–NEW FEATURE DEBUTS TOMORROW–
Hunter Duesing, who does an excellent job covering the latest in DVD and Blu-ray releases, has seen the future and its name is STREAMING. And so he will now do double duty with a weekly column that covers the latest in streaming news: what’s new, what’s available, and whatever else crosses his mind.
Look for the debut first thing tomorrow morning.
All together now: Thanks Hunter!
–“BREAKING BAD” FINAL RUN WILL RUN OVER TWO SEASONS–
Though there was a lot of drama over whether or not one of the finest explorations of how a good man can sell his soul ever produced in any medium would move to another network, what’s likely to happen is pretty much what was expected. If you remember “The Sopranos” did the same thing, breaking the final season into two parts. This works for the network in two ways. First, even though the production company and network will save money producing fewer episodes than two seasons normally demand, it keeps the buzz alive around the show and the network for an extra year. But most importantly it creates two separate DVD sets out of those fewer episodes — a part one and part two, which obviously increases profits.
I don’t care. Rape me … whatever. The more episodes the better. And when the full series is released on DVD I’ll be first in line. The brilliance of “Breaking Bad” takes my breath away.
–J.J. ABRAMS DEFENDS “LOST” FINALE–
Purely by coincidence in relation to today’s open thread, in a new interview, “Lost” creator J.J. Abrams asks those who hated the finale of the show if they can do better.
Like I said in the comments of today’s post, probably because I watched the show over the course of a couple of months as opposed to 5+ years, the flaws people mention just weren’t as glaring to me. Other than a few clunker episodes which I attribute to the writer’s strike, I found the show compelling and unbelievably addicting from beginning to end. As far as the finale, it was so moving I get choked up just thinking about it.
On an act of faith, I bought the entire series on DVD sight unseen. It’s one of the best purchases I ever made and I can’t wait to revisit every single moment again this winter.
“Lost” is now streaming on Netflix. Those of you who were disappointed or lost interest, might want to consider giving the story of Oceanic 815 a second chance using a medium where every episode is right there at your fingertips. A two-month striptease is much easier to deal with than a six-year striptease.
—TONY BENNETT GOING STRONG AT 85–
Saw Bennett five years ago at the Hollywood Bowl, a memorable evening that proved the iconic crooner hadn’t lost a step. Five years later, the 15-time Grammy winner still has goals and a new album on the horizon.
As Sinatra used to say: “May you live to be hundred and the last voice you hear be mine.”
Bennett, a Sinatra fan, might just make it.
–HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY (WAY) BETTER HALF–
Though she loathes sharing a birthday with our failed president, I just want to wish the love of my life and best friend a happy, uhm, 39th. May she live to be a hundred and the last voice she hear be mine (with some background music courtesy of George Strait).
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LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING
The One (2001): After the double-shot disappointment of Nic Cage’s disgusting “Drive Angry” and the appallingly stupid “Green Hornet,” I needed a sure thing to unwind to after running Big Hollywood by day and painting ceilings by night. And who better to deliver that sure thing than The Mighty Jet Li and a superb supporting cast made up of Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham, the ridiculously sexy Carla Gugino, and a swell cameo by my fellow Wisconsonian Mark Borchardt.
Three things I dig about director/co-writer James Wong’s unpretentious, mindlessly entertaining, sci-fi actioner:
1. The concept makes the wire-fu believable. Instead of unrealistic gravity-defying moves taking you out of the story, here they work because they make perfect sense.
2. I freakin’ love kung-fu, especially at the hands of someone with real skills like Li. And I love kung-fu for the same reason I love classic musicals: the choreography. Today’s musicals are all editing and quick cuts. Whereas Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire used to place the camera and dance in front of it so you could see them move, present-day musicals are afraid to do that. And so today the best choreography coming out of Hollywood is in fight scenes designed and performed by real-deal artists like Li.
3. People die. On at least three occasions, people you don’t expect to die — die. For real.
At 87-minutes, this thing is paced just like a B-movie should be paced. Best of all, what could’ve been a difficult and complicated concept to execute and explain is handled with brilliant simplicity. The world is introduced, the story fires off like a rocket, and asses get kicked.
You can ask for nothing more than that.
Yes, I’m a simpleton.
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TODAY’S QUICK HITS
CATCH OUR OWN AWR HAWKINS TOMORROW ON AMERICA’S MORNING NEWS AT 6:15 EST.
EW’S MOVIE SCENES THAT MAKE YOU CRY DOES NOT INCLUDE “FIELD OF DREAMS.”
“TRANSFORMERS 3” JOINS BILLION DOLLAR CLUB.
SHOCKER: “RISE OF THE APES” RECEIVES OVERWHELMINGLY POSITIVE REVIEWS
NO FOURTH ‘GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO” BOOK
THE BEAUTIFUL AND TALENTED MARG HELGENBERGER LEAVING ‘CSI’ IN JANUARY
FIVE LESSONS LEARNED FROM THIS SUMMER’S BOX OFFICE
THERE WAS A BLOOM TO BEGIN WITH?
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CLASSIC PICK FOR FRIDAY AUGUST 5, 2011
TCM:
Tomorrow is John Garfield day at TCM, which means that what we have here is one of the best 24 hours of movie-watching possible. Garfield is one of my all-time favorite actors and one of the blessings of TCM has been the ability to see almost all of his work, from classics such as “Postman Always Rings Twice” and “Humoresque” to lesser known but still worthy titles like “We Were Strangers,” “He Ran All the Way,” and one of my personal favorite movies, period, “They Made Me a Criminal.”
Set the DVR to record at 6am EST and let it do all the work straight through for another 24 hours. Trust me, you will not regret a minute of it.
Garfield was all man, a street guy with the smarts, nerve and fists to back up his famously straightforward take-no-crap attitude. Only a “dame” could bring Garfield down, but brother what a fall.
–Send tips/suggestions/requests to jnolte@breitbart.com