I just saw Avatar yesterday and I think that I’ll be seeing it again sometime this week. I need to take my dad with me because I promised to take him with me the next time I saw a good 3D movie. This means a wallet that looks like it’s been on a diet till the next paycheck. But hey, It’s almost Christmas and Avatar is reaaaalllyyy good that I actually don’t mind seeing it a second time (and maybe even third or fourth!).
Anyway, I find myself getting realy into the 3D experience. I remember when we saw Beowulf and my dad said he couldn’t wait till the characters appeared more realistic. So I’m taking him to see Avatar. We also daydreamed a bit about having 3D TVs but agreed that it’ll probably at least a decade more before we see that becoming reality. So I’m really glad to be proved wrong this time.
Sony announced that it had been accelerating its efforts to allow us to watch 3D movies and play 3D games in our homes. In fact, they’re dead set on getting things done by next year – 2010. In their press release last September Sony said that they’ll be developing 3D compatible Bravia LCD TVs. In additiona to this they “will also develop 3D compatibility into many more of its devices, such as Blu-ray Disc products, VAIO and PlayStation®3, to provide a multitude of ways in which 3D content – from 3D movies to stereoscopic 3D games – can be enjoyed in the home.”
Oh yeah! Now that leaves us with only one problem. When will they make TV shows in 3D? Or will they ever find that feasible? Hopefully with 3D TVs they will be!
Rebecca may not be this season’s Biggest Loser but she sure is the biggest bombshell of the lot. After being voted off last episode, she appeared on Jay Leno where she looked so good people just can’t stop talking about it. I’m sure it helped that she made it as far as the makeover episode before having to say goodbye. Nevertheless, we’ve all seen contestant after contestant being made over but no one really looked that good afterward.
Anyway, here’s a quick recap of what happened in the last episode.
The contestants got their makeovers with Tim Gunn giving them tips and Tabatha Coffey doing the styling. I LOVE makeover episodes! The makeover was of course really exciting. Thank God Rudy has his beard shaved off but I think Rebecca and Allen had the best makeover. The makeover reveal was made doubly nice when they found out that their family were there to see them. Speeches were made all around with Rudy dropping a bomb by telling that his sister was diagnosed with cancer when he was fifteen.
Challenge time was as usual hard as hell and super scary for Liz who was terrified of having to pull herself across a canyon on a rope suspended hundreds of feet up in the air. Last chance workout was fascinating as ever to watch as Jillian tried to kill the contestants.
Weigh in came with contestants posting the following numbers:
Rudy: 16 lbs (-4.94%) – Biggest loser
Amanda: 9 (-4.46%)
Danny: 12 (-3.80%)
Allen:-5 (-2.06%)
Liz: 3 (-1.46%)
Rebecca: 3 (-1.44%)
As we all know Rebecca was the one who went home.
Not happy with your cable TV? Maybe Sezmi has the answer for you.
Sezmi is a startup company with a new kind of TV service. According to Sezmi’s website, their goal is “to redefine the television experience with the first-ever personal television system.” But what does Sezmi really have to offer?
Some of the features they have to offer include:
*An extensive on-demand library of TV shows and movies – TV shows available include current and past seasons.
*Integrates TV and the internet – You can browse on YouTube and while watching a TV show.
*Personalized Sezmi remote – A special remote control that allows each person to set their own preferences and viewing patterns for their own profiles.
*Integrated DVR – Sezmi can automatically record shows for you on its hard drive. Can record up to 1,000 hours.
So what’s the catch?
The catch is that right now it is still in trial-mode in Los Angeles. If you live in Los Angeles and has a broadband connection at home make sure to go to their website to see if you qualify for the free 3-month trial period. If you end up not liking the Sezmi system you can return their equipment after the trial period at no cost. Participants of the free trial who end up liking the Sezmi get to keep their Sezmi system for half the introductory price.
Each Sezmi system includes an HD Media Recorder, HD TV Reception System, remote control and all the necessary cables.
The Parents Television Council (PTC) has reported that the number of “storylines depicting violence against females are increasing”. Now I have to say that I am all for awareness. However, the TV shows have also been depicting these violence in a more graphic way, blurring the line between helping raise awareness and desensitizing viewers to violence against women, or worse, trivializing the whole issue.
According to Tim Winter, PTC’s president, “Our new research points to a disturbing trend: by depicting violence against women with increasing frequency, or as a trivial, even humorous matter, the broadcast networks may ultimately be contributing to a desensitized atmosphere in which people view aggression and violence directed at women as normative, even acceptable.”
Here are their major findings:
Violence, irrespective of gender, on television increased only 2% from 2004 to 2009, while incidents of violence against women increased 120% during that same period.
1. Every network but ABC demonstrated a significant increase in the number of storylines that included violence against women between 2004 and 2009. (Hooray for ABC!)
2. Although female victims were primarily of adult age, collectively, there was a 400% increase in the depiction of teen girls as victims across all networks from 2004 to 2009.
3. Fox stood out for using violence against women as a punch line in its comedies — in particular Family Guy and American Dad — trivializing the gravity of the issue of violence against women. (Boo to Fox!)
4. From 2004 to 2009 there was an 81% increase in incidences of intimate partner violence on television.
Read the entire study “Women in Peril” here.
Looks like Jon’s got what was coming to him. TLC has announced that “Jon & Kate Plus 8” will be changing its name to “Kate Plus 8” starting November 2 leaving Jon out in the cold – a clear win for Kate.
TLC’s decision to boot out Jon (although they don’t call it that) is pretty logical not to mention a popular move since he’s been factoring less and less in the kids’ life. According to TLC “Kate Plus 8” is appropriate because it reflects the new “family dynamics” with Kate handling life as a single mom. As TLC President Eileen O’Neill said, “Given the recent changes in the family dynamics, it only makes sense for us to refresh and recalibrate the program to keep pace with the family. The family has evolved and we are attempting to evolve with it; we feel that Kate’s journey really resonates with our viewers.” Or maybe even they are getting tired of Jon’s bachelor antics.
In the meantime, Jon is trying to salvage things by putting the brakes on their divorce proceedings. According to Jon he wants to “restore our [his and Kate’s] relationship as cooperative parents and to open up our lines of communication. I hope that she will be as receptive and enthusiastic as I am to do what is best for our family . . . I would like to get back with Kate as a partner in parenting.” As if Kate is the one who hasn’t been trying to do what’s best for the kids!
As for the show we’ll see how better off things will be without Jon G.
The weekend saw “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” on the top of the North American box office beating “ Surrogates” and “Fame” despite being on its second week. Bad news for Disney (“Surrogates” distributor) and MGM/Lakeshore (“Fame” distributor) since their opening weekends resulted in really weak sale, especially compared to what they expected ($20 million and $15 million respectively). Aside from the weak sales what must rankle even more are the ratings moviegoers have been giving the two film, a C for “Surrogates” and a B for “Fame”. This doesn’t bode well for them because it will mean a short run giving them little chance to turn things around.
1. “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” (Sony): $24.6 million – 2nd weekend; $60 million – total domestic sales
2. “Surrogates” (Disney): $15 million – opening weekend
3. “Fame” (MGM/Lakeshore): $10 million – opening weekend
4. “The Informant” (Warner Bros./Participant/Groundswell): $6.9 million – 2nd weekend; $21 million – total domestic sales
5. “I Can Do Bad All by Myself” (Lionsgate): $4.8 million – 3rd weekend; $44.5 million – total domestic sales
6. “Pandorum” (Overture/Constantin): $4.4 million – opening weekend
7. “Love Happens” (Universal/Relativity): $4.3 million – 2nd weekend; $14.7 million – total domestic sales
8. “Jennifer’s Body” (Fox): $3.5 – 2nd weekend; $12.3 million – total domestic sales
9. “9″ (Focus): $2.8 million – 3rd weekend; $27.1 million – total domestic sales
10.”Inglourious Basterds” (Weinstein Co./Universal): $2.7 million – 6th weekend; $114.5 million – total domestic sales
OLED here we go…
LG has announced it’s latest TV set – a 15-inch AM-OLED TV. OLED TV sets are pretty much the wave of the future. According to Marie-France Han and Rhee So-eui of Reuters, “Active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AM-OLED) displays, which use self-glowing materials, have better picture quality, consume less power and are thinner than widely used liquid crystal displays (LCD) that need backlight units.” With people becoming more energy conscious by the day this is a big plus for OLED TVs, that and the fact that everyone’s always happy to get something with better picture quality.
LG’s 15-inch AM-OLED tv set is not the first of its kind with Sony having paved the way with its 11-inch OLED tv that was launched 2 years ago. But in this age where smaller is usually better, when it comes to TV screens bigger is still better. Probably this is why LG is aiming even higher by working on coming out with a 40-inch AM-OLED TV set in the “not too distant future”.
LG will be launching it’s latest product this next week in Berlin at the IFA 2009 consumer electric show. The TV set will be available in Korea by November. As for the rest of the world, we’ll have to wait till next year to get our hands on this OLED TV. Of course, you might want to sit on your current TV and wait till the 40-inch monster comes out.
It was only a matter of time till Octomom got her own reality show – and now she has. I wouldn’t have cared if it was only her that would appear on the show but of course we know that what she’ll really be cashing on would be her kids. Nadya Suleman has signed the deal with Eyeworks, a European production company. If it weren’t for the kids I would love for that show to bomb.
The reality tv show deal she’s signed stipulates that each of her 14 kids will be earning $250 a day. For this year they’ll be shooting for 36 days. On the second and third year they’ll be shooting for 21 days and 14 days respectively. What this means is that collectively the kids will make $250,000 over the next three years. Filming will start this September.
The only real good news about this whole thing is that the deal specifies that 15 percent of the earnings will automatically be deposited to the kids’ trust fund, which can’t be touched even by their mom, till they reach eighteen or they become legally emancipated. So I guess they’ll at least have some savings.
Seriously though I enjoy watching reality shows as much as the next person sometimes things can just sicken you. As always it’s the kids that have to suffer. At least there’s no marriage to split up here. Let’s just hope the kids somehow end up better off with this.
“So You Think You Can Dance?” Apparently Katie Holmes thought she could, and though there are some naysayers out there, I have to agree with her this time. Critics have been saying that all she did was lip synch and go from pose to pose but all I can say is I wonder if the ones who say that can go from pose to pose as gracefully and looking so cool and absolutely stunning as she did. I am no Katie Holmes fan but she did look really good in SYTYCD 100th episode.
Aside from doing a great job with her homage to Judy Garland it’s really nice that Katie Holmes worked on the routine really hard to help draw more attention to the charity organization “Dizzy Feet Foundation.” Dizzy Feet Foundation’s mission is to “to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in the United States.” It is meant to help underpriviledged talented young dancers. They will start off by looking for 10 kids and offer them scholarship.
Of course, for the SYTYCD audience the highlight (or lowlight) of the 100th episode was the finding out who would be leaving that night. Like the judges I was very disappointed and surprised when Janette Manrara was voted off instead of Kayla Radomski. As Nigel Lythgoe said “America got it wrong” that night.
Oh well. Life goes on. As for the show we’ll see if it’ll be as interesting without my favorite around. I’m not saying that the other dancers are not high caliber but as anyone knows when your fave is out, out goes your excitement to watch a show.
If you’re one of those who are finding less and less time to watch TV but more and more time to go online, you’re probably one of those who are giving Comcast’s planned “TV Everywhere” test the thumbs up. “TV Everywhere” is Comcast’s answer to the growing number of people who are watching videos online and on mobile devices more and more. Instead of having to look for pirated version of TV shows online, “TV Everywhere” will allow cable subscribers to watch their favorite TV shows legally FOR NO EXTRA CHARGE. Since we love free stuff it is no surprise that 73% of Comcast and Time Warner cable subscribers surveyed by Solutions Research Group indicated that they think that “TV Everywhere” is an “excellent” or “good idea”.
So far 23 networks including HBO, TNT, and CBS, have signed up with Comcast. The online videos available thru “TV Everywhere” will generate income for Comcast and the networks via online ads. This is critical for the TV networks since greater competition among networks coupled with the recession has been hitting their ad revenue. They are counting on “TV Everywhere” to get more advertisers on board to supplement their current decreasing revenue. With the popularity of online videos it won’t be surprising if advertisers jump on the bandwagon. Of course, for us viewers, this can only be a win-win situation.
Comcast is expected to start testing this month. Only 5,000 households will be included in the test so cross your fingers and hopefully you will be included.
