Walking with a Ghost

At some point, we’re going to have to rise up against the movie studios, declaring in one voice that we won’t stand for movies that require us to anticipate with base expectations just to squeeze a little enjoyment of them. I call this the “well, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be” corollary, spawn of the “as long as it’s better than Fantastic 4” theorem. The newest variable thrown into this equation of mediocrity is Ghost Rider, Marvel’s wintertime grasp at your dollar while you wait for superior summer fare to arrive, complete with paper-thin acting, a barely passable plot, and iffy effects.

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Apparently, It’s Easy Being Green After All

Surprise winners ruled the evening at last night’s Academy Awards. Alan Arkin took home a well-deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Happy Feet stole away the animation award from Cars and Monster House, but perhaps the biggest shock came from the Best Original Song category. With three numbers from Dreamgirls dominating the nominees, it was expected that it would be an easy category to handicap. And though two of the songs were only half decent, “I Love You, I Do” deserved recognition but had to defer to Melissa Etheridge and her ballad created for the global warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

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Over and Over Again

I’m not by any means a comic book aficionado (I leave that to Pat, who you will get to know better if I ever get that podcasting idea together), but since the outpouring of geek love for comic book movies started a few years ago, I’ve been subscribing to Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man and generally enjoying what I read while staying cautiously on the “passive observer” side of the comic geek line. Over the past half dozen issues, thought, I couldn’t help but turn into a bit of a snob as the Ultimate writers rehashed one of the most controversial stories in Spidey history: the clone saga.

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I Have a McPheever

At right is the list of most-viewed articles today on Blogcritics.org, the “sinister cabal of writers” that I’ve been doing music and movie reviews for over the past few months in exchange for swag. I know, I know, it seems more likely that I’d be shamelessly promoting my own story on the demise of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, but my article is actually the one right above it: a review of the debut album from American Idol runner-up Katharine McPhee. Earlier today, it was the number one most read story. Am I ashamed that I had to write a review of “popular” music to get that kind of readership? Sure. But at least I got to start a flame war with a bunch of Taylor Hicks fans.

Back later today (or at least tomorrow morning) with regularly-scheduled programming.

Music Review: Katharine McPhee – Katharine McPhee (Blogcritics.org)

Update (1:25 p.m.) – And now it’s officially gone from the top 5. Maybe the Soul Patrol will leave me alone now.

‘Strip’ Down?

Yes, I know that NBC committed to running a whole season, and yes, I still am a shameless promoter of the show and all things Sorkin, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the folks over at Throwing Things are right and we’ve seen the last of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Ratings have steadily declined over the past several weeks, and even the staunchest supporters of the show have grown weary of the fact that this show could be summed up as “Hey, did you know Aaron Sorkin dated Kristin Chenoweth and that it didn’t go well?” On a wider scale, the general public has had a difficult time being berated for any number of things, from watching reality television to being Republican.

That said, there have been plenty of fantastic moments over the short run of Studio 60, last night’s comedy-rich episode among them. My personal favorite remains the Christmas episode, which laid low on preaching and focused on characters. Comments are welcome; let’s just hope this isn’t an Irish wake for a fabulous show. Then again, there’s always a second life on DVD. Think Sorkin’ll produce a few straight-to-video seasons if NBC cancels it and we ask nicely?