Desperate Housewives— Leaving Too Soon

The producers of Desperate Housewives say the series finale will leave a few loose ends hanging, but cautioned fans against awaiting a reunion movie. Creator Marc Cherry said that eight seasons have given the ABC series time to "plumb the depths" of the characters played by Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman and others in the ensemble cast. Desperate Housewives will air its final episode this spring. "I'm very satisfied with where the series stands", Cherry told the Television Critics Association on Tuesday, the actors alongside him. 

Cherry contrasted Desperate Housewives with Sex and the City, which did fewer episodes and followed its HBO run with two big-screen movies. Me? I believe the show still has two solid seasons left in it. But ABC and Marc Cherry have their own agenda. Although not the ratings powerhouse it once was (in 2004 to 2005, between 20 and 30 million viewers tuned in weekly), Desperate Housewives still remains solid in viewership and is especially strong with overseas audiences. Mark Cherry, as most of us know is NOT logging in much time as the Desperate Housewives showrunner for the first time in 7 years, serving only as a consultant while he works on other projects. The show is also dealing with a lawsuit expected to hit a courtroom soon from former star Nicolette Sheridan. She is claiming battery, wrongful termination and unlawful termination against Cherry.

I've always been very candid about the way Marc Cherry completely destroyed Nicollette Sheridan's character Edie. The season following her horrifying death [Dear God could her tragic demise have been any worse?] was still holding it's footing with Dana Delany, but the fact that Cherry tossed Vanessa Williams into the equation proves that the show had indeed suffered from the loss of Sheridan's brilliantly layered portrayal of Edie [which I predicted would happen because the character had the "outsider" appeal of a woman that no woman would trust with her husband or boyfriend. Edie was a "diva" and made no apologies for it]. Williams is a class act, a true veteran and it was obvious that the core fans of the show loved Edie... enough for Cherry to "rethink" his cast structure and bring in Williams to fill the void. But what really pisses me off is how ABC has continued to pander to Marc Cherry's skills as a writer and executive producer as though he was the PRIMARY reason for the show's revolutionary success.

Yes, Marc Cherry created Desperate Housewives... but he clearly wasn't the emperor of the entire show [although in some inner circles it has been said that he himself was comvinced of this]. The perfectly symmetrical cast along with the rest of the abundantly skilled writers were all pivitol in the show's uniquely woven storylines as every character was able to "flip" from good to bad in two lines or less. And the conclusions of each show left you feeling as though you'd been hit by an oncoming train that you never really saw coming.

With Desperate Housewives now winding to an unfortunate close, Marc Cherry is tackling another group of dramatic women for ABC in a new project... as well a few additional pilots. Imagine that. Based on an adaptation of the Mexican telenovela The Disorderly Maids Of The Neighborhood [La Alegría del Hogar], Devious Maids is described as a soap that follows "four maids with ambition and dreams of their own while they work for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills." Cherry will write and executive-produce the one-hour ABC Studios project. Desperate Housewives executive producer Sabrina Wind is also attached to executive-produce the project.  Essentially, the Mexican version looks positively remarkable, not to mention extremely hilarious:

Devious Maids Mexican Version

So Mr. Cherry has some serious pressure to translate his own version into a major network hit. ABC is also redeveloping Cherry's pilot Hallelujah about a Tennessee town torn between good and evil, after initially passing on it. Gee, do you think the "glut" of supernatural-based shows played a factor in this decision?. 

Who knows? Maybe Marc Cherry's new ventures with ABC will succeed. Prior to Desperate Housewives he did achieve a modectum amount of success as a producer and writer with The Golden Girls back in the 80's, a show that also pioneered a group of elderly actresses who, as the perfect ensemble, pulled the show into a ratings phenomena as well as a permanent piece of pop culture history... but then again... I digress. 

I have ALWAYS loved Desperate Housewives. It hit the airwaves at precisely the perfect time... as 40+ actresses weren't even being considered, a huge audience of 40-somethings were being completely ignored and reality shows had drowned the medium with one crappy clone after another. I've said this before and i will say it again, the 40+ female audience has a lot of buying power [disposable income] and had been all but ignored until ABC took a major risk with Desperate Housewives as every other network passed on the show.

The show sky-rocketed into the top ten and NEVER strayed from it's hilarious title Desperate + Housewives... which equated into a new generation of soap opera that didn't take itself so seriously all of the time. The unique, intelligent, clever storylines were filled with so many intricately woven twists and turns that as a viewer, you were taken on a wild ride, never knowing when or how the plot would move. The show never insulted the intelligence of its audience and in fact, left us all with season after season of puzzling equations to try to solve. 

With the show's end drawing near, I am at a loss as to how Cherry plans to play out the storylines. I've been told that he will leave some loose ends... which to me, is a slap in the face to the show's audience and every single fan who should ALWAYS be given a large dose of closure. Desperate Housewives is a tightly woven show, so there is no reason for any loose ends. When you invest eight years into a show, you deserve to be thrilled and shocked and completely blown away by the conclusion. Look at shows like Friends, Sex and the City, Buffy The Vampire Slayer. M*A*S*H, Newhart [which had to be, hands down, one of the most unexpected endings in television history... and it was hilarious], Knot's Landing, Cheers and so many more.

So Mr. Cherry, hang up your ego for a few moments and allow all of the Desperate Housewive fans to feel every emotion possible; to be taken on that wild ride of unpredicitable epic proportions. It is the least you can do as you waltz into the ABC "agenda" without your soul [I believe that's a deposit requirement over at the mouse network]. Several characters from past seasons will also show up as a sort of homage, although, thus far, we haven't been given a list of names... so here's hoping that Desperate Housewives gets the send off it deserves.

The Next Wave of Digital Cinephiles

Digital filmmaking is  being compared to the 70's cinematic "rebellion which was headed up by director who are now just another sector of the archaic studio system which continues to erode and  become more and more antiquated as they continue to lose battle after battle with the Internet generation of Digital Guerilla Rebels. I am proud to be one of them. You see, Internet is more than just freedom of expression... it is the expression of true creativity... raw and unleashed. Personally, I am loving every single minute of it. I want to be shocked, surprised, thrilled and perplexed. I want to discover characters painted on canvases that may not always "fit" the stereotypical molds we've become so conditioned to watching in main stream.

My friends were mostly overdramatic artists from other high schools and a few of them worked in a movie theater so I was really always into films. That was my whole life. Any decent movie that came to the theatre we would watch. Or we would stay in the theater all night running movies for ourselves. We would lie in the theatre with our feet against the bottom of the screen, smoke grass and watch movies until dawn then we would go to school. In the 70's a lot of movies were original and not taken from books or other sources. There is a school of film happening right now that people are currently calling 70's fatalism. I love those films. That's the new generation of films like They Shoot Horses, Don't They? [released back in 1969] or Klute [released in 1971] where something is inevitably resolved but not necessarily with a happy ending.

Everyone's films are misinterpreted at some point. But there's no true malice or absurdity in the people who don't "get" a number of films. You know what you create as a filmmaker, but someone else watches it... and they immediately want to discuss it... it or write about it, and so they become tendentious or just really detached or "flip" about the art itself. And make no mistake about it, film is art. But as I have often stated, great art can make someone, anyone, everyone... very very uncomfortable. We tend to search rather desparately for keeps us feeling "safe". It's the ongoing battle between acceptable and unacceptable and more times than often there aren't enough gray areas to create these "safe" zones. 

The films that won't get corporately financed, corporately made, and corporately distributed, are films that go beyond the realm of that which is considered good and evil. If whatever "bad" thing is in there, and it's not pointed to within the structure of the film saying this is necessarily the bad thing, and the audience therefore is able to think a bit for itself as to what that thing actually is. Maybe it's bad thing, maybe there are positive things, maybe there are different ways of feeling about it. I think the areas where audiences can feel uncomfortable, or areas that are taboo, are areas where thoughts and connections with what art can allow us to experienece, if we let it in... can actually occur.

Actually, taboo is a slightly different subject, and it's another element away of describing something similar. Taboo elements are not able to be dealt with properly, or any way at all, it seems at this point in a corporately funded film. Really, when you analyze what is taboo in a culture, you can understand what a culture is really thinking about. I think it's a very dangerous thing ultimately when the main form of communication, or the most important form of communication, in a culture is— which I feel like film making should be— but when it's necessarily not able to genuinely deal in these taboo areas, there's a lot of thinking that is not "permitted" to come forth, and that's a tragic thing for the culture. I think it ends up stupefying the culture to not really have these elements dealt with— it all remains "labeled" as "cultish", therefore we should be made to look away... not glimpse or gaze into it.

The audience is dictated to— that this is the only way to think about something with more layers than we should EVER attempt to peel away. It doesn't let an audience think any other way. That's also if the material has really been genuinely thought out without boundaries. I believe most of the time, it hasn't really been so specifically thought out… which creates a dwindling audience, a small group of Bohemian outcasts who refuse to embrace the "system" but prefer to live on the edge of what remains unseen. So... where does the art of filmmaking find the next wave of  openly "free-basing" viewers... the wave of the a new audience with an "open" sense of all interpretation... a multi-dimensional group of digital cinephiles which swell in numbers?

For example, the baby-boomers, cinephiles since the ‘60s, are likely to be around for ten or fifteen more years. Where will new patrons come from? When I was in college, you scheduled your life around theatres’ showtimes, but younger people have gotten used to time shifting and on-demand access via tape, disc, cable, or the Web. A more worrisome sign: even in art houses near college campuses, students tend to make up a small fraction of the audience. The next few years will tell if changed tastes, along the habit of unbridled access to movies, will keep an aging Gen X from the art house. So my question is... is this a good thing? Or a bad thing?

Revisiting Douglas Adams— In Metaphors

One of my favorite works of Sci-Fi literature begins with a book that can only be described as "poetically spectacular insanity". The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is a classic that anyone with an open-ended imagination who can truly "believe" the unbelievable and remain amused SHOULD read cover to cover. A friend of mine introduced me to Douglas Adams' world in my early 30's and I have never found anything even remotely close to it ever since. The first book [it is a part of a series], begins with an astonishing revelation... and what strikes me today, writing this in 2012, is that thirty+ years ago, Adams had created in his Hitchhiker's Guide [possibly without any realization of it] as a metaphor for the world wide Internet, with its instant capability to look up information about anything on a portable device hooked into several satellites and networks... and we aren't even running at full speed yet. So Adams was a bit of a prognosticator, a visionary writer who somehow "knew" that his characters would eventually represent far more as time went by than they did when he originally created them. 

The book starts out with a universal chord/question we can ALL attest to in some form. Ever have one of those days when nothing seems to go right? Arthur Dent did one Thursday. Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. At first I was a bit skeptical. But then I thought about Stephen Hawking [the British theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity.] and the... all of the endless possibilities... and I had total lift off! 

Douglas Adams was a writer who, at first, as far as I could tell, had the most astonishing imagination I had ever been subjected to in fiction of any sort. I also had this theory about Adams being a true "stoner"... but I tossed it as I began to embrace the dry British wit and the words and scenarios that only a man possessing an "off the charts" Quantum IQ could even begin to include in this fictional romp through a reality that Adams created word by word. And when I say word by word... he literally created words that explained and identified specific items or alien beings.

Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker’s Guide (“A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have”) and a galaxy-full of fellow travelers: Zaphod Beeblebrox— the two-headed, three-armed ex-hippie and totally out-to-lunch president of the galaxy; Trillian, Zaphod’s girlfriend (formally Tricia McMillan), whom Arthur tried to pick up at a cocktail party once upon a time zone; Marvin, a paranoid, brilliant, and chronically depressed robot; Veet Voojagig, a former graduate student who is obsessed with the disappearance of all the ballpoint pens he bought over the years. Where are these pens? Why are we born? Why do we die? Why do we spend so much time between wearing digital watches? For all the answers stick your thumb to the stars. And don’t forget to bring a towel! 

This is an amazing book peopled with unforgettable characters such as the three-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox, who like politicians of the non-extinct earth, was always of three minds on any subject, and was often heard talking to himself.

Having plumbed the heights and depths of the novel genre, Adams eventually teamed up John Lloyd on The Meaning of Liff, a small book of definitions of unusual words with the glowing promise on its dust jacket: This Book Will Change Your Life. An example is "halifax (n.) The green synthetic Astroturf on which greengrocers display their vegetables." For those of you who bought the book, but never made it to page 55, you have missed the essential recursive nature of this book (and Adam's humor): Liff (n.) A book, the contents of which are totally belied by its cover. For instance, any book whose dust jacket bears the words This book will change your life.

One can only guess that John Lloyd's function in the writing of this book was to keep Douglas Adams from taking himself too seriously, as this definition shows. It is good to know that when the end of the Universe comes, there will be a good restaurant for us to meet in, and over tea and crumpets, we can leisurely observe the Universe as it comes to an end. Till then, remember the words emblazoned on the cover of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: "Don't Panic!"

Douglas Adams died of a heart attack on May 11th, 2001, at the age of 49, after resting from his regular workout at a private gym in Montecito, California. He had unknowingly suffered a gradual narrowing of the coronary arteries, which led at that moment to a myocardial infarction and a fatal cardiac arrhythmia. Adams had been due to deliver the commencement address at Harvey Mudd College on May 13th, 2001. His funeral was held in Santa Barbara, California. His remains were subsequently cremated and the ashes placed in Highgate Cemetery in North London in June of 2002. One of my own "personal" favorite Douglas Adams quotes is the following: "Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so."

http://www.douglasadams.com/

Mass Effect 3— Faster and Far More Difficult

In Mass Effect 3, an ancient alien race known only as Reapers, has launched an all-out invasion of the galaxy, leaving nothing but a trail of destruction in their wake. Earth has been taken, the galaxy is on the verge of total annihilation, and you are the only one who can stop them. The price of failure is extinction. You, as Commander Shepard, must lead the counter assault to take it back. Only you can determine how events will play out, which planets you will save from annihilation and which alliances you will form or abandon as you rally the forces of the galaxy to eliminate the Reaper threat once and for all. It’s been over eighteen months since gamers braved Mass Effect 2’s suicide mission, with players’ Shepards either rescuing the crew of the Normandy in the nick of time, or seeing some of them gooified or killed in action. The real world has seen its fair share of trouble in the past year and a half, however things are decidedly worse in the Mass Effect universe. In Mass Effect 3, the genocidal Reapers have staged a full invasion of Earth, leaving major cities in ruins and giant robots stomping about the place. 

In the concluding chapter of Commander Shepard’s story, he (or she) must rally the various races of the galaxy for a climactic showdown against the Reapers on Earth, attempting to break the cycle of destruction that’s gone on for millennia. In much the same way as he had to build a crew to assault the Collector stronghold in Mass Effect 2, ME3 sees Shepard having to build an interstellar alliance to take back humanity’s home world. Mass Effect’s branching storyline winds on in the third instalment, with fresh twists and turns, and different plot developments depending on your actions in the previous two games. That means if you’ve managed to shepherd (if you pardon the pun) a save file through Mass Effects 1 and 2, you’ll see the consequences of the decisions you made over the past four years played out as the story builds to its climax. 

Newbies won’t be left out of the fun, however— just like Mass Effect 2, it’ll be possible to enjoy ME3’s branching plot from start to finish without importing an older saved game. And for die-hard fans, all of the favorite characters including Wrex, Ashley, Miranda, Thane, Jack and Legion will make an appearance too, providing they made it out of Mass Effect 2’s suicide mission alive. Mass Effect’s gameplay has changed dramatically between the first and second titles in the series, and the third instalment sees further refinement of the popular action/RPG formula. Bioware says it’s expanded on the armor, weapon and character customization system of Mass Effect 2, allowing greater depth of pure gameplay without having to trawl needlessly through countless inventory menus. 

Weapons and action sequences have also been tweaked in ME3— combat is now faster and more difficult, with Mass Effect 3’s Normal mode being described as roughly equivalent to Veteran mode in the previous game. Mass Effect 1’s weapon mods are back, along with grenades. There’s also a renewed focus on melee abilities, as evidenced by the giant holographic spike that Shepard’s wielding on the game’s box art, and each class has its own unique, high-powered melee attack. In addition, Mass Effect 3 promises a full compliment of biotic and tech powers, though expect many of these remain under wraps until a little closer to launch day. 

Mass Effect 3 was one of the many titles to show off deeper Kinect integration at this year’s Microsoft E3 press conference, allowing players to use their voice to accelerate certain parts of the game. For example, dialog options can be spoken aloud, and squad members can be given spoken orders. While this isn’t intended to replace the traditional gamepad-based control system, we can see this being an enjoyable optional extra for gamers with the necessary hardware. It’s safe to say we can’t wait to get our hands on Mass Effect 3, and although we won’t see a retail release before next March, we’re hoping (and expecting) that Bioware will be able to deliver a conclusion worthy of the immersive universe it’s carefully crafted over the past five years.

The Grey Brings A Box Office Triumph

In The Grey, Liam Neeson's character leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks when their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements— and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt— before their time runs out... oh and you can expect it to run out... The Grey has Liam Neeson at his best, an outstanding movie that will have you gripping the edge of your seat. Some parts of the movie are slow, and people maybe upset by the films tone and ending. 

From the literary classic Moby Dick to the groundbreaking motion picture JAWS, one of the most enduring popular narratives has centered around the conflict between man and nature. Now comes an engaging new adventure about ordinary men stranded in the wilderness and pitted against impossible conditions and even more nightmarish predators. In THE GREY, set in the frozen mountains of Alaska, a pack of angry, snarling, bloodthirsty wolves are in dogged pursuit of human prey. As they pick off their helpless victims one at a time, the chances of survival for the last men standing just becomes more and more remote, which is scary. 

"This is a hard-core survivalist film," says director and co-writer Joe Carnahan, whose previous hits include Narc and Smokin' Aces. In The Grey, a group of men must fight for their lives against the extreme cold and snow as well as a hungry pack of wolves protecting their den. "If you're afraid of wild animals or plane travel, this movie will put you off for a good, long time." 

"The picture crosses numerous genres," says producer Jules Daly. "It's a thriller. It's a horror film. It's a character-driven drama of men struggling to survive." Based on the short story "Ghost Walker" by Ian Mackenzie Jeffers, The Grey marks the second collaboration between Carnahan and international superstar Liam Neeson (Taken, Star Wars Episode I, Schindler's List), who previously teamed for the 2010 action-comedy The A-Team. Serving as producer and executive producer respectively on The Grey are Ridley and Tony Scott, who were also behind The A-Team. Nature is a scary place. Scientists depict humans as the top of the food chain. We are because of our superior intelligence and dominance; our current society is proof of that, even if we are still virtually primitive by our actions. It is only when we leave the comfort of our reason-driven domain that we are truly helpless. Even the most experienced survivor cannot survive the wilderness for long. There is a reason why animals, wolves specifically, are masters of their domain, and we are the prey, not the hunter. 

We follow Ottway (Neeson) a man who is hired to protect workers at an oil refinery from any predator that tends to attack them. On their trip back home, harsh weather conditions causes their jet to crash, with only 7 survivors. Their location could not be any better ,for they find themselves in gray wolf territory, and are picked off one by one. However, the story goes far beyond that. The movie deals with thoughts of suicide, the elements of death, philosophy, bad luck, survival, and if you analyze it a little more, twilight.  

Liam Neeson is physically up to the task in the harsh conditions his character battles in the cold, and is mentally prepared to venture al of Ottway's weaknesses. We are given flashes of his wife, that can only lead us to think she is no longer with him. Neeson explores these weaknesses. He displays a character wanting to leave the realm of life and enter the celestial one. It's only when the plot begins to take charge can we decrypt the words "wish granted". The other actors play their parts very well, displaying just how fragile and human people are when faced with danger and predators. We can admit that in our own world we can't help but establish our own territories; "big talk" because we want to prove how bad ass we are. To the vicious bwolves, we're just playthings, like mice to a hungry cat. 

"The Grey triggered something very primal inside of me," says Neeson, who initially heard of the project while conducting a string of press interviews with Carnahan for The A-Team in Berlin and later asked the director about the project over a lively dinner in London. After seeing the script, he quickly signed on for the lead, knowing full well that Carnahan would strive for realism by shooting on location near the sub-artic zone. "When I read the script, I was 57 years old, and the little boy inside me thought it would be great to take on such a demanding role," says Neeson. "I wanted audiences to say 'Wow, how did you guys do that?' At the same time, I was thinking, 'Jeez, can I physically do this?'"

Hal Leonard Performing Arts Publishing Group continues its pop culture connectivity series If You Like with the newest volume, If You Like Monty Python… (Limelight Editions, $16.99) by Zack Handlen. From its perfectly insane television show to its consistently irreverent and riotous movies, Monty Python has owned the zany and absurd side of comedy since its debut and has a massive following to prove it. But there’s a finite supply of Monty Python in the world, and once you’ve finished going through that supply, what happens next? In a world of dwindling video stores— and instructive video store clerks— If You Like Monty Python… guides you through over 200 films, television shows, books, and other material that will satisfy your Python withdrawal. If you have graduated from the Ministry of Silly Walks and want more, this book is for you.

One thing I have to say right off the bat is how much I enjoy the variety the company is employing here. The Beatles is a pretty obvious choice, but The Sopranos is a little out of left field. And as great as Python were, they are still (at least in the U.S.) considered relatively obscure. One thing I really enjoyed about this book is the way Handlen opens it— with a discussion of the roots of the comedy of Monty Python. While it may not be a stunning revelation that the members of the troupe found inspiration in the Marx Brothers, his mention of Charles Schulz's Peanuts was a tad bit unexpected— as was Bob Newhart's 1960 debut comedy Album LP; The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.

As the book progresses, Handlen details the history of Monty Python's various works, plus the many other programs and such that they inspired. It is little surprise that Saturday Night Live and SCTV are included. But there are some pretty cool connections the author makes which I intend to look into as well. Although I have seen Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971) many times, the mention of it in this context is interesting— and provides me with yet another excuse to watch it (as if I REALLY needed one). 

If You Like Monty Python… navigates readers through Python’s influences from Charlie Chaplin to the Flying Circus’s predecessor on British television, At Last the 1948 Show. Handlen also looks at Python’s contemporaries, other works by the individual Pythons, and those inspired in some way by Monty Python including mockumentaries like The Office and satirists like George Carlin. The book also includes useful appendixes like “Famous Monty Python Quotes, and How to Use Them” and “Master Lists of Musts for Python Addicts.” Surprising connections one may not have initially made are what make the If You Like Monty Python... book such a worthwhile read. This is a great series, and I certainly hope that the publisher continues with it.

Brad Pitt Speaks Openly About Depression

Rethink Mental Illness said Pitt was ''brave'' for opening up about his depression in the 1990s and that his revelation could give many people ''renewed hope''. The Moneyball star, whose long-term girlfriend is Angelina Jolie, told the Hollywood Reporter he saw his experience with the mental illness as ''a great education''. In the 1990s Pitt starred in some of his biggest films including Fight Club, 12 Monkeys, Seven and The Devil's Own and admitted he smoked too much marijuana. 

Mark Davies, director of communications at Rethink Mental Illness, said on Thursday: ''Mental illness can happen to any of us at any time, whether famous or not, rich or poor. Sadly it can sometimes be difficult to talk about, even though people with mental illness need as much compassion and support as people with physical health problems." 

I personally commend Brad Pitt for speaking so courageously and openly about his experiences. Everyone knows someone with some form of mental illness, whether depression, anxiety or bipolar. When people in the public eye talk about mental illness, it sends a powerful message to all who face it at some point in their lives. I myself have suffered from both depression and anxiety and can sincerely attest that it isn't something you speak about with just anyone, some people simply do not understand it. Brad Pitt's story shows that it is possible to recover from depression, which will give many people renewed hope as well as the inspiration to talk about it openly.

Bradley Cooper— An Edge Among Actors

Recently voted "The Sexiest Man in Hollywood" Bradley Cooper is grateful that he gave up drinking— because he would be dead if he hadn’t. The actor openly admits that he feared his love of booze might actually kill him. Ironically, Cooper starred in both "The Hangover" and "The Hangover II" but when asked about his own drinking habits, he was very stoic and serious, "I don’t partake any more," he said. "It just got to a point where it was like, ‘You know what? I’ve got to stop’ It was just the kind of thing where if I wanted to continue to live… I couldn't continue to drink." We applaud Cooper for both his candor and his healthy attitude. 

"Oh, God, I love therapy," he also explained. "It was not really a major crisis I went in with, just getting turned on to that aspect of wanting to grow as a person. I thought it was fantastic." Beating the start of alcoholism, is a noble and often difficult decision. Not every actor or actress has the ability to exercise the sheer will that Bradley Cooper did. More times than often you will discover that you require help. Having a goal that you want to achieve will indeed help make it a lot easier as the alcohol will pull all of the energy away from your goals, and will slowly ruin your life. If you can understand this enough to be fully aware of how your life is deteriorating, then you HAVE to quit alcohol. Alcohol in mild moderation is fine, but when you arrive at the point of getting smashed sideways at every opportunity... this is a sign [actually a massive billboard] your partying is out of control and it is time to quit alcohol.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cooper's latest film, "The Words", which previewed to packed shows at Sundance and was tossed immediately into a heated bidding war for distribution, eventually went to CBS. "The Words" centers on a hot young author (played by Cooper) who plagiarizes from a forgotten manuscript; the film also features Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, Olivia Wilde, Zoe Saldana and Ben Barnes. A source said that the field of bidders was winnowed down quickly after the team behind the film decided it wanted a traditional theatrical release rather than a day-and-date VOD release. Ultimately, the decision to go with CBS came down to "commitment in the awards season" and the back-end deal.

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Will We See The Justice League in 2013?

Well, just as we expected, we're hearing a plethora of stories and rumors everywhere that are stating conclusively— there will be a "Justice League" film onscreen in 2013. When we decided to conduct some of our own speculation, we took the time to send top secret messages and e-mails to a few people who were in a position to know whether or not the film was really going to happen, and we all caught abit of shut eye... comfortable that we were right in stating as of this very moment [which could change so we are hedging all bets] that there's PROBABLY not going to be a "Justice League" film in 2013. Not with Joss Whedon's "Avengers" kickin' it very soon [this summer].

So then... our daring comrades over at theThe LA Times published part two of a Jeff Robinov piece recently, and again, they state rather confidently... the film's going to happen in 2013.  They don't leave much room for doubt, either. Here's the thing… we still don't believe there's a "Justice League" film coming that close on the heels of the "Superman" reboot.  We just don't.  We do believe that 2013 will be an extremely productive year for the Warner Bros. superhero business, and we would not remotely be shocked to see "The Flash" come out that year as well.

My guess is that Warner Bros. is going to wait to see if our very own Super Hero Joss Whedon's "The Avengers" works at the box-office (and creatively) before they finally make the commitment to a giant-budget team movie like this, and there's no guarantee they'll even be able to use Superman in it. If Christopher Nolan is going to be in charge of what happens to Batman after his trilogy of films concludes, as the Times piece also asserts, what would make him suddenly decide after years of saying that he hates the idea of Batman running around with other superheroes?  Also, is it just us, or does it seem like a huge punch in the face to an audience to start talking about a reboot right before anyone's started production on the current film?  We are sure they'll create more Batman films once Nolan isn't directing them... which is actually absurd [they need to just pony up and pay Nolan whatever he asks]... but if there's any way you could sap our enthusiasm for what you're about to do, it's telling us that you're already moving on. Focus on one at a time, okay?  If the third film is just a speedbump on the road to a reboot for the studio, why should we treat it any differently?

So can you make a "Justice League" without Superman and Batman? Sure they could do that. And they don't even have to make origin movies for the heroes involved first.  What they do need to do is tell a compelling story which completely justifies putting that many iconic characters together... and that's not an easy task to pull off..  If they're in development on a script already, great.  That directly contradicts what I've heard, which is that they're focused on individual films only at the moment, and that a certain red-suited hero has the inside track on being the next one in front of a camera.  These aren't cheap films or easy films to crank out in a year, though.

So I repeat… 2013?  Not [as Spike trhe vampire would say] bloody likely.  No matter how many times the Times keeps repeating it.  And in two years, let's meet back here and see who was right.

Brands Becoming Studios?

In many ways, product placement and entertainment is becoming indistinguishable. I think of just last year, when we watched ads for films which appeared to be just like any other YouTube video, like "Ape With AK-47," which was an ad for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. In my humble opinion, what advertisers are realizing is that traditional commercials are losing their impact more than ever before. We're in the midst of a digital revolution, and we don't pay much attention to commercials very much anymore. And the ones that we do pay attention to are getting more and more ridiculous. Advertisers know now they MUST create compelling content, something that stands on its own as being entertainment, while still advertising the product.

I think there's no doubt whatsoever that brands are going to become their own studios. They'll always have to remind themselves, though, that content comes first, which is what the Coca-Cola strategy is becoming. What I think we might see is, long-form content (episodes) on a particular brand's website or channel, and short-form content (ads) on traditional TV directing people to the website/channel. That's nthe othing new, but I think we're going to see much much more of it. The short-form content will be the length of regular commercials, but there will be a cinematic quality, or story, that will make people want to see the longer version.

The ultimate goal is to convince consumers that they are NOT just getting a reminder to buy a product. The idea will always be to use the product in such a way that an emotional connection is made with both the product and the story.

The Impermanence of It All

Lately, I’ve been thinking a great deal about the meaning of life and the impermanent nature of it all. Observing how we do what we do, the struggles we put ourselves through, the drama, the pain and all of the suffering. I mean, when I look around, I see a lot of struggling each and every day— sometimes in my own life and often in the lives of others. It seems like, even though there is an abundance of immeasurable goodness in our lives, the prevalent theme seems to be this struggle to find balance, peace and happiness. And don't get me started on the universal theme of "having more equates into happiness". It doesn't because there really is no peace to be found in more as Dr. Wayne Dyer has pointed out in so many of his articles and books. “What is the meaning of it all? What is the purpose of life?” I asked silently in the privacy of my thoughts.

We ALL know how this game goes: the wanting for more never ends; and happiness will always (unless we intervene) appear to be just a reach away, in “some day” land, when we’ve finished this project or have reached that goal. We stride through life as if we will live forever. We treat time as a cheap commodity that we blindly waste. We become consumed by negativity. We hide behind victim stories. We get stuck in jobs and relationships that we dislike. We distract ourselves with the noise of media and other people’s opinions. We compete over beauty, status and owning stuff. We buy into the empty promises of cosmetics and luxury products— all of which are illusions fabricated by marketers.

Unable to forgive, we hold on to the pain and we blame people, things, and circumstances for our unhappiness. We surround ourselves with anxiety, stress and depression. Failing to recognize that these “dis-eases” and uncomfortable emotions are our soul’s way of saying, “Wake up! It’s time for a change, baby. This isn’t working.” We give up our dreams, our art, our purpose, and trade our lives in exchange for money so that we can make a living. While making money to sustain our needs is inevitable, in the making of a living we sometimes forget our unique gifts, we temporarily lose touch with the enormity of our inner being, and we distance ourselves from the confidence of our unique expressions and talents.

In a race to survive, we become mentally paralyzed— like a dove whose wings have been clipped and soon forgets that she can fly. It’s all so exhausting. It’s overwhelming. There’s no end to the madness of chasing. So many of us rush though life in this way, totally oblivious to the preciousness of whom we are and unaware of the beauty, wealth, abundance, love and opportunities that surround us. And before we know it, the sands of our hourglass run out, and we face the end of our brief existence on this planet— unfulfilled and regretful for all that we’ve missed. I know this may sound rather harsh, and it is. Viewing how we live in its blunt, naked candor can feel extremely rough around the edges. Truth stings. At the same time, we can use this emotionally charged observation to our advantage— to inspire us and to move us in such a way that we begin to think differently, love differently and perhaps even live differently...

The Fear of Connection

I may never find the words to express how it feels to reach out to someone only to be given a brief word or two [no REAL explanation] and a quick, "Here's hoping your life goes well..." What I have learned over the past 50 years [I've been here far too long... LOL!] is that you cannot reach every single person and not everyone will "get" you, who you are, your kindness, compassion and sincerity. You CAN make a difference, touch lives and choose to be loving, compassionate and kind... but the rest is really out of your hands. We all touch each other's lives in one way or another. We are indeed all connected. But the most important constant that reaches the core of our souls is love. It trumps everything else that we convince ourselves we need so desperately. The more we need, the less we understand. Love is a gift. It is friendship and family... and so much more. I love it when people try to convince me [because I believe he/she is trying to convince themselves] that they... "have a good sense of people", it's rather sad... because the very same people end up wondering "how they could have been so wrong about someone so close? Why would anyone deceive them for so long?"

It has nothing to do with "knowing" or "having a good sense of people". You see, if you surround yourself with deceptive people... you don't have to get "close" to them. Odd as that may sound, it's exactly what some people do in order to keep up appearances. Meanwhile, the TRUTH, which lingers on... is that these people are lonely, disconnected from anyone who could possibly love them... and they really don't have to open up or be honest... or God forbid, vulnerable. It's a great trick because so many people in their circles are so very self-absorbed— they don't notice. 

Something I will never understand is why some people "choose" to be cut off, disconnected and unfortunately lost in his/her own perpetual self-induced drama, surrounded by phoney, self-absorbed narcissists who easily move on to the next "free party", or "free ride". I really do feel sorry for those people. Not because they tend to spend a great deal of time trying to reinvent themselves... but because of the reasons they use to rationalize it all. The world isn't getting easier. To quote a line from my all-time favorite TV Show, Buffy The Vampire Slayer... "The hardest thing in this world ... is to live in it." But like it or not, we must do just that.

And my lesson? You don't just stop caring about someone because that person decided it for you. You live, you learn... and you don't allow anyone to convince you to stop believing. Or as my favorite mentor, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer says, "With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose."

And to my friend? I will always be here, for as long as I am supposed to be... whatever that means. 

God is His Own Quarterback Mr. Tebow

Tim Tebow, unfortunately... intently prides himself on representing America's two great religions: Christianity and Football. But the way the young Denver Broncos' quarterback intertwines the two has made some followers of each faith extremely uncomfortable. His post-game interviews always begin with "I'd like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," and he frequently drops to one knee on the field and bows his head in prayer— a posture now called Tebowing. But Tim Tebow's behavior on the field does raise important questions about prayer and how Christians ought to practice it. Andrew Sullivan criticized Tim Tebow saying his public prayers violate Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) where he taught his followers to pray in private: "And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:5-6) Referencing Tebow's habit of praying during NFL games before millions of spectators, Sullivan asks, "Why does a Christian publicly repudiate the God he worships?" Is Sullivan right? Is Tim Tebow actually violating the teachings of Christ with his behavior on the field? The answer is more complicated than critics of publicly practiced religion may prefer.

 

I think a case could also be made that the emergence of digital communication and online social media has made religious hypocrisy a more dangerous temptation today than we often recognize. Lee Siegel in his book Against the Machine, discusses how we hide behind false, "phantom" identities on the internet. It's a medium I think fosters immediacy and authenticity, but in truth it breeds shallowness, hate and hypocrasy. It allows us to easily build and present a facade to the world; an image of who we wish to be rather than who we really are. And in the case of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, intimate relationships that peer behind our facades are nearly impossible to foster (despite what so many 16-year-old girls wish to believe). In other words, on the web hypocrisy is not only easy, it is now quite mandatory.

At the risk of taking issue with the Tebowers, I don’t think Denver Broncos’ Tim Tebow is "God’s Quarterback." I don’t even know if God follows the NFL or if God cares very much about football. I do know, however, that Tebow is a religious lightning rod and that much of the criticism surrounding him has to do with the fact that Tebow is pushing his beliefs on people who go to NFL games to watch football, not to hear sermons or watch a young quarterback spotlight himself, thus opening a very dangerous can of worms for himself. Of course, remember once again, Jesus referred to the Pharisees, a class of educated elites that emerged from the ranks of affluent scribes and sages— the pundit class of the ancient world. They were notorious hypocrites, famous for phony displays of sanctimony [Tebowing], which is why Jesus mocked them.

But now comes word from one of Tebow’s teammates that "God’s quarterback" may be taking himself a little too seriously. According to the Denver Post, Tebow told Bronco linebacker Wesley Woodyard before the game, “Don’t worry about a thing,” because God had spoke to him [Tebow]. And what exactly did God say? That Chicago’s Marion Barber would mess up and fumble in overtime? And that Bronco players Elvis Dumervil and Matt Prater would take it from there? And if there is no "I" in team, why is God speaking to just one guy about all this? Tebow was kind of coy.

"It's not necessarily prophesying." Tebow told the Denver Post. Really Tim? Then what exactly is it? If you start telling your fellow teammates not to worry and that God has YOU covered, what exactly are you doing? THAT my friends, is taking it all too far. It's a game. Tebow is not a warrior leading his men into a battle with guns and violence, he's a quarterback, a human being. He possesse no more power than any other mortal man or woman. No word from Tebow on whether the Big Guy gave him a heads up about the Giants’ own miracle win. A lot of Giant fans feel their team is kind of miraculous. Me? I was fine with the John 3:16 guy in the endzone of every game.

I believe in God's economy there is not a single thought, feeling, or moment that is lost. There is nothing that is unseen or unrecorded. But in our culture of digital voyeurism, we are tempted to believe things only become real when they are external... on paper, published, posted, tweeted, or displayed. All the more reason why we need to recapture the discipline of secrecy in order to foster our trust that God is indeed with us and witnessing every thought and reflection. In the privacy of prayer I discover that my life really does matter— not because someone read it, heard it, or saw it, or told me that I had to or I would fall into a pit of fire and brimstone... but because God is my witness.  And I have never, nor will I ever,  feel compelled to "drop a knee" to prove myself to anyone.

Wind Waker Meets Twilight Princess?

It is said that ‘Good things come to those who wait’.Never has this been more the case than in the experiences of Zelda fans, due to the fact that they can go often go 3 to 4 years (or more) between new console-based titles. When Skyward Sword hits stores later this year, it will have been a full 5 years since we last set foot in Hyrule (in 2006’s The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess) on a console. You can imagine the anticipation then, surrounding the upcoming release of what is increasingly looking to be the Wii’s last great title.

For those of you who have never played a Zelda title before,The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is an action/adventure-based fantasy game that incorporates the use of puzzles and dungeon-solving, along with the usual combat-based gameplay you experience in most other games in the same genre. As such, this is the eighth Zelda game to appear on a Nintendo console, but will it be the best? While we won’t know for sure until the game releases, all of the info we’ve received on the game so far has shown it to be extremely promising, so let’s take a look, shall we? At first glance, you’ll notice something quite peculiar about Skyward Sword; namely, it’s art style. Described by many as a cross between Wind Waker’s cel-shading and Twilight Princess’ realistic look, Skyward Sword’s visuals has a pastel-like watercolor look to it. While many are split down the middle over the less realistic visuals, keep in mind that we still haven’t seen much of the game, only Skyloft and a few other areas.

One reason Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma chose to implement this art style was because he wanted to showcase the exaggerated features of some of the characters and enemies. He explained that the enemies were designed with a more exaggerated look in order to help players defeat them, and with that being the case, the art style of Twilight Princess just didn’t seem to fit. To many fans’ delight, Nintendo has confirmed the placement of Skyward Sword among the Zelda timeline. Aonuma has been quoted as saying that the game will serve as an origin story for the Master Sword, making it possibly the earliest Zelda title in the timeline. This time around, Link hails from a land in the skies, appropriately named “Skyloft.” The city will act as the central hub of activity for many of the game’s inhabitants, a la Majora’s Mask. And, in another interesting twist, Zelda is not just a princess in this game; rather, she is also a childhood friend of Link.

The game begins with the two of them in a boarding school, and soon after, Link attempts to take to the skies by capturing and riding a giant bird in an effort to both show up a rival and impress Zelda. However, something goes wrong and Zelda is mysteriously kidnapped during the ride and taken to the world below. Thus begins Link’s journey as he attempts to find her. Of course, this is merely a precursor to the real story. As a matter of fact, Link has a brand new adversary this time around: the mysterious Ghirahim. While his motivation remains unknown, he’ll be showing up at different points throughout the game to make his presence known and to cause trouble for Link; a very welcome change of pace from Ganon’s role in Twilight Princess.

And where exactly is series antagonist Ganon this time around? Aonuma isn’t saying, but he did mention that since the game tells the story of the birth of the Master Sword, it will also touch on why Ganon showed up. He also alluded to the fact that you will catch references to Ocarina of Time if you are familiar with the N64 title or the recent 3DS remake of it. Like its predecessor, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword incorporates the use of motion controls as well.

However, this time around, Nintendo is making use of Wii Motion+, making the controls much closer to 1:1 than the simple gesture-based controls of Twilight Princess. When you slash with Link’s sword, you’re not just slashing vertically or diagonally anymore; in this game there are a variety of different angles with which to operate.

Also, the nunchuk will control Link’s shield, so if you thrust it forward, the game will respond and do the same in-game as well. In addition, the ability to shoot beams from the sword will be returning in this game, so to charge up Link’s sword, you’ll have to hold the Wii remote vertically (as if you were pointing the sword towards the sky).

Though the motion controls are arguably the biggest change in the gameplay department this time around, there are a number of other changes as well. For the first time, Link will have a meter that gauges his energy, meaning that if you sprint, climb, or execute complex moves, his energy will go down. When the meter runs out, Link will stop to catch his breath. It’ll be interesting to see how this new mechanic holds out in the long run; however, if Link runs out of energy too often, Nintendo may have quite a few annoyed gamers on their hands. Dungeons will also be getting a shake-up in the sense that you won’t progress through this game like you did in previous games. Whereas previous games often separated the overworld from dungeons very distinctly, in this game the line between the two is a bit more blurred. Not only will parts of Hyrule Field act like dungeons, but you’ll return at different points to these areas and have much much more to explore than before; not unlike the formula in Metroid.

Last but not least, Link will explore a new dimension (similar in concept to the “Twilight Realm” from Twilight Princess) called the “Siren Realm,” where he will undergo trials to forge the Master Sword. Here, Link will be without his sword and will have to collect tear drops while avoiding powerful guardians (that can kill Link in one shot) in order to complete trials.