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Starstruck in Waltham

3 Apr

Headed over to the ole U last night for the award ceremony of the annual SunDeis film festival. Mostly, it was because Jesse L. Martin and S. Epatha Merkerson were going to be there; she was being recognized as the “Entertainer of the Year,” and he was presenting the award to her. Given that I hadn’t seen a single film in the festival, the ceremony was hit and miss for me as far as entertainment value. There were the expected (and bad) Brokeback Mountain jokes, and other expected jokes, like when the music director was presenting an award and he kept getting “interrupted” by the orchestra. But some speeches were genuinely good, including the Best Actress winner, who made hysterical reference to Martin and Merkerson sitting right in front of the podium. Others ran the gamut from low-key student humble, to cocky “You’ll all be working for me soon” ego, which was a bit of a buzzkill, since some of these folks didn’t even go to Brandeis.

When it was Martin’s turn, he didn’t disappoint. The festival coordinator introduced him by saying what award he was there to present, but really, “how do you measure … measure a year?” And then Martin just riffed for five minutes on his good friend, talking about her unparalleled ability to curse, about her having been on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (as Reba the mail lady), and about their car accident earlier in the day — making sure to show off that he was fine. Then Merkerson took the stage and the two became a classic comedy duo. There was a winking admission that she always brings her “brother” Jesse L. Martin with her because she only seems to get press coverage when he’s with her. And Merkerson also revealed that she initially thought she was getting an award from Barnard College, which is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But she and Martin were excited to arrive in Boston and to have a white stretch limo waiting for them, courtesy of the festival. “I said to Jesse, ‘We’re going to the prom!'” she recalled. She did her S. Epatha Merkerson thing, which we all saw when she won the Golden Globe, the SAG award, and the Emmy, only here it was looser and more profane, and just plain funny. Clearly, both felt like this was the most random thing they’d done in a long time. I’m sure there’ll be a video clip on the SunDeis web site soon.

Also in attendance were Anita Hill (left), now a Brandeis professor, who acted as official ambassador for the university before the show began, and lifetime achievement award recipients Celeste Holm (Gentleman’s Agreement, above) and Margaret O’Brien (Meet Me in St. Louis). For a student film festival in Waltham, Mass., it was an impressive evening.

Gone Surfin’

30 Mar

I’ve had some thoughts about different things I’ve watched on TV in the past few days…

* I love the new show Sons & Daughters. Best way to describe it is to say it’s like The Office, except it’s about a family. By that, I mean it’s funny in that painful way The Office excels at, and it’s not sitcomy (i.e.: no laugh track). My favorite character on the show is Carrie, the sarcastic daughter (or niece, I suppose, if you base everything around the lead character, Cameron). She always gets the best lines and has a perfect sardonic delivery. But, like, here’s an example of the humor on the show: On this week’s episode, the grandmother is taken to the hospital because she apparently had a heart attack. It turns out to just be angina. So the whole family gathers in her room, and the high school age grandson, who is a smart-ass but dumb as a brick, says to her, “How’s your vagina, Grandma?” Cracked me up. Sons & Daughters airs Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. on ABC. They show two episodes every week.

* The reason Lost appears to have dropped in quality this year is because of episodes like last night, which was another above-average Locke episode. His episodes are always better than the others (no pun intended). Cool stuff going on in the hatch. And it’s these kinds of episodes that make the “average” episodes (like last week’s, about Jin and Sun) seem not as good. And in other news, sucks to be Harold Perrineau, doesn’t it? His character went off in search of his son months ago, and hasn’t been seen since. And there’s no acknowledgement of his whereabouts, either, like no one cares. Are we to assume he died, or will he be back by season’s end?

* What About Brian?, that new show starting in April on ABC looks like it’s right up my alley, if not a little too true to life. Can’t wait to watch it and wallow.

* Bar none, the best news show out there is Keith Olbermann’s nightly Countdown on MSNBC. The guy’s got a sharp wit, and a great tone. And I love the way he beats up on Bill O’Reilly most every night.

* Felicity is the new 90210. Time was, I’d wake up on Saturdays and Sundays and plop myself on the couch until noon, watching the 90210 reruns on FX. Then they went off the air and I got a life. Well, now that Felicity reruns are on Saturday mornings on the WE channel from 10am to 12, I’m back where I was, lifeless. But I’ll tell you, when that show was good, it was really good. And Ian Gomez (Javier) was one of the more underappreciated actors when it was on.

* It’s funny how there are just some movies you can sit and watch all the way through on cable, and if you go out and buy them on DVD, you never have the patience to watch them. Like Pleasantville (which I own, and is still in the plastic) or The American President. Sunday night I found myself watching My Best Friend’s Wedding. All of it. And yet, if it was in my DVD collection, I’d never watch it.

* I’d mention American Idol, but really, what for? It was pretty bad this week, and Lisa Tucker getting voted off was no big surprise. And actually, now that Kevin Covais is gone and Chris Daughtry shows signs of vulnerability, and all the finalists seem so uniformly average, I’m losing interest.

I Can Think of 99 Better Ones

24 Mar

Who doesn’t love the ’80s?

But do you love the ’80s enough to watch the video for “99 Luftballons” (aka “99 Red Balloons”) over and over for a solid hour?

If so, tune in to VH1 Classic this Sunday at 2 p.m. EST and you will have your chance, thanks to a $35,000 donation by a viewer.

Of all the videos in history — or even the 1980s — that’s the best this person could choose? What about Michael Jackson’s “Thriller?” Or Prince’s “Purple Rain?”

Still, for kitsch alone, that’s a pretty good choice. I mean, at minimum, it’s better than Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

(Hey, what do you want? It’s been a slow and not particularly blog-worthy week.)

Feeling Blue

19 Mar

Damned Comcast gave me another faulty cable box.

When I turn on my television, all I get is a blue screen.

Because I’ve had some kind of a problem for about a week now, I’ve unplugged and replugged-in my box a couple of times, as I’d been directed to do before. And usually it worked this week, even if sometimes it was only briefly.

But today, the box seems to have completely died. I can’t seem to fix it, and I’m going to have to go to the billing/service center in Allston to switch boxes — that, or wait around my apartment for someone to stop by (no thanks). Continue reading →

When Am I Going to Get Mine?

26 Feb

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy buying gifts.

I think it’s a fun creative exercise of sorts, and a test of how well I know someone or what they’d like.

And I think I’m good at it — usually — or at least I’m told I give great gifts.

For example, I was supposed to go fishing a couple weeks ago with a friend of mine for his birthday. The trip didn’t work out, so I bought him fish of a different variety, the Swedish kind.

And I also have no problem buying a bottle of wine or something when I go over to someone’s new house or apartment, or spending extra if I find a gift I particularly like, even if I know it won’t be reciprocated.

Similarly, and please don’t get me wrong on this point especially, I am happy for all my friends’ marriages, births, and other special occasions. Continue reading →

Since We’ve No Place to Go

12 Feb

I love how on blizzard days like today, the news reports are always the same: “There are treacherous conditions out there, the wind is howling, snow is falling at a rapid pace. It’s a good day to stay inside and off the roads … Now let’s go out to our reporter in Natick!” Followed minutes later by: “Now, out to Plymouth!” And later: “Up to Burlington!” Then “Out to Newton!” And everywhere, it’s the same story: Snow, and lots of it.

Well, in that spirit, I can tell you “It’s snowing in Brookline!” Finally. We’re going to get close to 20 inches. Can’t say I’m all that bummed since we haven’t had a storm like this all season. I’ve got work to do, some food I can bake, and maybe I’ll even purge some more of my books, so I’m going to make the most of the day. In the meantime, I went outside at 10am and took some pictures just in case you, like some news watchers apparently, need proof that it’s really snowing here too.

I’m Guilty

6 Feb

Confession of the day: I think I love Lisa Loeb‘s new show on E!, #1 Single.

Sure, any show that professes to honestly portray what it’s like to be single and dating is a bit skewed, especially if the subject is a celebrity (C-list or otherwise). But the second episode, which aired this weekend (or rather, which I saw for the first time this weekend), was pretty funny, and not in the same kind of demeaning way that many reality shows about dating are. Continue reading →

Web Find of the Day

1 Feb

I assume most of my readers have seen “Lazy Sunday,” the digital short that aired on Saturday Night Live before Christmas. Now there’s a West Coast sequel costarring Mark Feuerstein. It’s called “Lazy Monday,” and you can watch it here. Enjoy!

From One George to Another

31 Jan

State of the Union Eve is always a fun night. The challenge? What will be the best option among all those channels not showing the speech. You’d think it would be easy, what with the 100 or so channels on the cable “dial.” But tonight, I settled on Ocean’s Twelve on HBO. That George is a lot more charming and believable than the one on the major networks … and CNN, and MSNBC, and FNC, and …

It’s Not Just Shannon Who Was Spoiled

10 Nov

I can’t get too upset about Shannon’s death on last night’s episode of Lost.

For starters, we’ve known for months that someone was going to die. So when the episode began and it was clear that it was a Shannon episode, and most of the hour was going to focus on her — well, duh. Clearly she’s the one who was going to die.

And there’s no real loss to the show there. Sure, Maggie Grace is hot, but ever since Boone died last year, her character had turned into a bit of a drip (when they showed her, that is). And I just didn’t buy her relationship with Sayid. Talk about convenient. Continue reading →

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