Archive for category Entertainment
House, I’m losing interest.
Posted by clifgriffin in Entertainment on April 7th, 2009
I have been a faithful viewer of House M.D. since the very first episode. It’s unique approach to medical mystery and the always entertaining antics of Gregory House (portrayed by the ever-outstanding Hugh Laurie) have kept me coming back for more.
Until this season.
I have watched every episode of this season, but rarely on time. Quite simply, I usually forget it’s on. If I didn’t have Media Center, I might not watch it at all.
In past seasons, I have tolerated the more dramatic themes in House: Cameron and Chase, Cameron and House, Cameron and Chase and House, House and Ex-wife, Wilson and Amber, House and Cuddy, etc. They have primarily been side stories that, at best, give the characters more depth, and at worst are mildly annoying.
Lately, these side stories have vaulted to center stage. Not only are we exploring the mundane personal stories of each character, we are also forced to endure a never-ending exploration of House’s psyche. The writers seem to be forgetting that we like House as he is. We don’t want him to change. It’s enough that he is a complex character–does every episode really have to find some way to ask the same old questions? What if House was different? Why is House so mean?
It’s not only annoying, it’s repetitious. Themes aren’t being touched on they are being tortured. It’s one thing to tease ideas, it’s another to make us readdress them endlessly. A perfect example: the teaser for next week’s episode has Cuddy grilling Cameron Are you still in love with House? Must we really exume that horse and continue maliciously beating him?
Add to that the stilted, unlikely, and uncomfortable “romantic” relationship between Foreman and 13, sprinkle in the “but she’s going to die” dilemma every third episode, and the whole thing is just getting ridiculous.
Not only have the medical mysteries lost the center stage, they are also losing muster. It is almost a requirement that every patient have some personal secret they have kept from their spouse. Additionally, every new patient seems a thinly veiled way to get back to House’s atheism. We get it…House thinks everyone lies. He thinks there is no God. Not every marriage is great. People have secrets. Yadda yadda yadda.
You get the point.
It’s time for the writers to let House be House again. They need to let House solve medical mysteries and keep everything else in the peripheral.
If they don’t, I’m not sure how much longer I’ll make an effort to keep up with it.
Voice Dubbing
Posted by clifgriffin in Entertainment on January 7th, 2009
I was having a discussion today about the vocal dubbing in West Side Story and Singin’ in the Rain. This prompted me to do some research while yielded this interesting tidbit:
“If the subject of movie dubbing is confusing to some trying to connect who is who, then what about the strange set-up connected with the classic MGM musical Singin’ in the Rain (1952)? This merry mix-up of real life dubbing was addressed in Ray Hagen’s article on Jean Hagen in Film Fan Monthly (December 1968): “In the film, Debbie Reynolds has been hired to re-dub [Jean] Hagen’s dialogue and songs in the latter’s first talking picture. We see the process being done in a shot of Reynolds … matching her dialogue to Hagen’s and synchronizing it while watching a scene from the film. But the voice that is used to replace Hagen’s shrill, piercing one is not Reynolds’ but Hagen’s own quite lovely natural voice—meaning that Jean Hagen dubs Debbie Reynolds’ dubbing Jean Hagen! To further confuse matters, the voice we hear as Hagen mimes “Would You?”, supposedly supplied by Reynolds, is that of yet a third girl … [Betty Royce]“. Confusing? Well, there’s more. Although Debbie sang in the movie, notably the title tune (dubbing Hagen!), Debbie herself is dubbed again by Betty Royce in her duet with Gene Kelly “You Are My Lucky Star.”"
To read the whole article, go here:
http://www.classicimages.com/past_issues/view/?x=/1998/november98/idibthee.html
Creating and Editing Images in PHP
Posted by clifgriffin in Entertainment, Technology on November 7th, 2008
Yesterday I promoted a dynamic badge I created for America Held Hostage. Today I’m going to explain how I went about creating this badge.
First, I designed my badge in Photoshop:
Couldn’t I have just used PHP to create this image? Well, of course I could have. But that wouldn’t be a responsible use for resources either system or development. The essentials of the badge won’t change and making it all dynamic is silly.
Now that we have the badge, we simply want to add text to it using PHP. In this case, we’re going to add a countdown till January 20, 2009.
A Prairie Home Companion (The Movie)
Posted by clifgriffin in Entertainment on July 6th, 2007
Last week I DVR’d A Prairie Home Companion. I’ve long been a fan of the weekly radio show and I was looking forward to seeing it portrayed in the cinema.
And it was good. Not great, but good.
The plot is simple: A Prairie Home Companion has been bought out by developer (played by Tommy Lee Jones) with no interest in keeping the show. The scene unfolds on the last performance.
The rest of the details aren’t really neccessary to the review. Suffice it to say, the story is about as long and unweildy and without point as an average Garrison Keiler narrative, but a delight.
My only complaints with the movie are stylistic and also some content that seemed missing. For instance, there is no tale from Lake Wobegon. This is very surprising given that this is the staple of the radio show. There is also no advertisement for ketchup, which never cease to be my favorite.
Another interesting note is the almost non-existent role Sue Scott plays. Given her importance on the radio show, I would have expected her to have equal importance in the movie.
I was also very surprised by Lindsay Lohan’s presence in the movie. However, I must admit, she does a very good job. Her part is more low key, but played very genuinely. Kevin Kline steals the show as Guy Noir.
Lastly, the camera left some to be desired. During the actual performance the audience is rarely shown. The camera is so often fixed on the stage itself that you feel clausterphobic. Seeing an audience reaction to a performance help everyone enjoy it more. It’s the difference in watching a comedy by yourself instead of with a group. You’re going to laugh less and miss more.
Anyway, it’s a good movie. It has all of the heart of the radio program. You really get a feel for the fluid, improvisational way Garrison Keiler approaches radio.
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