Monday, July 31, 2006

Monday wrap-up

Virginia on Hell's Kitchen reminded me of one of the contestants on Ming Tsai's Cooking Under Fire because of her pseudo-meekness. I thought she was gone for good once Chef Ramsey said she was no longer safe, but he decided to keep his word and leave the decision up to her. Keith's major fumble was his attempt to cook the undercooked pasta. If he has any other flaws, then I don't think any of the three really should have their own restaurant, even though Heather did well tonight with her meats.

Earlier this morning Barbara Walters proclaimed that she would never watch another of Mel Gibon's movies due to the remarks he purpotedly made when he was pulled over for possibly DUI. She and Joy Behar were both annoying in their indignation--as if hey don't have their own moral foibles. And that's the problem with their show--it's not merely just 4 (or 5) women conversing with another--it's another powerful opinion-shaper that potentially leads people to stupid, non-reflective prejudgments.

Later, two members of the cast of Descent were on the show to speak of their film. The discussion briefly became a forum for "gender politics," as they asked whether there are real biological differences between men and women in how they handle personal relationships and anger. Plenty of radical (gender) deconstructionism floating around on that show.

The cave dwellers of Descent (Trollogs? Crawlers? I didn't catch their nickname) remind me of Gollum. Supposedly they evolved from human beings, but don't have much hair, snarl, and have rather pointed ears. I suppose they also look like certain movie vampires. The movie opens next weekend--my bet is that Sarge will go see it.

Descent is directed by the same man who did Dog Soldiers. Descent trailer

The Protector trailer (I think that's the American title for Tom Yum Goon); I still haven't seen Tony Jaa's (Panom Yeerum) first movie, Ong-Bak. (An interview with Mr. Jaa.)

The one-sheet for the upcoming Star Trek movie:

Blue and Gold: so will it really focus on Spock (blue) and Kirk (gold)? Or is there another reason for the color choice?

ABC's latest adultlescent reality show, One Beach View, is on tonight--apparently ABC is staffed by execs who don't learn their lessons. The pathetic culture of young adults who don't grow up really isn't entertaining.

It's supposed to hit the 100s later this week. I still haven't figured out how to take care of lunch if I do end up going to campus to type.

3 comments:

Peter Whelan said...

McCoy wore a blue uniform, too. A pity A. E. Van Vogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle doesn't get a decent treatment (though no treatment is better than a bad one) as it inspired Star Trek, Alien, and also that German show from the Sixties with that really silly dancing.

Keith's fumble seems kind of farfetched -- it is remarkably difficult to undercook pasta, provided you actually sample it before straining -- the big danger is overcooking it and missing that al dente sweet spot. I suppose that he could have gotten flustered and started plating it without even sampling it, but I distinctly remember him slurping up a wayward noodle just before dumping it out.

But what do I know, I've never cooked for a hundred.

papabear said...

Yes, and there is a draft of Starfleet Academy that includes McCoy (and Scotty as well)--it seems to me like a plot contrivance. I remember reading somewhere (in the unofficial universe perhaps) that Kirk had met Spock and McCoy separately. But who knows... maybe it could work.

Peter Whelan said...

Revisionist "first meetings" movies don't seem to have a very good track rate -- Young Sherlock Holmes is an example.

Then again, there's Muppet Babies.