Best Holiday TV Marathon Ever?

Growing up I always loved Thanksgiving, and not just for the usual reasons (food, football, and more food). FX used to run a "viewers' choice" X-Files marathon each Thanksgiving day. One year I was even ambitious enough to tape about 10 hours of quality episodes.

To my happy surprise today, FX has taken a page from its own book - and from fellow cable nets like TBS - by running Home Alone back-to-back-to-back-to...well, you get the picture. I don't know about you but I just can't get enough of Buzz "I wouldn't let you sleep in my room if you were growing on my ass!" McAllister. Meanwhile, AMC is airing the complete Godfather saga and SyFy is deep into the James Bond collection. It's enough to make me wonder: What is the best holiday TV marathon ever?

Here's my personal list - and I'd be interested to see what your opinions/additions are:

4. Christmas A Christmas Story marathon, TBS (2000's)

3. Thanksgiving Home Alone marathon, FX (2009)

2. Thanksgiving The X-Files marathon, FX (circa 1996-1998)

1. New Year's Day The Twilight Zone marathon, SyFy (current)

TRAILER OF THE MONTH: Daybreakers

This gets my vote for Best Trailer of the Year, in fact. With cool cinematography, a high concept plot, and a stellar cast (Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, Willem Dafoe), Daybreakers looks like it could provide a welcome twist on the vampire genre that is so en vogue today.

Also, the trailer features one of the most haunting and addictive soundtrack songs* in recent memory: Placebo's "Running Up That Hill":

Watch the Daybreakers trailer

* "Running Up That Hill" has popped up in several personal favorite TV shows of mine, including "The OC" (season 4 opening scene) and "The Vampire Diaries" (pilot episode).

Initial Impressions of the New TV Season

1. ABC has a hit in the making with FlashForward. I'm not thrilled by ABC's transparent attempts to present this as the next Lost, but then again their attempts are somewhat effective. I'm enjoying the performances of Joseph Fiennes and John Cho, and I'm intrigued by the mysterious stadium camera footage...
   
   
2. Gossip Girl is entering that post-high school no-man's land where so many other teen dramas have met their demise. Just as Dawson's Creek took a nose dive when everyone, you know, moved away from the creek, we'll soon find out whether Blair and co. can survive south of the Upper East Side. I'm certainly a fan of GG creator Josh Schwartz...but I can't help but remember what happened to his first hit show post-graduation. OK, I'll spell it out for you: The OC sucked after season 3. And the show's demise can't be attributed solely to Mischa Barton's departure.
   
   
3. Speaking of Dawson's Creek, I've really enjoyed the first three episodes of Kevin Williamson's new series The Vampire Diaries. I'm much more interested in this show than any of the CW's other teen dramas (especially 90210 - I just can't find a way to care about those characters).
   
   
4. Reality TV is still thriving, thanks to Top Chef and Project Runway, but Survivor is a bit stale. Host Jeff Probst needs to stop providing obvious and annoying narration during challenges. Dude, this the 171st season of Survivor - give up the futile attempts to convince us we've just seen "a Survivor first" during every episode.
   
   
5. Better challenges (and drama) than Survivor? Real World/Road Rules Challenge: The Ruins. This is the best guilty pleasure on TV.
   
   
6. More credible and almost as enjoyable: the new Curb Your Enthusiasm season, which hasn't even entered the Seinfeld reunion plot arc yet.

Bouludchick

Top Chef Observation of the Week:

Guest chef Daniel Boulud and Patriots coach Bill Belichick were separated at birth.

POP HAIKULTURE: A New (Idol) Hope

Paula made us laugh,

But Ellen will make us laugh

Intentionally.

POP HAIKULTURE: The Crypts and the Bloods

Just watched the prequel

To that Underworld movie...

Vamps versus Werewolves!

It got me thinking,

Why does America have

Vampires on the brain?

From Twilight teen vamps

To True Blood's Byronic Bill,

They're the next 'bit' thing.

ONE-LINE REVIEW: District 9

If you're tired of summer sequels, prequels, and '80s cartoon remakes, District 9 offers a unique take on the alien invader genre - and on topical issues like refugee camps, mercenary armies, and xenophobia. 2.5 PB Jars

Gran Torino a Grand Disappointment

Rented Gran Torino on DVD this week and was definitely disappointed. My main criticisms are:

• subpar acting - especially on the part of the children who play Thao and Su
  
  
• subpar writing - Walt's (Clint Eastwood) racist rants were kind of funny in the beginning, but the weakness of the dialogue writing becomes apparent by the time we get to the ridiculous barbershop scene (in which Walt teaches Thao how to "be a man" by insulting people and talking about his imaginary car being in the shop).
  
  
• subpar story - There were some potentially interesting threads left dangling, such as the potential rivalry between the Hmong gang and the Hispanic gang, and I would have liked to see Thao take "Yum Yum" out on their date in the borrowed Gran Torino. That would have been a perfect opportunity for Thao to display his newfound confidence in a confrontation with his gangbanging cousin.

I'm a big fan of Clint's, but this movie really dragged for me. I'd recommend that you instead rent his underrated film Blood Work (2002), co-starring Jeff Daniels and Angelic Huston. Now that's an interesting and well-paced movie.

DVD Review of Gran Torino: 1.5 PB Jars

MOVIE POLITICS IN A NUTSHELL: Alternate Histories

By Peanut

Can a historical film flip the script on history - and still be considered historical?

I argue "Yes" in the case of Inglourious Basterds, which injects a giant shot of Quentin Tarantino epinephrine into the heart of a WWII drama. Specifically, he imagines a fictional counterpart to Hitler's Gestapo terror squads: the Basterds, a crew of Jewish-American guerillas led behind enemy lines by Brad Pitt's "Aldo the Apache." While the Basterds and their deeds exist outside the real historical timeline, their adventures (and those of the revenge-seeking Shoshana) shine a spotlight on the the defining themes of the war.

Brutality and Mercy - Seeing as this is a Tarantino film, we expect the Inglorious Basterds to be defined by their brutal methods. Yet for all their bat swinging and machine gunning, the Basterds demonstrate a remarkable capacity for mercy. Case in point: Aldo will let a Nazi soldier live so long as he answers his questions honestly. This does serve a practical purpose - the survivor will enhance the Basterds' infamy in recounting their violent acts - but it helps to contrast the absurdity of the Nazis' violence to the purposefulness of the Basterds'. Their goal is to end the war - ASAP. While they take personal enjoyment in achieving that end, this humane goal supercedes their individual well being.

The Nazis were not the only ones guilty of senseless brutality during the war. The British killed hundreds of thousands in their bombing raids against Germay, as did the Americans against Japan (including the two nuclear attacks). At the same time, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt declined to drop bombs on the Nazi concentration camps, perhaps because he couldn't stomach killing the innocent prisoners inside. Whether or not FDR made this decision out of a sense of mercy for the death camp detainees, the ultimate consequence was that America left the gas chambers untouched, and 12 million people (including 6 million Jews) were murdered in those camps between 1939-1945. The Basterds serve as more than just an instrument of revenge: they illustrate when it's best to display mercy, and when it's best to inflict brutality.

Nice to know that Tarantino doesn't pull any punches - or baseball bat swings -

when taking on as dark and heavy a subject as World War II.

Innocence Lost - In films like Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan, we see the dehumanizing effect of WWII on the soldiers and civilians involved. Inglorious Basterds does an excellent job of illuminating this loss of innocence for soldiers and civilians alike. On the soldier side, we're introduced to "The Bear Jew" (Eli Roth), a Basterd who strikes fear in the hearts of Nazis with his Louisville Slugger. Yet this super soldier image stands in contrast to his innocent former self, symbolized by his Boston accent and references to Ted Williams and Fenway Park. By the end of the film, he's like a machine-gun-wielding psycho - a hyperbolized portrait of the shell-shocked GIs who ultimately returned from the war.

The story of Shoshana reveals the civilian side of lost innocence. The Nazi reign over Western Europe shatters her childhood and transforms her into a cold, calculating revenge-seeker. Even though her plot to take down the murderous Nazi regime was pulled from Tarantino's imagination rather than the history books, Shoshana embodies the anguish and the courage that defined the experiences of so many victims and survivors.

So - what does it all mean? I say that alternate histories have incredible value when they can find a way to shine more light on the historical narrative. Inglourious Basterds is outstanding entertainment in its own right - incredibly well written and acted - and it tells familiar stories in a new, revealing, and necessarily bloody way. 3 PB Jars

POP HAIKULTURE: The Immaculate Fermentation

What would Jesus do

With the 12th overall pick

In my bar league draft?

Will Andre Johnson

Outscore Fitz and Moss this year?

And what about Brees?!

My indecision

Could kill my draft day mojo

So I'll let Him* choose.

*Him = Sam Calagione,

creator of Dogfish Head beers,

which I will be drinking heavily throughout

our fantasy draft this Sunday at Standings Bar (NYC's best sports bar).

Top Chef Last Vegas

"TOP CHEF" SEASON 6

premieres tonight at 9:00 ET on Bravo, and I'm all in.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, Padma...

POP HAIKULTURE: What about Brett Fav...ruh?

He couldn't let Vick

Hog the quarterback spotlight -

Same old song and dance.

I never thought I'd

Say this in a thousand years:

Go back to acting!

Trailer of the Month: TFD

http://www.thefinaldestinationmovie.com/

Can't wait for that NASCAR tire to hit that dumb girl in the head...in 3D!!!

The Best Show You Didn't Watch This Summer

...is "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

I'm not a big fan of police procedurals (never seen "CSI"; used to watch the original "Law and Order" and "SVU" but eventually abandoned them), but "Criminal Intent" should appeal to anyone looking for great writing and storytelling on television. I expected the worst from newcomer Jeff Goldblum, whose Det. Nichols replaced franchise favorite Det. Logan (Chris Noth) in the recently-concluded 8th season. But Goldblum has created another idiosynchratic detective akin to D'Onofrio's Goren. Also, "Criminal Intent" finds intriguing ways to tell its ripped-from-the-headlines stories (unlike in later seasons of the flagship "L & O").

I highly recommend you catch this show on re-runs during the remainder of the summer. Season 9 won't begin on USA Network until next spring, but you can catch re-runs throughout August (here's the schedule). It'll help you get through the 6 week TV/movie doldrums between now and the start of the new Broadcast TV season (9/21).

MOVIE POLITICS IN A NUTSHELL: Political Frosting

By Peanut

This week: Frost/Nixon

Let's get the obvious bit out of the way first: it's hardly a coincidence that Frost/Nixon hit theaters during the year of George W. Bush's exit from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It's wishful thinking on the part of the Bush-haters out there to think we'll ever see Bush's own Frost/Nixon moment. Yet the theme of coming to terms with your past deeds, and acknowledging their consequences, is certainly one that should resonate with all of us.

It's easy to point fingers at others in a crisis, as so many on both sides of the aisle did during the mortgage crisis and its aftermath. In the film, we see how language can divide a country into warring camps. Kevin Bacon's character blames Italian shoe-wearing liberals for America's failings, while Sam Rockwell's puts responsibility squarely on the Abuser in Chief. They are the Dick Cheney/Jon Stewart archetypes of the film. (Of course, Nixon was Cheney long before Cheney was Cheney.) How do we reconcile their polar opposite views of Nixon? How do we as Americans reconcile our polar opposite views of Bush? Of Clinton? Of Reagan?

I don't think we should get hung up on the politics of the film itself (or its title figures). What's important is for people of all stripes to strive for objectivity in evaluating other people's legacies - and our own. Presidents operate on the most public of stages, drawing intense scrutiny during and long after their time in office. None is as bad as his worst offenses or as good as his best successes.

If you turn on CNN or Fox News or MSNBC these days, you'll often see two "experts" painting two oversimplified versions of a person or situation, after which they doggedly debate whose version is correct. Yet to learn from our mistakes -- as individuals, as Americans, as human beings -- we must avoid glossing over the messy details of life. Nothing is so simple that it can be categorized into a neat little box. Nixon was no exception, and Frost/Nixon reminds us that even the most tarnished leader in U.S. history was not just "a crook." 2.5 PB Jars

Summer of George

Ever since I left my cushy East Harlem middle school teaching gig, I've been deprived of one of life'sgreat joys: the lazy summer. It's one of those things we're expected to give up by the time we reach adulthood. Sure, we've still got weekends, maybe even Summer Fridays. But unlike some of the more ambitious and motivated people out there who can't stand being inactive for more than 10 minutes, I crave multi-hour blocks (if not multi-day blocks) of unadulterated laziness. My only goals involve the number of times I'll have to re-watch Pulp Fiction before I've memorized every line, or the number of BCS championships I'm going to win in NCAA Football 10 before I have to return it to Blockbuster.

In other words, I take lazy summer to its illogical extremes.

Though I haven't had 2 months of inactivity to fill, I have enjoyed a relatively "Summer of George"-esque week. What do I have to show for it?

• The International is a must-rent DVD. I loved Clive Owen as the badass mo' fo' in Children of Men and Shoot 'Em Up!, and he brings that same attitude to this well crafted political thriller. Three words to sum it up: AWESOME. MUSEUM. SCENE. 2.5 PB Jars
  
  
• Interview with the Vampire doesn't hold a candle to more recent pop-culture vampire incarnations. This was my first time seeing the 1994 Tom Cruise/Brad Pitt novel adaptation, and I was hoping for more (especially given Entertainment Weekly's recent ranking of Lestat as the #1 greatest vampire). Cruise and Pitt both provide good performances if you've never seen the film -- and it's funny to watch Kirsten Dunst "vamp" it up -- but HBO's "True Blood" cast puts Lestat and company to shame. 1.5 PB Jars
  
  
• Return of the King's additional content is well worth the extra 40 minutes of your life. As shocking as that might sound, given that the running time of the theatrical cut is over 3 hours, I thought several of the deleted scenes were spectacular. My favorite: the confrontation between Aragorn and a monstrous (perhaps "Guellermo Del Torovian") envoy of Sauron outside the gates of Mordor. 3 PB Jars
  
  
• Speaking of fantasy epics, Willow is still great fun. This 1988 Ron Howard/George Lucas film was one of the defining movies of my childhood and holds up surprisingly well. The first 40 minutes are a great mix of humor, action, sentimentality, and even horror (the dog attack). One of Val Kilmer's best roles, IMHO. Watch the making-of featurette to learn that Willow also played an Ewok in Return of the Jedi (shocker) and see Ron Howard rock the Cosby sweater/goofy mustache combo. 2 PB Jars
  
  
• Push is a new-release DVD that had some things going for it. For a rather played-out concept (individuals with super powers band together against evil g-men), it felt fresh with Fantastic 4's Chris Evans and teenaged Dakota Fanning running the show. Neither of them is a great actor, but they play well off each other. Granted, Push feels like a Jumper re-tread (just substitute Evans's reluctant hero for Hayden Christensen's, and Djimon Honsou dogged pursuer for Samuel L. Jackson's), but it's a decent DVD popcorn flick nonetheless. 1.5 PB Jars
  
  
• I FINALLY saw The Hangover after weeks of hearing the buzz. It didn't live up to my elevated expectations but it provided many laughs. I don't know how I feel about Todd Phillips recycling the same comedy screenplay formula; we've seen these characters and this plot structure in Old School and elsewhere. But what's a lazy summer without a heaping portion of juvenile humor? 1.5 PB Jars

Bono, Church Bells and Bomb Squads

While I was in Boston this past weekend for a wedding (of a certain contributor to a certain movie blog), a Saturday morning walk turned into a scene out of Blown Away. As I headed past the Common, I discovered that the bomb squad had cordoned off a large area of the street - just like in the 1994 thriller starring Tommy Lee Jones as an Irish serial bomber seeking revenge against Jeff Bridges' police instructor. It was amazing to see the actual Boston Bomb Squad in action. It was unclear whether the suspected bomb was just an abandoned briefcase on the sidewalk or what, but when I spotted a guy wearing a padded suit (I took a photo, left) I knew this was the real deal. Suddenly several police officers put their hands up to cover their ears, so I decided it'd be wise to do the same. I couldn't see the explosion from my vantage point -- I'm sure the Bomb Squad had encased the package to shield the crowd of onlookers from any nasty surprises -- but the boom echoed down the street.

As if this strange real-life homage to Blown Away weren't enough, I later remembered that the movie also featured Boston's Catholic Churches (like the one in which the ceremony took place) and U2 music (which accompanied the bride and groom's first dance).

All we were missing was Tommy Lee Jones (who's alma mater, Harvard, just so happened to be the site of the rehearsal dinner and reception) singing along to Bono's lyrics...

Scene from Blown Away featuring U2's "With or Without You"

Scene from Blown Away featuring U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

A few more photos I snapped on Tremont Street:

Tracking Film Buzz through Online Trailers

Entertainment news rag Variety and online video measurement company Visible Measures have partnered up to provide an Online Film Trailer Chart to track the popularity of film trailers on the web. This should be a cool way to keep tabs on the buzz building (or dissipating) around a new film.

One-Line Reviews

Rose Byrne and Nicolas Cage look for meaning in a string of numbers in Knowing (now on DVD).

Here are few quick hits for you, in case you're weighing your entertainment options for this weekend:

• Even though it might not measure up to Borat, the hilariously raunchy Bruno gives new meaning to the phrase "big swinging dick." 2.5 PB Jars
  
  
• A tight screenplay, jaw-dropping action sequences, and quality performances by Nic Cage and Rose Byrne (Damages) make Knowing my must-rent DVD of the week. 2.5 PB Jars
  
  
• I wouldn't say Tom Cruise phoned in his Valkyrie performance, but he certainly coudn't elevate it above countless other middle-of-the-road political thrillers. 2 PB Jars
  
  
• The trailer for The Haunting in Connecticut (with its weird piano accompaniment and bizarre imagery) was far more haunting than the movie itself. 1 PB Jar
  
  
• Even if you stopped watching "ER" years ago, you'll want to catch up on the final few episodes of this classic series on NBC.com. (My favorite: Season 15's "Old Times," with a story that features departed regulars George Clooney, Eriq La Salle, Julianna Margulies, and Noah Wyle.) 2 PB Jars
  
  
• In a desert of summer reruns, HBO's "True Blood" (Season 1 on DVD; Season 2 in progress) is the oasis you've been searching for. 2.5 PB Jars

Teens Love the Silver Screen

Has the recession dampened America's passion for going to the movies? Definitely not for teenagers. A new report from The Nielsen Company details media usage by teens, who remain the #1 moviegoing demographic group. Here are a few notable findings:

• About a third of teens prefer seeing movies in the theater over at-home options. It's good to know that young people aren't being turned off by gabby seat neighbors, crying babies, and the cost of popcorn...the way I often am. There are more ways to watch movies at home than ever before, yet many people still prefer the authentic cineplex experience.
  
  
• The typical teen saw almost 11 movies in the theater last year (a higher average than any other age group). With all the buzz and box-office receipts concentrated in the first month of a film's release, it's definitely a zero-sum game when it comes to movie advertising. If you can't get people to choose your movie as their "movie of the month," you may be out of luck by the time they return to the theater in 4-5 weeks.
  
  
• Comedy ranks as the most popular movie genre among teens (85%), while only half of teens consider themselves fans of horror flicks. Guess that's why The Grudge 3 went straight to DVD. While horror is clearly an acquired taste, I was surprised to find that comedy was more popular than action-adventure (80%). I can't think of any good PG-13 comedy from recent months off the top of my head, whereas I can definitely remember a slew of popular action blockbusters.

Are teens sneaking into R-rated comedies? Is the popularity of comedies bolstered by young teens (age 12-14), whereas older teens gravitate toward action movies like Terminator Salvation? Could be part of the trend that's seen comedies increasingly push the boundaries of "decency" (Superbad, The Hangover) -- thus ending up squarely in the R category -- while action-adventure movies (Live Free or Die Hard, Terminator Salvation) have moved in the opposite direction.

Both seem like positive developments for these genres, at least from a business standpoint. R-rated comedies are free to offend their way to box-office glory, while action flicks moderate their sex/violence/language just enough to snag a PG-13 label and a hefty sum of allowance money from those heavy-moviegoing teens.

My vote is for less watering down of action flicks, but who am I to stand in the way of Hollywood capitalism?

MOVIE POLITICS IN A NUTSHELL: Global Warning

By Peanut

Helen (Jennifer Connelly): You said you came to save us.

Klaatu (Keanu Reeves): I said I came to save the Earth.

Helen: You came to save the Earth... from us.

You came to save the Earth from us.

I'm going to dispense with the formalities right at the top: Last night I watched a craptacular movie called The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008). Not only was it unoriginal (based on the 1951 "classic" -- though to be honest, I'm not a big fan of the original either), it was also preachy and one-note. Humans are violent; their nature is destructive; they won't change their ways. If I'm gonna listen to a robotic actor saying "It's in your nature to

destroy yourselves," I want him to be playing an actual robot.

So basically Klaatu (Keanu) and his alien crew are an extreme extraterrestrial version of Green Peace. Klaatu brings a couple of giant glowing spheres with him to earth, which he uses to collect samples of animal species before initiating the extermination of humanity. (Thank you, screenwriters, for the unnecessary line about this being a real-life "Noah's Ark.") Not sure what happens to all the plant life, though. I hope they're immune to swarms of nano-bots that apparently can eat glass and steel (see: the destruction of Giants Stadium, which was featured in the trailer and is pictured below.)

The message here is clear: Stop polluting the world; stop ignoring global warming; stop destroying each other and the only planet we have...before it's too late. It's a message that's been conveyed by much more intriguing and entertaining vehicles in the past -- even schlocky sci-fi flicks like The Day After Tomorrow. I don't disagree the with the legitimacy or urgency of this story's moral. I just wasn't moved in any way by The Day the Earth Stood Still. And for a movie that seems like a call-to-action, that's about as bad a criticism as you can get. 0.5 PB Jar (out of 3)

Destruction of Giants Stadium by a cloud of nano-bots: 3.0 PB Jars (out of 3)

Academy Supersizes Best Picture Field

From five nominees to ten...as if they needed an excuse to make the Oscar telecast even longer.

Next February's Academy Awards will pit ten movies against each other in the final category, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Is it an attempt to make the Oscars more inclusive of viewers at home? An effort to honor a wider array of films? Or maybe it's simply a marketing ploy ("10 Best Picture Nominees in 2010")?

The Academy will surely claim that this is a return to Oscar's roots. After all, Casablanca faced off against nine competitors in 1943, the last year that ten movies were nominated in the"Best Picture category. But my money's on the "inclusivity" rationale. How many times have you seen more than two of the five Best Picture nominees prior to the Oscars? Two years ago I saw all five for the first time ever...but only because of an Atonement/There Will Be Blood double feature the day before the Oscars. Last year, in contrast, I saw only one -- Slumdog Millionaire -- prior to the big night. Much more typical for me -- and probably for the general TV viewing public who ABC and the Academy hope to attract.

Whatever the reason for the switch, I do think this move will increase John Q. Public's investment in the Oscars. Whether he'll tune in for the entire 4-plus-hour marathon of movie montages and musical numbers is another story.

Trailer of the Month: The Road

If the post-apocalyptic Fallout 3 was

2008's Video Game of the Year, the movie adaptation of the post-apocalyptic The Road (starring Viggo Mortensen, pictured) just might be 2009's Film of the Year...Okay, maybe 2009's "Sci-Fi/Survival-Horror Movie of the Year" might be a safer bet.

The trailer for The Road makes me want to go rent some of its atmospheric predecessors like

12 Monkeys and the Mad Max films (I've only seen the original, but I've heard Road Warrior rocks). In

fact, I may even pick up the novel "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, who also penned No Country for Old Men.

Oh hell, forget reading -- time to play some more Fallout 3...