India, for me, represents a sort of amalgam of a holy place and a fairy tale. It has long been a dream of mine to visit India and take a holy pilgrimage, of sorts. I’m well aware that things like the plague are still prevalent there, but I think that is all part of the, for lack of a better term, charm.

In my mind, India’s rich religious history coupled with its, even today, untamed natural wildness makes the country seem like no other place on earth. This opinion has been confirmed to me by both Indians and Westerners who have visited there. A professor of mine once told me of a summer when he spent 2 months in India. He went with no itinerary and no real idea about what he would do once there. He did know someone who lived there, but he admitted to me that he was in a state of near anxiety for his entire trip because of how different from his normal life it was.

So one can hardly fault me for proclaiming (even before I have seen it) the new Wes Anderson film to be one of the five greatest films ever made. The mystical algebra works thusly…

Wes Anderson + (Jason Schwartzman*Owen Wilson*Adrien Brody)

—————————————————————————————————— = greatest film of all time

India + a train

But I suppose not everyone shares my near maniacal fixation with all things India. Nevertheless, I give to you this trailer, so you might judge for yourself…

As that bastion of entertainment news, the New York Times, has reported, today the WGA is supposed to announce whether or not its members will begin a strike on November 1.

Now I like writers, having aspirations in that field, and I generally like shows that have good writing. When you get right down to it, writing is the foundation on which any good film or TV series is built.

But after coming across this…for lack of a better word…abomination, I have to wonder if the strike wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

Seriously, what was the thought process behind this show, Viva Laughlin.

“So I have a good idea for a show. Let’s take that crappy show set in Vegas, you know, what’s it called…the one so good that they moved it to Fridays…oh, right Las Vegas. So let’s take that, move it to an even crappier town, and then stock it full of contrived characters that sound like they came out a 6th rate Raymond Chandler knockoff.”

Ripley Holden?!

Nicky Fontana!?

Seriously, these are your character names. Why not just go with Cool Hero, and Evil Villain.

If this is what “professional” writers are coming up with, then clearly the ranks of TV writers need to be culled.

You know, I might not care so much if this were on, like FX or TBS, or some other cable station. If it were, then I’d assume this show did not take itself too seriously and it might actually work (take, Monk, for example which is AWESOME!). But, oh no, Viva Laughlin is on CBS, at 8 PM on Sundays! What the hell is a broadcast station giving an hour of primetime to this crap for!

And Laughlin!

Seriously!

I haven’t been there in about a decade, and hopefully I’ll never return. I don’t care how many fucking Starbucks and P.F. Chang’s it boasts. At it’s core, it’s still a place old ladies go to play nickel slots!

Shit, I can already tell that I’ve written stuff way better than this show and I haven’t even seen the show. Plus, I’m not a good writer. Everyone involved in Viva Laughlin should be officially blackballed, as of this moment, and never allowed to set foot in either California or New York ever again.

Today marks the release of a movie I’ve been waiting several years for, The Golden Compass. The initial response, ala the Tomato Meter isn’t so great; a 44% as I am writing these words. Now I don’t have time to examine all 120+ reviews that Rotten Tomato is referencing here, but I am in the habit of reading the full reviews from those reviewers I’ve come to trust over the years. In this case, Roger Ebert and Kenneth Turan. Normally I’d check A.O. Scott’s review as well, but the only review up on the NY Times right now is from Manohla Dargis (who did write a favorable review, nonetheless). Here I think, is one of the more notable excerpts from Ebert’s review:

As a visual experience, it is superb. As an escapist fantasy, it is challenging. Teenagers may be absorbed and younger children may be captivated; some kids in between may be a little conflicted, because its implications are murky.

They weren’t murky in the original 1995 novel, part of the His Dark Materials trilogy by Philip Pullman, a best seller in Britain, less so here.

The “murkiness” that Ebert talks about comes from the fairly well known fact that, instead of portraying the Magisterium (the large, not so nice, group at the heart of all the badness going on) as part of The Church (yes, those caps are intentional), it is represented as a governmental agency, akin to Big Brother.

But as Turan points out, this change is of particular importance to this story:

…though the Magisterium’s representatives dress like religious functionaries, all references to church connections have been removed.

Still, though it takes some doing, “The Golden Compass” retains enough tastes and traces of the original to fascinate and involve viewers. This is especially important because, as opposed to, for instance, “The Lord of the Rings” or even the Harry Potter books, this is a noticeably cool story, one whose most memorable connections are intellectual rather than emotional.

What I noticed, too, about both of these reviews is that it appears both Ebert and Turan had actually read the books. I generally try and judge an adaptation apart from its source material. Books and movies just work in different ways. A good example, I think, is another seminal fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings. The movies work so well because they focus on the action of the books, but anyone whose read them will tell you that the fights and battles (even the really BIG ones) are treated as secondary by Tolkien, almost as if they were mere plot devices required by the narrative, but not necessarily important. In the film, for instance, it takes Frodo about 2 minutes to decide to leave the Shire, in the book it takes, literally, months. That just wouldn’t play on the big screen. In regards to this film, though, I think that there must be some implicit connection the two versions.

So does this change work for the film?

That’s the major question, for me, as I anticipate seeing it. As I said, it appears that both Turan and Ebert read the books, and give glowing reviews to the movie, even with this much ballyhooed change. What seems interesting to me, from my brief perusal of the various reviews, is that those who give the movie a negative review seem to have not read the books. I could certainly be mis-categorizing things here. Surely there are bad reviews written by people who read (and, no doubt, even loved) the books.

Stephanie Zacharek at Salon seems to have read the books, though I’m not sure how well. Her main contention is that the movie is stilted, episodic and too grand for director Paul Weitz to handle. She says that the characters are always “trekking here and back again” though the audience hardly knows why, and that “nothing that happens in “The Golden Compass” is particularly well dramatized, and because Weitz has tried to cram in so many details and plot machinations, there’s never any time for relationships to develop between characters.” Well, unfortunately, that’s just how the book works too. At a few points in her review Zacharek bemoans the loss of the “magic” of the book. But the first book is just the first act of a longer work. People (especially Lyra) really are just running from here to there as the narrative unfolds and the characters are trying to make sense of it. In that regard, then, it seems that Weitz has been faithful to the source material (of course, I haven’t seen the movie yet so I could be wrong).

More importantly, though, even I who whole heartedly endorse the books on every level, can admit that Lyra, as a character, has no growth until the last book. She works as more of a device in this first installment. The most important device, no doubt, but one used mainly so that Pullman can get to the philosophical ideas he’s working towards. It’s not until the final act of the story do the character’s actually engage with these intellectual ideas in very real ways, and that’s precisely when the characters begin to come alive.

When it comes down to it. I’m pretty excited to see the film. The initial news that the Magisterium would be so completely changed in the film, obviously, made me dubious. And the so-so reviews I think can be understood more as a (still to this day) lack of appreciation for fantasy work than a real disregard for the film itself. Say what you will about Rings or Narnia or Potter, there still exists a definite resistance against fantasy as a viable form of entertainment, let alone art. More than anything, the Ebert and Turan reviews give me hope that I, who also read and loved the books, will connect with the film.

And the nominees are:

FILM

Science Fiction Film
“Cloverfield” (Paramount)
“Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” (20th Century Fox)
“I Am Legend” (Warner Bros.)
“The Last Mimzy” (New Line Cinema)
“Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight)
“Transformers” (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)

Fantasy Film
“Enchanted” (Buena Vista)
“The Golden Compass” (New Line Cinema)
“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” (Warner Bros.)
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” (Buena Vista)
“Spider-Man 3″ (Sony)
“Stardust” (Paramount)

Horror Film
“30 Days of Night” (Sony)
“1408″ (The Weinstein Co.)
“Ghost Rider” (Sony)
“Grindhouse” (The Weinstein Co.)
“The Mist” (The Weinstein Co.)
“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)

Action / Adventure / Thriller Film
“3:10 to Yuma” (Lionsgate)
“300″ (Warner Bros.)
“The Bourne Ultimatum” (Universal)
“Live Free or Die Hard” (20th Century Fox)
“No Country for Old Men” (Miramax)
“There Will Be Blood” (Paramount Vantage)
“Zodiac” (Paramount)

Actor
Gerard Butler (”300″) (Warner Bros.)
John Cusack (”1408″) (The Weinstein Co.)
Daniel Day-Lewis (”There Will Be Blood”) (Paramount Vantage)
Johnny Depp (”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)
Viggo Mortensen (”Eastern Promises”) (Focus Features)
Will Smith (”I Am Legend”) (Warner Bros.)

Actress
Amy Adams (”Enchanted”) (Buena Vista)
Ashley Judd (”Bug”) (Lionsgate)
Helena Bonham Carter (”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)
Naomi Watts (”Eastern Promises”) (Focus Features)
Belen Rueda (”The Orphanage”) (Picturehouse)
Carice van Houten (”Black Book”) (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem (”No Country for Old Men”) (Miramax)
Ben Foster (”3:10 to Yuma”) (Lionsgate)
James Franco (”Spider-Man 3″) (Sony)
Justin Long (”Live Free or Die Hard”) (20th Century Fox)
Alan Rickman (”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)
David Wenham (”300″) (Warner Bros.)

Supporting Actress
Lizzy Caplan (”Cloverfield”) (Paramount)
Marcia Gay Harden (”The Mist”) (The Weinstein Co.)
Lena Headey (”300″) (Warner Bros.)
Rose McGowan (”Grindhouse” - “Planet Terror”) (The Weinstein Co.)
Michelle Pfeiffer (”Stardust”) (Paramount)
Imelda Staunton (”Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) (Warner Bros.)

Performance by a Younger Actor
Alex Etel (”The Water Horse”) (Sony)
Freddie Highmore (”August Rush”) (Warner Bros.)
Josh Hutcherson (”Bridge to Terabithia”) (Buena Vista)
Daniel Radcliffe (”Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) (Warner Bros.)
Dakota Blue Richards (”The Golden Compass”) (New Line Cinema)
Rhiannon Leigh Wryn (”The Last Mimzy”) (New Line Cinema)

Direction
Tim Burton (”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)
Frank Darabont (”The Mist”) (The Weinstein Co.)
Paul Greengrass (”The Bourne Ultimatum”) (Universal)
Sam Raimi (”Spider-Man 3″) (Sony)
Zack Snyder (”300″) (Warner Bros.)
David Yates (”Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) (Warner Bros.)

Writing
Roger Avary, Neil Gaiman (”Beowulf”) (Paramount)
Brad Bird (”Ratatouille”) (Buena Vista)
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen (”No Country for Old Men”) (Miramax)
Michael Goldenberg (”Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) (Warner Bros.)
Michael Gordon, Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad (”300″) (Warner Bros.)
John Logan (”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)

Music
Tyler Bates (”300″) (Warner Bros.)
Jonny Greenwood (”There Will Be Blood”) (Paramount Vantage)
Nicholas Hooper (”Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) (Warner Bros.)
Mark Mancina (”August Rush”) (Warner Bros.)
Alan Menken (”Enchanted”) (Buena Vista)
John Powell (”The Bourne Ultimatum”) (Universal)

Best Costume
Colleen Atwood (”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)
Ruth Myers (”The Golden Compass”) (New Line Cinema)
Penny Rose (”Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”) (Buena Vista)
Sammy Sheldon (”Stardust”) (Paramount)
Jany Temime (”Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) (Warner Bros.)
Michael Wilkinson (”300″) (Warner Bros.)

Make-Up
Howard Berger, Greg Nicotero, Jake Garber - (”Grindhouse” - “Planet Terror”) (The Weinstein Co.)
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight - (”Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) (Warner Bros.)
Davina Lamont - (”30 Days of Night”) (Sony)
Ve Neill, Martin Samuel - (”Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”) (Buena Vista)
Peter Owen, Ivana Primorac - (”Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”) (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)
Shaun Smith, Mark Rappaport - (”300″) (Warner Bros.)

Special Effects
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Paul Franklin, Greg Butler - (”Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”) (Warner Bros.)
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl, John Frazier - (”Transformers”) (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)
Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, Trevor Wood - (”The Golden Compass”) (New Line Cinema)
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, John Frazier - (”Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”) (Buena Vista)
Scott Stokdyk, Peter Nofz, Spencer Cook, John R. Frazier - (”Spider-Man 3″) (Sony)
Chris Watts, Grant Freckelton, Derek Wentworth, Daniel Leduc - (”300″) (Warner Bros.)

International Film
“Black Book” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Day Watch” (Fox Searchlight)
“Eastern Promises” (Focus Features)
“Goya’s Ghosts” (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
“The Orphanage” (Picturehouse)
“Sleuth” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Animated Film
“Beowulf” (Paramount)
“Meet the Robinsons” (Buena Vista)
“Ratatouille” (Buena Vista)
“Shrek the Third” (DreamWorks SKG / Paramount)
“The Simpsons Movie” (20th Century Fox)
“Surf’s Up” (Sony)

TELEVISION NOMINATIONS

Network Television Series
“Heroes” (NBC)
“Journeyman” (NBC)
“Lost” (ABC)
“Pushing Daisies” (ABC)
“Supernatural” (CW)
“Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (Fox)

Syndicated / Cable Television Series
“Battlestar Galactica” (Sci Fi Channel)
“The Closer” (TNT)
“Dexter” (Showtime)
“Kyle XY” (ABC Family)
“Saving Grace” (TNT)
“Stargate SG-1″ (Sci Fi Channel / MGM)

Presentation on Television
“Battlestar Galactica: Razor” (Sci Fi Channel)
“The Company” (TNT)
“Fallen” (ABC Family)
“The Family Guy” - “Blue Harvest” (Fox)
“Masters of Science Fiction” (ABC)
“Shrek the Halls” (ABC)
“Tin Man” (Sci Fi Channel)

International Series
“Doctor Who” (Sci Fi Channel)
“Jekyll” (BBC America)
“Life On Mars” (BBC America)
“Meadowlands” (aka “Cape Wrath”) (Showtime)
“Robin Hood” (BBC America)
“Torchwood” (BBC America)

Actor on Television
Matt Dallas (”Kyle XY”) (ABC Family)
Matthew Fox (”Lost”) (ABC)
Michael C. Hall (”Dexter”) (Showtime)
Kevin McKidd (”Journeyman”) (NBC)
Edward James Olmos (”Battlestar Galactica”) (Sci Fi Channel)
Lee Pace (”Pushing Daisies”) (ABC)

Best Actress on Television
Anna Friel (”Pushing Daisies”) (ABC)
Lena Headey (”Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”) (Fox)
Jennifer Love Hewitt(”Ghost Whisperer”) (CBS)
Holly Hunter (”Saving Grace”) (TNT)
Evangeline Lily (”Lost”) (ABC)
Kyra Sedgwick (”The Closer”) (TNT)

Supporting Actor on Television
Michael Emerson (”Lost”) (ABC)
Greg Grunberg (”Heroes”) (NBC)
Josh Holloway (”Lost”) (ABC)
Erik King (”Dexter”) (Showtime)
Terry O’Quinn (”Lost”) (ABC)
Masi Oka (”Heroes”) (NBC)

Supporting Actress on Television
Jaime Alexander (”Kyle XY”) (ABC Family)
Jennifer Carpenter (”Dexter”) (Showtime)
Summer Glau (”Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”) (Fox)
Elizabeth Mitchell (”Lost”) (ABC)
Jaime Murray (”Dexter”) (Showtime)
Hayden Panettiere (”Heroes”) (NBC)

DVD NOMINATIONS

Best DVD Release
“Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon” (Starz / Anchor Bay)
“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (remix) (Image)
“Driftwood” (Image)
“The Man From Earth” (Anchor Bay)
“The Nines” (Sony)
“White Noise 2″ (Universal)

Best Special Edition DVD Release
“Big” (Extended Edition) (Fox)
“Blade Runner” (5 Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition) (Warner) (this includes interviews with both James Blaylock and Tim Powers!!!)
“Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (30th Anniversary - Blu Ray) (Sony)
“Death Proof” (Grindhouse Presentation: Extended & Unrated) (Genius)
“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Platinum Series) (New Line)
“Troy: Director’s Cut” (Ultimate Collector’s Edition) (Warner)

Classic Film DVD Release
“Alligator” (Lionsgate)
“The Dark Crystal” (Sony)
“Face/Off” (Paramount)
“Flash Gordon” (Universal)
“The Monster Squad” (Lionsgate)
“Witchfinder General” (MGM)

Collection on DVD
“The Godzilla Collection” (Classic Media)
“The Mario Bava Collection” (Vol. 1 & 2) (Anchor Bay)
“The Sergio Leone Anthology” (MGM)
“The Sonny Chiba Collection” (BCI / Eclipse)
“Stanley Kubrick” (Warner Home Video Directors Series) (Warner)
“Vincent Price” (MGM Scream Legends Collection) (MGM)

Best Television Series on DVD
“Eureka” (Season 1) (Universal)
“Heroes” (Season 1) (Universal)
“Hustle” (Complete Seasons 2 and 3) (BBC Warner)
“Lost” (The Complete Third Season) (Buena Vista)
“MI:5″ (Volumes 4 & 5) (BBC Warner)
“Planet Earth: The Complete BBC Series” (BBC Warner)

Retro Television Series on DVD
“The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones” (Volume 1: The Early Years) (Paramount)
“Count Dracula” (BBC Mini-series 1977) (BBC Warner)
“Land of the Giants” (The Full Series) (Fox)
“Mission Impossible” (The Second and Third Seasons) (Paramount)
“Twin Peaks” (The Definitive Gold Box Edition) (Paramount)
“The Wild Wild West” (The Second and Third Seasons) (Paramount)

SPECIAL AWARD RECIPIENTS

THE GEORGE PAL MEMORIAL AWARD:
Guillermo del Toro

THE SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD:
Tim Lucas

I didn’t really bring attention to the Oscar’s before they were handed out last night, mainly because I haven’t seen too many of this year’s nods and so felt I had no place to comment on them.

(I did see No Country for Old Men yesterday, which the wife did not like at all, exsulis seemed more or less ‘meh’ on the film, and I liked quite a bit…)

The show itself, however, well I can talk about that all I want!

Yes, it’s long, and mostly boring. Yes we hear a bunch of crap about how the movies are “magic.” Yes it’s self-congratulatory to a ridiculous degree.

Then why do people watch every year?

It’s not like it ever changes, but inevitably people always complain the next day, even though they sat through it all the night before.

Personally, and I realize I’m in the minority hear, I enjoy every drawn out second. I mean, when you’re talking about the most important award that a place like Hollywood can hand out, then yeah, I expect it to be long, and pompous.

For me, though, the best parts are generally when the winners of the “lesser” categories give their acceptance speeches. You know, every once in a while a major winner will give the audience a really true and hearfelt moment; I think a few most prominent in recent memory are Tom Hanks (when he won for Philadelphia), Cuba Gooding Jr. and Roberto Benigni. But generally, when the two or three guys who win for Sound Editing (or whatever) come up, you’re really seeing someone at one of the defining moments of his/her life. Sure, it’s got to be great to win Best Actress or Best Director, but those are generally won by actual celebrities. And I assume that when your face is plastered all over magazines and you earn millions of dollars a year, something like winning an Oscar is much less important than if you spend your days locked in an editing booth…

To his credit, John Stewart granted such a moment to someone last night. Marketa Irglova, one of the duo winners of Best Song did not get a chance to say her thank you’s, but was brought back on stage by Stewart after a commercial break. It should go down as the best moment from 2008’s show, it won’t, but it should…although the “Gaydolph Titlar” joke was a close second.

Care to give your (well, sort of) thoughts on the night? Well then, there is a brand new poll up so you can do just that…

The best part of the whole night, though, comes to us from Jimmy Kimmel…