Pan American Television

Article by Harout Daniels of Signal Television

Truebies fret not for True Blood is back for its 4^th season! True Blood is an American television drama series broadcasted by the cable network HBO. It is an adaptation of the series of novels written by Charlaine Harris.  It tells a love story between a telepathic waitress and a vampire. It is set in the fictional town of Bon Temps in the state of Louisiana, USA.

 Meet The Principal Characters:

 Sookie Stackhouse, the main character in the series is played by actress, Anna Paquin. She has a gift for telepathy and she works in Merlotte’s Bar as a waitress. She falls in love with a vampire named Bill Compton.

 Bill Compton, the vampire is played by actor Stephen Moyer. He falls in love with Sookie and they start a relationship. He tries to hold on to his humanity by holding on to his memories as a human. He was turned into a vampire during the American Civil War.

 Sam Merlotte, the bar owner is played by actor Sam Trammel. Sam is a shape-shifter. His adoptive family abandons him after he first changed into a beagle but then his dying adoptive father tells him of his origins, although his adoptive mother advises him not to find his birth parents because she said they were bad people.

 Jason Stackhouse is Sookie’s brother, played by actor Ryan Kwanten.  He is somewhat self absorbed and has been known to be dim-witted. He supervises a road crew during the day.

 Tara Thornton is played by actress Rutina Wesley. Tara is Sookie’s bestfriend.

 Lafayette Reynolds is played by actor, Nelsan Ellis. He is a gay prostitute, a drug dealer and a member of Jason’s road crew. He is cousins with Tara. In the novel, he was killed, however because of the character’s popularity; in the series he was saved.

In the Transformers sequel ‘The Revenge of the Fallen’ Decepticon forces return to Earth with a mission: take Sam Witwicky prisoner. Why? because he learns the truth about the ancient origins of the Transformers. This sequel introduces many new Autobots, and one of them is Jetfire. A few interesting facts about Jetfire:

- His Japanese name is Sky Fire.
- Jetfire’s alternate mode is a SR-71 blackbird
- Speed – 200mph, record altitude flight – 85068 ft
- A poll held before the casting of the movie placed Jetfire in 4th place.
- Jetfire is voiced by John Turturro. He also appeared in the Transformers as Reggie Simmons. Turturro is a well known actor, writer, and director.
- Jetfire was a former Decepticon. He decides to change to an Autobot due to his age.
- He has a special ability, which is his ability to join with Optimus Prime.
- Jetfire can be identified by his cane beard and creaking voice.
- Originally serving the Fallen, Jetfire is one of the few Transformers to remain on Earth since the dawn of mankind.

The sequel portrays Jetfire as an old Decepticon, sickened by the ambitions of his counterparts, which moves him to leave the Cybertron and hide. He has a desire to remain anonymous and yearns for peace and quiet, until he is awakened by Sam. When he is awoken he is unwilling to fight, but is convinced to fight not for the Decepticons by the Autobots.

The Indiana Jones DVD Set, according to Paramount is one of the fastest-selling DVD sets ever. Paramount records indicate that the trilogy sold over 1 million copies, grossing over $50 million in just its first week. The first Indiana Jones movie was released way back in 1981, with the fourth and final one in 2008, making the entire series a twenty-seven year long production.

Raiders of the Lost Ark
The first in the Indiana Jones franchise, Jones fights the Nazis who are in search of the Ark of the Covenant. The film, originating from George Lucas’s desire to create a modern version of the 1930s and 40s serials, it became the top grossing film of 1981, and remains one of the highest-grossing films ever made. Nominated for nine Academy Awards that year, it won five.

The Temple of Doom
In this, Jones arrives in India, and is asked to find a mystical stone and stumbles upon the Kali Thuggee cult. This movie was originally to be set in China with a hidden valley inhabited by dinosaurs, while other cancelled plot devices included the Monkey King and a haunted castle in Scotland. The filmmakers were denied permission to film in India as the government found the script racist, and was then filmed in Sri Lanka.

The Last Crusade
This movie saw Harrison Ford teaming up with Sean Connery, playing his father to find the Holy Grail. They fight off the Nazi’s again, but this time in 1936, before the World War II. Last Crusade, interestingly shows the side of the younger Jones played by River Phoenix, growing into the archaeologist he becomes. This installation was a financial success, outdoing the other two with $474,171,806 at the worldwide box office.

Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Released 19 years after the third movie, it pays tribute to science fiction B-movies, pitting Jones against Soviet agents. This film, which was a development hell, was finally a financial success, grossing over $786 million worldwide, becoming the second highest grossing film of 2008.

When putting together your movie theatre at home, you must invest in a surround sound system. Varying in cost, you should be able to find one that fits your budget. Make sure it comes with a DVD and Blu Ray player. Once armed with a good surround sound system, everyday television watching becomes quite an experience. Next, put together the full movie theatre experience by adding popcorn supplies to your stock.

While making popcorn to most people entails putting a bag in the microwave for a few minutes, most people want their popcorn to taste like ‘traditional movie popcorn’. Fortunately, nowadays popcorn makers are inexpensive, and are available in department stores and online as well. Ranging in several sizes, they can cost as little as $20 or as high as $2000.

Popcorn is a must-have when watching movies, especially at home. Keep your movie theatre at home well stocked. Popcorn can be bought in large bags, or smaller 1 lb bags. You’ll need to purchase Canola oil or Coconut oil to make sure the kernels pop evenly. The next thing to consider purchasing is a popcorn machine to achieve that ‘movie theatre’ popcorn. If you feel like showing off and have the space, go all out and buy a popcorn cart. Meant to replicate old red painted carts, you must get red and white popcorn holders to go with it. The flavouring of the popcorn is equally important. Find one that resembles closest taste to that of movie popcorn and you are all set for popcorn supplies for your movie theatre at home.

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.