From left: The new hosts of “American Idol:” Randy, Jennifer lopez and Steven Tyler. The new USA show “Fairly Legal,” PIX 11’s Jodi Applegate, Christina Applegate, Ben Affleck as a nun in “The Town” and Thomas Kretschmann as Adolf Eichmann.
Winter Media Ramblings
One of the few consolations in coming down with a 48-hour bug is being able to spend a lot of time on the couch nursing the malady with soup, hot tea, Halls, tissues and a ton of television. Thanks to the strength of Allegra-D, concentrating on work or the computer was seriously impaired, leading me to the couch and the joys of television and On Demand. Safely semi-horizontal in front of the big screen, wrapped in my favorite blue wool blanket, box of tissues at my side, I devoured a lot of TV. Here are some of my top observations:
Idol
That singing sensation “American Idol” is back for its tenth season sans Simon Cowell and since last year without Paula Abdul or her replacements Ellen and Kara. Randy Jackson (who probably has not a thing better in the world to do with himself except say “dawg” and “dude” all day long) is joined by two bona fide big stars, Jennifer Lopez (“Jenny from The Bronx”) and aging antiquarian rocker Steven Tyler. Tyler will be 63 on March 28th (save the date) and looks every day of it. Makeup can’t disguise the vida loca he’s lived through the 70s, 80s and 90s as the lead singer of Aerosmith. His musical accomplishments aside, I think his best achievement was fathering his daughter Liv Tyler who is a great actress. Tyler looks like one of the villains from “The Mummy” movie series. This visual mortification is broken up by his crazy outbursts and antics which can only be ascribed to medication of some kind. Lopez is filling Paula’s sweet encouraging role and it’s nice enough looking at her glorious tresses. Innocuous. The show’s audition phase has always been my favorite part where people without a shred of talent and looking for their two minutes of fame will humiliate themselves before a nationally televised audience. Problem here is the lack of edge to the humiliations. Without Simon Cowell as the resident tart bad guy, the show just lacks bite. So there are embarrassments, but no pain, no jabs, no thrusts. Way too nice and that’s not nearly as entertaining. Also, no give and take and bad chemistry between Simon and Paula or Simon and anyone. I watched mostly for Simon and with him gone, I don’t think it’s worth the time.
Fairly Legal
The USA Network has created a quirky drama called “Fairly Legal” with the premise that a young burnt-out late twenty-something plucky cute female attorney can make it in San Francisco’s legal world as a mediator, not a litigator, tweaking the noses of that city’s legal establishment. The show stars Sarah Shahi who is 30, was Number 66 in Maxim magazine’s “Hot 100 of 2006,” a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader (1999-2000), the great-great-granddaughter of the 19th century Iranian king Fath Ali Shah Qajar and is half Mexican on her mother’s side. A delight to look at, Shahi appeared in “The L Word” and “Life,” so she’s not an acting neophyte. What the producers did was essentially create a “Veronica Mars” for the legal set. Our heroine is spunky, edgy, charming, cuts corners when it comes to adhering to the letter of the law and plays off a cast of characters which include her eternally tormented ex-husband who is a D.A. and her tormenting gold digging 40-something hot stepmother who runs her now deceased father’s big law firm. The show also features black people in roles as minstrelsy and stereotypical as anything you might have seen in the 1930s which is actually kind of offensive. In “Veronica Mars” one could forgive the coy behavior, the teasing, flirting and bratty ness because the lead character was supposed to be a high school student. In “Fairly Legal” we have someone pushing 30 and all this immature behavior strikes me not so much as cute as annoying. Why other adults in the show put up with her mishegoss is beyond me, so if you’re going to watch the show you have to suspend disbelief that adults would act this way. David E. Kelley does legal parody much better with “Boston Legal” and “Ally McBeal.” You can catch the first show again this Saturday night on USA.
Pix 11 News at 10
Anchoring Channel 11 (New York) News at 10:00 p.m. now is Jodi Applegate, formerly of News 12, formerly of Channel 5’s “Good Day NY”. This woman gets around. WPIX has her not at an anchor desk but rather in front of a green screen so she appears at times to be floating in space or they have her flittering about the newsroom leaning over desks and chairs. Very casual. News for the new generation. They also show the story lineup YouTube-favorites style. The producers have done this to feature Applegate’s full body for the viewing public, because she is very pretty. They also have her dressed in very tight things (hey, Fox News does this too) and revealing things (hey, Fox does this too, works for them). Kind of fun news to watch. Spunky reporters too. Jodi is absolutely, positively not related to actress Christina Applegate but they look a whole lot alike and share a last name. For a local news change of pace, check her out.
Jets-Steelers
Sunday at 6:30 is the AFC Championships game between the NY Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Jets beat the Steelers already a few weeks ago. Having plowed through Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the past two weeks, I’m cautiously optimistic that the Jets can melt the Steelers (in Pittsburgh) and move on to the Super Bowl. Karma just feels right this time. Even if they don’t make it for any reason, they have everything to be proud of this year. At 3:00 on Sunday is the NFC Championship game between two veteran teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. I predict a Packers win which would pit them against the Jets for a dual Wild Card team Super Bowl on February 3rd.
Movie Briefs
On demand and from Netflix is a docudrama on the interrogation of Adolf Eichmann by the Israelis in the early 60s. It’s called appropriately, “Eichmann.” In the title role is Thomas Kretschmann as Adolf the younger looking stylish in his black SS uniforms and as Adolf and older behind bars in Israel’s Ramle Prison. Aside from Kretschmann, who gives a great performance especially as the younger Eichmann in all his perverted sadistic glory, the rest of the cast is weak to a point of comatose. Playing Eichmann’s interrogator Avner Less is Troy Garity who is devoid of passion or emotion. This is no ‘”Judgment at Nuremberg.” Produced in 2007, the films meanders on a lot of wasted sub plots on Less’s family life and Israeli politics. In this case less of Less would be more. Best parts of the film are flashbacks to Eichmann’s glory days running The Final Solution. Oddly, the film fetishizes Eichmann’s extra-marital affairs and wartime sex life and presents us with vivid and graphic scenes which are in their own way more disturbing than images of concentration camp inmates. What that has to do with the Holocaust, I have no idea. 100 minutes. Wish it were 80, but worth seeing.
Also On Demand is Benn Affleck’s “The Town,” from 2010 which is the story of a gang of no account po’ Irish white trash bank robbers from the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston. In nearly every film, whether by Mark Walberg, Matt Damon, Tom Cruise or TV series such as “Rescue Me and “Lights Out,” Irish-Americans are portrayed as alcoholics, drug addicts, abusers, criminals, violent, sluts and worse. If I were Irish-American I’d start an Irish-American Anti-Defamation League to combat this plethora of negative imagery. Why do we never see smart, accomplished Irish-Americans (other than the Kennedys)? Having vented on Behalf of Irish-Americans, let me say that the On Demand version of this film is well worth seeing because of the additional 26 minutes of footage that was cut from the theatrical release and for the stellar performances of Affleck (who has needed a great role for a long time now), John Hamm (“Mad Men”) as the lead FBI agent stalking his gang, Jeremy Renner as the psychotic James Caughlin, Blake Lively as James’ sister and Affleck’s sometimes love interest Krista – Lively shows that she’s way more than a “Gossip Girl” in this role – she shows real reach and depth in her portrayal of a drug-addicted tramp and lastly Chris Cooper in a small role as Affleck’s life-imprisoned father Stephen MacRay. A lot of suspense, great directing and cinematography make all 151 minutes of the extended Director’s Cut well worth your time. Opening in theatres this week is Affleck’s “The Company Men,” which looks promising.
Lets Go JETS!
*****
The Serious Stuff:
Great/Funny Video:
Why Are You Protesting Against Israel?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmerYYdJDv0&feature=related
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Important Video Interview:
"Son of Hamas"
A penetrating & insightful interview with Mosab Hassan Yousef, author of the new book, "The Son of Hamas". As the oldest son of a founding member of Hamas he had access to vital information that helped thwart dozens of terrorist attempts.
Mosab Hassan Yousef born in Ramallah, just north of Jerusalem, the son of a major Hamas founder, grew up in typical Israel-hating form. Arrested numerous times since age 10, Yousef switched sides in 1997 after Israel's secret service, Shin Bet, proved that Hamas brutally tortured civilians. His top-tiered access hindered dozens of assassination attempts and suicide bombings over a 10-year period. Yousef was granted U.S. asylum this past year for publicly revealing his conversion to Christianity and denouncing Hamas and the Arab leadership.
http://www.jewishtvnetwork.com/?bcpid=533363107&bctid=935463440
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Tunisia's Lessons for Washington:
By Caroline B. Glick
"ON THE face of it, the Tunisian revolution vindicates former president George W. Bush's policy of pushing democratization of the Arab world. As Bush recognized in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the US is poorly served by relying on dictators who maintain their power on the backs of their people." Tunisian president’s regime was not the only thing destroyed. The two main foundations of ‘expert’ Western analysis of the Mideast have also been undone.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=204051