Heroes, so far

So this is what I think is going on this season on "Heroes". You can watch ALL of season 3 on Netflix watch instantly. The episodes are up on Netflix about a day after they air live - also I'm sure you can get much of it on NBC.com.

There are two sets of good guys/bad guys this season - one belongs to The Company which is where most of the previous good guys worked to get really bad guys off the street. Now there's another set of peeps at "Pinehearst" another group working to figure out how the special powers people have can be duplicated or controlled. A long time ago, a formula was put to paper that would create powers in people. This formula was torn in half and given to Hiro's father who wants Hiro to guard it and to Angela and Arthur Petrelli. Now Pinehearst is trying to put the formula together and enlisted Daphne (a super fast runner) to steal it. However, even after the get the whole thing together it turns out they need some extra catalyst which turns out was stored in Hiro's mother. Arthur (who was presumed dead) steals all his son Peter's powers and Nathan takes his side on having to round up all the Superheroes and take away their powers. Then, I think another eclipse happens and everyon realises what it would be like to go back to living without powers and think it sucks. Somehow during this Hiro looses his time traveling powers AFTER he's gone back to his own childhood and figured out about the catalyst. Arthur seems all powerful and steals the catalyst from Hiro (who got it from his mom in a very sweet moment). They use the catalyst to soup up the formula and start injecting soldiers to give them powers. It goes crazy with lots of violence I didn't really follow. Eventually, Peter defeats both his father and Nathan (who has become a NY senator) and destroys all the formula. They burn down Pinehearst and all the people we like escape. Oh, and Ando got powers, but still seems to be a good guy, and Suresh got powers, but turned into a bad bug-like guy (he was gross). That's the end of the 3rd Volume - so basically it was "find and destory the formula or all people will become crazy superheroes" - doesn't have the same ring as "save the cheerleader, save the world". But alas, the world has been saved again - from whom and for whom I'm not quite sure.

Golden Globes review

I really like awards shows. I'm probably in the minority, but I do enjoy them, and I watch nearly all of them. I really liked the Golden Globes last night, it's organized, but rarely goes too far. Why can't the Oscars be hosted but still have such a great quick flow? They gave away 25 awards last night, and the Cecil B. DeMille award. The Oscars is almost exactly the same, yet it always takes much longer, and though there are more technical awards that few people viewed or understand the nominees (live action short, documentary short, etc.) so that's less exciting than seeing famous people win awards, they still should be able to get through them faster. Anyway, since I haven't yet been able to see Slumdog Millionaire, I guessed wrong on quite a few awards, but got all the TV awards correct - it's definitely the year of "30 Rock" and "John Adams". They did really well. I was surprised Gabriel Byrne won over Jon Hamm, but he won last year and actually this season he was pretty confusing (still good, but not rock solid like the first season), so that made sense too. And totally thrilled Anna Paquin won for "True Blood", she's terrific.
For the movie awards I was really surprised and happy that Colin Farrell won for In Bruges. He was really good, and probably deserves a little recognition for that. I will definitely see Slumdog Millionaire after all the awards it picked up - Best Picture - Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score. It must just be a wonderful, unique drama. Can't wait. Kate Winslet's acceptance speeches were wonderfully heartfelt. She was self-deprecating joking about how she's not used to winning. Given that she's often been nominated for Oscars, I assumed she'd won Golden Globes (there are twice as many nominees given the drama and comedy categories) but no, these were her first two Golden Globes as well. I hope she finally gets her Oscar. I haven't seen either The Reader or Revolutionary Road yet, but she's obviously done fantastic work in the past, so I can believe she was able to give two tours de force in a single year. It was a terrific evening of winning, with the added bonus of getting to see Steven Speilberg's film history.

Random plug

Yesterday an amazing birthday gift arrived yesterday that I just can't not talk about. It's called a Roku and it'll allow you to watch movies from Netflix without even getting the DVDs. It connects to your Netflix account and then lets you watch instantly anything in the Netflix library of "instant" stuff. Lots of TV shows are available, and nearly all the PBS specials and most documentaries are available. Plus, many movies are becoming available. It works better than TiVo or DVR because you can see things you haven't taped or scheduled, you can just pick from a huge library. It was super easy to set up, you just need to have your internet connection near your TV or have a good wireless network as it connects to your Netflix library through the internet. It frees up your computer for use while you watch all kinds of things. Just a brilliant piece of magical technology. As my friend the Curmudgeon said, "I looooooove living in interesting technology times."

Best Movie Dads

To honor Father's Day this weekend, I perused the IMDB 250 for the most memorable fathers in the movies. These are not all great dad's, or great people, but they are definitely some of the most memorable dads. Here are my top 10 (though one did not come from the IMDB list!)

1. Clark W. Griswold - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation - This is one of my family's favorite movies. And very few of the lines we like are Clark's. However, I'm always struck watching it how much Clark loves his family and wants them to have a "Big Old Fashioned Christmas".








2. George Bailey - It's a Wonderful Life - George had his moments as a bad father, yelling at his daughter to stop playing the piano, but we all know that ultimately he came to appreciate his family and being a dad.








3. Don Corleone - The Godfather - He's not just a Godfather, he's also got 4 children of his own. He definitely has favorites and really shouldn't have spoiled his daughter the way he did, but he still puts family first.

4. Lester Burnham - American Beauty - Lester may not have realized he had the chance to be a good father until it was too late, but at least he realized that his daughter was pretty amazing and that the last images that when through his head as he died were about being a dad.

5. Henry Jones - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - Perhaps an uninvolved dad at the beginning, he helps his son find the Holy Grail and eternal life. What more can you ask for in a dad?

6. Marlin - Finding Nemo - Marlin swam the seas to save his son from an aquarium. He learned new things about himself and things that would interest his son (sea turtles live over 150 years!). He came through and ultimately proved he could be a good dad, without being too controlling or smothering.

7. Mac MacGuff - Juno - There aren't too many dads that would take in a teen pregnancy without yelling and being disappointed in the daughter he raised like Mr. MacGuff. He still asks how his daughter is doing and helps her choose people to take the child. I admire him each time I see the movie.

8. Darth Vader - Star Wars Episode IV,V,VI - Definitely one of the most memorable fathers, even if his part in raising the children was zero, he ultimately make huge sacrifices for his children.

9. Atticus Finch - To Kill a Mockingbird - Probably the best representation of a father that cinema has ever shown us. He's honest, caring, honorable, and intelligent. It doesn't get much better than Atticus Finch.

10. Richard Hoover - Little Miss Sunshine - I know this one is kind of a stretch, but I liked that the dad decided to support his daughter's ambition to be in the Little Miss Sunshine pageant. He even cares enough not to let her compete. He's the overzealous dad that supports even when he should be a better dad and say no from the beginning, but at least he gets there in the end.

I can't wait for Indy to come back!

There's been lots of talk about the new Indiana Jones movie, and I admit, I'm definitely one of those who can't wait. The Sci-Fi channel's been showing the first three movies in succession for a while, so I caught up on my favorite again - Last Crusade. The first one is classic - saturday matinee classic camp and hurrah with heroes and bad dialogue and unbelievable stories. But "Last Crusade" is a whole other level of ridiculous - mostly related to the awesome dialogue between Sean Connery and Harrison Ford. There are all kinds of lines that have permeated our family lexicon - "No ticket", and "I was the next man". And with the new characters they've introduced in the "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" there could be lots of great lines ahead. Here's hoping the new movie rocks as much as the others.

Easter Parade

I was finding it hard to summon the requisite spring-like feelings this Easter Sunday as there are still a few feet of snow on our porch. However, I was flipping the channels and Easter Parade just started on Turner Classic Movies, and Fred Astaire and Judy Garland have done just what movies do - bring us into a world we remember and long for. Check it out again soon - just a cute spring-in-your-step kind of movie.

Best Female Characters

A fellow movie blogger put together an awesome list of the 20 best movie characters of the past 20 years. However, there were not enough female characters to make the list, perhaps because the authors were predominantly male, or because a lot of the best characters have lines best suited to men (just theorizing). So I decided to put together a list of best female characters. I thought of them as characters that can be identified by name and movie and actress, with lines or actions that were immediately brought to mind. I used the same model for describing them as appears on Blog Cabins (thanks Fletch!). So in no particular order here are the top 15 female characters:

Character: Cher

Movie: “Clueless"

Year Released: 1993

Catch Phrases: "Whatever", "She's a full on Monet. From far away, it's OK, but up close, it's a big old mess."

Significance: Alicia Silverstone was terrific (and never really topped this performance) and the movie put a whole new set of catch phrases into the lexicon.

Character: Juno

Movie: “Juno"

Year Released: 2007

Catch Phrases: "I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?", "Dream Big"

Significance: I think she'll have significance for years to come. It's a great story and she's a new kind of teenager, both vulnerable and willing to acknowledge her vulnerability at the same time, while working to make her own decisions.

Character: Clementine

Movie: “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”

Year Released: 2004

Catch Phrases: "I'm Clementine... No jokes about my name."

Significance: Her hair is memorable, but she was an insane character with a lot of heart and cruelty.

Character: Dorrie

Movie: “Finding Nemo"

Year Released: 2003

Catch Phrases: "Just Keep Swimming, Swimming, Swimming."

Significance: This is the best performance by an actor in an animated movie, and raised the bar for all future performances. I'm just going with Dorrie being a girl cause Ellen is.

Character:Lisa Rowe

Movie: “Girl, Interrupted”

Year Released: 1999

Catch Phrases: "Take one more step and I'll jam this in my aorta"

Significance: It launched Angelina Jolie's career and won her an Oscar, and gave some suspicious notes to her real life behavior at the time.

Character: Marge Gunderson,

Movie: “Fargo”

Year Released: 1996

Catch Phrases: "And I guess that was your accomplice in the woodchipper", "You betcha."

Significance: She was just terrific and really came to the forefront of movies with "Fargo" and this character. The accent is just so perfect without being overdone.

Character: Miss Daisy,

Movie: “Driving Miss Daisy”

Year Released: 1989

Catch Phrases: "Hoke, you're my best friend"

Significance: This was just a terrific movie that gave an older woman and an older man a great story line that others will always try to emulate.

Taken from Blog Cabins since I totally agree:

Character: Tracy Flick

Movie: "Election"

Year Released: 1999

Catch Phrases:"It's like my mom says, "The weak are always trying to sabotage the strong."

Character: Bridget Jones

Movie: "Bridget Jones’ Diary”, "Bridge Jones: Edge of Reason"

Year released: 2001, 2004

Catch Phrases: "Bridget Jones, wanton sex goddess, with a very bad man between her thighs","Oy,"

Significance: She gave voice to all the crazy thoughts all women have, and her embarrassing moments outweigh any in reality.

Character: Amelie Poulain

Movie: "Amelie”

Year Released: 2001

Catch Phrases: "At least you'll never be a vegetable - even artichokes have hearts."

Significance: She's just awesome, and a totally different archetype than previous existed.

Character: Clarice Starling

Movie: “Silence of the Lambs”,

Year Released: 1991

Catch Phrases: "Your anagrams are showing, Doctor."

Siginficance: A lot of her power came as she reacted and forced reaction from Hannibal, but she is still powerful on her own.

Characters: Thelma & Louise

Movie: "Thelma & Louise”
Year Released: 1991

Catch Phrases: "Thelma: OK, then listen; let's not get caught. Louise: What're you talkin' about? Thelma: Let's keep goin'! Louise: What d'you mean? Thelma:...Go. [Thelma nods ahead of them] Louise: You sure? Thelma: Yeah.

Significance: It was the best female buddy movie ever. Still is actually. Two women who go away for the weekend, become criminals and then drive off into the sunset precluding any sequels, what more could you ask for?

Character: Penny Lane

Movie: “Almost Famous”

Year Released: 2000

Catch Phrases: "You're too sweet for rock and roll"

Significance: She was awesome, almost holding it together to be mysterious and flirtatious and the perfect object for William Miller's affection, but then couldn't keep it going.

Character: Stifler’s Mom

Movie: “American Pie” series

Year Released: 1999, 2001, 2003

Catch Phrases: "I got some scotch. Finch: Single malt? Stifler's Mom: Aged eighteen years. The way I like it. "

Significance: Launched the MILF concept without being cliched.

Character: Elle Woods

Movie: “Legally Blonde” series

Year Released: 2001, 2003

Catch Phrases: "The rules of hair care are simple and finite. Any Cosmo girl would have known"

Significance: The first movie was awesome, and the second dreadful, but the character stayed strong. In a totally tongue-in-cheek way proved that blondes can be smart.

Excellent Commentary

I love this comment in New York Magazine. I totally agree with her comments on using Philip Seymore Hoffman instead of Will Smith. Here's my I Am Legend, and Charlie Wilson's War. This might have been why I didn't like Legend as much as it's box office would suggest I should.