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By Beth in Entertainment, Politics, sports, TV, pop culture, Beijing, China, Communism, Darfur, 2008 Summer Olympics on August 9 2008
 The 2008 Beijing Olympics began yesterday with opening ceremonies airing in the U.S. last night.
Whatever your brand of politics might be with regards to China’s questionable treatment of its own citizens and those of Darfur, it was an impressive and tastefully done spectacle - up until the very end with some Chinese air gymnast engaging in some bizarre gravity-defying stunts. Huh? Well, I told myself that was a cultural thing, much like the appeal of campy Japanese game shows which if anything dictates that Kabuki theatre will never be entirely phased out.
But back to China and the Olympics and its opening ceremony.
Politics was in the air (the very polluted Beijing air) last night. Costumed Chinese soldiers did their android marches evoking an era less reminiscent of the futuristic feel of Blade Runner and more befitting of Mao’s China or a Mel Brook’s production mocking Germany of yesteryear.
Only today’s China isn’t some silly movie that ends rather disappointingly after a 2 hours of build-up nor are its visuals of devastation - from the 1.5 millions displaced peoples whose mere existence was inconvenient for new Olympics construction to the percentage of those very people who were then forced into a life of migrant work and hard labor at their own expense just so we could all cheer for a cute little kid rescued from an earthquake in Sichuan and feel better about ourselves for endorsing a country who’s so hard-pressed to find a symbol of hope that they have to dig out a 5-year-old from an earthquake who isn’t quite old enough to question the ways of his country to be their mascot.
The ceremony left audiences with an everlasting reminder that however fashionably forward China’s Capitalist pretense may be in the global community, at heart they remain true to their Communist doctrines. These principles do little to win public opinion, mind you. In the days and weeks leading up the Olympics, perhaps the most critical network to air coverage of the event was the one that dumped the most moola and has the most invested in its success.
Still, NBC is stuck with the Olympics. We’re not. Which means we can decide to change the channel, but unfortunately, can’t turn a blind eye to the goings-on in China. I decided not to change the channel last night. “It’s better to know and be cognizant,” I told myself.
Besides, the place our imaginations take us is far darker than what our eyes will allow us to see. Or is it?
By ariel in Uncategorized, Entertainment, Politics, NBC, News, Money, sports, Advertising, environment, TV, business, media, America, The Today Show, 2008, Beijing, China, Olympics, Billy Bush, Matt Lauer, Broadcast Rights, Government on August 5 2008
 The entire world will be amazed by the beauty of China, and exited with the beginning of the Olympics. I won’t. Not that I don’t like sports, nor was I born yesterday to this cynical-material world, but every day we discover more and more about how the Chinese government managed to pull this production on the backs of it’s poor people, the less I’m inclined to actually watch the games. NBC, who paid $894 million for the US broadcast rights, will show the Olympics no meter what. Here and there, we’ll see an item on the news that gently criticize the Chinese actions, but it disappears between Matt Lauer reporting for the Today Show, and Billy Bush getting a foot massage for $25 in Beijing.
Money talks, as the Chinese and we know, so what are a few million people whose homes were demolished in favor of a shiny stadium? Or a few millions more who are left to starve because they are not allowed to water their rice fields, comparing to Coca-Cola TV commercial?
So, I’m not so exited about the games. Maybe I’ll watch it a little bit, but no more than that.
By Beth in Entertainment, environment, green practices, TV, Showtime, Weeds, Mary-Louise Parker on July 30 2008
I’ve made no secret of my certain affection for a fictitious middle-aged widow who supports her extended family weekly on Showtime at 10 PM.
There’s something about the way Mary-Louise Parker saunters as she effectively multi-tasks - Running her underground business while trying to meet the needs of her brood, inevitably falling from grace episode after episode, only to stay afloat and do a public service (Juggling hats again!) by supplying every inch of the food train with much-needed “happy” relief in the form of marijuana.
I’m not advocating drug use here. I’m quite anti-pleasure derived from substances other than chocolate or ice cream. It’s just Nancy Botwin (or Mary-Louise Parker’s character on Weeds) is such a prime example of a social antipreneur.
She has her principles and stands by them - She won’t deal in elicit drugs like crack or cocaine, traded her SUV for a Prius in a way that even Al Gore might have to slap her on the rear for just out of sheer adulation, and she puts her family first before her work. Read More…
By ariel in Uncategorized, Entertainment, Advertising, TV, pop culture, media, America, Football, Mad, Men, AMC, Don Draper, Jon Hamm, Matthew Weiner on July 28 2008
 Whenever your spouse starts a sentence with: “This may not be a big deal for you, but….” you will pay attention. So when my dear wife told me on Friday night that “This may not be a big deal for you” I was listening, and then came the relieving second half: “But I really want to watch Mad Men’s season premiere on Sunday.” So we watched it.
Mad Men is a good show, about the advertising world in the early 60’s. We watched the entire first season over one especially boring weekend On Demand. This is the best way to get addicted to a series. After 10 episodes, you got to know the characters and the plot so good, that you feel as if you were a part of the story. Anyway, addicted or not, unfortunately, it seems that Mad Men is going in the same path as many other promising shows, and turning itself into a slow Nothing-is-really-happening-here soap opera. It’s a little disappointing, but hey, we will only follow the show until the Football season begins!
By Beth in Entertainment, Movies, TV, film, relationships, pop culture, Amaldo.Com, media, Heath Ledger, Scientology, TomKat, The Dark Knight, Batman on July 21 2008
Beating all records for opening weekend known to mankind, The Dark Knight stormed into the box office with a fierce vengeance. Closing its 3-day weekend run with a cool $155 million (over $30 million more than its production cost), the film’s producer, Chuck Roven, went on to gush about Heath Ledger’s fatal performance as the villainous Joker.
With Oscar buzz all around mounting over Ledger’s portrayal and some going as far as to say, his “method acting” antics put him over the edge (who buys that, really?), no one’s arguing that Ledger’s the real draw in all this movie-going mania frenzy, even with Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes and Katie giving some bogus excuse as to why her love for Tom Cruise Scientology prevented her from resuming her role in the follow-up sequel.
Last time I checked the Summer movie line-up however, this year has been a doozy as far as decent films in the theatres so maybe we could all use a little reality check here.
By Beth in Entertainment, Money, Movies, Hollywood, TV, relationships, pop culture, media, gossip, Oprah, Will Smith, Scientology, TomKat, cult on July 10 2008
Hollywood’s golden couple, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett blah-blah-blah have officially got with the program and are opening a “non-affiliated” private school.
On the mythological waiting list/roster of shoe-in attendees, Suri Cruise and possibly the Preston-Travolta clan. While the Hancock star and his wife are insistent that the school is not grounded in L. Ron Hubbard’s teachings, “several teachers on board at the school are members of the Church.”
Will and Jada’s New Village is different. For one, unlike your standard everyday brand of school sports which are nothing more than thinly veiled exercises in masochism where humans get used as target practice (dodgeball, kickball), New Village students will have the option of doing yoga. How very progressive. We’re no Scientologists here (and therefore ignorant as to the ways of the future), but we foresee a very heartfelt Oprah episode airing towards the mid-August in which Tom and Katie make cameos alongside their bestest friends and everyone shares some “I love you(s)”.
If only the ending to this sad story weren’t quite as predictable as Hancock’s twisted denouement.
By Beth in Entertainment, NBC, Israel, ABC, Movies, Hollywood, CBS, FOX, TV, film, HBO, pop culture, In Treatment on July 2 2008
According to an article in this week’s Newsweek, Israeli TV is quickly becoming the hottest commodity to hit Hollywood since Ben Stiller did his Derelicte schtick in Zoolander. Not to nuke the fridge here, but with acts like Yael Naim picking up steam in MacAir commercials and shows like HBO’s In Treatment (B’tipul) managing to muster a modest, but staunchly loyal cult following, it’s not at all surprising that TV and film execs are looking to Israel to provide them with some much needed fresh and original programming. Have you seen NBC’s and ABC’s Summer programming? There’s not one show among the bunch that’s not reality TV.
It’s telling of Israel’s rising popularity and perhaps indicative of its viability as a fixture in the entertainment industry that network TV had followed in the footsteps of HBO and chosen to add and adapt an Israeli show, |
