TV, or not.

It's been a month, so it's probably time for another post on my latest TV-watching.

I watched and enjoyed the first couple of episodes of Wonderfalls. Recent college graduate, reduced to selling mementos in a Niagara Falls gift shop. And inanimate objects talk to her. Quirkily well-written and acted, funny in spots ("Let's get Suzy and go clubbing!" "Baby seals?"). Fox put it on Friday nights, where it didn't do especially well. So they moved it to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, opposite CSI and The Apprentice. To Fox's great surprise, it did even worse. So they cancelled it. sigh

The so-called Sci-Fi Channel has a couple of good shows going on. One, Mad Mad World, is their entrant in the "reality" show genre. As befitting the channel, the "reality" in the show is completely unlike any reality you're likely to encounter, even if you live in Southern California. The concept is that 10 "normal" people - okay, just how "normal" can a person be who is taking part in a second-tier "reality" series? Here's an answer: one is a stripper - live in a house with 5 people with "alternate" lifestyles (a wiccan, a vampire, a naturist, a voodoo priestess, etc.), and each week one normal person is voted out. Winner - the one who "grows" the most from the exposure to those with alternate lifestyles - gets $100,000. Completely outrageous, great fun. And last night, I caught the disclaimer at the end which sums it up best: The weekly challenges, based for the show's purposes on the alternate lifestyles of the non-contestants, are not indicative of actual religious or moral beliefs of those lifestyles' followers.

The other interesting Sci-Fi show is Tripping the Rift, an edgy, animated show. (Like South Park, it's not meant for children.) Very funny, in an "adult" (meaning "R-rated", not "sophisticated") way. Especially like how various well-known characters from science fiction show up - last night, Baltar (from the original Battlestar Galactica) made an appearance as the bad guy.

As usual, the best dramas are over on HBO. The Sopranos is back, and is joined by Deadwood. Intense stories, great writing, great acting. (If you've missed Deadwood, there's a mini-marathon of the first three episodes tonight.) Can't ask for much more than that, other than a new season of Six Feet Under, and that'll be along in June.

Haven't had much opportunity to see movies of late. Enjoyed The Battle of Shaker Heights, somewhat to my surprise. (This was the movie made during the second season of Project Greenlight.) Not a great movie, by any means, but enjoyable anyway. What makes the movie worth watching is the performance by Shia LeBoeuf. The movie has its weak moments: a few plot holes, a couple of scenes you saw shot during the TV series that didn't make it into the final cut, a couple of rough edges in the editing and sound mixing. But HBO is filled with movies that aren't as entertaining as this one turned out. (Ghost Ship, for instance, which I'd swear you could see every night for the past three months on either HBO or Cinemax, if you were so inclined.) And thank heavens for Netflix, because you'd never be able to see this movie otherwise. Finally saw Seabiscuit, too. I thought it was pretty good, for a feel-good movie, but no better than that. Not really worthy of a Best Picture Oscar nomination, in my opinion. I thought Chris Cooper turned in an excellent supporting performance, though.