Arlene Update

Here's the latest on Arlene's recovery...

Yeah! The day is finally here when Arlene moved across the street to the National Rehab Hospital!
She moved there late this afternoon. It was amazing to see her progress since the two weeks of my last visit. The first noticeable thing was that she was not 'hooked' to anything! She was moving (chair to bed, etc) on her own accord. Hallelujah!

This is great news and I'm looking forward to more.

Wolverine at the Academy Awards

I have to say that this was the best one since the reign of Billy Crystal. Hugh Jackman was at ease and a one-man variety show. I liked the new stage and seating, and the musical numbers didn't have me jumping up to raid the fridge or visit the lavatory.

Another reason I enjoyed it was the acceptance speeches. Of course, that isn't something that the producer/director has much control over.

The 5 previous winners speaking directly to the nominees was often very effective but too easily moved to repetitious and cliched. I would like to see it used again, but let the actors work on their own intro and edit to avoid repetitive uses of adjectives.

All in all, the positives outshone the negatives.

Back from D.C.

Only Child has returned to us from her visit to D.C.; she came back at 3AM Monday morning. She loved it and hopes to return every year with the school's Junior State of America chapter. I will do what I can to make sure it happens. She also want to go to the spring session in Chicago if possible...my little politician!!

Arlene update: Today, Arlene was supposed to be moved to a rehabilitation hospital, but I have not heard she has been, yet.

The Last Airbender Movie pales in comparison to the series

Avatar: The Last Airbender is being turned into a live-action movie by Paramount Pictures. That sounds like such a great thing for fans of the show and fans of great cartoons. The original series is superior to almost all other U.S. based animation and was written without treating its viewers as if they had no attention span. It was impressive and entertaining on every level. A live-action movie could be fantastic! Let's all support this movie!!!

Unfortunately, I can't support it.

This show takes place in a decidedly Asian setting; the characters and culture are obviously a fiction derived from Inuit culture and Asian history.

So why is the main cast of this movie all white?

Jackson Rathbone, Nicola Peltz and Jesse McCartney have been offered the roles of Aang, Sokka, Katara and Zuko respectively.

Derek Kirk Kim has written an excellent commentary/reaction to the casting of the movie and does a far more eloquent job of describing the series. Here is an excerpt (click here for all of it).

Before I go any further, it behooves me to spill some information on "Avatar, the Last Airbender" for those people who have no idea what it is. 1) It's the greatest, most ambitious animated action adventure TV series ever hatched in the U.S. A cartoon series for kids in which one epic story actually spans 3 entire seasons. A kid's show in which the characters actually grow and change and evolve! A cartoon which actually respects a kid's intelligence and vast imagination. Imagine that! 2) It's wholly and inarguably built around Asian (and Inuit) culture. Everything from to the costume designs, to the written language, to the landscapes, to martial arts, to philosophy, to spirituality, to eating utensils!—it's all an evocative, but thinly veiled, re-imagining of ancient Asia. (In one episode, a region is shown where everyone is garbed in Korean hanboks—traditional Korean clothing—the design of which wasn't even altered at all.) It would take a willful disregard of the show's intentions and origins to think this wouldn't extend to the race of the characters as well. You certainly don't see any blonde people running around in "Avatar." (I'm not saying that would have necessarily been a bad thing, I'm just stating the facts of the show and the world in which it is set.)

So why is the main cast of this movie all white?

Not an Asian actor among them; don't worry though, they have a handle on it...

When Rathbone was asked about his suitability for the role he answered...

"I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan," he said of the transformation he'll go through to look more like Sokka. "It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."

So he's going to get a tan!! Let's not risk a movie on non-white performers when we can just do it in yellow-face!! Are you telling me that there are no Asian actors that could fill these roles? You can be sure that they will fill the movie with Asian actors for all the smaller parts and extras... that will show audiences they are sensitive to the criticism!





Director, M.Night Shyamalan should be more tuned to such criticism and picked a cast with more diversity. Critics are saying that it is all about making a movie that will make the most money and that it is simply business. I am sure that has more to do with it than outright racism on the part of those involved, but there safe choices have cost them my business.

Jesse McCartney has since pulled out due to scheduling problems and has been replaced with Dev Patel. I am very happy to see a non-Caucasian in a leading role and I am a fan of Patel; but it really doesn't change things. Actually, it makes things worse in the sense that it now will have our white heroes battling the evil ethnic guy!

I know this casting change will not be enough to get me to go see the film.

If you want to make your disappointment known, Derek Kirk Kim suggest contacting those involved...

Letters of complaint should be sent here:

Mr Mark Bakshi
President Features Production
5555 Melrose Avenue
Shulberg Building
Suite 211
Room 115
Los Angeles, CA 90038-3197

and

Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall
Kennedy/Marshall Company
619 Arizona Avenue, Fl. 2
Santa Monica, California 90401

Road trip reassurance for Daddy

?


Only Child just called to let me know that she has arrived in D.C.; she's been calling to keep me informed of her progress during the trip...because I am a paranoid bastard who needs to constantly be assured that everything is all right with my baby.

Last night's Presidential press conference

Watching the President's press conference, I was impressed with his passionate defense of his stimulus bill. My favorite line was below. I seldom hear the term ginned up used in daily conversation. Enlivened or intoxicated? I love the etymological origins of the term.

I truly think the term is an accurate description for the impetus of the last eight years of muck-ups.


I'd love -- you know, this notion that somehow I came in here just ginned up to spend $800 billion, you know, I mean, that wasn't -- that wasn't -- that wasn't how I envisioned my presidency beginning. But we have to adapt to existing circumstances.

Then there is always an idiot (Michael Fletcher from the Washington Post) to ask a totally moronic question...

Yes, thank you, sir. What is your reaction to Alex Rodriguez's admission that he used steroids as a member of the Texas Rangers?

At this point, if I were president, I would have instructed Mr. Fletcher to sit down and ask if anyone had a relevant question regarding the current problems facing the nation. That's just me.

Youngblood: The Movie

I see that Youngblood has been optioned for a movie.

Maybe it will hew closely to the comic. They will make the first hour of the movie (all the characters' feet will be cropped out of the film) then keep promising the rest is coming soon. Then, in a year or two they will promise an all new movie and make only the first hour of that one. They will promise that there will be another movie soon and that will be that. In spite of that, Rob Liefield will make money from the whole thing.

D.C. Weekend

Got Only Child a Tracfone so that she can call and be called on her trip to D.C. this weekend. I got a good deal on a camera phone with double-minutes for the life of the phone. Keeping it stocked with minutes and service will be a shared responsibility for both of us. I told her to make sure all friends and family knew what a good gift a Tracfone card makes for holidays and her birthday.

Speaking of the D.C. trip, it has been trimmed by one day due to some problems on the school's end. They will still get a moonlight tour of the city and one dance for the kids in amongst all of their mock-congress work. I'm sure she will have a wonderful time and great learning experience. I just hope her cold lets up before she leaves on Thursday.

When she returns, we plan on seeing Coraline in 3D; she wants to see it again... in 3D this time.

Coraline

Thanks to the Collett's gift tickets, we saw Coraline last night! It was better than I hoped it would be. Granted, it wasn't quite as scary as the book; but I expected it to be toned down a bit. Still, it was more than scary enough to capture the frightening fun of the story.

Henry Selick has done amazing things with stop-motion and some CGI effects that will delight and amaze. I hope this film is successful so that Selick and the production company, LAIKA will continue to create new wonders for the big screen.





Just read of the passing of James Whitmore. Very sad indeed. He was always great in anything he was in; I especially loved him in Shawshank Redemption and the wonderful Twilight Zone episode,On Thursday We Leave For Home.

My condolences to family, friends and fans.

Quick Arlene Update

This came from Arlene's sister...

Arlene is sitting in a chair for a little over an hour, doing some physical therapy. She is alert and communicative - she writes a lot. No sign of stroke save for more weakness in the right leg than the left.

Keep it up, Arlene!!

Ill be Back

After foolishly thinking my illness had abated, it jacked up the symptoms and made me even more sneezey, stuffy and achy. It didn't stop me from getting out a 2:30 AM to do the grocery shopping.

Nor did it stop me from reading and enjoying immensely the young adult novel, The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness.

Here Amazon's description of the plot...

A dystopian thriller follows a boy and girl on the run from a town where all thoughts can be heard — and the passage to manhood embodies a horrible secret.

Todd Hewitt is the only boy in a town of men. Ever since the settlers were infected with the Noise germ, Todd can hear everything the men think, and they hear everything he thinks. Todd is just a month away from becoming a man, but in the midst of the cacophony, he knows that the town is hiding something from him — something so awful Todd is forced to flee with only his dog, whose simple, loyal voice he hears too. With hostile men from the town in pursuit, the two stumble upon a strange and eerily silent creature: a girl. Who is she? Why wasn't she killed by the germ like all the females on New World? Propelled by Todd's gritty narration, readers are in for a white-knuckle journey in which a boy on the cusp of manhood must unlearn everything he knows in order to figure out who he truly is.


It is a great read that I simply couldn't put down. To say that the ending is a cliffhanger would be an understatement. I had read reviews that were not kind to the ending or unending as the reader is left screaming in frustration at the edge of his seat. Nonetheless, I was impressed and highly recommend this book, but suggest that you wait until the 2nd book is out.

The 2nd book comes out in the U.S. in September. I will have to find some way to get a copy of the British edition that debuts in May.

I am going to try and find something to take for this cold and lay down a bit.