FRED Entertainment

Author: UncaScroogeMcD

  • QSE News: 6/12/2007

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    Here are today’s top entertainment headlines:

    • qsnews.jpgGus Van Sant has been attached to direct a film adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. The book, which is a true account of a cross country trip by author Ken Kesey, focuses on extreme drug use.  At this time no actors have actually been cast, but producers are expected to give the Kool-Aid Man a minor cameo appearance.
    • It has been announced that Director Tim Story, whose Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer opens this week, will direct a movie based on another comic book, The Losers.  Story has said that the movie will stick closely to the comic book and will be about a rag-tag group of betrayed soldiers, and not comic book fans.
    • It appears Kate Moss is looking for a fight with singer Amy Winehouse. Moss allegedly had Winehouse’s husband thrown out of a VIP tent at the recent Isle of Wight festival. Responding to the slight against her and her husband, Winehouse has proposed a challenge to Moss to settle the rift before it gets worse ““ the first one to shoot 50 kilograms of junk into their eye socket wins.

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    That’s all for today’s news, stay tuned to this channel for all the news that matters least but you still care about.

    (Compiled by J. Allen)

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  • Quick Stop Thingamabobs: 6/12/2007

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    The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦

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    • Penn & Teller explain sleight of hand.. (Thingamabob)

    Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!

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  • SModcast 15

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    SModcast is the meandering palaver of a pair of dudes whose voices are so dull, they don’t deserve to be on the radio (and, hence, aren’t). Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier are SModcast.

    The best thing about SModcast? It don’t cost nothing.

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    SModcast 15: The Pretty-Good Worker –

    In which things go back to normal and our heroes discuss the passing of a bear-like legend, ruminate on the emotional and physical perils of pet ownership, confess to being cat people, fret over Weiners hunting weiners, become the Jolie of dog adoption, and incur the wrath of all right-thinking and decent people by spending nearly an hour trying to figure out whether Helen Keller was truly impaired or just party to an elaborate ruse.

    [CONTENT WARNING] SModcast features harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Listener discretion is advised.

    DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
    SModcast 15 (MP3 format) – 52.15 MB

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    SUBSCRIBE
    Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
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    Wanna add your two cents? Spend it here, in the SModcast mailbag.

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    CLICK HERE FOR THE SMODCAST ARCHIVES

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  • Nocturnal Admissions: DVD Review WR: Mysteries of the Organism, Sweet Movie

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    WR: Mysteries of the Organism is one of the greatest films ever made, but yet is largely forgotten and never makes Best Of lists. Even during its short, intense phase of art house popularity in 1971, it suffered mispronunciation, most people reading the title as “Mysteries of the Orgasm,” a not inappropriate confusion, as it turns out, given the film’s subject matter, which is in part psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich’s concern with freeing human energy through fruitful sexual climaxes. An image from the film even made it as the cover image for Amos Vogel’s Film as a Subversive Art, but that was it (and even the book is out of print). Like his Hungarian counterpart, Miklós Jancsó, director of such now forgotten masterpieces as The Red and the White, Makavejev is a man without a country or a legacy. Now thanks to the Criterion Collection, which has released Both WR and its companion feature Sweet Movie (CC Nos. 389 and 390, respectively), viewers can enjoy the continual relevance of the film to contemporary times and revel in director Dusan Makavejev’s knack for finding the most exotic Balkan women on the planet, already made evidence in his earlier features Love Affair; or The Case of the Missing Switchboard Operator and Man is Not a Bird.

    Milina military style

    WR tells two stories in one film, or is two movies as one, a kind of intellectual Grindhouse. The first is a playful documentary of film essay on the life and thought of Reich, who was hounded by the U S government and died in prison in the mid 1950s. Scenes from this movie alternate with episodes from a fiction comedy about a Yugoslavian communist girl (Milena Dravic) having trouble reconciling her belief in the party with her sexuality. The documentary contrasts such things as fictional enactments of Stalin in Soviet cinema with Nancy Godfrey, the woman who made plaster casts of rock star penises.

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    It’s a very funny movie and also a time capsule of concerns raging at the height of the hippie and protest movements in the West. In the Reich part, Tuli Kupferberg, ex member of the Fugs, marches up the boulevard and in front of Lincoln Center as a demented soldier offering a form of street theater that is linked to Reich’s ideas that militarism and in turn fascism are the result of blocked sexual energy. Makavejev makes hay with the contrast between the European intellectuals who trucked into Reich’s campus in upstate Maine and the local yokels who comment on his odd behavior from the perspective of their bedrock simplicity, including the town sherif’s deputy who is also the town barber, who describes the odd manner in which Reich liked to have his hair styled (the strands rising up, toward heaven). Today’s sensibility might note that Reich, like all Freudians, was, consciously or not, a snake oil specialist with a bogus philosophy, but in the abstract his ideas are more congenial than Less a “talking cure,” Reich’s approach was more a screaming cure, finding its apotheosis years later in the practice of Arthur Janov.

    Milina and skater

    Dravic’s story is ostensibly funny but has a tragic core. She is a well meaning sad sack, yearning for sex, but she is not as lucky as her apartment mate (the delightful non-pro Jagoda Kaloper, who has real sex on screen with kittenish abandon, perhaps the perfect living argument for Reich’s ideals). She ends up with a State hero, a blonde haired championship ice skater who, instead of having sex with her, cuts off her head with the blade of his skate in a fustian of repressed rage and sexuality, afterwards wandering a deranged landscape with bloody hands where he finds a lone horse, a symbol of the free spirit he just silenced. One could write a whole essay about stray horses in modern movies.

    Dusan today

    WR comes in a window boxed full frame (1.33) transfer wit two sound options, mono 1.0 in all Serbo-Croatian, or English with Serbo-Croatian, plus optional English subtitles. For supplementary material, there is a commentary track pieced together from Raymond Durgnat’s BFI monograph on the movie, the late critic’s words read by Daniel Stewart. Durgnat’s book may have single handedly revived interest in the film. There are also two interviews with Makavejev, the first a half hour interview for Danish television, the second one from 2006 and conducted by Peter Cowie for the disc. Also included is a short self portrait, Hole in the Soul (1994), made for Scottish BBC, which features such curious scenes as Makavejev, a director, disallowed from shooting footage in the lobby of the Director’s Guild. The is also a four minute feature concerning a revised version of WR that Makavejev made exclusively for the BBC, which gave the director a chance to rethink aspects of the film. Finally there is a 16-page booklet insert with cast and crew, transfer information, chapter titles, and a long essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum, plus a booklet promoting Criterion’s noir films.

    Carole Laure in chocolate

    What egg yokes are to WR, chocolate is to Sweet Movie, which continues an exploration of the themes of sensuality and repression. This film, too, tells two heavily symbolic stories, one about Anna Prucnal as a prostitute living on a ship on which she cruises through Amsterdam, this tale blending themes of death and revolution. The second concerns the Candide-style (or Candy or Barbarella style) odyssey of a young woman, played by French Canadian actress Carole Laure, and ends up with the so called Actionist commune (to the real horror of Laure). It’s difficult to reconcile Makavejev’s concern with sexual freedom with the way Laure’s character is treated, little more than an impersonal piece of human debris carted from one extreme and unpleasant situation to another.

    Boat prostitute

    Aspects of Sweet Movie hark back to key films in cinema history, including Jean Vigo’s L’atalanta, and anticipates some aspects of Lars Von Trier. But in the end it is a much more chaotic film than WR, and its international cast and settings detach Makavejev from his roots, that is, Yugoslavia, where his anger and humor fueled his art. Sweet Movie is too often garish and adolescent, whereas his earlier films were sensual, keyed to textures and fabrics, and with a less oblique operating principle. The role of John Vernon, for example, as a millionaire industrialist, is only one in a succession of cartoon figures.

    Sweet Movie comes in a widescreen transfer (1.66, enhanced), with a mono 1.0 – French – English track. For supplements, there is a short segment of Anna Prucnal singing a song used in the film on a French TV show, who reveals that one of the consequences of her appearance in the film was that she was banned from Poland for seven years. And there is another interview with Makavejev by Peter Cowie, plus one with Dina Iordanova, a film scholar who explains the background and meaning of the movie. Inside the box, there is a 16-page booklet insert with cast and crew, transfer information, chapter titles, and essays by Stanley Cavell and David Sterritt, plus the booklet promoting Criterion’s noir films. Both WR and Sweet Movie hit the street on June 19, and retail for $39.95 and $29.95.

  • QSE News: 6/11/2007

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    Here are today’s top entertainment headlines:

    • qsnews.jpgThe film Ocean’s Thirteen was number one at the box office this past weekend. The film is the third in the continuing adventures of Danny Ocean, played by George Clooney.  The success of the film surprised many as it is actually a good, well made movie ““ the likes of which have not been well received by the American public.
    • In continued movie news, the horror sequel Hostel: Part II made only $8.8 million on its opening weekend. Experts are trumpeting the end of the resurgent horror genre as several of the more recent horror films have failed to live up to expectations. The experts are saying this despite the success of Shrek 3, the most horrifying movie ever made.
    • It has been announced that the movie Fletch Won has a new director and star.  After many years in development, the movie will now feature Dawson’s Creek alum Joshua Jackson as the title character and will be directed by Steve Pink.  Producers of the film settled on Jackson to star in the role after their first choice, Richard Simmons, was deemed too old for the role.

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    That’s all for today’s news, stay tuned to this channel for all the news that matters least but you still care about.

    (Compiled by J. Allen)

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  • Quick Stop Thingamabobs: 6/11/2007

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    The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦

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    • What does Batman do with a bomb that isn’t Batman & Robin?… (Thingamabob)
    • Skinheads from Maine, courtesy of The Dana Carvey Show… (Thingamabob)
    • I could care less for sports, but I do make exceptions for videos like these… (Thingamabob)

    Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!

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  • Keneteph’s Corner: My Favorite Things “Cali” – Stix In The Mix Productions

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    keneteph2007-06-08-01.jpgStaying in northern Cali, I have to talk about indie HipHop producer “Stix.” He’s a classically trained pianist who KNOWS HipHop, and KNOWS how a HipHop track should sound. Because of his trained ear, many indie and mainstream artists alike go to him for production on their projects. Bay Area artists such as Too Short, B-Legit, and Keak da Sneak, have graced their vocals on Stix’s tracks.

    The 31-year-old single father was classically trained at eight years old, and has been making Hip Hop beats since 13. This applied background gives him a wide range of tracks for any fans’ or artists’ tastes, from underground, mainstream, soulful, Hyphy, gangster or conscious. Stix took some time out to answer questions, giving us more info on his style.

    THAAHUM: What is your opinion of the HipHop beats that are out today?

    STIX: I think the beats are sounding better today than they’ve ever sounded. Hip hop keeps getting more versatile, from beats like Timberland’s to the chopped & screwed sound to the hyphy movement, there’s a lot more choices nowadays. That’s why hip hop’s bigger than ever. I think the lyrics were deeper in the old school, definitely sent a better message, but we’re talking about beats here.

    THAAHUM: What style of tracks do you like to make?

    STIX: The kind that get radio play.

    THAAHUM: Who are your influences?

    STIX: I’m influenced by the current sound. My job is to make hot production, so I have to be aware of trends and give the artists I work with the best shot at getting radio play. I can’t let my sound get dated – that’s when producers start showing their age.

    THAAHUM: As far as producing goes, what are your long term goals and ambitions?

    STIX: In 10 years I’ll still be in the studio. I know hip hop isn’t going anywhere. That’s the good thing about producing – you could be 60 and no one’s going to care, as long as the beat is hot.

    THAAHUM: Where do you draw your inspiration from?

    STIX: Sometimes I’ll hear something totally new and inventive on the radio and that’ll inspire me. Sometimes inspiration comes out of nowhere. It’s hard to pinpoint.

    THAAHUM: What type of equipment do you like to use, and why?

    STIX: When it comes to sounds, the sky’s the limit. I have a phantom, a motif, an ASR sampler, a Roland 8080, a trinity, and a Mo Phatt (these are all keyboards). Sounds are where it’s at. From the kick to the snare to the synth. You got to have the right sounds in hip hop.

    THAAHUM: What makes your style different from other producers?

    STIX: I think I have a different perspective from some producers because music didn’t start with making beats for me. I’ve been playing piano since I was eight. I’m still influenced by Chopin, Beethoven, Brahms & others. They had some gangsta azz music.

    THAAHUM: Many hip hop fans only like tracks where sampling or live instrumentation is used. What do you say to folks who prefer sampling over using keyboards? Is one better than the other?

    STIX: Sampling is good, but keyboards can still capture good sounds. Technology is getting better where keyboard sounds are sounding more authentic. Piano sounds on a keyboard sound just like a real piano. It is like using CGI for movies – just enough can enhance the film, but too much can make the film look too fake.

    For more information and to check out sample tracks go to www.stixinthemix.com, and www.myspace.com/stixinthemix

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    -Copyright 2007 Keneteph Entertainment

  • Weekend Shopping Guide 6/8/07: Gentlemen’s Wager

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    The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

    The 80’s were a brilliant golden age of movie comedies unlike any before or since – well, in my view, anyway. And no, I’m in no way denigrating comedies prior to or after that, but there was a special brand of comedy plied in the 80’s, and two of the best films of that era were Trading Places and Coming To America (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$14.99 SRP each) – both directed by John Landis, and both starring Eddie Murphy. Best of all, these two films have gotten the special edition treatment, featuring newly-remastered prints, retrospective featurettes, vintage featurettes, trailers, and more. Now where’s my special edition of Spies Like Us? And yes, I’m serious…

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    It’s been a long gap since the last Seinfeld set (one can presume that it might have been delayed to let the Richards matter fade a bit), but we can finally dig into the seventh volume, featuring the penultimate 8th season (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$49.95 SRP). This was the season of “Yadda Yadda” and “Bizarro Jerry,” plus the season following the departure of co-creator Larry David. In addition to all 22 episodes, the exceptionally high amount of bonus material has been maintained, with commentaries, bloopers, behind-the-scenes featurettes and interviews, deleted scenes, “Sein-imation” scenes, and a documentary on the production of season 5 (“Jerry Seinfeld: Submarine Captain”).

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    Finally, the crimefighting Colt Severs – the unknown stuntman – is on DVD. The hay that he winds up in may be only hay, but this Lee Majors vehicle The Fall Guy (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) was a childhood favorite, most of it due to the legendary theme song (sung by Majors himself). The 6-disc set features all 22 first season episodes, plus a retrospective featurette. I can’t tell you how pathetically thrilled I am that there is actually a featurette that focuses solely on the theme song.

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    How many of you remember that on April 9, 2000, George Clooney produced a live version of the Cold War nuclear meltdown film Fail Safe (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP)? Presented in two separate performances on the East and west coast, it was a star-studded tour de force that gave a wonderful (and black & white!) slice of what the golden age of television might have been like, and after long being available overseas, you can finally get a copy of the program in the US.

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    The second season of Mission: Impossible (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.99 SRP) arrives on DVD, featuring the new head of IMF, the legendary Jim Phelps (Peter Graves). The 7-disc set features 25 missions guaranteed to self-destruct after viewing… well, maybe not, but you still get the crackerjack team of Cinnamon Carter, Rollin Hand, and Willie Armitage (Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, and Greg Morris) doing the impossible.

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    The BBC have taken the storyline that featured the transition from the Tom Baker to the Peter Davison Doctor Who – precipitated by the nefarious machinations of the Master – and collected them in one easy 3-disc box set under the title Doctor Who: New Beginnings (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). The storylines featured in the set are “The Keeper Of Traken,” “Logopolis” (Baker’s swan song), and “Castrovalva.” As usual, the discs are packed with bonus materials, including audio commentary, interviews, documentaries, BBC news reports, trailers, deleted scenes, and much more.

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    Though the two sequels took a flaming nosedive in quality and story, there’s no denying that the Matrix trilogy was a visual feast of special effects whoa-wizardry. That visual flair makes them perfect fodder for showing off the a/v punch of high definition, which for me is the real reason to pick up the 4-disc Ultimate Matrix box-set in HD-DVD (Warner Bros., Rated R, HD-DVD-$119.99 SRP). This set is nearly identical in bonus content to the standard DVD Ultimate collection, so the real selling point is the absolutely stunning quality of the visuals themselves. Like I said, this is one of those reference discs you’ll pop in just to show off to your friends.

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    If you want a look at how snazzy a classic flick would look in high definition, then try the newly-released HD-DVD upgrade of Casablanca (Warner Bros., Not Rated, HD-DVD- $28.99 SRP) and prepare to be duly impressed. As far as bonus materials are concerned, it’s loaded with the exact same complement as the standard release – meaning a ton of quality stuff – but the real draw is the picture itself.

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    Kudos to Toho and Classic Media for another great pair of remastered Godzilla flicks – Invasion of Astro-Monster and Ghidorah The Three-Headed Monster (Classic Media, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP). As with the previous special editions, both the original Japanese and American versions are presented, uncut, with audio commentaries and trailers.

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    Although it didn’t arrive in time to make into the pre-Memorial Day guide, I did spend a fair chunk of the recent holiday digging through the wartime treasures found in the second volume of Warner’s World War II Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). The 6 films featured in the set are Air Force, Command Decision, Hell To Eternity, The Hill, 36 Hours, and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo. Not content to just release the flicks themselves, Warner’s has also loaded the discs with WWII-era shorts, classic cartoons, and vintage trailers.

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    Also post-Memorial Day was a trio of new 2-disc special editions of Fox wartime classics – Von Ryan’s Express, Twelve O’Clock High, and The Sand Pebbles (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP each). Bonus materials include audio commentaries, retrospective documentaries, new and vintage interviews & behind-the-scenes featurettes, trailers, and more.

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    Courtesy of a new US distribution deal with Fremantle Media, a pair of long-running British dramas are getting their US DVD debut with the release of the complete first seasons of both The Bill and The Sweeney (BCI, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP each). For American viewers, the best way to explain them is that The Sweeney is like a grittier Starsky & Hutch, and The Bill is like a Brit Hill Street Blues. Both sets are packed with bonus features, including commentaries, featurettes, galleries, and more.

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    The fearless Officers Jon and Ponch and their oh-so-very-80’s tales of the motorcycle-mounted California Highway Patrol are now at your digital beck-and-call with the complete first season of ChiPs (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP). The 6-disc set features all 22 episodes, plus trivia from Erik Estrada, and a spotlight on him, as well. Whither Larry Wilcox?

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    Even though some may cry foul based on who owns the site these words appear on, I legitimately did enjoy the largely lightweight dramatic romantic comedy (dromedy?) Catch & Release (Columbia Pictures, Rated PG-13, DVD-$28.95 SRP), which stars Jennifer Garner as a woman recovering from the sudden death of her fiancé who moves in with his best friends (one of which is played by Mr. Kevin Smith, yes, and another is Quick Stop’s own Sam Jaeger). They all attempt to cheer her up, but it’s the standoffish one (Timothy Olyphant) that, wouldn’t you know it, she becomes romantically drawn to. Typical. Bonus features include a pair of audio commentaries (one of which is writer/director Susannah Grant and, yes, Mr. Smith).

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    Unlike the sad “lost episodes” of Chappelle’s Show that Comedy Central released last year, as far as money-making exploitation goes, at least the single-disc Best of Chappelle’s Show (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) does actually contain some of the show’s best material – everything from the blind white supremacist Clayton Bigsby to Rick James.

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    There’s nothing quite like the dulcet tones of Jim Backus coming from that near-sighted senior citizen, Mr. Magoo, and you can now purchase the complete collection of all 26 full shows (130 cartoons) from the 60’s television adventures of The Mr. Magoo Show (Classic Media, Not Rated, DVD-$26.95 SRP). The 4-disc set is completely remastered, and also contains a reprint of a vintage 1963 Magoo comic.

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    By all accounts, Ocean’s Thirteen has recovered from the mediocre fumble that was Ocean’s 12, but not having seen the flick, the only thing I can comment on is the soundtrack album of the David Holmes score (Warner Sunset, $18.98 SRP)… which is quite good. Great, even. I hope the film is, too.

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    Considering his bad luck when it comes to keeping quality shows on the air, congrats to Denis Leary for the ongoing success of Rescue Me, which is about to enter its fourth season. The complete third season (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$49.95 SRP) is now out on DVD, picking up after the devastating events that wrapped up season 2, and left the 62 Truck crew reeling. If you haven’t experienced the show yet, snap up all 3 seasons post haste. The 4-disc set features all 13 episodes, plus 5 featurettes, a location tour, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes clips, a blooper reel, and a Rescue Me comedy short.

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    The madcap misadventures of the prisoners of Germany’s most inept Stalag return for one last run of adventures in the sixth and final season of Hogan’s Heroes (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$38.99 SRP). Th 4-disc set features all 24 episodes of Colonel Klink-thwarting escape attempts, but sadly no real resolution. “Nussing” indeed.

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    The second Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP) features 5 of the latter flicks made by the duo before their less-than-amicable split. Fully restored, the 3-disc set presents Pardners, Hollywood Or Bust, Living It Up, You’re Never Too Young, and Artists and Models.

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    You know that Warner Bros. is serious about dusting out every corner of the Hanna-Barbera library when you get the complete first season of their early 70’s sitcom Wait Till Your Father Gets Home (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP). Like an animated precursor to King of the Hill with more than a passing influence from All In The Family, starring Tom Bosley as blue collar everyman Harry Boyle, who’s culturally adrift in the Age of Aquarius. The 4-disc set features all 24 episodes, plus a retrospective featurette.

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    Is it wrong that I didn’t know that USA’s Dead Zone was still on the air? Well, it is, and the complete fifth season is now on DVD (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP). The 3-disc set features all 11 episodes, plus a pair of behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and four audio commentaries.

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    Shake your groove thang to a brand new special edition of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (MGM/UA, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), the Aussie drag comedy which has steadily become a member of that exclusive pantheon of films that have become bona fide cult classics. Bonus features include an audio commentary, a retrospective featurette, deleted scenes, outtakes, the original theatrical trailer, and more.

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    The CW need not bother trying to do an anachronistic, teenybopper soap version of the Robin Hood legend, because the BBC has beat them to it. Think I’m being too harsh? Check out the complete first season of their Robin Hood (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$79.98 SRP) and see what I mean, as it’s simply too sickeningly slick for words. The 5-disc set features all 13 episodes, plus commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and character profiles.

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    So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

    -Ken Plume

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  • QSE News: 6/8/2007

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    Here are today’s top entertainment headlines:

    • qsnews.jpgA Canadian author has brought suit against NBC Universal and writer/director Judd Apatow, claiming that they stole her idea for the movie Knocked Up.  In the suit, Rebecca Eckler claims that there are several similarities between her book, also called Knocked Up, and the film.  We here at QSE throw our support behind Apatow and NBC in fighting this money hungry wench.  We know that Hollywood only produces completely original material and no one in the industry would stoop so low as to steal an idea from a book.
    • Tom DeSanto, producer for the X-Men films and the upcoming Transformers movie, has announced that he has secured the rights to the online video game City of Heroes.  City of Heroes is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game where players design their own costumed alter egos.  At this time it is unclear if any female characters in the movie will actually be played by females, or if they will be played by males pretending to be females.
    • All things must end, and now Bob Barker has taped his last episode of The Price is Right. Barker was the sole host of game show for the last 35 years. Those of you that have not spayed or neutered your pets… watch out. Bob is a crazy sonofabitch and will come after you. After all, he warned you for 35 years.

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    That’s all for today’s news, stay tuned to this channel for all the news that matters least but you still care about.

    (Compiled by J. Allen)

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  • Quick Stop Thingamabobs: 6/8/2007

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    The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦

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    • One day, you may never need to plug anything in… (Thingamabob)
    • Never doubt the creepy ingenuity of a Transformers fan… (Thingamabob)

    Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!

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  • Ken P. D. Snyde-Cast #27: Didgeridon’t

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    Adult Swim’s Dana Snyder and FRED’s Ken Plume set out to have a literate conversation between two pals, but inevitably devolve into a verbal, and funny, free-for-all full of bickering, infighting, and the special kind of male bonding that comes from conflict expressed through the podcast medium.

    Actor/comedian/raconteur Dana Snyder, you’re certainly aware, is Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Master Shake, Squidbillies‘ Granny, Minoriteam’s Dr. Wang, and The Venture Bros.‘ Alchemist. Available for weddings and bar mitzvahs (bat availability pending), you can keep tabs on him via his website, www.eyeofthesnyder.com.

    Ken Plume is the editor-in-chief here at FRED. He is a friend of Dana’s, as well as his arch-nemesis.

    VISIT THE SNYDECAST EXPERIENCE

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    KEN P.D. SNYDECAST #27: Didgeridon’t – [adult swim]’s Dana Snyder and Ken Plume’s weekly chat podcast returns, as Ken & Dana return from an extended walkabout for a very special Australian edition of the Snydecast that was presumed lost to the ages, but has been rescued and is presented here. Listen as Ken & Dana revel in the discovery of a supposedly real group of fans Down Under, and Ken makes a pact with Dana that proves to be disastrously one-sided…

    [CONTENT WARNING]: This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

    DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
    Episode #27 (MP3 format)

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    Got something to say? E-mail Dana & Ken at the Snydecast mailbag.

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    CLICK HERE FOR THE SNYDECAST ARCHIVES

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  • QSE News: 6/7/2007

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    Here are today’s top entertainment headlines:

    • qsnews.jpgWarner Brothers has announced that it will be producing a live action movie based on the classic 80s cartoon Thundercats.  The announcement of the movie comes only a few short weeks after it was revealed that another 80s cartoon, He-Man, would also be getting a movie.  These recent announcements have many fans of the original cartoons eagerly awaiting the movies and the chance to masturbate to a real life Cheetara and She-Ra. Because masturbating to a cartoon just makes you fell… sad.
    • Rumors abound that Britney Spears may replace Paula Abdul as a judge on the next American Idol. The last season of the show saw a noticeable ratings dip and producers are allegedly looking to change the show’s judges. Britney looks like a solid contender for the spot and even commented on the possibility by saying “I’m just as big a train wreck as Paula and I’m equally talent-less, so I think the transition would be pretty easy for everyone.” Spears went on to add, “Besides… I don’t wear underwear.”
    • Therapists across the country are upset with The Sopranos after a recent episode that featured a therapist revealing the name of a patient to guests at a diner party. To do so in real life would be a series ethical issue and a violation of patient privacy rights. Series writer David Chase responded by asking the upset therapists “so… how does that relate to the relationship with your mother?”

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    That’s all for today’s news, stay tuned to this channel for all the news that matters least but you still care about.

    (Compiled by J. Allen)

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  • Quick Stop Thingamabobs: 6/7/2007

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    The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦

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    • Jeff Jarvis’s comments on the recent bitch-slapping of the FCC… (Thingamabob)
    • Now, THIS is the way to obsessively, frighteningly realize a live action Thundercats… (Thingamabob)
    • It’s a bit sad that I can never get enough of time lapse photography… (Thingamabob)

    Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!

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  • QSE News: 6/6/2007

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    Here are today’s top entertainment headlines:

    • qsnews.jpgRapper The Game is facing gun related charges after an incident at a basketball game in February. Mr. Game is being charged with making a criminal threat and possessing a firearm in a school area. And with that, we here at QSE would like to congratulate ourselves for our 1,000th “rapper arrested” story. We’d like to thank all the little people that helped us get to this point, and we’d especially like to thank the hip-hop culture of violence and misogyny.
    • Organizers have released a preliminary list of movies that will be represented at this year’s San Diego Comic-con. Among the comic book themed films like Hellboy 2 and Wanted, studios will also be pushing films such as Balls of Fury, Indiana Jones 4 and Sweeney Todd. These presentations will not be seen by any women.
    • Word has leaked that there are four, yes four, movies in the works about the life of Sammy Davis, Jr.  Among the stars to tackle the legendary one-eyed singer are Denzel Washington, and Andre 3000 from the rap group Outkast.  While four movies may seem like a lot for one subject, it pales in comparison to the 7 movies that are being made about the life of corpulent ex-talk show host (and beloved light of our news columnist -ed.) Rosie O’Donnell.

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    That’s all for today’s news, stay tuned to this channel for all the news that matters least but you still care about.

    (Compiled by J. Allen)

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  • Quick Stop Thingamabobs: 6/6/2007

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    The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦

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    • It’s hard to relate the difficult and life-changing affect that losing your testicles in an accident has on your life when the host of the talk show you’re on can’t control himself… (Thingamabob)
    • Have you heard about Kevin Smith’s new movie?… (Thingamabob)

    Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!

    ##

  • QSE News: 6/5/2007

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    Here are today’s top entertainment headlines:

    • qsnews.jpgThe band Cartel may have to find another bubble to record their next album as the one they are currently using burst. The band is recording a new album inside a Dr. Pepper sponsored bubble for a reality TV show set to air on MTV. The band’s management had nothing to say despite the foreshadowing.
    • On a sad musical note, the drummer for the up and coming indie-rock band Ra Ra Riot has died.  John Pike was reported missing on Saturday and his body turned up floating in Buzzard’s Bay in Rhode Island on Sunday.  While police are continuing their investigation into Pike’s death, they are not ruling out Fa Fa Foul Play.
    • Katie Holmes says she’s ready for more kids. Holmes has just recently returned to acting with a role in the film Mad Money, which is currently filming in Louisiana. When questioned further about her child and plans for expanding her family, Holmes became nervous and had to ask for the script that her husband Tom Cruise had provided for her, before continuing the interview.

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    That’s all for today’s news, stay tuned to this channel for all the news that matters least but you still care about.

    (Compiled by J. Allen)

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  • Quick Stop Thingamabobs: 6/5/2007

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    The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦

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    • Can you decipher the hidden message?… (Thingamabob)
    • Get your own Rocky & Bullwinkle blanket… (Thingamabob)
    • Now THIS is a smeggin’ Transformer… (Thingamabob)

    Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!

    ##

  • SModcast 14

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    SModcast is the meandering palaver of a pair of dudes whose voices are so dull, they don’t deserve to be on the radio (and, hence, aren’t). Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier are SModcast.

    The best thing about SModcast? It don’t cost nothing.

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    SModcast 14: On Guard For Thee –

    In which our heroes cross the border with a guest from the True North, analyze the “Loose Change” of UFOs, posit that even unidentified species worship the Devils, lament the loss of Bigfoot, question Nessie’s diet, theorize how the Republicans can take the White House for the next one hundred terms, and reveal Canada’s greatest shame.

    [CONTENT WARNING] SModcast features harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Listener discretion is advised.

    DOWNLOAD: (right click to save)
    SModcast 14 (MP3 format) – 37.52 MB

    [display_podcast]

    SUBSCRIBE
    Subscribe to this Podcast via iTunes
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    Wanna add your two cents? Spend it here, in the SModcast mailbag.

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    CLICK HERE FOR THE SMODCAST ARCHIVES

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  • QSE News: 6/4/2007

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    Here are today’s top entertainment headlines:

    • qsnews.jpgPirates of the Caribbean 3 was still number one at the box office this past weekend. The film was still the top money maker despite only pulling in $43 million, a significant drop from previous weeks. Experts account for the box office drop off by noting that America’s attention was focused on more important, worldly issues such as the climbing death toll of Americans in Iraq… whoa! this just in, Lindsay Lohan is going back to rehab!
    • The TV monitoring body, Nielson Co., has begun tracking commercial viewing. The move comes at a time when advertisers are increasingly skeptical of television advertising’s success with the debut of Digital Video Recorders. The first ratings will be released next week and it’s expected the commercial featuring that guy getting kicked in the nuts by the really hot chick showing a lot of cleavage will be number one.
    • Dwayne Johnson, formerly known as the wrestler The Rock, is separating from his wife of 10 years, Dany Garcia Johnson.  According to friends of the couple, the main reason behind the split is that Garcia Johnson was tired of competing with his “wrestling partners” for The Rock’s affections.

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    That’s all for today’s news, stay tuned to this channel for all the news that matters least but you still care about.

    (Compiled by J. Allen)

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  • Quick Stop Thingamabobs: 6/4/2007

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    The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦

    ————————————————

    • Berkeley Breathed’s Opus is now at Salon… (Thingamabob)
    • A rare kinescope of Steve Allen’s Tonight show, Part 1… (Thingamabob)

    Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!

    ##

  • Weekend Shopping Guide 6/1/07: Modern Marvels

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    The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

    Second only to endless documentaries about the Nazis and WWII, one of the most addictive shows to hit the History Channel has been the how-to/how-does explorations of Modern Marvels. Criminally absent from DVD shelves, that oversight has been rectified with the 8-disc Modern Marvels: Technology box set (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$39.95 SRP). The set features all you could ever want to know about candy, James Bond Gadgets, the Manhattan Project, monster trucks, engineering disasters, sugar, Walt Disney World, and the world’s longest bridge. This is a wonderful start, but where’s the next set?

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    Eager to bankrupt cinephile, Warners release another of their must-have themed collections, this time gathering together 6 vault titles starring one of the screen’s most legendary actresses. The Katharine Hepburn: 100th Anniversary Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) contains 1933’s Morning Glory, 1936’s Sylvia Scarlett, 1944’s Dragon Seed, 1945’s Without Love, 1946’s Undercurrent, and 1979’s The Corn Is Green. Complete remastered, each film also sports period cartoons and short subjects (a most welcome regular feature on these Warner sets).

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    The History Channel’s 12-part documentary The Civil War (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$49.95 SRP) is the perfect companion piece to Ken Burns’s own take on the American struggle of brother vs. brother. Whereas Burns was more concerned with the war on a personal level, the History Channel series is a comprehensive look at the social, political, military, and historical aspects.

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    Warlords (Acorn, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) is a 4-part documentary produced by Britain’s Channel 4 that examines the motivations and mindset of the four wartime leaders that shaped the events of World War II in the Western theater – Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt. It’s a wonderful examination of the decision-makers and what each was hoping to achieve for their own countries.

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    I’ve often wondered why there hasn’t been a more wholesale release of titles from A&E’s wonderful Biography series, but a new pair of themed box-sets may be establishing the necessary precedent to getting scores of them out on DVD. The Legends of The Silver Screen collection (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$44.95 SRP) contains 8 editions of the show, spotlighting Humphrey Bogart, Betty Boop, James Dean, Clint Eastwood, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Newman, Robert Redford, and Shirley Temple, plus the documentary Hollywood: An Empire of Their Own. The Mafia Legends set (A&E, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP) turns the focus on Bugsy Siegel, Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, and Mob hitmen. More, please!

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    F-Troop was one of those bizarre TV comedies that you’re glad was allowed to make as many episodes as it did before it was” found out” and cancelled. In F-Troop‘s case, that meant only two seasons, the second of which is out now (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP). Any show that can feature both Paul Lynde as a singing Mountie and Vincent Price as a Transylvanian Count in the old west is one that needs to be watched for generations to come. The 6-disc set features all 31 episodes, plus a retrospective featurette.

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    Like its sister-show Dogfights, Shootout! (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$69.95 SRP) contains interviews and discussion of military operations spanning the past century, with you-are-there 3-D recreations of the battles in question. The 6-disc set contains both seasons 1 & 2, plus a trailer for the forthcoming game based on the series.

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    Take a pop culture spin through coming of age in the 50’s with the documentary Heavy Petting (Docurama, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP), featuring interviews with pop and cultural luminaries who came of age during that storied period – including the likes of Spalding Gray, David Byrne, and Allen Ginsberg – describing their own personal “loses of sexual innocence.”

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    It’s not genius, but I still enjoy Kyra Sedgewick’s turn as deputy police chief Brenda Johnson in The Closer (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), where she expertly balances crime-solving with inter-office politics and an attempt at a private life. The 4-disc second season set features all 15 episodes, plus a behind-the-scenes featurette and a gag reel.

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    Dive back into the supposedly savage tribal worlds featured in Barbarians II (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP), the History Channel series that attempts to give a clearer picture of these often misunderstood peoples. This 2-disc set spotlights the Vandals, Saxons, Franks, and Lombards. Bonus features include an episodes of both Conquest (“Weapons of The Barbarians”) and Modern Marvels (“Axes, Swords & Knives”).

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    The second season of the Clint Eastwood-starring television western Rawhide gets a truncated 2nd season release, splitting up the 32-episode season into a pair of individual volumes. Available now is the 4-disc Rawhide: Season 2 – Volume 1 (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$38.99 SRP), featuring those first 16 eps.

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    All these later, and I still don’t like Firefly. Jebus knows, I tried, but Joss Whedon’s space opera struck me as a cloying, annoying, pale shadow of the heights he achieved on Buffy (before the abysmal final season) and Angel (whose final season proved to its finest). Still, there are plenty of Browncoats out there who have embraced the series, and more power to them. For those fans, though, there’s the second volume of Firefly: The Official Companion (Titan Books, $24.95 SRP), packed with interviews, photos, behind-the-scenes insights, and complete scripts for “Jaynestown”, “Out of Gas”, “Ariel”, “War Stories”, “Trash”, “The Message”, “Heart Of Gold”, and “Objects In Space”.

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    What happens when you push a franchise beyond the breaking point? You get Hannibal Rising (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP), a mediocre attempt to drag the corpse of the Hannibal Lecter franchise through the streets, hoping no one notices the smell of this turgid turkey. Well, smell it does. Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and trailers.

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    Let’s close out this week with a look at Funko‘s 7″ vinyl Futurama bobble-head figurines, featuring Fry, Bender, Leela, and Dr. Zoidberg ($10.99 SRP each). If you want something a bit more imposing, though, by all means pick yourself up the 12″ vinyl Bender coin bank ($24.99 SRP). You know he wants nothing more than to fill his chest cavity with someone else’s money.

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    So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

    -Ken Plume

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  • Noctural Admissions: Movie Review – Hostel Part II

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    Hostel II Poster

    Eli Roth is batting three for three (or four for four if you include the trailer for Thanksgiving). Hostel Part II is not only a great horror film it is a great sequel to a horror film.

    It begins with what I take to be an extended homage to Friday the 13th Part Two, a clearing up of left over business from the first film. This gets things off to a bleak note, since the sequence implies that the Slovakian gangsters who run the house of death are invincible and relentless in their pursuit of escapees.

    From there, the film tracks parallel paths, a new pair of torturers and their victims, as they make their way independently to Slovakia (which must love these movies as tourism ads). There is a superb sequence in which an array of international bigwigs bid on one of the three traveling American girls the gangsters have captured, via an internet hook up.

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    Curiously, the two villainous American friends who arrive as clients in Slovakia are both Desperate Housewives alums: Roger Bart as Stuart and Richard Burgi as Todd. Together they make a pair out of a Neil LaBute play, say, In The Company of Men, in which the alpha dog bullies the weaker man into something cruel. The paradox is that the wimp turns out to be the worm who turns and the macho man is the fuck up who can’t take what he is doing, the one with a conscience.

    Thr girls of Hostel 2

    The victims this time around are girls: Lauren German as Beth, Heather Matarazzo (late of Welcome to the Dollhouse) as Lorna, and Hollywood royalty Bijou Phillips as Whitney. This ups the hot chick quotient considerably. But Roth’s characters are rarely just stick figures. They are fully realized characters, and as he must realize, that makes the horror even more exhausting. The last 20 minutes of the film is a taut twisting of expectations and clever resolutions to impossible situations. Let’s just say that this film rings an interesting companionability to Death Proof; and does the name Lorena Bobbitt ring a bell?

    Homages this time around include Edwige Fenech as an art teacher and Ruggero Deodato as “The Italian Cannibal” who is eating a live guy bits at a time. Fenech is the cult horror star from the 1970s, a sort of European Betty Page, unabashed about getting naked, to the gratitude of adolescent boys everywhere, or at those who could get access to such films as 5 Dolls for an August Moon, Demons of the Dead, and Your Vice Is a Closed Room and Only I Have the Key, to name only a few from the giallo genre out of scores of films. Deodato is of course the director of perhaps the most controversial film ever made, Cannibal Holocaust.

    Once you get past the finger gnawing suspense, you have to sit back and be impressed with Roth’s sheer cleverness. Again and again he writes himself out of a corner. Roth has created this little world, sets himself problems in it, and like a screenwriting Buster Keaton, manages to work out a fully satisfying and clever escape. Plus the movie is subtly consistent. Football revelers near the start of the are echoed in a final, ghoulish but hilarious scene. Another broad homage is to the myth of Elizabeth Bathory.

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    The qualities I like about this film, and indeed all Roth’s horror films so far, is the humanity he brings to the characters (even the villains), the exotic locales that evoke the feel of some of the great European horror films of the ’60s and ’70s, the offbeat sense of humor, and the plausible, realistic surface and look of the films. He makes the relatively small budgets go a long way. I’m a little disappointed that his next film is going to be a Stephen King adaptation, Cell: first, few of them are good as films, and second, adapting a set text may restrain Roth’s wit (in the larger sense). But then, Roth has written himself out of corners before.

  • QSE News: 6/1/2007

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    Here are today’s top entertainment headlines:

    • qsnews.jpgWith the release of the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series looming, word has come out that Universal Studios will be opening a Harry Potter theme park in Florida.  Set to open in 2009, the park will feature many of the locations made famous by the book series created by J.K. Rowling.  While some of the rides are being kept secret, representatives have given the names of two rides – “Ride Harry’s Wand” and “Journey to the Center of Hermione:  A 3-D Adventure Motion Ride.”
    • A Kansas City Radio Station is hoping to set the world record for largest ensemble performance by having over 2,000 guitarists play the same song. The song chosen for the event is Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” The fallout from the event is expected to set musicianship back 20 years.
    • Apparently, most of the world thinks plans for a Dutch reality TV show in which gravely ill contestants battle over a new kidney is in bad taste. Producers are defending the show saying it will help promote organ donating. The producers also state that this idea is better than their original idea of contestants competing to win their children back from the hands of a convicted child molester. In related news, Fox has picked up a show based on the latter concept.

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    That’s all for today’s news, stay tuned to this channel for all the news that matters least but you still care about.

    (Compiled by J. Allen)

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  • Quick Stop Thingamabobs: 6/1/2007

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    The web. It’s a big place, full of plenty of distractions ““ some funny, some informative, some ludicrous, some disturbing, some inane, some profound. Each and every weekday, we present links to a few of our favorite finds”¦

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    • It’s poopie Friday here at the ol’ Quick Stop of Love, so here’s MST3K Poopie: Part 1… (Thingamabob)

    Have a THINGAMABOB? Send it in!

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  • Party Favors: Remembering Charles Nelson Reilly

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    partyfavors2007-05-31.jpgVATICAN CITY – Forget fast tracking Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa; this week Pope Benedict needs to toss out the rules and canonize Charles Nelson Reilly as the Patron Saint of Quips.

    This is not the first time that people have declared Charles Nelson Reilly a religious icon. Many a misspent night was accompanied by the Dead Milkmen’s “Serrated Edge.” Rodney had it right when he sang of a Charles Nelson Reilly orgy with 15 girls. But he was wrong when he called Reilly, “Just another greedy actor on the late late show!”

    Reilly didn’t make that many movies that ended up on the air at 3 am. For a majority of Americans, Reilly occupied the last seat of the top row on Match Game. In the era before the internet, a bunch of us always debated what the hell did Charles do to become famous enough to get on a game show. We knew Richard Dawson deserved the middle chair below for his valiant work against the Nazis on Hogan’s Heroes. But Charles? Since there was no easy reference books that work like imdb or wikipedia, we didn’t know that he was a Broadway superstar. He won a Tony. He was respected by his peers. We didn’t know that. We just knew him as the guy from Match Game. Technically, he played the evil magician Hoodoo on Sid & Marty Krofft’s Lidsville before his tenure on the gameshow, but the ’70s were a time of excess and drugs – especially for those of us in elementary school. It also didn’t hurt that they reran old Saturday morning Krofft shows for decades so childhood memories blurred in college – especially when mixed with Boone’s Farm Strawberry wine.

    As messed up as we were in third grade during the 70s, a few of us thought that Charles and Brett Somers were married. The two of them had amazing chemistry – like that aunt and uncle that show up at weddings and get liquored up during the reception. They knew how to embarrass each other. Nothing was off base between the two. They were hilarious as they ribbed each other during the show. They seemed like the perfect old married couple. Always knowing how to poke without punching. How could we not know that Charles was gay? Some call it denial, but I never thought anyone would have sex with Charles. Back in the 70s, after a person turned 50, they stopped having sex. You might not know it, but Logan’s Run was a documentary. It made sense that even though Brett and Charles weren’t sexual in their relationship, they’d still be married.

    Has science ever determined how many young men discovered their true sexual nature from identifying with Charles on Match Game and Paul Lynde on Hollywood Squares? Were these two men a litmus test for a generation? I wouldn’t know because I felt a bond with Richard Dawson since he always had the answers that made the money.

    Reilly represents a time that’s no longer permitted on TV. He’d be smoking a cigar, tipsy from between show cocktails and saying really questionable stuff as “answers.” He lived on the edge of broadcast standards. He was no mild George Gobel. He’s the type of performer that today gets thousands of emailed complaints to the FCC from James Dobson and his Focus on the Family pitbulls. How dare the children of America be exposed to such a person! In an America where the FCC fined millions for a barely exposed, nearly covered by a piercing nipple, Reilly would have bankrupted CBS with his scarf, pipe and captain’s hat.

    Charles wasn’t afraid to expose his vanity on the show. On one episode he showed up late because he was having hair plugs. He didn’t lie. Although he’d tell the truth with such theatrics that you couldn’t believe it. He would have made a perfect presidential spokesman.

    The nice thing is that after Match Game ended, Charles didn’t disappear into the woodwork. He returned to live acting. I’ve worked with a few of his dramatic pupils. They all had praise for his techniques. He didn’t merely teach the kids to squawk like Uncle Croc. He became Tony nominated as a director. He popped up in various places on TV. My favorite was his X-Files episode: “Jose Chung’s ‘From Outer Space.’” He was brilliant in that. Charles also voiced The Dirty Bubble on Spongebob SquarePants. He was an icon among icons.

    I’m eager to see Life of Reilly, a documentary about his one man show Save It For the Stage. I’ve read that the film will be out on DVD this fall. I plan on buying a copy and not merely putting it on my Netflix queue. This film must go on the shelf next to the Match Game boxset. Future generations must know of his glory.

    It’s hard to say that this star has passed away. Charles Nelson Reilly is immortal. As long as GSN keeps the Match Game episodes running, Charles will be there for us. If you wish to pay tribute to Charles, you can round up 15 women for an orgy. If you can’t make that happen, then order up a Manhattan (Charles used Jim Beam with no cherry), lift it up and offer a toast to St. Charles. He’s in the upper corner looking down on us, just like it should be, in the shag carpet universe.

    If Pope Benedict needs a miracle to help it along, I prayed for the intervention of Charles Nelson Reilly to cure my Itchy Sweater Syndrome. It worked. Now I just suffer from Terminal Turtleneck. Thank you, Future St. Charles Nelson Reilly!

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