Featured Storiestag:www.blogs.com,2008-08-15://102009-11-20T22:47:45ZMovable Type 4.2rc4-enThanksgiving, Web 2.0 Styletag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.38209202009-11-20T22:43:18Z2009-11-20T22:47:45ZBloggers are already having fun with Thanksgiving and tech-y tips. TUAW rounds up 5 Thanksgiving iPhone apps, including one that has 27 turkey recipes and generates a shopping list for you. This year's talked-about kitchen gadget is the electric Butterball...Blogs.com Editors
Bloggers are already having fun with Thanksgiving and tech-y tips. TUAW rounds up 5 Thanksgiving iPhone apps, including one that has 27 turkey recipes and generates a shopping list for you. This year's talked-about kitchen gadget is the electric Butterball In-door Electric Turkey Fryer (!) for deep-frying a turkey indoors without ending up on the evening news (via The Bachelor Guy). If your parents tend to celebrate your visits by asking you to fix their computers, Faster Forward's got you covered: "Debugging deep-seated software ailments is difficult enough under ideal conditions, much less when you're operating in a haze of tryptophan and pinot noir. So you have to prepare for this possibility before you head home for the holidays."
If you and your guests need some exercise between dinner and dessert, ZiggyTek recommends the "Cook or Be Cooked" game for Wii, "Food Network's first entry into the world of gaming..." The Contra Costa Times has a great list of Thanksgiving "tech support" resources--don't miss turkey tip tweets from Butterball and the number for the Crisco Pie Hotline. Finally, try to remember that the point of the holiday is to chill out and eat a lot with friends and family. The Simple Dollar offers tactics for a cheaper--and saner--Thanksgiving dinner.
Best in Blogs: GPhone Fantasies, Apple Tablet Visions, and Black Friday Secretstag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.38142482009-11-20T06:42:24Z2009-11-20T04:16:57ZTop Stories for the Week of Nov. 16 - 20, 2009 The mythical Google Phone is "no longer a myth, it's very real," says TechCrunch, in case you're keeping score. The supposedly Google-branded, Google-designed device could render days-old relics like...Blogs.com Editors
Top Stories for the Week of Nov. 16 - 20, 2009
The mythical Google Phone is "no longer a myth, it's very real," says TechCrunch, in case you're keeping score. The supposedly Google-branded, Google-designed device could render days-old relics like the Droid phone instantly ancient. Of course, in this case very real means doesn't exactly exist yet, and this picture we have here is fantasy art on the level of H.R. Giger. Why would Google "infuriate its partners" who make phones that use Google's Android software , by competing against them?, asks Daring Fireball. "Maybe it thinks companies making Android phones so far are doing a crappy job," suggests Business Insider. Uh, maybe it won't compete because technically it won't be a phone, Crunch argues back: it could be a data-only VoIP thing, so you wouldn't have to sign up for phone service. You'd sign up for data service, and merely use it like a phone. "It's unclear how supportive the carriers would be of a data-only Google Phone considering it directly affects their primary business," notes Android Central. Unclear, indeed. Gizmodo said it best: "Right now, we don't know much of anything." (But we know we love you, Google Phone, and that may be all we need to know.)
In other tech/fantasy news, Apple's "Kindle Killer" (say that three times fast without invoking Jimmy Kimmel) doesn't exist yet, but Wired magazine is already preparing a digital edition for it, says Biz Insider, Actually, Apple isn't saying a peep about whatever tablet you are referring to, but Wired publisher Conde Nast (GQ, Vogue, etc.) says it will have a digital version of the mag ready just in case and will eventually create similar versions for all of its 18 titles, says Media Memo. Electric Pig says the tablet is real--just delayed, so it can use a "gorgeous OLED" display.
But there's more in life than just imaginary handheld devices and OLED displays. Sarah Palin, for example. Her new book Going Rogue is very real. Beyond that, maybe not so much. Fox News aired video of "huge crowds" at Palin book rallies that was old footage, where people were holding McCain/Palin signs, reports ThinkProgress. McCain aide Nicolle Wallace says the book contains a fictional passage about the disastrous Katie Couric interview, according to TV Newser. Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish says "there are so many fabrications and delusions in the book, mixed in with facts, that just making sense of it--and comparing it with objective reality as we know it, and the subjective reality she has previously provided--is a bewildering task." But hey--The Live Feed says Palin got Oprah's biggest audience in two years. Meanwhile Newsweek may not be prepping an all-digital edition for the imaginary Kindle Killer, but it does have on its paper cover a leggy photo of Palin that was originally used in Runner's World. Palin has criticized it on her Facebook page, as NewsBusters' reported. ("The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now," she wrote.)
Palin at least is accustomed to having her material repurposed--remember William Shatner's dramatic reading of her tweets? Well, no idea stays original for long these days. Now Chris Walken's dramatic reading of a Lady Gaga song is getting links everywhere. Video of that performance is here at Vulture. Warming Glow presents a mashup video combining the Gaga original, Walken's goof, and a South Park take on the same concept. As our friend David once said: "Is this real life?"
Fake crowds? Illegally re-used magazine pictures? Imaginary phones and fantasy display tablets? Thank goodness Santa Claus is coming. And thank goodness for illicitly obtained print material that helps us understand the world better. Yes, we're talking about the leaked Walmart Black Friday holiday shopping circular that CrunchGear proudly displays. Wait, this just in: Walmart intentionally leaked and "approved the release of its entire clutch of Black Friday secrets ahead of its own Nov. 23 release date," reports the new economy blog. Ah, sob. Does that make this free advertising? Maybe next Walmart will hire Christopher Walken to read its ad and have it go viral.
Phew. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Blogs.com! We'll be out next week celebrating--Best in Blogs will resume in December.
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Counting Down to New Moon Madnesstag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.38123002009-11-19T20:17:08Z2009-11-19T20:18:45Z Let the New Moon mania begin! The second Twilight film hits theaters this Friday, with screenings beginning at midnight tonight. Advance tickets are selling like crazy. "My quick survey of box office analysts shows that Hollywood is expecting New...Blogs.com Editors
Let the New Moon mania begin! The second Twilight film hits theaters this Friday, with screenings beginning at midnight tonight. Advance tickets are selling like crazy. "My quick survey of box office analysts shows that Hollywood is expecting New Moon to do Iron Man numbers, or $100M," writes Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood, though said analysts are concerned about the film attracting "attracting males, any males, beyond its core of tween, teen, and older females." Twitter is exploding with New Moon excitement, with tweets about the movie "now climbing at an exponential rate, with over 81,000 tweets on Tuesday, November 17th"--and 92% of those have been positive, reports Mashable. Early reviews, however, are less than positive. (Even Miley Cyrus doesn't like Twilight!)...
Speakeasy rounds up some newspaper reaction: "The characters in this movie should be arrested for loitering with intent to moan," wrote Roger Ebert, though the San Francisco Chronicle pointed out that "This is a pop culture phenomenon, some weird early 21st century aberration, our equivalent of the hula hoop or dancing the Charleston on a bi-plane's wing...this movie is not really a movie. It's an excuse for a lot of people to dream." Duh, obviously it's way more than just a movie! (Still, says HitFix, Bella is "almost wholly unlikable on every level.") Idol Chatter is very excited about the release but still hopes that "there will be fewer cringe-inducing scenes in 'New Moon' than in Twilight. Case in point--that first kissing scene where Edward flies back against the wall, that's so slow you almost can't watch. Awkward! (Though, awkward in a fun way, I admit.)" "The people I know who are Twilight fans even have to clarify that they 'know it's bad,' but like it anyway," writes Filmfail.com. "Therefore, I feel obligated to ignore this fact and insult this movie regardless."
In the meantime, while you wait for midnight (do you have your tickets yet?) you can watch this gigantic collection of Twilight spoofs at Underwire, or read about how the special effects required to make Edward's skin sparkle in the sunlight at The Geek Files. Or maybe you could just start lining up in front of the theater now...
2009 Word of the Year: Unfriendtag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37972722009-11-17T16:39:21Z2009-11-17T16:41:12Z Unfriend: It's Oxford's 2009 word of the year. On Oxford's OUPblog, Senior Lexicographer Christine Lindberg explains, "In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice...Blogs.com Editors
Unfriend: It's Oxford's 2009 word of the year. On Oxford's OUPblog, Senior Lexicographer Christine Lindberg explains, "In the online social networking context, its meaning is understood, so its adoption as a modern verb form makes this an interesting choice for Word of the Year. Most 'un-' prefixed words are adjectives (unacceptable, unpleasant)...'unfriend' is different from the norm. It assumes a verb sense of 'friend' that is really not used (at least not since maybe the 17th century!)." (Runners-up included "sexting" and "freemium.") CrunchGear takes a look at past words of the year: 2008's choice, "hypermiling," "seems positively archaic now... It brings to mind a sentimental geek zealously maintaining a Windows 3.1 box," but 2005's word, "podcasting," is "going stronger than ever." "The fact that these social media trends have taken root in our vocabulary and we are now mandating acceptance by placing this simple term in the dictionary," writes PepperDigital, "demonstrates the staying power of these platforms."
Get Ready: Sarah Palin's Media Week Beginstag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37927082009-11-16T22:34:09Z2009-11-16T22:40:32Z Today kicks off Sarah Palin's media week--her book, Going Rogue, will be officially released tomorrow, but publicity efforts began today (oh, who are we kidding, there's been publicity about this book for quite awhile) with Palin's appearance on Oprah....Blogs.com Editors
Today kicks off Sarah Palin's media week--her book, Going Rogue, will be officially released tomorrow, but publicity efforts began today (oh, who are we kidding, there's been publicity about this book for quite awhile) with Palin's appearance on Oprah. The Oprah blog lists a few highlights from the show, including Palin's response to whether she is considering a 2012 presidential campaign: "I don't know what I'm doing in 2012...It's not on my radar screen. In 2012, Trigg heads to kindergarten and I'm focused on that." She also told Oprah that she didn't care that she endorsed Obama: "No offense, Oprah, but ... it didn't really register. It wasn't the center of my universe" (via Silicon Alley Insider).
Meanwhile, the Huffington Post has obtained internal campaign e-mails, to and from Palin, "that directly contradict or cast serious doubt on several of Palin's assertions" in her book. "Reflecting on it all, the campaign aide who provided the emails said the following of the book: 'There are elements of truth underlying a narrative that is completely false,'" reports HuffPo. McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt told Politics Daily that the book is "total fiction," and an aide said McCain is "'surprised and a bit disappointed' by the book."
Obviously, the book's publicity campaign goes on. "Starting tomorrow, she will be appearing on 'Good Morning America,' 'World News,' and 'Nightline,' as an interview with Barbara Walters is aired, first in pieces, and finally in full on '20/20' on Friday," Chapter & Verse reports. "Also tomorrow, Palin launches her book tour by bus (a large bus, emblazoned with images of her face), accompanied by members of her family."
Black Friday 2009 Deals Leak Onto the Nettag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37906262009-11-16T17:29:39Z2009-11-17T16:50:21Z Though Thanksgiving is over a week away, Black Friday deals have started leaking onto the Internet already and many stores are also discounting items early. The Consumer Reports Money blog rounds up efforts of various retailers and has a...Blogs.com Editors
Though Thanksgiving is over a week away, Black Friday deals have started leaking onto the Internet already and many stores are also discounting items early. The Consumer Reports Money blog rounds up efforts of various retailers and has a good list of sites to check for deals: "Black Friday Ads, The Black Friday, TGI Black Friday, Black Friday Info, Deal News, Deal Taker, and Black Friday FM." Black Friday Ads highlights a $9.99 Blu-Ray DVD sale at Amazon and has the leaked Toys "R" Us and Babies "R" Us Black Friday ads, as well as a complete list of advertisement scans (though they caution that some ads may be fake). Engadget rounds up some of the "less monotonous-looking bargains," writing, "it looks like Kmart's going to have a 42-inch Panasonic 720p Plasma HDTV for $550 and a 10.1 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot W180 for $99. While you're there, don't forget to pick up a Jaclyn Smith cashmere sweater set for $30, too!" TGI Black Friday has a list of deals that are available online now.
The dealnews Black Friday site offers a Black Friday iPhone app, and the site also has a Black Friday Strategy Guide, including tips like this: “On Thankgiving Day, retailers like Walmart and Best Buy are expected to advertise additional Black Friday deals that weren't in their circulars. These ‘secret’ deals will only be found online (e.g., at BestBuy.com), so the trick is to uncover them on the Web on Thursday so you'll know about them when you get to the store on Friday.” PC World lists 10 fascinating facts about Black Friday, including a Mac-buying tip: “Apple typically doesn't duke it out with the Windows PC boys in the bargain basement. But that doesn't mean that Mac fans won't find deals. Best Buy will give a $150 gift card to shoppers who buy a $1000 MacBook (13.3-inch display). MacMall and other retailers have Apple deals too.” And Switched lists 10 Black Friday deals to watch for—“ Blu-ray is shaping up to be the biggest door buster of this year's Black Friday. De Grandpre expects at least one retailer will offer a Blu-ray player for just $49.”
Will you hit the mall on Black Friday? What are you hoping to buy? And have you heard rumors of any great deals? Let us know in the comments.
Best in Blogs: A Twitter Breakout, Elf Apps, Augmented Reality - It Must Be the Holiday Seasontag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37611082009-11-13T06:56:48Z2009-11-13T15:18:17Z Top Stories for the Week of Nov. 9 -13, 2009 Much exciting news from the blogscape this week. Where to begin? Boing Boing reports that the new Dodge Viper logo looks eerily like an upside down Daffy Duck. But that's...Blogs.com Editors
Top Stories for the Week of Nov. 9 -13, 2009
Much exciting news from the blogscape this week. Where to begin? Boing Boing reports that the new Dodge Viper logo looks eerily like an upside down Daffy Duck. But that's not all. A Twitter account--Sh*t My Dad Says --is being turned into a TV series. "Behold," Gawker gawks, "a brilliant burst of light as a thousand unemployed bloggers' dreams come true, and a writer who moved in with his dad and spent a lot of time on Twitter actually profits from it." Huffington Post has launched a sports section, prompting non-sports-fan Arianna to blog "as the whistle blows, and the starter pistol fires...let the games begin." Really? And Esquire magazine is experimenting with Robert Downey-related "augmented reality" - that is, content that can be accessed and controlled on Esquire's website by downloading an app and pointing the AR marker at your webcam, as Mashable explains it.
Just in time for cold and flu season, the popular "Elf Yourself" app with new tricks for Twitter and Facebook. As The Social explains, it's "the brainchild of OfficeMax, which teams up annually with online animation shop JibJab to bring forth what might be the most successful social-media marketing campaign that the Web has yet seen." Darius "Stop Calling Me Hootie" Rucker won the 2009 "best new artist" award at the 2009 Country Music Assn awards. "History is made every day," comments Mirror on America. And - good news: what looked like a hacker attack taking over zillions of Facebook groups turned out to be a public-service campaign: Says AllFacebook: "What's most significant about this hack is the amount of effort the individual or group put into creating a landing page which describes steps users can take to protect themselves online." How nice. Oh, and Mike Tyson beat on a paparazzi photographer. TMZ says "Mike got in 4 good punches and blood was gushing 'like a water fountain'," so if you ever believed that pesky celeb photogs need to answer for their misdeeds, we finally sent the right guy.
And, golly, if you ignore the occasional corporate staffing and Tyson-related "bloodbaths," there are glimmers that the economy is getting a little less dead these days. The new Call of Duty: Modern Warfare "is a big deal. Like, a really, really big deal," Switched shares with us. This week CoD:MW broke the first-day videogame sales record, moving 4.7 million copies. What!!? "And all without the controversy of playing as a gangster and sleeping with prostitutes." "In other news," adds Joystiq, "we're going to go ahead and bring you the world exclusive news that Modern Warfare 3 - 7 will be released in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 respectively."
The cool new Droid app phone has sold either 100,000 or 400,000 units, depending which respected industry analyst you ask, says VentureBeat, which adds the higher estimate is "cool, because admit it, watching the iPhone beat up all other phones on the planet combined was getting pretty dull." (AppAdvice says if 100,000 is accurate the Droid is a failure.) Google has been on a mini spree, acquiring mobile ad network AdMob for $750 million in stock, which is serious dollarage. AdMob received 2.6 billion ad requests from iPhone and iPod touch devices in September, says Business Insider. "There's really no escaping Google advertising now," says Download Squad. As if we'd want to escape all those awesome belly fat ads. Rumors also have Google pursuing VoIP start Gizmo5, sez Electronista, and that's "fueled speculation ....Google Voice currently lacks the technology necessary to route incoming or outgoing calls to landlines and cell phones, a capability Gizmo5 already offers."
Elsewhere, EA looks set to acquire Playfish, the second most popular games maker on Facebook, for like $400 million, Biz Insider says. "Playfish makes its money building addictive games for Facebook users, who get so involved that they begin to happily pay small amounts of money." Stocks blog Seeking Alpha reports the usual insider hijinks as HP moved to acquire 3Com this week. The whole market has rallied, really.
Still, the latest sign of the recovery says TechFlash is Bill Gates' House. Bill annually donates a tour of his digs for charity. "Last year, in the middle of the economic meltdown, the winning bid was $8,600. This year, with things starting to rebound, the bidding rose to $35,000."
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Sneak Peek: What's In Sarah Palin's New Book?tag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37611422009-11-12T21:07:12Z2009-11-12T21:33:27Z The first thing you need to know about Sarah Palin's upcoming book: It has "just five chapters--but they are very, very long." That's one of the tidbits from The Page, where Mark Halperin previews Going Rogue. Also, "Don't look...Blogs.com Editors
The first thing you need to know about Sarah Palin's upcoming book: It has "just five chapters--but they are very, very long." That's one of the tidbits from The Page, where Mark Halperin previews Going Rogue. Also, "Don't look for hefty policy prescriptions," but you will find "an account of how her upbringing shaped her maverick sensibilities." The book will be released on November 17; Palin's book tour begins on Monday the 16th, with Palin's appearance on Oprah. The segment has already been filmed, and Winfrey has said that she and Palin "talked about everything," while Palin wrote on her Facebook page that she "had a great conversation with Oprah today" (via Tower Ticker).
The Vote Blog
has a list of Palin's upcoming bookstore appearances and writes that
she's "already booked appearances on FOX News with Bill O'Reilly, Greta
Van Susteren, and Sean Hannity. But she also gives Barbara Walters some
time as well--not appearing on The View but a on special five-part
series airing on different ABC programs like Good Morning America and
Nightline.
We're unaware of any scheduled appearances on MSNBC. That's where many of her harshest critics work." Lou Dobbs Leaves CNN - for Fox News?tag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37592342009-11-12T16:07:33Z2009-11-12T16:12:10Z Conservative, anti-immigration CNN host Lou Dobbs is leaving his show, effective immediately, he announced last night (via TVNewser). Why is he leaving? NewsBusters speculates he's "been forced out at CNN by the left-wing attack machine and other liberal forces,"...Blogs.com Editors
Conservative, anti-immigration CNN host Lou Dobbs is leaving his show, effective immediately, he announced last night (via TVNewser). Why is he leaving? NewsBusters speculates he's "been forced out at CNN by the left-wing attack machine and other liberal forces," but Macsmind says he's headed for Fox News Business, where he has been promised "unfettered access to voice his opinion." In fact, Dobbs had quite a few opportunities to voice his opinion on CNN--the HuffPo has video clips of his most scandalous moments, including the time he insisted that illegal immigrants were bringing leprosy to America. Gawker sets the odds for what Dobbs will do next, deciding he'll probably go to Fox News, with one caveat: "Dobbs' intense xenophobia forces him to break from the pro-business pack's love of cheap immigrant labor. They'd bond over their mutual revulsion for Barack Obama, though." Dobbs will be replaced by John King, Media Decoder reports, as CNN attempts to "improve its dismal evening ratings."
Bloggers' Best Movies of the Decade Lists tag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37527002009-11-11T20:23:32Z2009-11-11T21:00:25Z Believe it or not, we're almost out of the oughts--in other words, the first decade of the century is nearly over, and with it come the best-of-the-decade lists. And the debates over the best-of-the-decade lists. The Telegraph has released...Blogs.com Editors
Believe it or not, we're almost out of the oughts--in other words, the first decade of the century is nearly over, and with it come the best-of-the-decade lists. And the debates over the best-of-the-decade lists. The Telegraph has released its list of the top 100 films that defined the "noughties," with Fahrenheit 9/11 at #1 and James Cameron's yet-to-be-released Avatar at #100, of which they write, "On the basis of a sneak 15-minute show reel, it's not premature to predict that this ground-breaking 3D sci-fi epic will change the way we look at movies." Not surprisingly, bloggers have all kinds of disagreements with the list. Re: Avatar, "it still feels like they're going mainly based on hype rather than anything concrete," writes Film Junk. And "I have a feeling they're going to get some flack for that #1."
Bridges and Tangents finds it "hard to take the list seriously when one of the worst films of the decade--Bond's relaunch in Casino Royale--comes in at number eight." And The Times of London has released its own top 100 list, with The Devil Wears Prada at #100 and Hidden at #1. The NYT's ArtsBeat says the list feels "more provocative than definitive" and (rightly) thinks Bad Santa, at #54, is "one authentic 'Huh?' moment." We're going to be seeing a lot more of these lists, predicts Snarkerati, and "if you are someone who believes the new decade begins in 2011, get ready to bang your head against a wall a lot for, oh, say, the next year."
What was your #1 movie of the decade? Let us know in the comments.
Early Christmas Present: Free WiFi from Googletag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37435522009-11-10T16:17:36Z2009-11-10T16:19:08Z Nice holiday gift: Google is offering free WiFi in select U.S. airports starting today and available through January 15, 2010 (via DailyTech). Sounds like just the thing when your flight is delayed by three hours. Google's also doing good:...Blogs.com Editors
Nice holiday gift: Google is offering free WiFi in select U.S. airports starting today and available through January 15, 2010 (via DailyTech). Sounds like just the thing when your flight is delayed by three hours. Google's also doing good: "Once you log in to one of the Wi-Fi networks, you'll have the option to donate to Engineers Without Borders, the One Economy Corporation or the Climate Savers Computing Initiative. Additionally, Google will match the donations made across all the networks up to $250,000," Mashable explains. "Finally, the airport network that generates the highest amount per passenger by January 1, 2010 will receive $15,000 to donate to the local nonprofit of their choice." The catch, says CrunchGear, is that once you log in you'll get a prompt to set Google as your default search engine and try Chrome, but that "sounds less annoying that current airport Wi-Fi that generally has a gigantic banner somewhere on the screen reminding you that you're in a wonderful airport waiting to board an H1N1-infested plane."
It's not just Google--Marketing Pilgrim writes about other companies sponsoring free WiFi this holiday season. Yahoo! is covering Times Square for a year, for instance. And Microsoft is running a campaign that gives consumers WiFi access in exchange for performing one search on Bing (via PaidContent). GigaOM has found the only possible downside: "One can imagine it's going to get a lot harder to find an empty power outlet this season."
Berlin Wall: Remembering November 9, 1989tag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37381222009-11-09T19:46:11Z2009-11-09T19:52:01Z The Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago today, and bloggers around the world are commemorating the event. CSMonitor.com has a timeline of the fall of the wall, beginning in 1961 when it was erected, and the Guardian has an...Blogs.com Editors
The Berlin Wall fell 20 years ago today, and bloggers around the world are commemorating the event. CSMonitor.com has a timeline of the fall of the wall, beginning in 1961 when it was erected, and the Guardian has an interactive map. The Denver Post's Captured has lots of photos, and the BBC's Franz Strasser's video blog takes visitors through East Germany, where he used to live. Google Sightseeing has a cool tour of the remaining parts of the wall, as well as where it used to be, via satellite photo. Abduzeedo has photos of the restored paintings on the wall, and at Design Observer, Berlin artists Renata Stih and Frieder Schnock present "Open Space," a slideshow of Berlin after reunification.
CNN's David Fitzpatrick was in Berlin the night the wall fell and recalls on Anderson Cooper 360, "East Berliners streamed through the dark streets, many of them holding lighted candles. As far as I could see, there were candles in the distance. And they sang. Sang loudly as I recall. They were singing, many of them, the anthem of the American civil rights struggle of the 1960s--'We Shall Overcome.' Picture it in your mind. Candles. Huge crowds coursing through the streets. And an American song on their lips. It was as moving a moment as I had experienced covering the disasters and wars of the world."
Mad Men Season Finale (Spoiler Alert!)tag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37373222009-11-09T17:56:50Z2009-11-09T18:46:24Z Last night Mad Men finished up its third season, and it was "an extremely well-choreographed, wacky 1960s sitcom about starting an ad agency," says Watching TV, "with scenes of slamming-door farce set in the hotel room where the firm...Blogs.com Editors
Last night Mad Men finished up its third season, and it was "an extremely well-choreographed, wacky 1960s sitcom about starting an ad agency," says Watching TV, "with scenes of slamming-door farce set in the hotel room where the firm of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is taking shape." Monkey See says the episode was "just masterfully laid out, with the sad parts not destroying the happy parts and the happy parts not doing much to change the sad parts. Both of these things are really happening: Don is entering a possibly exciting new chapter at work, but he's lost his family." "Last night's season finale was one of the best hours--well, 50 minutes, it was a short episode--of television I've ever seen," writes Answer Girl. The Zeidgeist lists the episode's best quotes. And TV Squad looks forward to the season to come: "Whether it's 1964 when Matt Weiner picks up the story, or beyond, Don Draper will be someone else and somewhere else. Betty and Ossining will be in the rear-view mirror. Over the end credits, the singer sang, 'The future is much better than the past.' We shall see."
Mostly Grinchy Reviews for A Christmas Caroltag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37157882009-11-06T20:43:32Z2009-11-06T20:45:24Z Christmas is over six weeks away, you say? Nevertheless, you can get in the holiday spirit early with Disney's 3D remake of A Christmas Carol, which comes out today. Critics have been total Scrooges about the film so far,...Blogs.com Editors
Christmas is over six weeks away, you say? Nevertheless, you can get in the holiday spirit early with Disney's 3D remake of A Christmas Carol, which comes out today. Critics have been total Scrooges about the film so far, notes Cartoon Brew, who watched just a couple minutes of footage but says it was "sufficiently inept enough to prevent me from wanting to see any more. What did it for me is the scene at about 1:15 in which a ghost floats rapidly towards Scrooge and knocks him backwards. Scrooge then does a backroll and pops up off the floor in a way that is so comically devoid of the laws of physics and inappropriate to the physical movement of a realistic human that all dramatic impact is instantly drained from the scene." But Movie Mom is blown away by the special effects: "It was not just that the Victorian setting was so meticulously created, though I plan to go back just to revel in the details. It was that I had never before seen a camera move so fluidly through so [many] different vantage points in the midst of a convincingly immersive 3D experience."
Scene-Stealers thinks the movie won't appeal to anybody: for adults "it's akin to seeing your favorite uncle drink too much at a wedding and embarrass himself on the dance floor," for kids "it's a gloomy, frightening experience fraught with purposeless eye candy." Bah, humbug! Well, maybe they just need a little time to get into the Christmas spirit.
The End of Oprah As We Know It?tag:www.blogs.com,2009://10.37156842009-11-06T20:29:22Z2009-11-06T20:41:40Z Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke reported yesterday that Oprah is giving up her CBS daytime show and taking it to OWN, her Oprah Winfrey Network. "Leaving the extraordinary visibility she enjoyed through syndication for a nosebleed cable channel is...Blogs.com Editors
Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke reported yesterday that Oprah is giving up her CBS daytime show and taking it to OWN, her Oprah Winfrey Network. "Leaving the extraordinary visibility she enjoyed through syndication for a nosebleed cable channel is a huge gamble for Oprah as a TV brand," Finke writes. "There's the possibility that OWN could distribute her new talk show for syndication. But I hear no one is talking about that now." "Adversely affected would be CBS, obviously," says NY Mag's Vulture, "but also the ABC stations that air Oprah, plus all of the other things on which she exerts an influence (so long, publishing industry!)." AdAge's MediaWorks reports that OWN's "launch date has also been a moving target--initially set for fourth-quarter 2009, then pushed back until summer 2010. Now reports are putting that date closer to early 2011 to accommodate a possible acquisition of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show.'" "This could be the end of an era (or lead to a true explosion in cable," remarks I'm Not Obsessed. "If it's true."