the same time they didn’t feel overly shoe-horned into a lot of unnecessary plots, so it wasn’t so terrible that the actors got some pay bumps.  But Logan, man - that guy is just great.  Everything he says is hysterical, his insults are cutting, and despite the fact that I hated him at first, he has quickly become my favorite non-Mars on the show..

I was pretty disappointed that Keith wasn’t elected Sheriff, and I totally agreed with Veronica that he should have fought harder to make the town of Neptune a safer place where mysteries get solved by the actual police.  But it was realistic that if he refused to fight back against Lamb’s low shots, Keith would lose.  Also based on reality is the fact that Aaron would have smooth talking lawyers who would do everything in their power to get their celebrity client off scot free.  It sucks, but it’s true.  At least he got the justice that he deserved in the end.

As a side note, the guest stars this year were all pretty amazing.  Kendal aka Cordelia aka Charisma Carpenter is just a babe, plain and simple, and its great to have her around.  Steve Gutenberg also did a great job as the not totally trustworthy Mayor, and it’s kind of too bad they can’t have him back next year after his ride back to Neptune got blowed-up real good.  The cameos by Joss Whedon, Kevin Smith, and Alyson Hannigan were also nice touches.

So despite some being a lot more confused than I was in Season One, the show is still highly enjoyable.  The class-warfare theme were explored a lot more this year, and while they could have gone over the top with their points about the battles between the haves and the have-nots, the drama always felt genuine.  Veronica was a little less of an outcast this year, but not totally, and she still had to do a lot all by her lonesome.  Despite the semi-weak cliffhanger that ended the season, I’m still looking forward to Season Three, to see what happens when Veronica goes off to college.  Something tells me she won’t be your average sorority girl…

Oh, and the theme song?  Still super catchy.

I’m not totally sure about how I should intro this video, but here goes nothing.  I wanted to make it for a few reasons.  One, to give Nick’s family more of a look at the life he had with his friends.  Two, to try and pay tribute to him in some way.  Three, to have something handy for whenever his loved ones wanted a not super tear-jerking reminder of the good ole days.  And lastly because selfishly, it made me feel like I was doing something productive with my grief.  I’m not sure how productive making a YouTube video really is, but going through these old pictures and putting it all together was pretty cathartic.

Anyway, here it is.

(Corniest name for a post ever!  Woo!  What do I win?)

I watched Jumper the other day, and for a movie with a pretty interesting sci-fi concept, it turned out pretty awful.

And here’s the thing: it could have worked, really, but the script is just atrocious.  First of all, the back story goes on way too long for the very little it sets up.  And the bulk of the plot is paper-thin: there are people who can teleport, and there are people who hunt them.  That’s seriously it.  There’s no great dissection about how this battle between jumpers and their hunters came to be, or how certain people have the gift of teleportation, or who is pulling the strings behind the attempt to kill them all.

Nah, who wants story, when you can have your main character jump all over the world wherever he wants!  That’s cool!  Imagine who cool that would be!  Actually, don’t bother, because that’s the bulk of what the movie shows you - how awesome it is to be a jumper.  You can get money!  You can meet girls!  You can surf!  And you can eat your lunch on the top of the Sphinx! The special effects aren’t bad, but certainly nothing to get all that excited about.  Even the perennially cool Samuel L. Jackson was totally wasted as a villain who wasn’t even remotely scary or fun to watch.   Though I have to admit, I’ll never get tired of looking at Rachel Bilson…

As for Hayden Christensen, I was never one of those people who complained about him in the Star Wars prequels, and I stand by my assertion that he was just fine as Anakin, and completely consistent with Mark Hamill’s portrayal of Luke.  Some of the lines were clunky, but that wasn’t his fault.  It wouldn’t surprise me if the same people who ragged on him in the prequels ripped him for Jumper, but in both cases any complaints should go to the script writers  more than to Hayden.

And as a side note, I recently watched Shattered Glass, the indie film that Christensen was in, that people were raving about, and I enjoyed it, but I do not get how people can say he was terrible in Star Wars and amazing in Shattered Glass.  Both characters were people who were loved and trusted, but had a darker side underneath.  And Hayden did a fine job at both.  I’m not saying he’s the world’s greatest actor, but I just don’t get why he gets so much crap.  When the writing is good, he’s good, and when it’s not, he’s not.  Maybe a truly superb actor could make anything good, but I have to think that if Laurence Olivier was cast as the star of Jumper, it still would’ve sucked.