Ripley (TV Mini Series 2024) ****

I could quibble about casting, but the production design, photography, script and performances are so spectacular. Terrific adaptation, really captures the feel of the novel.

‘Take it easy, nothing matters in the end’: William Shatner at 90, on love, loss and Leonard Nimoy

It feels rude to ask a 90-year-old if he worries about death, so I ask instead what he wishes he had known at 20 that he knows at 90. “Here’s an interesting answer!” he says perkily. “I’m glad I didn’t know because what you know at 90 is: take it easy, nothing matters in the end, what goes up must come down. If I’d known that at 20, I wouldn’t have done anything!”

Nickelodeon Orders 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Prequel 'Kamp Koral'

“‘SpongeBob’ has an incredible universe to expand upon and the greenlight for ‘Kamp Koral’ is a testament to the strength and longevity of these characters known and loved by generations of fans around the world,” said Ramsey Naito, Nickelodeon’s executive vice president of animation production and development.

The series is one of several planned spinoffs for the “SpongeBob” universe, which include potential standalone stories for side characters like Sandy Cheeks and Plankton.

Way to go , Nick. Run it into the ground.

Peggy Lipton Dead: ‘Mod Squad,’ ‘Twin Peaks’ Star Was 72 – Variety

At the height of her popularity in 1968, she released a self-titled album and had a hit in 1970 with a cover of Donovan’s “Wear Your Love Like Heaven.” In her 2006 memoir “Breathing Out,” she describes being abused as a child by an uncle and suffering several abusive relationships. Lipton was romantically linked to Paul McCartney, Sammy Davis Jr. and Elvis Presley.

Martin Short advises Ramis School students to 'go see the greats' | Chicago Sun-Times

Short revealed that he has had long conversations with Martin Scorsese, who is working on a documentary about “SCTV,” the TV spinoff of Canada’s Second City that became a huge cult hit.

“Marty is fascinated with why some comedy is timeless, when certain other comedy and comedians have a short shelf life,” said Short, citing the late Eddie Cantor (“a huge star in his day, but would make you sick if you watched him today”) as an example of someone who faded.

Elisabeth Moss' Emmys-Night Swearing Has Storied Tradition in Scientology, Say Insiders | Hollywood Reporter

"Scientologists are urged to communicate with 'average people,' and to do so effectively you have to 'go down the tone scale.' So they all use 'fuck, fuck, fuck' every time they talk. It’s fascinating," Lugli explains. "The quote-unquote philosophy behind it is you match the tone level in order to communicate on the same level of the people with whom you’re communicating. If you’re too 'high-tone,' people will not understand you."

Not everyone requires swearing. Journalists and gay people, for example, are classified as "1.1" on the scale, which signifies "covert hostility," according to Lugli. "That means I have to communicate just slightly above you — which can be anger or hostility. That's where you get Tom Cruise telling Matt Lauer he's being 'glib,'" he explains. (The Church of Scientology and a rep for Moss declined to comment, but the church has denied animosity toward gay people.)

Ken Burns' VIETNAM WAR - Limits of 18 hours | HuffPost

"The American involvement in Vietnam began in secrecy. It ended 30 years later in failure. It was begun in GOOD FAITH, by DECENT PEOPLE, out of fateful misunderstanding, American overconfidence and Cold War miscalculation.” (My emphasis added)

Really?

The film is remarkable in its liberal use of the secret recordings of White House conversations. We hear the voices of President Lyndon Johnson, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. These recordings reveal cynicism, paranoia, and deception that have little in common with “good faith” or “decent people.”

Conscious of their audience, the film makers are reluctant to be too harsh in condemning American motives. The theme, in effect, is that the American War in Vietnam was a bi-partisan, well-intended, accumulation of unfortunate mistakes made by six Presidents over 30 years.

Twin Peaks (TV Series 2017– ) ****

Rambling, sprawling, all over every sort of narrative map you can think of, this 18 hour Lynch-fest is one of those love it or hate it affairs. Confounding and incoherent at times, maddening and frustrating at others, never less than interesting, fascinating and compelling. A glimpse inside the mind of a cinematic genius.

What's On Tonight - The A.V. Club

Jay Leno’s Garage (CNBC, 10 p.m.): How is this still in existence? It was our understanding that the idea of people watching Jay Leno meander around the airplane hangar he laughingly calls a “garage,” pointing out just how very rich he is, and how that has translated into an embarrassingly tone-deaf display of one percenter opulence, was only appealing to CNBC executives who are getting bored playing Monopoly with the pensions of millions of working people. In short, it’s nothing but paternalistic propaganda for a hopelessly corrupt financial system that has bought and paid for its own political parties in a venal effort to transform the nature of daily life itself into something that should be “earned,” rather than an inherent right of existence. Wait a second, we just answered our own question. Anyway, this show is a fucking nightmare; go watch the new episode of I’m Sorry (TruTV, 10 p.m.) instead.

Not sure if this is an accurate description of the television show, but they've nailed the state of nation.

David Brent: Life on the Road (2016) **

Doesn't reach the heights of The Office but it's a worthy sequel for the most part. The push for pathos near the end is an awkward drawback.

Andrew Sachs, Manuel from Fawlty Towers, dies aged 86 | Media | The Guardian

He became a household name in Britain as the hapless Manuel in the 1970s sitcom. Worried that he could not do a Spanish accent, Sachs initially wanted to play the role as a German.

But Cleese, who played Basil Fawlty, insisted that the character should be Spanish. He said despite his anxiety Sachs took to the role instantly.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Cleese said: “If you met him you would never think for a moment that he was a comedian, you would think he was a rather cultivated bank manager possibly retired, because he was quite quiet and poised and thoughtful. And then you stuck that moustache on him and he turned into a completely different human being. He was wonderful.”

TCAs: Mitch Hurwitz Talks Secret 'Arrested Development' Project - Hollywood Reporter

On Wednesday, Hurwitz said he's actually recut the entirety of the 15-episode fourth season (episodes ran more than 30 minutes, with one as long as 42 minutes) into — wait for it — 22 episodes with a running time of 22 minutes.

Um, what?

It's true. And right now that creator's cut of season four — which even features new Ron Howard narration — is just sitting on a shelf. There's a lot of moving parts when it comes to Arrested Development, and who knows if those 22 episodes will appear on Netflix or some 20th Century Fox showcase of some sorts. How and when this private project of Hurwitz's sees the light of day is probably more business-based than any of us can figure out.

The important thing is just this: We need to see those 22 episodes.

'Arrested Development' Season 5 Air Date: What's In Store For Next Installment?

“Right now I’m cutting a version of season four that tells it chronologically,” said Hurwitz in an interview with Pretentious Film Majors. “There’s more of a story that has to be told somehow, and we’ve got the whole story broken. Season four was always meant to be like act one of a three-act structure.”

Jacques Pepin’s last series for KQED shares his 'Heart & Soul’ - San Francisco Chronicle

"He says it has not been any more emotional for him to film this series, even knowing this is his final one.

"After all, he’s adamant that this is not the last you’ll see of him. He plans to do a book tour next year, continue teaching at Boston University and the International Culinary Center, and appear at Aspen Food & Wine.

“'I’ll do the same as I’ve always done, but just less of it,' he says. 'I won’t become a hermit. There is no retirement. As long as I’m hungry, I will cook.'”

To me, his series are the best TV shows, not just cooking shows, ever.

▶ The Dusty Towne Sexy Holiday Special - YouTube

It is cute, it is true and very, very funny.

Laura Prepon on the Mystery of Real-Life Alex -- Vulture

"I read that your family has a tradition of singing “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” around the holidays.
"Oh, every time we get together. It’s our family anthem."

David Lynch: mild at heart - Telegraph:
"In fact, film criticism aside, the harshest thing anybody has had to say about him was when ex-girlfriend Isabella Rossellini blamed their painful break-up on Lynch’s unreasonable hatred of 'cooking smells' in the house."

Camelot Revisited: The Creators of "The Kennedys" Speak Out - NYTimes.com:
"Is it fair to say that all biographical films have to rely on a certain amount of reconstruction, and creating scenes where there’s no record of what was said or what occurred?

KRONISH Of course. For example, the scenes between Jack and Jackie in the bedroom, where nobody knows exactly what was said, but we do know what the attitudes were and we do know, for example, that she knew about several of his affairs and was deeply distressed by them, but she stayed with him. Although she would periodically leave, she would always return. We know that. That is historical fact. And so we used those facts to create scenes that had that basis in mind. You’re compressing 50-odd years of a family’s history into eight hours. That compression is going to have to show somewhere. It doesn’t mean that the facts are changed or invented."

I think when you "create scenes" that is kind of equivalent to "invented". I would just like for once to see a bio-pic where not one scene is invented, not one conversation is "imagined". If you cannot or will not do that, then you must not use real names or claim any sort of veracity to your film or book. Because everyone who sees this will believe that ALL the scenes really happened. And that is wrong.

Clinton takes Kentucky as Obama claims Oregon:
"His victory was tempered by another late-inning win in Kentucky by his still-hanging-tough competitor, New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who bested him by a landslide 35 percentage points. Nonetheless, Obama has won 1,649.5 pledged delegates in the primaries and caucuses, surpassing the 1,627 needed to claim a majority, according to an Associated Press tally."

Because the quality of the "talent" and the writing/editing on television news is so bad, I rarely ever watch it intentionally but sometimes I mistakenly catch a glimpse of the horror. Such was the case last night when I landed upon Nightline for a brief moment after Obama had given his speech in Iowa, and one talking head says to the other "...but Obama supporters have yet another Clinton victory to explain" and the other moron says "Yes, they are having a tough time dealing with that" or some such nonsense. If these guys had any sort of personal understanding about what they are reporting they could offer some sort of perspective for the viewer: Kentucky, West Virginia, these are TINY states with just about 0 electoral importance, especially at this stage of the primary process. Hell, McCain lost to Romney in Utah by 90%! Nobody was running around demanding that McCain supporters explain that or deal with that. It doesn't matter!

And while I'm on the subject, just what the hell is wrong with Hillary Clinton? I never thought she was especially smart or savvy, but I am shocked at just how stupid she wants to be. Apparently she wants to be stupid all the way. Talk about burning bridges. Sheesh.

FRONTLINE: news war | PBS
I just caught the last half of part 3 of this 4 part series last night on PBS and in general it was an interesting look at how we get our news and the continued importance of newspapers to that end. They talked about the LA Times and how it is under pressure to cut costs on a constant basis and they came across this little tidbit that hit me: right now, the LA Times makes a 20% return on costs. TWENTY PERCENT! That is jaw-dropping amazing. And for a minute, the Frontline reporter asks "Well why is the paper under so much pressure then?" The suits tell him why, which is because "investors" demand growth not profits, basically. And then they all moved on! THAT is the story! Profitable businesses are no longer desirable. Isn't that obscene? Everything needs to be bled dry to satisfy someone's insatiable greed. This is the problem with American capitalism today: it is controlled by Wall Street. The tail is wagging the dog and has been for some 40 years.

Anyway they went back to the program and went on talking about how expensive it is to run a paper and how expensive it is to have foreign correspondents and how the LA Times needs to focus on what readers want to read, etc. But the readers HAVE spoken. They DO buy the paper. The paper MAKES MONEY. A LOT of money. What the LA Times are doing is right, smart, perfect. It's the people who want to make money off of the movement of money who are destroying newspapers.