Tuesday is Soylent Green Day

Somehow I never seem to miss a showing of Soylent Green on Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Seeing how December was Joseph Cotten month (one of my many favorite actors of the past), and today was a Tuesday (you have to see the movie to understand), once again I couldn't resist -- as a matter of fact I'm watching it as I type this (47 minutes into the movie, where Charlton Heston is interrogating the beautiful Leigh Taylor-Young at the home of the suddenly-late Joseph Cotten).

A murder mystery and a sci-fi movie all rolled into one, directed by the man, Richard Fleischer, who brought Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Fantastic Voyage and a few other classics to the screen (and was the son of Disney's biggest animation competitor of the 1930s, Max Fleischer of the famous Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons). Plus Charlton Heston, Chuck Connors and Edward G. Robinson, and one of the greatest opening "montages" ever put to film (and parodied so effectively in a South Park episode, Helen Keller the Musical, a few years ago). What's not to like?

One of the covy of great, post-apocalyptic science fiction movie nightmares of my youth, fertile ground in the late 1960s and 1970s for a variety of films that included Omega Man, Planet of the Apes, and Logan's Run. Always remember, Tuesday is Soylent Green Day. Much better than Soylent Yellow or Soylent Red, it's new and improved. And we all know that Soylent Green is...well, you know. Gotta run -- the scoops are on their way!

Notable passages of 2008

I found a great article online that reflects on the notables who passed away in 2008. R.I.P.

Another favorite recent commercial

This is a British TV ad for Volkswagon that my wife and I saw on a TBS special last week -- pretty funny.

Linda Fiorentino

I always liked her in her movies -- and thought she was under-used in the last few years, because I can't remember her in anything lately. There have been a few recent news stories, especially yesterday's in the New York Post -- now we know what she's been up to (apparently, not good). Maybe this publicity, bad as it sounds, could get her some new movie roles -- or at least a guest shot on Law & Order. Or maybe a reunion with her Men In Black co-star Vincent D'Onofrio on Law & Order Criminal Intent.

Probably my favorite Christmas commercial of the past few years

Starring Steve Buscemi and Norm MacDonald -- go figure!

Happy Festivus!

The Inside Hoop --- Great New NBA Blog

My friend and colleague Jon Marks, formerly of the Trenton Times (one of my two hometown newspapers back in the day), has been an award-winning sports writer covering the NBA for many years (and covered his fair share of other things including Villanova basketball). He's recently launched The Inside Hoop, a great new blog devoted to inside stories and commentary on the NBA. I highly recommend it!

New Ad Campaign for Las Vegas?

Proof that the Borg Have Changed Earth’s Time Line

In 1990, while dealing blackjack at a charity event, Jeri Lynn met investment banker and future political candidate Jack Ryan. The couple married on June 15, 1991 and had a son, Alex, on August 15, 1994. Throughout the marriage, Ryan and her husband took turns commuting between Los Angeles and Chicago for their careers, but finally divorced on 27 August 1999. Although Ryan mentioned (in an interview for Star Trek) that the frequent separations had been difficult for the marriage, the reasons for the divorce were kept sealed at their mutual request...Five years later, when Jack Ryan's Senate campaign began, the Chicago Tribune newspaper and WLS-TV, the local ABC affiliate, sought to have the records released. Both Jeri and Jack agreed to make their divorce records public, but not the custody records, claiming that their release could be harmful to their son...On June 22, 2004, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert Schnider agreed to release the custody files; the decision generated much controversy because it went against both parents' direct request and because it generally reversed the early decision to seal the papers in the best interest of the child. It was revealed that, six years previously, Jeri had accused Jack Ryan of asking her to perform sexual acts with him in public, and in adult clubs in New York, New Orleans, and Paris. Jeri Ryan described one as "a bizarre club with cages, whips and other apparatus hanging from the ceiling." Jack Ryan denied these allegations. Although Jeri Ryan refused to comment on the matter during the campaign, the document disclosure led Jack Ryan to withdraw his Republican candidacy for an open United States Senate seat in Illinois (which was eventually won by Barack Obama)...And then Mr. Obama was in position for his successful run for the U.S. presidency. I guess resistance IS futile. (See Star Trek: First Contact, or any episode of Star Trek Voyager with Jeri Ryan as Borg crew member Seven of Nine.)