FEAST OF LOVE

Written by Pollo Misterioso

Robert Benton’s film Feast of Love makes a valiant attempt to satisfy any appetite when it comes to love. Unfortunately, some of the life lessons that are to be taken from the movie make it seem more like a buffet line—ordinary, stale, and the choices are already made for you.

It is based the 2007 novel by Charles Baxter and boasts a great cast, with leads played by Morgan Freeman and Greg Kinnear. Freeman’s Harry Stevenson begins the film, narrating his thoughts on what it means to be human as he walks around town in the middle of the night. We then flashback 18 months before this as we see him meet up with friend Bradley Thomas (Kinnear) on a softball diamond. Here we see Bradley’s wife Kathryn, played by Selma Blair, about to go up to bat.

As a witness to the daily activities of these Portland folks, we also see how these people fall in love, and it as quick and perfect as the movies make it out to be. Our first run-in with love comes when Kathryn falls for another softball player in a bar, while she is still in the arms of her husband. In case we didn’t see it happen, Stevenson tells his wife that he saw two people fall in love that day.

Our next couple de jour is between the barista Oscar, played by Toby Hemingway, and Chloe, played by Alexa Davalos. They meet and it’s love at first sight. Their love is pure and strong, something that Oscar always acknowledges—they have nothing to fear.

Bradley represents the bumbling fool when it comes to love, for he loves blindly, and with the end of his first marriage, his approach doesn’t seem to work out for him. He keeps on loving, trying again and again to find a true a love that will love him back. His second attempt comes in the form of a real estate agent that comes into his coffee shop on a rainy day. Diana, played by Radha Mitchell, is another flawed woman that cannot seem to stay away from married men. Bradley is doomed, but even though Diana loves men that are already attached, it seems that it still works out for her.

Throughout Feast Stevenson plays the all-knowing guidance counselor to these younger couples, giving them advice from his table at the coffee shop. Interestingly, he is flawed himself, he has lost love in his life and it still haunts him. Of course, Freeman is perfectly cast in such role, but his character only gets so troubled, we never see what goes on under the surface.

The film interestingly breaks up the interaction between the couples. It is not until the end when we have caught up with our 18-month time lapse and then everyone is seemingly connected in some way. Actually, the editing between couples is a fresh approach to the story, making them seem like short films intertwined into one.

If we take it at face value, Feast indulges the viewer with many different outcomes to love, but they all end with this notion of “true love”—if one waits long enough true love will come along, one cannot be angry at someone for finding their true love. Personally, if I found out I was cheated on, I don’t think I would shrug it off and tell myself that it’s okay because they found true love, but I guess the subject of love is often taken with spoonful of sugar.

Love is painful, in the sense that those that we love may pass away, we may not always be in love, and sometimes our love finds someone else. Feast makes light of other forms of love and says that everyone will find true love, if we just keep looking. The DVD extras only include interviews with some of the cast. Feast of Love proves to be a good meal; it’s just not as nourishing as I had hoped.

Pioneers Of Television

Written by Musgo Del Jefe

The latest PBS series, Pioneers Of Television, is a four-part love letter to the first and second generation of TV personalities. The series consists of four, 55-minute episodes built around a specific genre. There's a single episode for "Game Shows," "Sitcoms," "Variety," and "Late Night." At less than an hour apiece, this isn't exactly Ken Burns' level of historical storytelling. In fact, it ends up feeling like a mere table setter, a sampler platter that in each case could lead to much further exploration.

It's interesting to take a look back to these shows from 40-60 years ago and see how they reflect upon the shows of today. Are their influences still felt today? How do today's shows differ from their predecessors? One genre has been dead for twenty years already. The "Variety" episode focuses on the rise and fall of the sketch/music/dance genre. The variety-show story is one that branches in two different directions. There is the long survival of shows by Ed Sullivan, Red Skelton and Carol Burnett. There's also the meteoric rise and just as quick fall of hosts Milton Berle (the man reached a 95 share at one point in his career!), Perry Como (beat The Honeymooners in the ratings), and the controversial Smothers Brothers. Like most of the genres in this series, there isn't one blueprint for success. The common thread seems to be putting together a talented ensemble, like Sid Caesar's Your Show Of Shows, with a large stable of characters that can keep the audience interested week after week. Saturday Night Live is the last remaining vestige of this tradition, although that show doesn't have a singular personality upon which the show is built.

Game Shows are the polar opposite of the variety show. The game show and its close cousin, reality television, have been around since the beginning of TV. The variety show and the game show composed most of TV in the '40s and '50s because they were easy, cheap programming that filled all the open inventory on the networks. In fact, little has changed today; game shows and reality TV fill the airwaves mostly because of their bargain compared to scripted TV. The game show succeeded beyond the variety show because of the added excitement of instant riches, the fun of playing along at home, and the edgy, often risque, humor. This episode covers the rise and fall of a variety of game shows, including Truth Or Consequences, Password, What's My Line, and Let's Make A Deal.

Most Prime Time game shows today follow the blueprint of later successes like Jeopardy and The Newlywed Game. The humor comes from ordinary people playing a game hosted by charming, funny male emcee. Watching scenes from Hollywood Squares and Password remind me that my favorite games as a kid were ones that mixed celebrities and everyday people. Bringing celebrities down to "our level," showing their imperfections, was refreshing and made me love actors like Betty White, Florence Henderson, Jonathan Winters and Rose Marie. I'm surprised that this kind of game show hasn't made a comeback in recent years. The rebirth of this genre really started with Survivor and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and I expect the continued success of Deal Or No Deal and Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader to keep this genre alive for many more years.

The two best episodes of this series focused on "Late Night" and the "Sitcom." Each episode focuses on four of the important landmarks of each genre. Neither genre is doing as well in the ratings as they once did and certainly neither has a "pioneer" of its genre currently working.

The sitcom has been dying a slow, painful death since Seinfeld left the air. The only sitcom ranked in the Top Twenty over the past few seasons has been Two & A Half Men. The shows featured in the "Sitcom" episode are the giants upon whose shoulders all future sitcoms have stood. These shows define the genre upon which we are able to categorize all current programming. They are the shows that made Nick-At-Nite a must-see network in the early 1990s.

The Honeymooners was an offshoot of the variety show genre. Jackie Gleason wanted to concentrate on one character instead of the multiple characters he played in his variety show. There's a brilliance in the Ralph Cramden character that Archie Bunker and Fred Flintstone and Homer Simpson could never completely capture. Jackie did not rehearse with the cast, and the performances are as fresh and raw as anything of TV today. Interestingly, Jackie ended his run on The Honeymooners after 39 episodes of the first season because he had "run out of ideas."

I Love Lucy would succeed during the same time period despite being almost a polar opposite. Lucy was the first sitcom to be filmed in front of a live audience. It relied often on physical comedy. And there was not a line or movement that wasn't rehearsed and over-rehearsed. Lucille Ball's approach would dominate the ratings, compared to The Honeymooners that never won its time slot, for over a decade.

The other two shows featured in this episode, The Andy Griffith Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show, would expand the possibilities of the genre. The former would not rely on its central character to carry the show. Mayberry was a town of "real people," a town that many viewers would want to live in. Andy was the "stable center" upon which the other characters interacted. The latter took this concept and mixed it with the slapstick parts of I Love Lucy. This urban comedy did not have to focus all of its energy on its lead character because of the strength of the supporting cast. This formula worked similarly for Seinfeld by letting the supporting cast shine as much as the title character.

The episode on "Late Night" was the most interesting to me. It's a deceptively hard genre. Steve Allen called it "the art of conversation." It's a rare personality that can make everyday conversation seem entertaining. The ratings for Jack Paar and Johnny Carson were routinely higher than those of Leno and Letterman combined today.

It's an interesting progression of Tonight Show hosts that are profiled. Steve Allen had perfected his show on radio but found when he moved to do two hours of television that he just couldn't write skits fast enough. So, he decided to just talk with the audience. This "off the cuff" style allowed him to do a whole two-hour show with just a single page outline. He was not a great interviewer and often supplemented his show with various acts including jazz performances. Jack Paar took over after Allen. Jack was very much the opposite. He perfected the art of the personal conversation. Jack did not do pre-interviews or prepare for his guests. This relaxed, often emotional style seems alien when I view clips today. It's just Jack and his guest; the interviews don't seem canned or as just promotional vehicles. Who else could have Castro on their show and talk about how they both have 9-year-old daughters?

Johnny Carson combined the talents of both Steve Allen and Jack Paar and then worked them to perfection. Johnny's early days as a magician gave him the monologue skills and his work on game shows perfected his interviewing technique. Watching Johnny's work now is refreshing. He took on Jack Paar's relaxed style, but never forgot that he was there to entertain. Like Andy Griffith, he could be the "stable center" of the show while crazy things happened around him, but he knew when to be Lucy or Milton Berle, taking over the show with his physical presence.

For those unfamiliar with the early days of television, I can't recommend this enough as a starter kit. This should direct you back to DVD sets of some of the great sitcoms, but so much of this era is lost or will never find a home on DVD. If you lived through these shows in their first or second runs, there's plenty of great interviews to entertain. I'd sit through a whole series of just stars like Dick Van Dyke (love his story about his reaction to trying out as host for The Price Is Right), Milton Berle, Tim Conway, Phyllis Diller, and more telling stories of these early days.

There's a good mixture of trivia and information in these episodes, although while the interviews are labeled, we do not get any identification of the shows or actors being shown on the screen. I'd love to have that info for future research. What sticks with me is the variety of styles that succeeded in each genre. It's not one style that always wins. Ultimately it's letting the performer's style speak for itself. Dick Van Dyke couldn't succeed by copying the style of The Honeymooners, but he could succeed by applying his strengths to a concept he believed in. I only wish these beliefs and faith were as widely held today. Maybe it'll take something like a Writer's Strike to reset the system.

LAKE PLACID 2 (Unrated)

Written by Guest Reviewer Mel Odom

Back in the 1970s, Betty White and Cloris Leachman starred in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which was at the top of the heap in sitcoms. Both women played solid comedic roles and helped shape the series by giving Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) someone to play off in different scenes. White was a Jekyll-and-Hyde, homemaker-show hostess and Leachman was the crabby/occasionally soft-hearted landlady.

Never in any of those episodes did viewers learn that both women harbored secret alligator fetishes. It wasn’t until Lake Placid and Lake Placid 2 that we discovered this. I have to admit, watching White feed her “precious” alligators in the first movie went totally against everything I’d ever seen of her, and it made the movie even more twisted. Watching Leachman perform the same function in this made-for-SciFi TV sequel just didn’t have the same impact. I expected it, and because of that seeing Leachman onscreen was a bit disappointing.

In the original movie, Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, and Oliver Platt end up trapped in the area as the alligators stalk them. The CGI was well done and the acting was solid. There was a lot of comedy and off-hand remarks that make these kinds of creature horror films work – the movie just didn’t take itself too seriously. The capper, though, was when they lowered the cow into the lake to use as bait. At best, the movie was uneven, though, and had trouble finding an audience. I enjoyed it because I didn’t have any high expectations.

When I found out there was going to be a sequel, it wasn’t cause for intense celebration, but I figured it would be worth a look. Sadly, the sequel misses the boat nearly all the way around. The movie in no way feels “fresh” or different. Its more like a rendition minus a lot of the interesting and comedic parts, and definitely without the budget for special effects. But it’s twice the alligator-killing frenzy because there are four predators this time instead of two. If you saw the first movie, just remember the final scene where Betty White is feeding the young alligators and you’ll realize this film was set up then.

In addition to Leachman, the film also stars John Schneider (The Dukes of Hazzard, Smallville) as Sheriff James Riley. The rest of the principal cast is rounded out by Sarah LaFleur playing Riley’s romantic interest Emma Warner, Sam McMurray playing big-game hunter Struthers, and Chad Collins playing Riley’s son Scott. I looked at those names and couldn’t think of a single thing I’d seen them in. I knew the prospect of a break-even sequel was dimming.

The budget for the original show, probably because producer David E. Kelley (Boston Legal) wrote the original script, was just short of $30 million. The sequel’s budget was $2 million, and it shows drastically. Kelley’s lighthearted and twisted approach to the material is also MIA.

The movie quickly devolves into predictable action and special effects, really weak special effects. The cutting one-liners, almost asides to the audience, are missing. And the tension just never really exists. It’s a vapid chomp-fest from beginning to end, and just never comes close to the original. Everyone, monsters included, simply go through the paces.

Interestingly enough, the film was made-for-television but at some point had nudity shot to add into the Unrated version of the film. That accounts for about four additional minutes of naked soon-to-be ‘gator bait that harkens back to that old horror standby: get naked, have sex, and die.

There are making-of featurettes included on the disc that present some of the background of the film, but it's hard to talk about any cool CGI work when there wasn't any, or any spell-binding scenes. I felt bad for the people involved because you could tell they were earnest and had worked hard on the film.

I didn’t care for Lake Placid 2. I never once got involved with the action or the characters. The presentation is purely paint-by-numbers with few saving graces. Watching Cloris Leachman take over the Betty White role was funny, though, but I think by that point I was desperate for anything that even came close to funny. If you’ve seen the first movie, you might want to see this one, but once you’re finished I doubt you’ll ever want to see it again.

QUIET CITY & DANCE PARTY, USA

Written by Pollo Misterioso

Director Aaron Katz comes from Portland, Oregon and arms himself with low budgets, handheld cameras and unknown actors. In his two short films, both a little more than an hour long, he has scripted and directed two very simple stories that are both satisfying and deceptively minimal.

Nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, Quiet City captures the simplistic sophistication of two human beings just interacting. This sounds like it could be so easy to do, but the narrative has to go somewhere, be a pleasurable experience, and the film succeeds.

Jaime travels to New York from Atlanta to visit her friend. Unfortunately when she cannot get in touch with her, she is left not knowing where to go or what to do. She asks a stranger, Charlie, for directions to a certain diner and from there they begin their two-day stay with one another. In reality they don’t really do anything that is all that exciting; they drink wine out of cheap mugs, give each other haircuts, play videogames, etc. One of the most charming scenes has Charlie and Jaime playing music together on a run-down keyboard, even though neither of them plays the keyboard very well.

The characters are ordinary. Both Charlie and Jaime are not physically striking, but in the way they interact and slowly develop for the viewer and for each other, they become beautiful and interesting to watch. What may seem awkward at times, with extreme close ups on their chins, eyes or other facial reactions creates an honest relationship between the characters and the viewer—like we are a part of this everyday conversation.

What is so refreshing about this simple story is that the events that take place and each individual conversation means nothing on its own, it is a collective feeling that comes from getting to know someone.

Katz interjects the story development between our two main characters with shots of the city that initially feel out of place, but become small pauses reflecting on the simple beauty in everything in New York City. Katz does a wonderful job at making it seem like the city is asleep the entire time Jaime and Charlie are a part of it. It is as if they are the only people there.

Quiet City returns to a more simple kind of movie-making, where pictures tell the story and gratification comes from willing to believe that there is beauty in everything. Just like the final scene in which Charlie and Jaime take a metro ride home, allow yourself to just watch, let the story take you away.

Dance Party, USA, which Katz made first, again deals with relationships, but through the harsh and stunted eyes of teenagers. It focuses on two teenagers, Jessica and Gus and their interaction at a Fourth of July party that turns into them liking one another. Gus is hard to like because of the way he talks about women and his naïve and animalistic views of sex. As for Jessica, she finds peace in her solitude, never really being a part of anything. When they both decide to take a breath from the party, they confide in one another and a ride home turns into a deeper connection between the two.

Dance is realistically unpretentious and raw which at times makes it seemed forced and hard to watch. But keep watching, it will grow on you and you won’t know why. It is not as smooth a ride as Quiet City, but Katz writes like he has experienced it, making the awkward moments on screen reminiscent of our own awkward conversations in high school.

Dance has even less of a forward plot. Our characters just act in their worlds, simply coexisting, but like Katz’ other film, the characters are isolated and our focus is completely on them. He has returned to the simplicity of a boy-meets-girl scenario in both of his films and, especially in Quiet City, it is refreshing and easy to watch. Sit back and enjoy, you will be pleasantly satisfied.

Quiet City and Dance Party, USA are two courageous films that prove that you do not need anything more than a camera and a love for making movies. In fact, the extras on both DVDs include commentary by the director and cast members that explain the ideas and process behind the films. It is especially interesting to listen to Katz’s commentary for Dance simply to learn about the process for making this low-budget film. On the that DVD there is also a short film featuring music composer Keegan Dewitt called “The Lunch Hour,” which is a funny short that proves their love of filmmaking.

THE ARISTOCARTS Screening

Written by Hombre Divertido

In anticipation of the release of The Aristocats - Special Edition on February 5th, Disney recently held a special showing of the film at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. The Aristocats marks a time of simple elegance for the filmmakers at Disney. The story is simple but fun, and the animation is elegant. Set in Paris, the animators capture not only the environment but the era as well by keeping it simple and allowing each cel to serve as an artistic impression. This is most noticeable in the scenes of the city. The story is quite simple and bares some similarities to Lady and the Tramp which Disney released fifteen years earlier.

In The Aristocats we meet Duchess, voiced wonderfully by Eva Gabor, and her three kittens (Marie-Liz Kitchen, Toulouse-Gary Dubin, and Berlioz-Gary Clark) that live quite well in a beautiful mansion that they have the run of. When their owner; Madame Adelaide Bonfamille (Hermione Baddley) makes out her will, she leaves her fortune to the cats, and nothing to her butler Edgar (Roddy Maude-Roxby) who has served both her and the cats faithfully for many years. Upon finding out the contents of the will, Edgar decides to foil the feline fortune by disposing of the Aristocats. Edgar kitty-naps them in the middle of the night and abandons them in the middle of the countryside. Being the rich spoiled cats that they are, they are completely out of their element and unable to find their way home. Luckily they are discovered by O’Malley the Alley Cat voiced by the always enjoyable Phil Harris. With the help of O’Malley, and their friend from home Roquefort the Mouse, voiced by the legendary Sterling Holloway, the Aristocats manage to survive an adventurous trip home. During the trip, Duchess and O’Malley develop an appreciation for each other that leads to our happy ending.

Though an all-star cast of vocal talent was used on this film, including Scatman Crothers, Paul Winchell, and Pat Buttram, it is the inclusion of some that make for the primary flaw in this Disney effort. The use of Phil Harris and Sterling Holloway proved to be nothing more than distracting. These gentlemen are incredibly talented, but both had been featured prominently in Disney’s far more successful The Jungle Book just three years earlier, and Holloway had established himself as the voice of Winnie the Pooh long before that. Their roles in The Aristocats were not as demanding as previous projects, and certainly could have been handled by actors with less familiar voices.

With that said, the film is fun for the whole family, and a worthy addition to any collection. The animation is classic in its style, and the characters are fun with enough depth to allow each to be endearing to the audience. The new release features a virtual kitten game, a nostalgic behind-the-scenes featurette that showcases the music of the immortal Sherman Brothers, a deleted song, and more.

The special viewing at the El Capitan was attended by Gary Dubin (Toulouse) who was kind enough to answer a few questions. Dubin who continues to act and was most recently seen in a guest-starring role on 24 was only five at the time that he co-starred in The Aristocats, but you can still recognize the voice if you are standing in the theatre with him after just seeing the movie. Dubin, who was seeing the film for the first time since its original release, said that he had fond memories of filming the movie, and that he appreciated the simplicity of it and how that allows it to differ from the special-effects laden and computer-animated films of today. Dubin was accompanied by his wife who commented that he had grown up to be a lot like Toulouse. You’ll have to see the film to appreciate that comment.

The Riches: Season 1

Written by Senora Bicho

The Riches premiered on FX on March 12th, 2007. The first season consisted of 13 episodes and was a ratings success with 3.8 million viewers watching the pilot, which, in the history of FX, was only second to the premiere of The Shield. This was the network’s first Monday night original show and the ratings were more than double that of any other program they ever aired on Mondays. These results prompted FX to announce that it will bring the show back for a second season in the summer of 2008. The show also received critical acclaim for being original and thought provoking.

The series tells the story of the Malloy Family who has all of the normal problems of the average American family, but they are a family of thieves, gypsies who move from one con to the next. Series creator Dmitry Lipkin created the lead role with Eddie Izzard in mind. The first episode starts with Wayne (Izzard) conning the attendees of a high school reunion. His charisma and natural ability to lie are clear from this clever scene. After his successful heist, Wayne is off to pick up his wife, Dahlia (Minnie Driver) who is being paroled from jail after two years. Wayne and Dahlia have three children. Cael is the shy oldest son, Di Di is the typical teenage girl, and Sam is the youngest boy who enjoys dressing like a girl. The reunited family then meets up with the rest of their gypsy community.

The happy reunion doesn’t last long as Di Di is quickly being forced into an arranged marriage. Rather than force his daughter into that situation, Wayne robs Dahlia’s Uncle and takes his family on the road. On their way to the next town, they run into another family of traveling con artists and get into a high speed chase. In the course of the chase, they run the Riches, a wealthy couple, off the road which results in their death. Wayne quickly decides to make the best of the situation and comes up with a plan to assume their lives. The Riches were moving to a new home that they had purchased online which made that part easy. Doug Rich was a lawyer and had an interview set up for a new job. Wayne meets up with the head of another law firm and uses his excellent lying abilities to quickly land a job with a $200,000 annual salary. The family is now all set in a beautiful gated community and seems to have stolen the American dream.

The rest of the season includes all of the problems that any family deals in their day-to-day life along with all of the complications that arise with stepping into the Riches’ shoes. The finale finds Dahlia’s cousin catching up with them looking for the stolen money and one of Doug’s best friends shows looking for answers.

The show has a solid foundation in the amazing cast. Izzard and Driver play off of each other beautifully. Driver received an Emmy and a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. The children are all unique and provide interesting storylines of their own. Even the supporting roles, such as Wayne’s boss and the nosey neighbor, are perfectly cast and entertaining.

The Riches offers an original premise, strong writing, interesting characters, and good performances. Luckily, the show is worth watching, which makes up for the so-called special features. There are two commentary tracks, one for the pilot and one for the season finale, with Izzard and Lipkin which are interesting and informative. The rest of the extras include two featurettes and the dreaded gag reel. “Casting Session” focuses on the process to select the cast and “World Premiere” includes interviews with the stars of the show along with some behind the scenes information. Neither of these offers much of interest.

The Odd Couple - The Third Season

Written by Hombre Divertido

From a hit Broadway play, to a hit motion picture, to a hit television series, Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple has transcended major forms of entertainment and remains an endearing classic in all forms.

Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson brought the television show to television, and had many episodes directed by Jerry Paris who would later work with Marshall on Happy Days and on bringing another odd couple to television in the form of Laverne and Shirley.

Many televisions shows would follow with the premise of combining two characters that were fundamentally opposite, but few would have the success of The Odd Couple starring Jack Klugman as the sloppy sportswriter Oscar Madison, and Tony Randal the incredibly tidy photographer Felix Unger.

The premise was still quite fresh in season three, and subsequently yields a lot of fun in the twenty-three episodes due out on DVD January 22nd. Klugman and Randal provide award-winning performances with chemistry that is an obvious reflection of their talent as actors, but also of their friendship off camera, which Klugman wrote about in his 2005 memoir, Tony And Me: A Story of Friendship.

The characterizations were allowed to go beyond the simple aspect of clean and dirty, but delve into different upbringings and education throughout this series, and that is what allowed it to last five seasons, and remain enjoyable still today.

During this season we get to watch our team appear on two popular game shows of the era, take a few trips, redecorate, fall in love with the same woman, and take in a few other roommates.

Wonderful supporting characters and guest stars throughout this season surrounded Klugman and Randal. Any appearance by a young Penny Marshall as Madison’s secretary was a treat, and Al Molinaro, who would later play Al on Happy Days, as the couple’s good friend and timid policeman Murray Greshler could always be counted on for a good laugh. Guest appearances by Howard Cosell, Deacon Jones, Wally Cox, Brett Somers (Klugman’s wife), Betty White, and game show hosts Allen Ludden and Monty Hall make this set well worth owning as well.

Unfortunately no extras in the set, and the packaging leaves a lot to be desired. We should not have to move the DVDs to read the synopsis of each episode.

Recommendation: This is wonderfully written classic comedy performed by two masters of the craft. Fun for the whole family that can be watched again and again.

Zodiac - The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

Written by El Conquistadorko

It all started in Novato, a working class suburb of San Francisco, on July 4, 1969. Two teenagers, Darlene Ferrin and Mike Mageau, are making out in their car at a lover's lane cul de sac, when a car speeds along the road towards them. Ferrin has a jealous ex-boyfriend, and she's convinced he's been following her around. The car pulls up and idles menacingly ten feet away, its headlights blinding the couple. Then it speeds away. And then the car returns, a man of average height and build jumps out, walks calmly toward Ferrin and Mageau, and starts shooting.

Ferrin died of her injuries but miraculously Mageau survived. Ferrin's supposed boyfriend had nothing to do with the murder; there's no indication he even existed. But a few days later, a letter arrives at the San Francisco Chronicle from the killer, who calls himself Zodiac. Thus begins a crime spree that left five known victims dead and which, along with the Manson family and Altamont, became part of California's dark departure from the halcyon 1960s and inspired the fictional serial killer depicted in Dirty Harry. Part of the public fascination with Zodiac is that he left an elaborate web of coded clues to his identity. The other part, of course, is that nobody ever completely cracked the code and caught the guy.

It doesn't ruin the enjoyment of watching Zodiac to know all this from the get-go. In fact, the lack of resolution in this film is exactly what makes it so intriguing and terrifying. Director David Finch's masterful storytelling propels what in many ways is one of the most subdued thrillers ever made, a film where the actual murders, which occur on screen are often less creepy than the scenes where the police and reporters interview suspects who turn out to be innocent.

Zodiac isn't a short film, but unlike Munich, for example, where the cat and mouse game between Israeli commandos and PLO terrorists seems to grind on as long as the Arab-Israeli conflict itself, the film's pacing only grows in intensity as the cops seem to close in on the culprit only to realize they're no closer to finding the killer than when they started. These blind alleys and near-misses are exactly what makes the film so suspenseful and realistic. In fact, as the Director's cut reveals, every detail in the film is based on fact.

The two-disc set comes complete with a feature-length documentary, “Deciphering Zodiac,” that includes exclusive interviews with witnesses, police and even two Zodiac victims who managed to survive their encounters with the killer. There's also a feature, “His Name Was Arthur Leigh Allen,” that profiles David Leigh Allen, and at the end of the film, despite knowing police could never link him to the crime and in fact established he couldn't have been the killer, you still feel like he was involved.

In the film itself, there's one scene toward the end where a San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who helped crack the Zodiac's legendarily bizarre coded messages, which were sent to both the newspaper and police, confronts suspect David Leigh Allen long after police have closed the case and ruled Allen out as a suspect. Allen, played by the normally benign seeming John Carroll Lynch (most recognizable as the wooden duck-painting Norm Gunderson in Fargo), knows that Gyllenhaal's character believes he's the Zodiac and Gyllenhaal's character knows he knows. No words are exchanged, but the scene deserves to be celebrated as one of the most intimately disturbing conversations ever put on film.

Family Guy: Blue Harvest

Written by Fantasma el Rey

Family Guy Meets Star Wars in a very entertaining forty-five minutes of laughter and fun that had me rolling from beginning to end. It might seem that one has nothing to do with the other and anything of this nature would be pure nonsense and a disaster. Not so, as Family Guy creator and lifetime Star Wars nerd Seth MacFarlane proves along with his wonderfully talented writing staff. Merging the two works well in his hands and bares the stamp of approval from Mr. Lucas himself, who is a long-time Family Guy fan and was pleased to let McFarlane run amuck in his far away universe of long ago.

MacFarlane wisely chose the space epics true beginning Episode IV: A New Hope as the stomping ground for his characters to retell this tale in their own comic style, which includes many over-the-top jokes and gags at other television shows expense. His choice of “casting” is great as well; MacFarlane perfectly matches his characters with Lucas’. Mother Lois plays Princess Leia while father Peter is placed as smuggler captain Han Solo. Son Chris is young Luke Skywalker and baby genius Stewie is simply masterful as Darth Vader, while daughter Meg, who is the constant “butt” of jokes, is only seen as the garbage compactor creature. Rounding out the space players are the perverted Quagmire as C-3PO, Cleveland as R2-D2, family dog Brian as Wookiee Chewbacca, and Herbert (the creepy old neighbor) as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The story begins with a power outage that causes the family to focus on each other. Rather than light candles and read or tell the story of Meg’s birth, Peter steps up to tell a tale of “Love and loss, fathers and sons, and the foresight to secure international merchandising rights.” Thus begins the retelling of SW:Episode IV. The Family Guy crew does a fine job in recreating the storyline by bringing to cartoon life the moments that captured the world thirty years earlier. The Mos Eisley cantina scene where we meet Han Solo and witness his ever-popular shootout with Greedo is a hoot as well as the opening shot of Darth Vader walking through the halls of the rebel base. The opening sequence is fun for the fact that Leia is having problems saving her message to Obi-Wan on R2’s hard drive. Throughout there are these sorts of pokes at modern technology and how they could have applied and malfunctioned in the Star Wars universe.

Great pop culture gags is what Family Guy is known for and Blue Harvest is stacked with them. Restored scenes on the DVD present Judd Nelson briefly reprising his role as John Bender from Breakfast Club giving his attitude at detention while adding on future Saturdays in the library. During the assault on the Death Star we get to see a “red role call” of a different kind that includes Red Foxx, Red Buttons and Simply Red. Smaller sight gags may be missed if one is not watching closely. For example, during the stormtrooper wedding Jesus along with everyone else has a stormtrooper helmet on. Keep yours eyes open for the unwanted advances of one soldier to another as the Millennium Falcon is being pulled into the Death Star and keep an ear out for the numerous Airplane jokes made along the way, including the quick appearance of Leslie Neilson.

Special features stand out on the DVD as well. The audio commentary is hilarious and gives insight into the warped minds of the Family Guy crew while providing behind the scenes secrets. The making of Blue Harvest is where we get to see that the entire production crew is comprised of gigantic Star Wars nerds and how that brings them all together. Yet the mother of all extras is the sit-down interview that Seth MacFarlane has with George Lucas. You can see it on MacFarlane’s face that he’s like a child sitting next to his big-screen idol. It is a good laugh to see MacFarlane stump Lucas on his game of “match the music to the scene” where MacFarlane will hum a few bars of music and ask if Lucas can remember where it goes in the film. It is here as well that Lucas revels that he is a big Family Guy fan giving MacFarlane more reason to look like a kid in awe of his hero.

Family Guy: Blue Harvest is a complete joy to watch from start to finish the movie itself is great and the DVD extras are worth watching a few times more. So be you a Star Wars nerd, a Family Guy freak or both (like Fantasma) you’ll dig the imaginative merging of what seem to be two different worlds.

WAITRESS

Written by Anonimo

Waitress is a chick flick done well starring Keri Russell (best known for her former role in the TV series Felicity) as Jenna, a southern gal in a bad marriage with a knack for making out-of-this-world pies at a hole-in-the-wall pie shop. The movie stars off with Jenna finding out she’s pregnant by her controlling abusive husband, Earl, played by Jeremy Sisto. Jenna forces her best friends and co-workers Becky (Cheryl Hines) and Dawn (Adrienne Shelly) to keep the pregnancy a secret due to the fact that she hates Earl, and she is only pregnant because he had his way with her on a drunken night. The pregnancy only complicates Jenna’s plan to participate in a pie contest in which the prize money is just enough for her to skip town and leave Earl for good.

Jenna is not at all excited about motherhood and much less the fact that she must see a doctor. She goes to see her long-time female OB/GYN only to find that Dr. Pomatter (Nathan Fillion) has taken over the practice. Although married, the doctor is immediately infatuated with Jenna and it isn’t long before sparks fly and they begin to have an affair.

The love affair continues as Jenna’s stomach grows, and Earl, stuck in his own little world remains clueless. Jenna knows she cannot continue the affair or remain with her husband. It is only with the advice of Joe (Andy Griffith), the elderly but quick-witted pie-shop owner that she manages to keep her head on straight.

We think Earl has discovered Jenna’s affair during a raging outburst at Dawn’s wedding reception, but he only found cash hidden around the house, the money Jenna would have used to ditch Earl, race to the pie contest, and hopefully win the grand prize.

Soon enough, Jenna is in the hospital room where she will give birth to a baby she stills doesn’t want. Joe suddenly comes in to say hello and drops of a card before going into surgery himself. Things couldn’t be more awkward for Jenna when she gave birth with the man she married and the man she is having an affair with both in the same room during the delivery of her baby.

Jenna has a girl whom she magically falls in love with at first sight. Earl is unhappy it’s not a boy and demands Jenna love him more. It is at this point where Jenna finds the courage to tell “Earlie” that she doesn’t love him anymore and wants him out of her life. Earl is pushed out of the room by hospital staff and Jenna remains with her new bundle of joy.

On her way out of the hospital, Jenna breaks off her affair with the doc, reminding him that he is after all married. Not before leaving the hospital does Jenna open her card from Joe to discover a check for two-hundred seventy odd some-dollars. She uses this money to fix up the pie shop, renames it Lulu’s after her daughter and lives happily ever.

I took on this movie reluctantly and ended up liking it in the end. It is funny at times, but takes on a more serious tone. It’s good, definitely a great rental to watch with the significant other on Friday night.

Extras include audio commentaries by Russell and producer Michael Roiff and features about the actors that aired on Fox Movie Channel, the making of the movie, and a memorial to writer/director Shelly.