Ananas

Leno did quite the tribute last night, but I think Craig Ferguson's thoughts were quite eloquent as well. Leno had the benefit of having grown up with Carson and having met him many times, not to mention having the Late Night archives at his disposal, but Ferguson spoke from the heart, and it really was touching. Kudos to both of them, although I'm curious as to John Stewart apparently not mentioning it. I don't consider it shallow to tribute the man, rather a sign of respect to the guy who paved the way, and if it's true that Stewart did nothing but feature him in his "moment of zen", that's a shame.

Was that not Amy, the topic of dicussion through out this thread? ←

Hopefully, but no. ABC will shell out tons of money to them, and then realize their mistake when no one watches it next season. ←

They'll get pay raises without much resistance. Essentially, anyone who's on either Lost, Desperate Housewives or Alias is royalty in ABC's eyes. After going from 4th to 2nd in overall ratings in one year, you can bet the brass will be willing to reach into their pocket books to keep everything that's working. Whether they deserve a raise is one thing, but it is a bit ridiculous how much more someone like Matt Leblanc is making to do a lower rated show.

I disagree, I'm interested to see how the lesbian storyline plays out because not only does it add that angle, but then it throws in something between Seth and Marissa and also like Ryan and Marissa again. Not to mention things like how Summer handles her best friend being a lesbian/bi-sexual, how Newport handles, etc... ←

I've been a fan since the start, although I'm no longer certain I am one after this past Thursday's episode. It brought back too many shades of "North Shore", and it just seems they're going in a 180 of what they ought to be doing.

Saw 3 of those: Passion of the Christ is 3rd on my top 10 8.5/10. Finding Neverland is 7th 8/10. Butterfly Effect is 75th 5/10.

Matt Damon > Puppets. This is blasphemy.

It reminds me of Chick N Stu and Prison Song as a great opener for an album, although I guess you could make the comparison to Bounce on the 2 minute Penis joke level too.

I have never been brought to orgasm by song. Then this came along. If the rest of the double album is this good, SOAD have not lost a step. Listen, and then sing your praise below.

Elektra - ** (4/10) When a big budget action movie is dumped in January hell, it's a decent premonition that they have absolutely nothing in the way of expectations for its success. Either that or the film's studio has ludicrously naive hopes for January as a box office draw. While the latter could be true for the Rob Bowman directed Elektra, 20th Century Fox would have been absolutely justified in believing the former. This film is a muddled up emotionless action picture that goes around in circles without managing to progress at any point throughout. Now this is an unofficial spin-off from the 2003 Ben Affleck hit Daredevil (back when he was still making hits), but aside from a few seconds of archived footage, the original film is not even referenced. Instead, we see an Elektra who is supposed to be more reminiscent of the comic book heroin, but in the end fails to tribute either the screen or print version of the character. While Jennifer Garner tries her best to make the poor writing work, she falls sort because she has virtually nothing to work with. Zakk Penn and company have managed to actually make a Garner character seem condescending, dull and quite frankly, a bit of a bitch. Now the action sequences are intense if not exactly enthralling, and they're perhaps the most enjoyable part of the movie (apart from perhaps the salacious camera shots of Garner clad in Elektra's costume which of course only panders to heterosexual males and likeminded females), but they're too few and far between. In the end, this is just another dull, disappointing piece that fails to create identifiable characters like Matt Murdoch or even Elektra herself in the Daredevil film. Thumbs down. Oh, and what the fuck happened to the Affleck cameo?

In Good Company - *** (6.5/10) In Good Company is a rarely found original film that combines convincing characters with charming comedy that is both intriguing at the beginning and rewarding by the end. Directed by Paul Weitz, it stars Dennis Quaid as Dan Foreman, head of ad-sales for a sports magazine until it comes under new ownership, and an up and coming kid half his age named Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) takes over. The plot essentially follows the parralelled issues these two characters are going through, with Dan's mid-life crisis and Carter's mounting feelings of uncertainty and discomfort as well as depression. Scarlett Johansson plays Alex Foreman, Dan's daughter and Carter's eventual love interest, although they play it as more the attraction of two opposites than an archetypal romance. This film is extremely creative, yet maintains a level of realism (most specifically in the office comings and goings) throughout. It features two excellent characters played to a tee by their respective cast members. We see their feelings of insecurity, and best of all the writing allows us to understand why they feel this way. It's also packed with quirky comedic moments that keep the potentially dark film much lighter and "feel good". In Good Company is a good, if not remarkable film. Thumbs up.

The Incredibles. Finding Neverland gets an honorable mention, but The Incredibles are bad ass.

Ray's 12 spots higher on my list, but I agree that Jamie Foxx's performance was better than the movie on its own. Ocean's Twelve was 8 spots lower, so touche.

Lots of pretty people; hopefully pretty translates to "not suck" this year. Anyone watch the preview video? Why would you go from 18 to 20 Survivors only to get rid of three of them first episode? Ah well, if they really mean they're giving them absolutely nothing it should be cool.

The Phantom of the Opera - **** (8/10) The first time I saw this movie, I thought that Gerard Butler was all that detracted from my entertainment, mainly because of the youthful good looks and the tone of his voice. On further examination, he may be the film's greatest asset. Sure, Emmy Rossum is entrancing and Joel Schumacher's direction makes the film seem bigger than the stage production ever was, but Butler is the Phantom played the way he should be played. Instead of the barreling sopranos such as Crawford and Wilkinson who have brought the character to the stage, Gerard Butler has a softer, more entrancing voice that makes the spell upon Christine seem to make more sense. He's not a classically trained opera voice, but then again neither was Erik. He never had professional voice training, but from an early age he developed the ability to hypnotize people with the speaking and singing tone of his voice. His character is really the anti-thesis to the male prima donna's of the time like Piangi. Now as for his age and disfigurements, I thought they were much better upon the second viewing. Sure Lon Chaney was disturbing in the Erik role, but that film was presented in a clear way so as to make the him the villain. In this version, we're supposed to see him not as the villain but the tragic hero; a man who would have accomplished unmatched feats had he been shown the slightest bit of love during his life. Butler goes to great lengths to show that this character is carrying the sorrows of the world on his shoulder, and when he is unmasked, he looks not only the estimated age of the character (around 50), but in fact years older. This is a terrific movie for any fan of the stage production, despite the negative feedback. Thumbs up.

Lost in Translation was fantastic but since it got it's initial release in 2003, I don't consider it 04. The Punisher was ridiculously disappointing, Man on Fire was quite solid and I didn't see Metallica - Some Kind of Monster. Some respectable picks so far; why do I get the feeling the top is going to be full of ridiculous choices?