Continue? - Home Alone

The youtube video that explains why Home Alone is a perfect(ly constructed) movie.

Tonight Show - Tariq's Famous Latkes

Black Thought (Tarik) shares his famous Hanukkah Latke recipe... link.

Christmas Sweatz

Here's a song to have stuck in your head for all of the holidays.

Of course the problem with me is, I had it stuck in my head all summer and I had to wait for months for it to be topical.

Late Night - Levon Isn't Here

The classic segment of the Late Show with David Letterman where Levon Helm, drummer for The Band, didn't show up.

Tonight Show - Thank You Notes

In this week's edition of Thank You Notes, Jimmy explains why this part of the year brings up some painful memories for him and his family.

Beatles - Junk

The unreleased Beatles song "Junk", also known as "Jubilee"...

Continue? - Rap Jam Vol. 1

How does a video game based on rap music not have music in the game? More importantly, how did I not know that this game existed?!



They don't know who Yo Yo is. I know who Yo Yo is.

Rifftrax - Setting Up a Room

I love that stuff like this exists. Apparently there's a short film which shows two teachers arranging the furniture within a classroom for half an hour. So now Rifftrax have tackled it.




Give in to the block-putting-away.

The credits list "Helen K. Tritch, Director Day Care Association of Montgomery County, Penna. Ambler Branch" as a consultant for this movie. First off, no one ever uses the abbreviation "Penna." anymore, I think we should bring that back. Secondly, I now HAVE to wonder if one of the classrooms I attended was arranged by one of the "stars" of this "movie".

Continue? - Demon Sword

It's Fantasy Month on Continue?!

Continue? is a weekly web show where three guys play an old-school video game for a while and then say whether they would Continue (playing) or Game Over.

During the month of November, they celebrate Fantasy Month by playing games with a Dungeons and Dragons theme. In this case, though, the front cover lied.

Thug Life.

Tonight Show - Jay Leno

Jay Leno was a guest on the Tonight Show on Friday. It's his first time coming back since he was host. Not only was he a guest (and stayed on the couch for the next guest) but he was invited by Jimmy to do some stand-up as well. Want to see the highlights? Me neither.

The Too Many Cooks Theme

Nothing wrong with a little nostalgia on a Friday. This is the intro/theme from the show "Too Many Cooks".

Conan Reviews Video Games - Call of Duty

Conan gets his hands on the new "Call of Duty : Advanced Warfare" game and plays it. He sees what it would be like to shoot milk.

Conan - Max Weinberg Returns

Those mine shafts are killers.

Mike Tyson vs. Mike Tyson

This is a video a long time in the making. The actual Mike Tyson faces off against Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out.



Obviously he's going to lose. Of course. But I was actually surprised by how well he did. As far as we can tell, he's never played the game before in any capacity and he actually lasts longer than I think I would by dodging some of the punches.

By the by, Mike Tyson was on the show to promote his new show "Mike Tyson Mysteries". If you haven't seen the show, it's worth checking out. It's a 70's-style cartoon show (like a "Scooby-Doo" or the Mr. T cartoon) where Mike Tyson travels the country in a van to solve mysteries. Helping him are his 18-year-old Asian daughter, a 19th century English ghost and his pigeon (voiced by Norm MacDonald). If that's not an interesting set-up for a show, I don't know what is.

Tonight Show - Bradley Cooper

This is a great bit of silliness but it can use some setting up.

Bradley Cooper was recently spotted by the paparazzi wearing an Eagles visor and having his hair straight up (he's a big fan). But while his hair is real (or so he says), there are people who sell football visors with fake hair already attached for bald people. Jimmy and Bradley wear such visors for this interview and then try to discuss the very somber play The Elephant Man...

Tonight Show - Word Sneak

Jimmy plays the game "Word Sneak" with guest Steve Carell.

Sim City Attack Ads

It's getting to be that time of year when the political ads start heating up. At stake this November is the Mayorship of Sim City. Both sides have released aggressive attack ads to gain the advantage...

Conan - Jordan Schlansky Counseling

Jordan Schlansky is getting married.... to a human woman. But Conan thinks it's important to get marriage counseling...

Late Night's 100th Episode And I'm Outta Here

On Monday, Late Night with Seth Meyers celebrated its 100th episode. I've watched every minute of every episode and I've tried to post the highlights of the show here. Given that the number of highlights has been maybe one or two clips over the span of 100 hours of television, you can imagine what I think of the show.

The internet is replete with antipathy (or so I've heard). There are "h8ers" and "trolls" and "this person OWNS this other person" and most things seem to "suck" in one way or another. I don't think this iteration of Late Night sucks, I don't even think it's bad. It's just not very funny either.

So I've watched all 100 episodes but I'm stopping here.

The big cautionary tale in this area is when Conan O'Brien took over Late Night. The show was not very funny, Conan got the reputation of not being funny and the show was consistently in danger of being cancelled. And look at him now.

But Conan's failure was a different kind of failure. Conan was trying new and extremely experimental types of comedy and the danger of experiments is that they often blow up in your face. In the early years Conan was striking out but he would go down swinging. If I saw that with Seth Meyers I'd be completely on board. But I don't see that. I don't see anything new, groundbreaking or even very interesting. It's just "safe" and on an even keel all the time. It's middle-of-the-road. It's a type of talk show that takes all the tremendous highs and lows of trying new things - things that may "hit" but may "bomb" - and flattens them all out into comedy that's always slightly amusing.

Seth Meyers' show reminds me a lot of Jack Paar, which means I should love it. But Paar told stories with more emotion which evoked heightened reactions. Paar added weight to the show by inviting politicians on and asking them probing, even challenging, questions (contrast that with the dumbed-down lovefest that Meyers recently had with Nancy Pelosi... or better yet, don't). Most importantly, Jack Paar had Jonathan Winters. And if Seth Meyers ever gets anyone like Jonathan Winters I'll be right there watching again.

Tonight Show - Lip Sync Battle

Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Jimmy Fallon battle it out for lip sync supremacy. Nothing's gonna stop us now.

Gaming #1

I recently bought a CRT TV and already owned an NES and SNES so I've been enjoying some retro gaming recently. In addition to playing some of the classics that I own, I've been purchasing other games on ebay and amazon piece-by-piece.

Here's what I started out with...

Obviously it's a classic. There's one weakness though: no saving! Without the chance to save progress, I had to schedule out a Saturday and try to go through it all in a day. I've probably beaten this game several times over the years but this time was different in two ways: 1) It was 1-Player this time and 2) I didn't use any warps or shortcuts.

Any time you re-approach a game after years, you hope that your age will mean you're much better. I was NOT much better. This was hard and I died muchly.

Here's something weird that I never noticed before.... Super Mario Bros. 3 doesn't have any credits. Every game tells you who made it but this one doesn't.

Another classic and another one that I had already beaten several times.

This is where I learned the value of being able to save progress. I could pick this up and play it casually, every now and then, beat a few levels and turn it off.

I beat the game but something weird happened after that... the next time I turned the game on, all my game data was erased. I know that errors happen with computers but I've never seen any data on any nintendo game ever be lost like that. Pretty strange. Fortunately, I had already beaten it anyway.

Lookit how hyped-up that crowd is. That arena is rockin'.

This one is also a classic. It's one of the first nintendo games I ever played and I still love it as much as I did back then... but I've never "beaten" it. I suppose if you play the computer at the highest speed and win, you've beaten the game, in a sense. So far I've managed to win against the computer at Speed 1 but it was tough. USA vs. the USSR, obviously. Classic days. 

I did something that I don't think I ever did in this game... regulation ended with the score tied so it went to a shoot-out. But then the shoot-out ended with the score still tied and it went to overtime. But in the overtime, there are no goalies. That's several layers of weird. I have no idea how to play without a goalie. The best strategy I came up with was just to take a player and try to block the net with him. 

I also found a code that allows you to play with a frictionless surface that I haven't tried yet.

Late Show - Can They Play the Eagles?

Can Dave play any music from the Eagles? And if not, why not and since when?

Tonight Show - The Family Feud

It's time to play the feud!

Teens React to Retro Gaming

I've been playing old NES and SNES games lately so I found it funny that this popped up recently.

Conan - Before Photoshop

Recently Conan aired an entire episode of rehearsal scraps called "A Scrapisode". This is one of the scraps out of the collection of scraps called "Before Photoshop".



I love the voices. THIS ONE WILL DEFY YOUR EXPECTATIONSSS.

Tonight Show - Marriage Counseling

There are times when the Tonight Show monologue must take a backseat to giving counsel and guidance to married couples. This is one of those times.

Conan - Scrapisode

In the most recent episode of Conan they forewent the usual comedy pieces and guests and aired an entire episode of rehearsal footage when they were just goofing around. It's quite good.

Watch it here.

Conan really likes to cover "Creep". It pops up quite often.

I love that Conan cracks himself up with the phrase "boners and goof-ups". When I was a kid, I got a VHS tape of Sports Illustrated's all-time sports bloopers hosted by Tim McCarver and he frequently refers to errors as "boners". Good times.

Michael Giacchino Interview

I thought this was a really interesting interview about film scores. Michael Giacchino isn't a household name but he did the scores for "Up", "Lost", the new "Star Trek" movies, "Ratatouille" as well as the scores for the "Medal of Honor" and "Call of Duty" video game franchises.

The interview talks about the art of scoring, how they're written, how they work, why sometimes they don't and so on, and so on. Check it out if you have half an hour.

New Late Late Show Host Named

The new host of the Late Late Show has reportedly been named and it is..... James Corden,

Who?

Pictured: James Corden's reaction to being told he's taking over Callahan Auto Parts the Late Late Show.

Well, allow me to explain. "Corden stars in Disney's “Into the Woods” and can currently be seen alongside Keira Knightley in “Begin Again.” He also starred in 2011’s “The Three Musketeers.”"

Oh yeah, of course! That James Corden!

I was rooting for Norm Macdonald.

Tonight Show - Thank You Notes

This is a great example of how the current iteration of the Tonight Show is different from other talk shows. The bit, "Thank You Notes", is a sufficiently original bit but it's not entirely different from other comedy bits. The difference is the ability of the Tonight Show to veer off the written comedy (or the interview for that matter) and go on a complete tangent for some improvised comedy sillies.

The setup to this comes from a monologue story where a man was selling crack at a McDonald's drive-thru.

Late Show - MacArthur Park

Jimmy Webb performs his 70s hit "MacArthur Park" with the CBS Orchestra.

Conan in a Movie

Conan will make his debut as an actor in the upcoming SyFy movie "Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda" and he's put the entirety of his role online. This is not a joke - "SvP" is a "real" "movie" and Conan is really in it.



You'll note that a lot of the different shots of beaches don't appear to match each other. In "Rifftrax Live: Sharknado" there was the same problem. As the shot would change there was a lot of "Meanwhile on another beach..."

"Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda" airs August 2nd at 9PM on SyFy.

Late Show - Elaine Stritch

Long time character actor Elaine Stritch died recently so the Late Show posted this video to their Youtube channel from the night where she made a very special appearance.



The first time I remember seeing her it was in a very special TWO PART episode of "Head of the Class" in which the school is trying to put on a production of the musical "Hair" but encountering resistance from the school administration. It was dramatic. So every time I saw her thereafter I thought, "That's the woman from 'Head of the Class'".

Game Grumps - Snow, Wind and Bees Every Time

So there's this series of videos on the youtube called "Game Grumps" where two guys play video games. That's pretty much all there is to it. I'm recommending it and you're going to sit there and like it. And there's nothing you can do to stop me.

Conan Joins Tinder

Conan and Dave Franco explore the world of dating with Tinder.



Dave Franco is fine but I was so hoping that the person joining him would be Jordan Schlansky. How great would that be?

Late Night - Keith Morrison

This is arguably the first funny comedy bit on Late Night with Seth Meyers. The premise is: NBC wants Seth to be friends with other people in the NBC family so they set him up on play dates. In this episode, he hangs out with Dateline's Keith Morrison.

Oh nooooooo.

Triumph Enjoys the World Cup

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is in New York to enjoy the World Cup with the international soccer fans.





Part 3 is slightly not-safe-for-work-ish. You can watch it here.

Fargo

They're going to make a TV show out of the classic movie "Fargo"? No way. This is a bad idea.

The thing that got me curious, though, was when I saw the cast list... Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Bob Odenkirk, Colin Hanks, Adam Goldberg, Glenn Howerton(?!) and so on, and so on. OK, I might check it out.

But why do a story that has already been definitively done already? It's a different story with different characters.

Turns out that "Fargo" is a great TV series. Although written and directed by others, it was produced by the same people who made the movie (the Coen brothers) so it obviously had to be good.

One of the things that I loved most about the series were the references to the movie. Like I said, the TV show isn't the same story as the movie but they make certain "nods" to the original every so often as, kind of, Easter eggs. In fact, there's one really big reference to the movie that I won't spoil but it's one of my favorite things I've ever seen on TV. Not only that, but viewers can look for small references to a number of Coen brothers movies. There's at least one nod I saw to "The Big Lebowski" and at least one nod to "Blood Simple".

Of the stellar cast, there are two performances that stand out above all the others. Martin Freeman is fantastic as Lester Nygaard, the "William H. Macy"-type character. Watching him do a Minnesotan accent is a joy to behold. The second is Billy Bob Thornton as a cold-hearted hitman. His character and his performance alone is worth the series.

If you're not sure whether you want to get into it, just check out the first episode. The first episode is basically a 10/10 for me. In fact, a couple of the episodes after that, while still great, felt slightly disappointing because the first episode set the bar so high. If you don't "get" the first episode, you can basically quit and I feel sorry for you.

Tonight Show - The Roots Ride a Rollercoaster

Pretty simple. I think the title says it all.

Conan Visits E3

I'm like Conan in that I'm not up on the latest games or gaming technology but my main question is this.... Why is there a cordoned off section with nothing but women? Is this a real place and can I go there?

Brian Williams Raps - Baby Got Back

Aaaan listen, Brian Williams has a new one...

Conan Reviews Video Games - Super Smash Bros. WiiU

In this very special edition of Clueless Gamer, Conan reviews Super Smash Bros for WiiU, a game that isn't even out yet...



John Adams.

Conan - Return of WikiBear

The WikiBear is back! Yaaaayyyy!

IMDB 250 - Rang De Basanti (2006)

Rang De Basanti (2006)

Awful. Awful. Awful. Paper-thin characters, paper-thin plot, totally unrealistic but here's the good news - they managed to tell it all in just a hair under three hours. There must be lots of scenes left on the cutting room floor. To top it all off, it's a movie that has the audacity to murder. Huzzah! At one point, a guy joins the air-force and it's a total of 5 minutes of screen time later that the news announces his plane crashed. That's probably the world record for quickest Goose. Just tortuous, stupid manipulation.

I won't bother reviewing this movie in the usual way - it's not worth it. I don't even care. There's no way this should be considered even a good movie, let alone one of the best. If there are enough dumb people out there to keep it in the IMDB 250 then we all deserve what we get.

The good news is, this is IMDB keeps yearly "snapshots" of the Top 250 list. I'd seen every movie in every list from 2007-2012 and this is the final movie I had to watch to complete the list for 2013. The only problem is I just looked and they recently added more snapshot lists going all the way back to 1996 so that'll keep me busy for a while.

It's funny to see what the list of 1996 looks like. Keep in mind that the internet was only for nerds back then so that explains why "Star Trek: First Contact" is somehow the seventh greatest movie of all-time. But the nerd factor of the internet can't explain everything so there are quite a few other surprises. There's not one but TWO Wallace and Gromit shorts in the top 10. Cheech and Chong's "Up in Smoke" at 27. "That Thing You Do" at 35? It's a good movie but how'd that happen? The Transformers movie is on there but not the one you're thinking of... The cartoon from the 80s is on the list. So surreal.

Anyways...

3/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 383.

IMDB 250 - The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

In my previous review of the first "Hobbit" movie I said the movie was enjoyable but I didn't understand the whole magic aspect. This movie picks up where the last one left off and runs with it... and from start to finish, I didn't understand a single thing in it. Not a single thing. I don't know why anything happens to anything else. I'm watching it saying to myself "why?", "what?" and "why?" and also "what?".

At one point, the gang is off on their quest doing the whole "quest" business and Gandalf says peace out and just goes off and does his own thing. I even think he says at the time, "This place is dead anyway", but I'd have to rewatch it to be sure. As much as I didn't understand the "A" story, I understood the Gandalf sub-plot even less. Much less. From memory: he goes to a place, he talks with a guy, he sees a vision, he turns the "Lost" wheel and transports to another Dharma station. Is it wrong to think he's bored? Maybe he's senile and wandering aimlessly. I hope he comes back to the movie at some point.

So without any understanding of the larger picture (or any of the specific details), I'm left with the fantasy and spectacle aspects. Even if I don't know why the giant spiders are attacking, between the spiders and dwarves it's easy to know who to root for. There are many "action" scenes in this movie and they work are at least still enjoyable on a simple visceral suspense level. It would be pretty hard to not enjoy a giant battle or a giant dragon or a giant battle with a giant dragon.

6/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 382.

Who Cares Wins: Conan Edition

This is more interesting than "funny". In the 1980s, Conan did a training video for music salesmen and, for no reason, he decided to reveal it to the world recently...



Seems like they need to release the full-length video. What customer would actually be placated by the salesman saying, "And I do respect your knowledge about guitars"?

Late Show - Don Rickles

Don Rickles talks about his recent health problems and Reagan's second inaugural (almost).





Are inaugurals like that anymore? I've never seen anything that looks like that.

The special "One Night Only: An All-Star Comedy Tribute to Don Rickles” will air May 28th on Spike TV.

Tonight Show - The Drum Off

When Will Ferrell was told he looked like Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Will Ferrell replied that he WAS Chad Smith. Chad Smith was a character, he said. This sparked a feud that has lasted for weeks. But in the latest episode of The Tonight Show it was time to finally put an end to this feud with a good old-fashioned drum-off of epicness.

Conan - Norm Macdonald's Talk Show Audition

The always unpredictable Norm Macdonald has thrown his hat in the ring for the Late Late Show host job. Current host, Craig Ferguson, has announced his retirement at the end of the year.

In his recent appearance on Conan, he puts together a 1 minute audition tape:



The Late Late Show with Norm Macdonald? Seems unlikely but man, I'd watch that.

Tonight Show - Lost Monologue Update: Still Lost

A few days ago I wrote a blog entry about how a recent Tonight Show monologue (5/13/14) had been removed from the online version of the show. Since that time, nothing has happened. Jimmy didn't mention the incident in the show, there was no post of facebook, twitter or any social networking site and the missing clip was not posted anywhere as far as I'm aware...

Speculation amongst fans was that the monologue had referenced Jay-Z's current 1 problem and had to be removed because it angered him. It's not a theory that makes much sense but it is a theory. Another fan has speculated that a song was used in the show with an exorbitant licensing fee. That, at least, sounds much more likely. But some of the same concerns remain: why didn't they just edit out the song, why throw out the whole segment? The whole thing is strange.

On a personal note, as someone who's seen every single Tonight Show but can't watch this monologue, does that mean the streak has ended? Can I say that I saw MOST of the episode so it still counts? That's probably what I'll do.

IMDB 250 - The Hunt (2012)

The Hunt (2012)

Lucas is a male teacher who lives alone and works at a kindergarten.  He lives in a small small Danish town where everyone knows everyone else. One day a female student says that Lucas exposed himself to her. Could she be making it up? The head of the school suspects not: "I don't think children, not in that way." Lucas is sent home and the girl's parents are called in and told the story. The girl recants, says she made it all up but her parents assure her that it did happen - sometimes when memories are bad, we convince ourselves that we made it up. Lucas finds his life is changed forever - he's fired, ostracized from the community and eventually arrested.

This is Director Thomas Vinterberg's second movie in the IMDB 250 and both deal with sexual abuse. The first was "The Celebration" (1998).

As you'd expect, this isn't the kind of movie that makes for a great Friday evening. Or any evening. This movie is difficult to watch. It's harrowing material. But by no means does that mean it's a bad movie... far from it. It's a thoroughly realistic situation with authentic characters who act the way people sometimes act. Particularly when the stakes are so high and the accusations are so heinous.

7/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 381.

P&S - Casey Kasem is Missing

I love Steve's Casey Kasem impression. I can't get enough of it. Recently it was revealed that Casey Kasem may be on a Native American reservation and it lead to a short tirade.

The pre-requisite to any Steve bit on Kasem is knowing this audio (warning: language):



And this is the new result:

Late Night - Second Chance Theatre

Last night Late Night aired the first truly innovative segment in the Seth Meyers era. It's called "Second Chance Theatre".

It works like this: Seth Meyers was, for a long time, the headwriter at Saturday Night Live and in his tenure there he had the job of deciding which skits work and which don't in order to determine what gets into the actual show. There were quite a few times where a writer was SURE that a skit was funny but Seth disagreed and vetoed it. Now that he has his own show, he's inviting various cast members back to actually perform their rejected sketches and give them a chance to convince the audience that what they wrote actually had merit.

The first episode of Second Chance Theater is Will Forte's sketch "Jennjamin Franklin". I'm not embedding it, if you want to see it it's here, but I'm not going to post it directly because it's actually more disturbing than funny. But what I did enjoy much more is the "after show" where the creators discuss the sketch and how they thought it went.

Turns out I'm not going to embed that video either because hulu is broken. You can watch it here.

Tonight Show - The Lost Monologue

A funny thing happens if you go to hulu and watch the latest episode (the 5/13/14 episode) of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon... the show starts, the band plays, Jimmy comes out and the video cuts to the band playing again. The latest episode on hulu edits out the monologue completely. If you go to the video on nbc.com, it's the same thing.

Lately the show has been uploading monologues to youtube. It's missing from there as well.

Twitter is abuzz with questions and conspiracies. Well, not really but some people are wondering. One theory is that the monologue addresses the Jay-Z surveillance video and this has upset Jay-Z. Hmm, seems pretty vague and pretty unlikely. Everyone's talking about the Jay-Z thing so why would this show be any different? Also, why not just excise that one section and leave the rest intact? But, as no one has a clue at this point, I suppose that theory is as good as any.

The full monologue did air on television and so some viewers did see it, it's just gone from the online sources. Odd.

Tonight Show - Best Show Ever?

It really probably isn't the best show ever. It's really just a catchy title. I should probably change it. Of course, that would take work.

This is a post that's a bit different from the norm. Yesterday's Tonight Show was significant for the lineup of guests it contained. The three guests were Louis C.K., Jack White and Neil Young. It doesn't get much better than that.

Watch the full episode here. If you don't want to watch the whole show and are looking for the one "must-watch" segment, it's the musical performance where Neil Young performs "Crazy" in a recording booth. Why is Neil Young recording in a booth? They explain that in the show but you just said you didn't have time for that! Good grief.

Tonight Show - Word Sneak with Bryan Cranston

Jimmy and Bryan Cranston play "Word Sneak", a game where they are given a list of words that they have to subtly insert into their conversation. Their subtlety needs work but it's fun.

Movie Review: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

This is a slasher movie. And like many slasher movies, it begins with a group of sexy teens headed (unescorted by an adult) to a lake house. They have beer, bros and music and it's time to party. There is a legend that a group of teens was murdered at this very spot years earlier but that's not a big worry.... and there are a couple of creepy "mountain man" locals who seem to be staring and carrying scythes but no matter.

But this is where the movie gets interesting.

The movie steps back from the main college kid plot and follows the creepy locals to explore their perspective. It might be, we start to suspect, that they're actually fairly normal people. In fact, they might be pretty nice guys once you get to know them. I don't know, could it be, perhaps, that this whole "psycho killer" "mass murderer" thing is just one big misunderstanding? What if we sat down with the "slashers", had some chamomile tea and talked things over?

"Tucker & Dale vs. Evil" is an extremely clever turn on the slasher genre and a very funny comedy. Very much in the vein of "Shaun of the Dead" and certainly "The Cabin in the Woods". It's available now on Netflix Instant and definitely worth checking out.

7/10.

Conan - WikiBear

Conan unveils the new teddy bear for children that actively answers kids' questions by looking up the answers on Wikipedia.

Tonight Show - Jamie Foxx Lays Down a Beat

Self-explanatory. No need to watch after 1:30.

Tonight Show - Unsexy Words

It's pretty safe to assume my "audience" is predominantly male. That's true enough. But even so, this one goes out to all the ladies...



This bit might remind you of the classic Top Ten list: "Top Ten Words That Sound Romantic When Spoken By Barry White".

Brian Williams Raps

In the newest edition of "Brian Williams Raps", Brian Williams raps "Gin and Juice".



On this particular night, Brian Williams happened to be the first guest so he actually got to react to it and express his view of the segment...

The Science of Dance

A scientific study was recently conducted to determine, scientifically, what type of dancing attracts women. Not knowing how to dance myself - and being a fan of both science and women - this was of utmost interest to me.

Here's what the conclusions of that study look like:



I had previously heard of the results of this study on the radio. And if you can imagine how hard it is to describe dance moves over the radio, you can imagine I didn't get much out of it. But even with this new visual format there are still more questions than answers.

I love the "tatanka" comment. That's a nod to a scene in "Dances with Wolves".

Colbert to Replace Letterman

CBS has apparently announced that Stephen Colbert will take over the Late Show when David Letterman retires next year. He will not be playing "the Colbert character" but will be himself.

Personally, I have mixed feelings. I think he's a funny guy and I loved him when he was a cast member on "The Dana Carvey Show" way back when. But how is he as a talk show host? Or.... How is he as a talk show host when he's just being himself? Don't know, no one knows. Seems like a complete gamble.

I don't like the move but I don't hate it either.

Conan Reviews Video Games - Stadium Edition

The TV screen at AT&T stadium is one of the largest in the world... So Conan plays some XBox on it...



PS - Dallas Sucks.

Reaction to Letterman

I was stalling this post in order to include Conan's reaction. But, oddly, in his first show back, Conan didn't say anything.

So here's Jimmy Fallon's reaction to the announcement:



And here's Seth Meyers:



Strange that Seth Meyers said it best but even stranger that Conan said nothing at all.

Adventures in Single Life

How do you know when you have too much time on your hands? Well, I'll tell you.

Yesterday I was fondly remembering my favorite beverage from the mid-nineties, Clearly Canadian, and looking to buy some. I was saddened to hear that the company had folded a while back. But there's a new kickstarter-type program where they're taking advance orders for 25,000 cases and, once they reach their goal, they'll re-start production.

And it occurred to me, during as well as all throughout the completion of my purchase of one case of Wild Cherry, that, yes, this is the kind of stupid thing that someone does when they have way too much time on their hands. In fact, both this and the purchase of Castleton t-shirts are indeed signs to that effect.

This has been Adventures in Single Life.

I Never Went to Castleton

It's pretty amazing... just a few days ago I mentioned that David Letterman's autograph was the only autograph I own. I said it confidently because there hadn't been much activity in that area for about a decade. Little did I know that, at that very moment, another one was headed straight to me via the United States Postal Service...

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Time Chasers" is a classic and one of the best episodes in my opinion. It begins with a title card that Mike Nelson reads out loud as "A David Giancola Film.... is not something you'd want to see."

The hero of the film is Nick Miller, a 10-speed riding academic who has figured out the secret to time travel .... and yet his ventures into the future don't allow him to see the datedness of hockey hair (AKA the mullet). The movie was independently made and entirely filmed in the Vermont area. And so it's not surprising that Nick wears a Castleton t-shirt throughout MOST of the film (there's a brief shirtless scene). It looks like this (the shirt, not the shirtless scene)...

The ever-present shirt is often referenced by Mike and the Bots - Crow: "Remember when everybody got the 'Nick Miller' haircut and went around wearing Castleton t-shirts?" - and has therefore become an iconic image of the show.

When I saw that Edgewood Studios (the makers of the film "Time Chasers") were selling an official Castleton t-shirt, I bought one. And it came today. It also came wrapped around a piece of cardboard. "Probably to keep it from crumpling up", I thought. No, the cardboard was this...

That, my friends, is a flattened VHS cover of the film "Time Chasers" with a personalized autograph from the Director of the film, David Giancola.

So now I own two celebrity autographs (not counting Disney characters, which probably should count)... David Letterman and David Giancola. And if you were only going to get autographs from two celebrities named "David" it probably would be those two.

The Tonight Show - Thought at Work

Black Thought stops by Jimmy's cubicle for a little office chat.



This is a bit they do fairly often but this is one of the better ones.

Conan - Jordan Schlansky the Cowboy

Still in Dallas for a week of shows, Conan gives Jordan Schlansky a "cowboy makeover".



If I'm nitpicking, they already did the "shaving" bit, almost word-for-word.

Letterman's Retirement Announcement (Video)

David Letterman to Retire

During tonight's episode of the Late Show, David Letterman will announce his retirement in 2015.

One can't help speculating as to how much pressure (if any) he was under to retire. Low ratings have to be weighed against the problem that there's nothing else out there for him to do. I mean, in many ways he can do anything he wants but he always seemed to respect the fact that when Johnny Carson retired, that was it - except for a few minor appearances Carson wasn't seen on TV again.

And so it would officially be retirement - a concept that seems totally foreign to someone like Dave. After he came back from the writers' strike, he candidly joked that, as often as retiring people like to say, "I'm going to spend more time with my family", the reality of that situation is not all it's cracked up to be. And, of course, Letterman was the one who came back on air while the strike was still on-going.

It just seems like some people shouldn't stop working. Andy Rooney died one month after he left "60 Minutes", Fred Rogers was diagnosed with cancer just months after he went off the air. Let's hope this isn't one of those situations.

From the early 90's until about 2008, you would not find a bigger fan of David Letterman than myself. As long as you don't count Disney characters, I believe his is the only celebrity autograph I own. I watched every single episode that I could, night after night. I would tape the best bits of his show and play them back anyone who shared my comedic sense. You'll recognize that reflex as the blueprint of this very blog I'm writing today. You might find this hard to believe but I actually consciously thought during those years, "He's going to retire some day and talk shows don't get reruns so I'm going to watch every second I can while I can." But my viewership quickly diminished from 2008 until now as he became much more politicized and comedy took a back seat to espousing his political views. I don't think I'm alone in this because his ratings started diving around the same time frame. And so now that the retirement is a reality (the announcement at least) it doesn't feel like a major upheaval or an entertainment tragedy. I feel like the Late Show disappeared long ago and this is just going through the motions of making it official.

The Tonight Show - Always Bet on Boy

Samuel L. Jackson performs a Slam Poem about the 90's TV Show "Boy Meets World".

Conan Sells Mary Kay

In Dallas for a week of shows, Conan works for Mary Kay for a day. Let's face it, it's just an excuse to wear makeup.

Live: Fingers on a 4x4

There's been an ongoing saga on the Tonight Show. One day out of the clear blue sky, Jimmy decided he was going to buy a truck. He didn't know which one to buy so he asked people for advice. Recently he decided on a type and now it's just a matter of going to a dealership to buy it.

But not so fast!

Instead of the conventional route, he's made a contest out of it. He has a group of car salesman touching the truck he wants to buy and whoever keeps their hand on the truck for the longest period of time is the person he's going to buy from.

And the action is streaming live:



I think this is a first for my blog. As far as I can remember, this is the first live streaming video I've ever posted.

By the way, I avoided posting the ongoing story of the truck because it just seems like it has to be a commercial. Fallon has said that he's not getting paid for this but I find that very hard to believe considering how much airtime and attention they've given to such an "every man" purchase... and the number of times he's mentioned the make and model whilst showing the ad photo. Call me cynical, I guess.

The Tonight Show - The Sixers' Losing Streak

The 76ers tied an NBA record by losing 26 games in a row and Jimmy has some fun with it in his monologue.



Incidentally, they could only tie the record, they couldn't break it. On Saturday, the 76ers beat the Detroit Pistons easily to end the streak.

MST3K to Return to TV (In a Way, Maybe)

As you probably already know, after "Mystery Science Theater 3000" was cancelled, Mike Nelson took the essence of the show online in the form of Rifftrax. As the online "show" has become more popular, a TV version felt somewhat inevitable. And so it isn't too surprising that a three episode Rifftrax TV show will begin airing April 1st. What is surprising, however, is that according to Zap2it, the robots Crow and Tom Servo will be returning. The article doesn't say whether Mike Nelson will be reprising his role as Mike Nelson.

Little else is know about the show except the word is that it's going to be mocking TV programming rather than movies.

First off, the prospect of the robots returning is huge. That's the part that would really make it feel like a MST3K comeback. The main reason that's so exciting is because it's so surprising. A word of warning: I have a feeling that the article is simply getting that part wrong, unfortunately. That's a copyright issue.

Only 3 episodes? According to Charlie Bucket, it's not enough. But the main thing is, if it goes well, it opens the door for the possibility of a real series.

Watch for all three 1-hour episodes of the show "Total Riff Off" on the National Geographic Channel (I have to check to see if I get that) starting at 8PM on April 1st.

The Tonight Show - Kevin Bacon

Kevin Bacon is on the show to promote his show "The Following" and it just so happens to be the 30th anniversary of the release of the movie "Footloose".

Here's where it gets a little strange though. Apropos of nothing, Jimmy reveals that there's a Tonight Show rule that dancing is not allowed. It's unclear whether he just declared that himself or if it was a pre-existing rule but either way, dancing is against the rules. So then this happens...

Youtube Irony

I can't really explain this without giving it away so I'll just say here's some irony via youtube (or maybe "serendipity" is a better word):



Incidentally, the interviewer at the beginning is Steve Merchant, co-creator of The Office.

Peanuts Teaser Trailer

This caught me by surprise...



Let's face it, there are a million ways that they'll screw this up... but for the time being, I'm excited.

The Tonight Show - Ice Cream Date

When the monologue turns to the subject of Tinder, the whole show takes a slight detour...



Later in the show we got a small update on the date but it was still very vague and I'm not sure of the situation. I was wondering about the girl to her right. She seemed to be with them and was left alone but Jimmy didn't inquire about the full story.

Movie Review: The Bridge (2006)

The Bridge (2006)

The Golden Gate Bridge is the suicide "capitol of the world". Documentary filmmakers filmed it for a year, capturing actual suicide footage and then interviewed the friends and family members of the deceased to learn their story. The film is the fullest exploration of suicide I've ever seen - it explores mental illness, the causes of suicide, the warning signs and the pain that's left for the living.

The most harrowing story (and the one that made me watch the movie) is a man who decides to kill himself and realizes he's made a huge mistake the second his hands let go. It's absolutely chilling. But he survives to tell others his experience.

Obviously, with this subject matter, the movie is extremely intense. It's an experience that's not for everyone... and it's not something that I'm going to watch on repeat... but it is well made and powerful.

8.5/10.

2014 Cardboard Classic

Preston and Steve's tradition continues... the 2014 Cardboard Classic. People create sleds out of nothing but cardboard, tape and glue and then ride them down a ski slope.

IMDB 250 - Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)

Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)

This movie is 3 hours, 44 Minutes and 29 Seconds long. Feel free to stop reading the review now because that pretty much tells you all you need to know.

"Lagaan" is a movie about an Indian town in colonial times who challenges the Evil British to a game of cricket. If the villagers win (in a game they don't know anything about) they will not have to pay the back-breaking taxes levied on them. If they lose, they'll have to pay triple.

I say "The Evil British" because the movie makes sure to avoid all nuance and subtlety. The Good Guy is good all the time and is never not good. The Bad Guy is a mustache twirling baddy who has no redeeming qualities. In one of his first scenes, the main bad guy ("Captain Evil") meets a vegetarian and makes him eat meat. But it's against his religion, the man protests, and besides what does Captain Evil even get out of it? Nothing, but he's just pure evil and, as we need to keep the movie under 4 hours, he needs to be established as pure evil.

Following the Good Guy everywhere is the terrifically attractive Love Interest who makes her affections obvious. The Good Guy doesn't seem to notice or care. What is he thinking? Will they ever be together? Then mid-way through the movie he declares that he loves the Love Interest. Why did he not say anything before this? Because that wouldn't be contrived enough for this story.

Of course the movie ends with the climactic BIG GAME... The Big Game... of Cricket. In between song and dance numbers, the movie packs in every cliche from every terrible sports movie ever made by humans. Heightening the action slightly is that it's cricket and I have no idea what's going on. At the midway point of the match the score is 273-3 and it's not looking good for our heroes but there's always a chance that they'll make a miraculous comeback. And at that point in the movie, I knew I was nearing the end and looked at the time... still an hour left. Have you ever "neared" the end of a movie and there was still an entire hour left to go?! I have.

4/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 380.

Freestylin' with The Roots #1

For the first time on The Tonight Show, it's time to freestyle with The Roots:

Randy Newman & The Roots

Randy Newman was on the Tonight Show and used The Roots as his backing band. With a nod to the fact that The Tonight Show has moved from L.A. to New York, they performed "I Love L.A."

Randy Newman's songs are famously sarcastic but "I Love L.A."

Embedding doesn't seem to work but you can see the video here.

IMDB 250 - Underground (1995)

Underground (1995)

My first impression watching "Underground" was that it reminded me a lot of "Black Cat, White Cat" and it turned out that it has the same director. So that's a private victory for me.

"Underground" is a Yugoslavian film that follows a group of characters from the beginning of World War II, to the end of the war, through the Cold War until the Yugoslav Wars. It doesn't play the comedy as comedy or tragedy as tragedy, it simply presents life as a series of strange, chaotic and unpredictable events.

I feel I've been saying things like "it's not a bad movie, it just didn't do anything for me" way too often lately. So, I'll skip that. It doesn't help that as charming as some of this movie is, it's almost 3 hours long. I remember liking "Black Cat White Cat" though.

5/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 379.

IMDB 250 - Rush (2013)

Rush (2013)



I'm definitely not a racing fan myself and so I was excited to see "Rush" as an interesting peek into that world. I'll put aside the fact that "I don't get it" and see if the movie depiction of Formula 1 racing can communicate the excitement of the sport, the adrenaline-pumping speed and the reason it stirs so much passion in the fans. The obvious equivalent is "Days of Thunder", of course. I can't stand NASCAR but still really enjoy watching that movie.

But the definitive movie about indie car racing doesn't really focus on indie car racing (or focus enough for my taste). The movie is a true story about two rival drivers (James Hunt and Niki Lauda) from the seventies. In the first half of the movie we see them attracting women, we see them wooing women, we see them getting married, we see things go badly and the divorce that follows. Why should we care about any of this? Show us the racing, show us what makes these people special, show us why they're the best. On that front, the movie is content to resort to exposition - they just put "James wins" on the screen in nice titles.

The second half of the movie steps it up a little bit with some nice racing sequences but overall I don't care about either of these characters, I don't care how many women they've been with and, even going into it with no knowledge of the sport, I really didn't learn anything about Formula One. It made it into the Top 250 though. So, like Formula One itself, certainly some people out there must be enjoying it but I don't get it at all.

4/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 378.

Late Night - Episode #2

Can you imagine if I posted a review for every episode of Late Night? Don't worry.

Just a few notes. It's only the second episode and still it was a huge improvement over the first. The monologue was much more conversational and the yelling has been almost completely eliminated. It seemed he still had a tendency to attempt it and had to consciously make an effort to ratchet it back.

The comedy piece was one where "audience members" stand up and start complaining about the show to Seth. Sure, it's not a groundbreaking concept but it was pleasantly reminiscent of Conan's Late Night.

The first guest was Kanye West - a notoriously tricky interview but it was handled well.

Overall, much, much, better. I still have to question whether I really want to commit to three talk shows every weekday but it's at least more tempting than it was yesterday. There's definite potential here.

Tonight Show - Lip Sync Battle #1

They did it once (or twice?) on the old show but this is the first time for The Tonight Show: Jimmy Fallon vs. Paul Rudd in a lip sync battle.

IMDB 250 - Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009)

As the title suggests, this is a dog story. It's a "G Rated" "Family Film" that's appropriate for the family of all ages.

I went into it quite cynically. Family films rarely make it into the IMDB 250 and this one I'd never even heard of before. Ever. Could it really be that good if it's been out for three years and I've never even heard of it?

The first half is an exercise in formula. Through some sort of mix up a man (Richard Gere) finds a lost puppy. The puppy is about the cutest puppy ever and yet he simply can't find anyone else to take him and nobody comes forth to claim him. So he keeps him despite his wife's disapproval. And, of course, the puppy gets into all sorts of mischief.

But while we've seen the first half in movies before, the second half takes a turn that is a "different take" on things. And even going into it with arms folded, it did get to me. You know how it is... If you've ever owned a dog or simply like dogs or have any feeling towards any animal whatsoever, I think you'd have to be made of stone not to (at the very least) well up at this movie. And it's safe to say I'm definitely not made of stone.

7.8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 377.

The Late Night Premiere

The first episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers premiered tonight and the future is uncertain.

Late night talk shows almost always start slow, they almost always take time to find their groove and get the proper footing. So I don't think anyone can predict anything from just the first show. However it did have noticeable weaknesses.

What should have been the obvious strength of the show was a huge weakness. Seth Meyers comes from the "Weekend Update" desk at Saturday Night Live so making jokes about the news is second nature at this point. But that's also the problem. The monologue is supposed to be direct communication to the audience - it's supposed to be conversational - Seth belted out the jokes in exactly the same "fake newscaster" style that he's been doing on "Weekend Update". Everything he said sounded like yelling and the jokes suffered. That's an easy fix though so hopefully it happens.

Over to desk chat: more yell-talking. The band is also a bit strange, one of the members is Fred Armisen (which would be a bonus) but there's some strange arrangement where he's going to be in the band some of the time but often leave to do other things, I don't know how it works. The comedy was standard cheap late night stuff but at least he stopped yelling for them. The interviews (Amy Poehler and Joe Biden) were fine if a little low on energy.

And that's the show. In summary, it felt like Steps 1-5 on how to do a talk show. It's as if they're simply going through the motions of filling up network time with no passion for originality or personality. I want to emphasize again that the long-term success of a talk show is just about impossible to predict. But right now the point is more about whether I'm suitably interested in following it nightly. I don't see anything to grab onto thus far.

As of now the episode isn't available online. When it is, you'll find it here.

Edit: To be totally fair to the new Late Night, my viewing of it may have been affected by the news that I may have just lost a large sum of money. That isn't good for entertainment, surely. That's a whole other story. You can watch the show and decide for yourself anyway.

IMDB 250 - Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)

"Elite Squad: The Enemy Within". If you're like me, that title sends a shiver of awfulness up your spine. Well, I can tell you it isn't as bad as the title suggests. It's a Brazilian movie and the title is probably just a matter of translation.

"Elite Squad: beh beh behbeh" examines crime and corruption within Rio de Janeiro at all levels. Drugs and guns are rampant, the police are thoroughly corrupt and the people who command them (the government) are criminals themselves. The gangs are out of control and so the police employ extremely draconian measures to fight back... which makes them ever more unpopular with the people they're supposed to protect. There is seemingly no end to the city's problems and no solution in sight.

"Elite Squad: etc, etc" is more about events than characters and has an almost constant stream of world-weary narration. It's gritty, it's violent, it's "action-packed". It's actually well made and well acted. But it's one of those movies that's not bad, but also didn't interest me in any way. There was no point where I cared about what happened. Thus, the two hour running time seemed like an eternity.

5/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 376.

Serious Jibber-Jabber - Ken Burns

Conan sits down and talks to Documentarian Ken Burns ("The Civil War", "Baseball", "Lewis and Clark", etc.) about speeches, Lincoln, Presidential History and the history of our nation.

I've said this about other interviews in the past but I'll say it again because it's true.... an hour-long interview with a Documentarian is a big commitment but it really is worth it. It's a great interview.

IMDB 250 - Three Colors: Red (1994)

Three Colors: Red (1994)

"Three Colors: Red" feels like the quintessential foreign movie. It's slow, deliberate, nothing but conversation and it deals with weighty philosophical ideas. It's also a French language film set in Switzerland and has a Polish Director.

A model in Geneva hits a dog with her car and looks for the owner. She finds the owner is a retired Judge who now spends his time listening in to his neighbors phone conversations. She's disgusted but also clearly drawn to the man and attempts to know him.

Although this movie is from 1994, it looks like it's from 1984. It looks and feels like Director Krzysztof Piesiewicz's other work "The Decalogue". That's not a criticism exactly, just an observation. In fact, I liked "The Decalogue" so much that I enjoy it. It must be a particular camera or type of film he used.

"Red" is part of a trilogy in which some of the characters in one movie show up in the other two. There's also a suggestion that some of the characters are actually the same character, but at a different point in time. The "Three Colors" trilogy, and this film, are about the interconnectedness of all of our lives and about the way all of our lives are disconnected as well. And it's all up to chance, destiny or serendipity as to which lives touch which others.

8/10.
Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 375.

Conan Delivers Flowers

For Valentine's Day Conan helps deliver flowers. Though some people call it "Valenties Day".

Conan's hair is outta control in this one. It's like Catherine O'Hara in "Waiting for Guffman".

Tonight Show - Brian Williams Raps

Jimmy Fallon is back with another episode of "Brian Williams Raps" and this one is extra special. You gotta love "Rapper's Delight", everyone loves "Rapper's Delight". It's basically the law.

Tonight Show - Harry Styles Interview

On Jimmy Fallon's second night as host of the Tonight Show an audible was called. Kristen Wiig was scheduled to be the second guest but at the last second, Harry Styles (of One Direction fame) suddenly became available. So he cancelled Kristen Wiig and chose to interview Harry instead.

The result looked like this:

Conan Remembers Sid Caesar

Conan had a show to honor the comedy legend Sid Caesar who passed away last week. His first and only guest was Mel Brooks who wrote for Caesar on "Your Show of Shows".



Watch the full episode here. They did a great job of choosing and showing clips of the great sketches (and editing them down because of the kids and their attention spans).

But I thought I would link one of my own favorites that wasn't covered by Conan. Here's the Clock Sketch:


You can see the direct line from Caesar's German doubletalk and Conan's German impression as well as the Clock Sketch to SNL's Tunnel of Love Sketch.

The Tonight Show Premiere

The first episode of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon aired last night. It makes no sense that NBC is premiering it at midnight while the Olympics are still happening when there's no reason why they couldn't just wait for the Olympics to be over. Not good.

First Guest: Will Smith
First Musical Guest: U2

Here's the beginning of the monologue:



These first shows are never very good. It always takes a while to settle in. Even the crowd was nervously quiet for some reason.

The opening is directed by Spike Lee. The new set looks good. Obviously the large curtain behind the monologue is a throwback to the Johnny Carson days. The Roots are still the band and they've added a brass section (perhaps also a Carson throwback) giving them a very different sound. Speaking of sound, one of my nitpicky complaints about Conan's Tonight Show was that the set made it sound like he was talking from the other end of a large hall - there was always an uncomfortable echo. Fortunately, this set doesn't suffer from that problem.

Would you like to see the full episode? Well, unlike Late Night where all the episodes were posted online, I don't see any corresponding system for The Tonight Show. Definitely a step backward. Ahh, the joys of NBC.

Edit: Although there is no link on the official website, the full episode is on Hulu. Watch it here.

The Last Episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Friday was the last episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Watch it here.

Total Number of Episodes: 969.
Last Guest: Andy Samberg.
Last Musical Guest: Arguably Buckwheat Zydeco.
Last Guest Performance: The Muppets.

The last episode has a strange feel to it - the timing is off and Jimmy doesn't have any "punch" in the jokes because he's constantly verging on becoming "emotional". But the weight of the moment justifies it.

Speaking of "the weight"... the last segments of the "last shows" are part of TV history and lore. Jack Paar's "Come on, Lika... we're going home", Johnny Carson on the stool, etc.

In terms of "Late Night", when Letterman left Late Night, the last segment, he sat behind the desk and spoke to the audience. Conan's last segment on Late Night was the similar. Jimmy's bucked the trend (perhaps partly because he wouldn't be able to get through it without becoming a weeping mess). Instead of a speech, he performs The Band's "The Weight" with the Muppets and does it in a loving recreation of the version that appears in the movie "The Last Waltz".



"The Last Waltz" is a concert movie that covers The Band's last concert. The parallels with the situation of Jimmy's last show are obvious. Jimmy plays drums and plays on an identical set to Levon Helm's drum set in that movie. Jimmy grew up in upstate New York, not far from Levon's adopted home. I love that they got all the little touches right. The lighting is the same, the colors are the same, the recreation is so complete they even mimic Scorceses style of rotating around the musicians in tracking shots. Compare. I obviously love it. It's a great way to say goodbye.

The first episode of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon airs February 17th 2014.
Late Night with Seth Meyers starts February 24th 2014.

Conan - Punxsutawney Dr. Phil

Is this funny? Is it stupid? It's both! It's so stupid that it's funny...

The Super Bridges

As always, I have an ongoing project to boycott the Super Bowl as long as I don't have a rooting interest (Pre-2011, 2011, 2012, 2013). This year's Super Bowl replacement activity was..... watching "The Bridges of Madison County".

This movie came out in 1995 and got a lot of press as being a tremendous "chick flick". I had never seen it but was always curious about it so it seemed to be the right thing for the Super Bowl.

"The Bridges of Madison County" is about the bridges of Madison County. Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood star as bridges #1 and #2.

"The Bridges of Madison County" is about a housewife (Meryl Streep) who has an affair with a photographer (Clint Eastwood). She finds true love but must decide whether to follow it or stay with her family.... And that's pretty much it. It's a very simple story told in pretty tight confines - it's the type of movie that could have easily been a play (even though it really wasn't).

Meryl Streep is as excellent as always and Clint Eastwood is good too. There isn't a whole lot to say about this movie... it's a simple story, well told. It's somewhat sensual or erotic and it kind of becomes a tearjerker at some point. The whole movie depends entirely on the chemistry of the two leads and that works.

Conclusion: Definitely better than "The Notebook", probably not as good as "Steel Magnolias". Although, with that last one, it's kind of an "apples and oranges" situation.

7/10.

Movie Review: Nebraska (2013)

Nebraska (2013)

I went to see "Nebraska" at the theater at 9PM on a Tuesday and crossed two items off my bucket list. I don't really have a bucket list, but you know... Firstly, it's in black and white and so I saw a black and white movie in the theater for the first time (as best I remember). Secondly, I've always wanted to go to a movie and be the only one in the theater and that's exactly what happened with this movie. The movie theater must have known that no one was watching because they left the house lights at 100% for the first 20 minutes of the movie. But it was alright.

As the for the movie itself, it's a great movie. Bruce Dern plays an old man who gets a "Publisher's Clearing House" type letter in the mail and believes he must get to Nebraska to claim his million dollars. He's also possibly slipping into senility and Will Forte (friggin' Will Forte), as his son, must deal with the consequences. It's very subtle, very minimal and it's both a great drama and a great comedy. It reminds me of "Lost in Translation" in many respects. I especially loved the the black and white photography on the big screen - it looks amazing.

7/10.

Late Night - The Passing of the Pickle

It's a Late Night tradition that when a new host takes over, the Late Night Pickle gets passed to the new regime. In about a month, Jimmy Fallon becomes the new host of the Tonight Show and Seth Meyers will be the new host of Late Night***. And so it's time to pass the pickle.


On a personal note, I think Seth Meyers is a funny guy but I'm not sure whether I'll be watching his show. We'll see what happens...

*** All of this is dependent upon NBC not acting as stupidly as NBC usually acts and also upon Jay Leno actually going away this time. Are we really confident this will happen? I'm not.

Conan Talks to Interns

Conan has a lot of interns working for him. In a very special remote, he talks to them about what it's like to do what they do...

Conan - Jordan Schlansky Gets Organized

Conan feels Jordan Schlansky's office is dangerously unorganized so he hires a professional organizer to help him get his act together.

Any time Conan visits Jordan Schlansky, it's just money in the comedy bank.