Archive for August, 2009

The Controversial TV Series On Showtime

The popular cable network Showtime is no stranger to controversy. Its two most popular series, Weeds and Dexter, delve deeply into dangerous territory as their protagonists tread the fine line between morality and immorality. In the case of Weeds, soccer mom turned drug dealer, Nancy Bowen (played by Mary-Louise Parker) struggles to keep the danger of her chosen profession from impacting the lives of her family. For Dexter, a blood splatter expert who just happens to be a serial killer, moral dilemmas abound. Dexter (Michael C. Hall) is not just any ordinary killer, he kills for a purpose—to mete out justice on the bad guys. Both characters challenge viewers to set moral judgments aside as they present scenarios that cause us to wonder if we would act differently given the same set of circumstances.

Californication, starring real life sex-addict David Duchovny, followed the travails of Hank Moody, a troubled writer. Hank turns to sex, drugs, and alcohol (and lots of each) to try to break through persistent writer’s block. Duchovny’s lead character was far less empathetic than Parker or Hall but the show brought to the foreground all things Hollywood. For those with stars in their eyes this calls into question just what you are so star struck by. Do these people really deserve our adoration?

For Showtime the next controversial show in the making is a new 10-part documentary series by director Oliver Stone. Secret History of America will take a sideways glance at what are considered to be important, but poorly covered events in American history. Judging by the reaction to Oliver Stone projects in the past, this series is certain to generate much debate. In particular, regarding the historical accuracy of the events presented.

Creating programming which is on the edge and generates controversy seems to be a successful formula for Showtime. As long as viewers have a taste for what can be a little dangerous and a lot thought provoking, Showtime will continue to push the envelope. After all, isn’t generating talk what brings viewers to the network?

Hell’s Kitchen

Hell’s Kitchen, starring world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay, is a televised competition for aspiring amateur chefs where the contestants create and cook their way to winning a six-figure salary and becoming head chef of one of Gordon Ramsay’s upscale restaurants.

Each contestant brings varying levels of culinary skills and their own unique flavor to the competition. The contestants are divided into two teams, the red team and the blue team. The members of the red team are women while the men make up the blue team.

The teams are given challenges to prepare food dishes that are served to dinner guests who evaluate the food and service. Winning a challenge usually gets the team a nice get-a-way or some other well deserved prize while the losing team must clean both kitchens, receive deliveries and prep both kitchens for the next meal challenge.

During the challenges Gordon Ramsay evokes fear in the contestants with his vulgarities, cursing, screaming and at times even throwing food, Ramsay’s way of sculpting the aspiring chefs to be the best they can be and in the end to make his final decision on the chef most deserving of the prize.

Chef Ramsay’s antics, at times, may seem devilish and insane but contrary to his self portrayal he is a kind hearted, successful, world-renowned chef affording a once in a lifetime opportunity to a talented but unknown chef.

Hell’s Kitchen and chef Ramsay bring reality television viewers into a chaotic kitchen of fierce competition, drama and culinary entertainment.

TV Review: Warehouse 13

Warehouse 13 is a hit new science fiction series that follows the story of two mismatched federal agents who are enlisted to protect the world from a series of strange objects that each possess a supernatural power that must be contained. Thousands of these objects have already been contained and are housed at a facility far off the grid known as Warehouse 13. Whereas most science fiction programs on television today are bogged down by complex, ongoing plot lines, Warehouse 13 follows in the footsteps of more lighthearted fare such as Lost in Space and Eerie Pennsylvania where a viewer can choose to simply watch a single episode now and then and just enjoy the fun. At the same time, the writing for the show is steeped in enough solid science fiction that just about every episode has a storyline that is innovative enough to catch and keep your attention.

However, the thing that keeps most viewers coming back is the characters. They are far from cutting edge or original, but there is something about each of them that is charming and personable enough for the viewer to readily identify with. The two federal agents consist of the archetypal mismatched cop pair of the by the books female FBI agent gunning for a serious career with the federal government and a fly by the seat of his pants male lead who trusts his instincts. It’s not the most original idea, but the two have a chemistry that makes it work. They are employed by the caretaker of Warehouse 13, a lovable, pudgy fingered klutz is both charmingly aloof and deeply knowledgeable on the lore of the objects that the agents must collect. Warehouse 13 isn’t exactly must see TV, but it is certainly a pleasure to watch.

Why Nurses are Upset about Nurse Jackie

Showtime marked its highest-rated season premiere ever this past June with its new series, “Nurse Jackie.” The show focuses on a character named Jackie Peyton, portrayed by actress Edie Falco, who is an emergency room nurse at New York City’s All Saints’ Hospital. Dubbed a dark comedy, the program elicited an immediate outcry from real-life nurses after the airing of the first episode.

While every profession includes employees of various levels of competence and character, Nurse Jackie possesses a curious combination of high skills with extremely questionable ethics. Although appearing to perform quite ably and treat most patients compassionately, these qualities appear unrealistic to real-life nurses when contrasted most specifically with Nurse Jackie’s substance abuse problem. Her addiction to painkillers, supposedly begun through her efforts to treat a bad back, is viewed by many in the profession as quite unsafe and rather stupid.

Along with the addiction problem, Nurse Jackie has also been portrayed as sexually immoral (within the hospital setting) and as a thief, albeit as a Robin Hood-type character who steals from the rich to give to the poor. As direct care workers who interact with the public daily in oftentimes sensitive situations, nurses are concerned with the negative impression that viewers of the show could easily form of their profession. Those in the health care industry are called to a high standard in their jobs and expected to follow a strict medical code of ethics. Nurse Jackie’s character seems to degrade many of the vocation’s best qualities.

Twilight Movie Review

Twilight is the story of a teenage girl named Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) who moves from Pheonix Arizona to the small town of Forks, Washington. Once there, Bella becomes interested in a quiet, strange, sometimes stand- offish boy named Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) turning this into a story of star- crossed lovers much like Romeo and Juliet but with fangs. Edward is very secretive and determined to stay away from Bella, but cannot resist her determination, forcing him to reveal his secret to her. He and his family are vampires, some of them more than one hundred years old.

As Bella and Edward grow closer and his family’s true nature is revealed to her, Bella falls completely in love with him. Problems arise however, when a group of three nomadic vampires with superior hunting skills begin tracking Bella across Forks and ultimately across the country. Edward struggles to keep Bella alive and human racing the clock and trying to out- think and out- wit vampires with no conscience and no regard for human life. Struggling to win Bella’s life against vampires he has no idea how to handle, a breed only out for blood, in a contest to prove which vampire is the strongest and most determined to win. Based on the number one bet- selling novel of the same name by Stephanie Meyer, Twilight is a teenage love story with a twist. The cast also includes Billy Burke, Ashley Greene, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Taylor Lautner, and Rachel LeFevre.

Video Streaming Shows Dramatic Six-month Increase

When Ipsos, a market research company specializing in media content and technologies, released the latest survey results in their report on Online Video Streaming earlier this month, no one should have been surprised at the direction the numbers were heading. The magnitude of the increase, however, revealed how quickly America’s entertainment behaviors are changing. Not only were the numbers up, they were up dramatically.

Over one-fourth of Americans who used the Internet in the past month watched a streaming TV show. Fourteen percent had streamed a full length film or movie. The data collected in April of this year (2009) showed a phenomenal doubling of the numbers collected during the previous September.

The highest percentage of streaming video viewers was found among young adults, ages 18 -24. Within this demographic group, the numbers soared to twice the national average for watching streaming video—51% for TV shows and 30% for viewing full length movies.

Experts attribute the swelling percentages to a corresponding growth of digital video web sites, citing Hulu in particular. Most typically, these sites are “free” to the consumer with costs being compensated through advertising. Brian Pickens, Senior Research Manager at Ipsos, believes that streaming video “is becoming an important distribution channel where any type of full-length video can be instantly accessed for immediate consumption without a fee.”

The appeal of streaming video to consumers is found in its on-demand flexibility for being available exactly when the viewer wishes, and its value of providing free entertainment in a capricious economy.

How to Discover Unheard of Movies

Beyond big stores lies an ocean of smaller, locally owned video and DVD stores, many of which have been around since the 1980’s and have kept a back stock of many forgotten videos. The unheard of gem lies a lot of times within the aisles of the older movies within those stores.

Look closely, reading the back rather than simply trusting the cover. Many lesser known movies are repackaged to resemble existing, more successful movies. While many turkeys might be discovered, a good movie gem is worth wading through the garbage.

Before looking randomly, determine what genre of movie you are looking for. Search that genre thoroughly. Some video stores put the more popular movies at the top, so check the bottom rows. Don’t let a bad title scare you off. Like a book cannot be judged by its cover, a movie shouldn’t be judged because it has a bad title.

A great place to find wonderful but forgotten titles is the foreign section, with great films produced around the world. In order to sell them, they will a lot of times reference more popular movies. A film that claims to be from the “makers of” might only have an editor or stunt choreographer in common.

There are websites devoted to certain types of movies. Search them and other online video sites for trailers using the genre, add words like “obscure“ or “unknown“ to add flavor your search. Most films, regardless of budget and backing, make some kind of trailer.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Review

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has to be the best Harry Potter movie yet. The third movie had been my favorite movie and book thus far, yet this one kicked it down a notch and stole the top spot. Of course not everything from the book was in it, but the book being over six hundred pages long, it’s kind of hard to fit everything in.

They did change and add a few scenes that didn’t happen in the book; however it, in my opinion, was for the better. The movie was action packed with the perfect mix of humor and seriousness. As soon as the movie started I was hooked, not just because I am an avid fan, but because everything draws you in; I just had a feeling that it was going to be one of the best movies of the year. The cast did very well in their acting, which has improved over their years, particularly the three main actors who play Harry, Hermione, and Ron. With some movies you can take a step back and say It’s only a movie, but this isn’t the case for this film. I felt as if it could all be real as I watched it; that’s how well the director and producers with the help of the actors put it together. The random bits of humor were well placed and heightened the film when the more serious and sadder parts of the film took their place. I would recommend this movie to anyone and long to see it again and again.