The Bun Is Back

Attention all Star Trek geeks: Voyager is back on TV! Finally, after years of watching and waiting, Voyager re-runs are showing weekdays on Spike at 4pm and 5pm. I have wondered when anyone was going to pick that show up. Next Generation and DS9 are on daily (somewhere in the world) and even Sci Fi picked up Enterprise. Since Voyager is the best Star Trek show after Next Generation - I was perplexed by the several year wait. It was worth it! It's been so long since I've seen any of the episodes that they are very fresh. Janeway (with her bun of steel!) is as commanding as ever as she and her crew try and make their way home. Considering there isn't much worth watching on TV in the evenings...at least you can put your TV tray up and watch something at dinner.

little bill speaks!

Little bill is finally talking at almost 3 years old. We had become concerned but are happy to say he is on his way. This also comes with amusing moments. He does say "no" a lot but the word "no" has been replaced with the word, "no-mommy." Even when he answers Bill he will say, "No-mommy, Dada!" It took me a while to catch on until I heard him do it. On the other hand, his sister's entire name has been replaced by, "noooo bee-bee." Not baby or Trinity but "no bee-bee." To be continued.

Popcorn Man

Is it me or is the new Redenbacher popcorn TV ad make your skin crawl? I don't even KNOW what the heck that is! If you haven't seen it...it's basically Orville Redenbacher doing an ad for his microwave popcorn. He dances through a small crowd of people, listening to an ipod, and presents and talks about his gourmet popcorn. One problem - HE'S DEAD!!!! It's like they got the Crypt Keeper to do it. This "person" looks like a combination of makeup, mask, and computer generated trickery. It's ALL badly done. And bizarre. It's so bizarre that I am practically speechless. Who will be next? Dick Clark? I invite your comments on this subject.

Gridiron Gang (2006)

Okay, I know what you are thinking...it's Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in some predictable movie that isn't worth the DVD space.
I am bias because I love The Rock! There I've said it!!!
But seriously folks...Gridiron Gang is a good movie.
It's about a juvenile detention monitor (played by The Rock) who sees the kids in his care sent back out to the streets after they do their time and end up right back there or dead. He finds it depressing. He knows there is a better way and gets inspired to teach them football. He also gets local schools to play them. It isn't an easy road he has chosen to go down for himself or the kids but it's nice to watch the journey.
The kids are realistic and they work the material nicely. This could have been a real slouch of a movie but it isn't. It's based on a real guy and real kids.
MMM (out of MMMMM)

The Dresden Files

The Sci Fi Channel produces a lot of dogs about giant mosquitoes, man-sharks and scorpions on planes but they also slip in some good stuff like Stargate (not an original idea of theirs) and Battlestar Galactica (not their idea either!). Well, hold on there a minute – Sci Fi blunders onto something good. The Dresden Files is based on a series of books about a private detective who also happens to be a magician. He is a very gifted magician with some out of the ordinary abilities that make him solve crimes and also make him targeted by dark spirits, etc. for his meddling ways.
I watched the premiere episode and really liked it. I mean I wasn’t expecting much but it seemed like a cool premise. I was never into Charmed, Angel, Buffy or anything along those lines - just never appealed to me the way this does. Dresden is more of a grown up show. His character is not perfect and even has a ghost (a Tim Curry wannabe) that hangs out in crib making pithy remarks. The premiere episode dealt with a little boy who wanted Dresden’s help because he had a monster in his closet. Through this event we get introduced to the local cops, evil characters and some spooky ones that we aren’t sure about yet. It is set in Chicago but at the end of the credits you see it is really a Canadian export. Should have known…I am a big Forever Knight fan…but that’s another story.
I would watch this show regularly. It’s on Sunday nights at 9pm and fits in nicely before bedtime. I have to admit that I like this show because in flashbacks to Dresden’s childhood it shows him in Atlantic City, where his father is a magician and just trying to make the rent.

The Black Dahlia (2006)

I eagerly awaited the release of this movie about the sensational Black Dahlia murder. A murder that was so gruesome, at the time, that is seemed unbelievable that a human being could have done it. The movie should not have been called The Black Dahlia because it has little to do with the real investigation.
The movie is shot well and really does justice to the period. Even opening with the “zoot suit riots” of the 40s. I am afraid that is all I am going to say good about the movie.
The movie was written by the person that wrote LA Confidential. Well, LA Confidential it ain’t.
The movie follows two cops, played by Josh Hartnett (remind me again WHY he is even in movies) and Aaron Eckhart (would love to see more of him in something quality), with somewhat flexible morals who end up on a special task force to investigate the Black Dahlia murder. Both cops have issues and have freaky girlfriends, played by Scarlett Johansson and Hillary Swank, that you don’t really know whether they are good girls or bad girls. Or just weird girls with weird issues, backgrounds and families. Oh, the family of the Hillary Swank character is to bizarre for words. Anyway, they plod along in this movie and discover who the Black Dahlia killer really is! Re-writing history is so much fun! The Black Dahlia murder is still unsolved.
I give this movie M out of MMMMM.