Entertainment

Driving around in the car yesterday we heard a couple of talk show hosts, KEX’s Mark and Dave, tackle a pressing question: Is the new Carl’s Jr. “Spicy Burger” Paris Hilton ad soft-core pornography or savvy marketing? Though we hadn’t seen the ad, we figured that if the Parent’s Television Council disapproved of it, we’d like it. And then—praise God!—last night the ad appeared while I was watching a recording of the final two-hour “24” episode. After several watchings of a scantily-clad Paris Hilton washing a Bentley and chomping on a burger to the tune of “I love Paris in…

I enjoyed seeing “Fever Pitch” last Monday afternoon in an actual movie theatre, where the picture was considerably larger than the DVDs we normally watch on our TV and the sound system was much louder. Apparently hearing aid manufacturers have an under-the-table agreement with Regal Theatres to ratchet the decibels up to dangerous levels instead of forthrightly buying pre-movie ads, because the four thousand or so previews we were forced to view before “Fever Pitch” started made me wish that I had brought along earplugs—which Laurel had, always-prepared woman that she is. My visiting sister and brother-in-law were ensconced in…

These two now-rentable documentaries are a great double feature on the interlocking themes of media manipulation and human gullibility. Without the latter, the former wouldn’t work. If people weren’t so easy to fool, the media would have to put out truly fair and balanced news because the citizenry wouldn’t tolerate having the wool pulled over its eyes. In reality, however, there’s a symbiotic relationship between media shepherds and the sheep-like reading/watching public. Watching these movies in tandem makes this connection more obvious. “Control Room” focuses on how the Arabic satellite news channel Al Jazeera and the U.S. networks covered the…

Once again we enjoyed being a part of Jim Ramsey’s annual Academy Awards potluck party. Jim hosts this every year, which I guess is why it’s called an annual affair. Some years the competition for the Most Awards Guessed Right prize has gotten pretty heated. We used to argue vehemently over rules, such as whether you had to fill out your guess sheet before the show started, or whether you could make a last second decision just before the envelope was opened. A few years, I recall, some people made their guesses ahead of time, while others were able to…

I’ve found a new way of enjoying the Trail Blazers: root for them to lose. Yes, I’ve become a rabid anti-fan of Oregon’s one and only big-time professional sports franchise. I enjoy the televised games even more than I did when I was a positive-fan. Call me perverse, but there’s a special joy in watching a detested team lose that isn’t there when an admired team wins. It’s sort of like watching NASCAR races just for the wrecks, yet more guilt free—because nobody gets hurt when the Blazers lose. You can save quite a bit of time if you’re an…

It was fitting that my daughter took Laurel and me to see this amazing movie in an amazing movie theatre, Hollywood’s Arclight Cinemas—which inspired me to think “I’m not in Salem anymore!” as soon as I walked into the cavernous lobby. Of course, spending a few previous days in my promised tourist land of warm sun, exotic cars, organic vegetarian food, a great metaphysical book store, and last but definitely not least, a pleasing display of young fit nattily clad women with larger than normal breasts, had already offered me a few hints that I was cultural light years away…

“Lost” (ABC, Wednesday, 8 pm) has many mysteries. I’m a bit slow, but I just figured out one: Why have I been missing the last few minutes of the nail-biting endings? Last night it happened again. Laurel and I were watching “Lost” on the edge of our seats. Then, when our digital video recorder popped up the “program over” screen, we slumped backward, cursing in unison “What the hell??!!” I had even added three minutes onto the recording time, but at 9:03 pm “Lost” was still on. We probably didn’t miss much, since ABC reportedly is ending the program between…

Periodically there is a vote that is so important, it determines the state of our civilization. My friends, such a vote is at hand. It is your civic duty to cast your ballot—hopefully exactly as we advise. I am speaking, of course, about the Oregonian’s comics survey. Laurel is a serious student of the comics, just as I analyze in depth the sports section each day, rejoicing when I note that the Trailblazers have a worse record than the Clippers. I pay much less attention to the comics, leaving it to Laurel to show me worthy amusement that falls outside…

A dream “60 Minutes” program for me last night featured two wonders of the world: a marvelous search engine, Google, and a gorgeous Indian actress, Aishwarya Rai, who CNN says has been named by a British magazine as the most beautiful woman in the world. You won’t get any argument from me. And not only beautiful, but unbelievably charming also. Her interview with Bob Simon, who really lucked out to get this “60 Minutes” story rather than, say, a piece on nuclear waste disposal, was a marvel of feminine charm. Several times Simon, rarely tongue-tied, could barely get any words…

My problem with “Meet the Fockers” started right at the ticket booth when I slurred my words as I said, “Two for Meet the, um, Foh, um, kickers.” I’m not usually shy about swearing, phonetically or otherwise, but for some reason I froze when I got face-to-face with the sweet young female thing behind the counter at Salem’s Movieland. We saw this film Christmas Eve, along with a handful of other family- and friend-less losers who had nothing better to do that evening. Fortunately Laurel suggested that we see “Meet the Fockers,” or I would have had to endure her…

Last night’s final episode of “Survivor Vanuatu” proved that all the hours we invested in watching this Mother of All Reality TV Shows were well worth it. I don’t think Laurel and I have missed a single hour of Survivor since the series debuted. I’m sure that there are lots of PBS watchers who look down on our viewing habits, but I’ve found that most people who criticize Survivor haven’t watched enough of this show to know what they’re talking about. You won’t get a better practical education in group dynamics and politics than by observing how eighteen aspirants for…

Movie companies who are making a comedy should hire Laurel to do their pre-release audience testing. She is not usually a laugh-out-loud woman, so when she chortles exuberantly while watching a movie, that’s a good sign this is a comedic hit. "Shrek 2” is one of just a few films in my recent memory that have earned the Laurel Laughed! Stamp of Approval. Another was “South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.” But Shrek 2 has to get the smiling nod over South Park because using farting jokes to induce a laugh is like using chocolate cake to get someone to…

Laurel and I heartily recommend “House” (Fox, Tuesdays at 9) for those who tire of the usual bland and predictable network television fare. We’ve watched two episodes and I have come to love the utterly unlovable Dr. Gregory House, a brilliant infectious disease specialist who would much prefer that diseases could be treated without the annoying complication of having patients attached to them. House, ably played by Hugh Laurie, walks with a cane and a limp. In the first episode we learned that he was poorly treated by an incompetent (but probably nice and warm) doctor for a leg problem.…

I couldn’t help but think of “My Dinner With Andre” as we watched “Before Sunset” at Salem’s one and only artsy film theatre, Salem Cinema. “Before Sunset” is almost non-stop conversation between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy). Appropriately, and as she usually does, the Salem Cinema proprietor came into the theatre to talk about the movie before it started, one of the many things I like about how she runs her business. Currently two movies are being shown concurrently, so she also plugged “The Story of the Weeping Camel.” Glancing at the small audience she said to a…

“Saved” is one of those damn-the-hypocrites movies that is most enjoyable when the viewer doesn’t consider that the hypocrites being damned might well include himself or herself. Laurel and I certainly enjoyed watching fundamentalist Christians get skewered in this newly released DVD. But adhering to the adage, “He who is without sin, cast the first stone,” the film also made me consider to what extent I believe I myself am saved (leaving aside the more basic question of “from what?”), and others aren’t. When I watched the student assembly in American Eagle Christian High School, filled with “Praise Jesus!” calls…

Last night we enjoyed watching “Mean Girls.” Curled up in our Camp Sherman cabin around our substitute for a campfire, a TV/DVD combo that another owner blessedly added to our broadcast TV-less entertainment options, this movie stimulated Laurel and me to reflect upon our own high school years and compare them to how “Mean Girls” presents modern high school life. “Mean Girls” is about, not surprisingly, a bunch of mean girls who are obsessed with looking good and preserving their social status. Led by a Queen Bee, Regina, “The Plastics” (as they’re called by other students with the eyes to…

If you haven’t seen “Hero,” the marvelous Chinese martial arts movie, you should do it while it is still viewable on a big screen. Last night Laurel and I marveled at the cinematography of “Hero.” You’ll see things that you’ve never seen in a movie before, and probably never will again—unless Zhang Yimou directs a sequel. If you have an aversion to sub-titles, quash your qualms and buy a ticket anyway. Ditto if you usually stay away from martial arts flicks, because “Hero” is to the typical martial arts movie as “The Godfather” is to the typical gangster movie: in…