As I'm watching the last Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, tears of sadness are sneaking out of the corners of my eyes. I can't believe this is the last time I'm going to fall asleep with Conan on in the background (or is it?), as I've done every week night since he took over a too-short, seven months ago. I'm going to miss: the "the Fonz" and "Tom Cruise"; La Bamba; Andy; Conan's emo Vampire intern-who always hilariously runs out into the sunlight and burns to a crisp when his 'emo'tions get the best of him; in the year 3000 bits; the Universal Studios tour tram stop; and countless other bits that made me smile before I drifted off into dreamland.
I've been a fan of Conan's since he was a writer on SNL and The Simpson's 20 years ago. I stayed up many nights in the past 16 years, way past my bedtime to catch the first 10 or 20 minutes of Late Night. So of course "I'm with Coco!"...
Okay. Sappy time over. Now the rant...Have NBC executives lost their flippin' minds? I realize that they have new owners and the network is DYING due to their past mismanagement, but to jeopardize the future and integrity of the Tonight Show for some short, very short, term gains, is insanity. Did they think this through? Answer: NO! Jay Leno's tenure is over, period. Bringing him back for what should hopefully be only one or two years is just insane. They made a commitment to Conan who has patiently waited over 16 years to have his dream job and they pissed all over that commitment. Who do they have to take over for Jay when he's really done? Jimmy Fallon? Carson Daly? Are they going to try to steal Jimmy Kimmel from ABC, who I also love and have been a fan of since his days as Jimmy the Sports Guy on KROQ, but he has lower ratings than Conan. It's a travesty that NBC gave Conan very little time to grow his audience. Leno had low ratings and lost to Letterman his first few years, until the Hugh Grant, post-scandal interview, tuned viewers in.
When Jay Leno finally does the right thing and really retires, I hope NBC gets on it's knees and begs Conan to come back. Then he'll have the last laugh when he is winning the 11:00 hour while hosting on FOX or wherever he ends up.
As I'm listening to Conan's final remarks, I'm struck by the class and appreciation he is showing to the very unclassy NBC. Now I'm really crying...Goodnight Coco.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Fangirl Status in Jeopardy Over Avatar
Oh no! I think my fangirl status may be in jeopardy thanks to Avatar. I saw the film last night with my friend, Jen. We went to the 3D Imax experience, we didn't go cheap, but even with the 'experience', I left the viewing feeling like it was pretty good, but not great... Not like Star Wars great, or the Dark Knight great, or even Star Trek (2009) great...or, 'gulp', Titanic great. Yes.I.liked.Titanic.better...What does that say about me and my fangirl membership? Or is it the film? This isn't anything personal against James Cameron. I very much enjoy his films, and I feel he tells a good story, but doesn't necessarily write a good story. He directs films well, but usually doesn't direct actors well.
So if it wasn't a dislike of JC, then why did Avatar not 'thrill' me? My first reaction was that it was missing that all important, indescribable 'magic'. I'm very fond of magic, if you couldn't tell by my other posts. Avatar was missing something...now it wasn't missing anything visually, it just seemed like a typically good vs. evil story told on a very interesting planet. I guess that is one of my issues, we don't get into enough of what Pandora is. I know. Jim is saving that for the sequel, but I really would've rather seen 2 hours and 42 minutes of the Na'vi and Pandora than the 35 minute battle at the end that was like pretty much every other loud movie I've seen. Please- don't think that I'm about to compare JC with Michael Bay, the evil of all directors, no way. JC is truly a genus, in the areas I mentioned above and has actual talent.
As far as the story goes, I had trouble buying into the belief that the military really needed to strike an offensive against the Na'vi. They had already destroyed the Hometree and could mine all the Unobtanium (dumbest name for an element, ever, okay- that's nitpicking) that they wanted. Jen said that it was the general's ego that was behind his orders to strike an offensive against the Na'vi. It just seemed unnecessary to me for about 20 minutes and that didn't add to my enjoyment of the film. At times I felt like I had missed something important, it was like watching a book adaption where the film leaves out some explanations expecting the audience to already know important details. For example, it would have been nice to have one line where someone explained about the Na'vi communicators around their necks. Did I miss a scene, was that explained? I did see early in the film when Dr. Augustine used her necklace to communicate with Jake, but I keep thinking that a one line explanation could've been added, much like when Obi-Wan introduces Luke to the lightsaber. Other unexplained details: What do the people of Earth need Unobtanium for? Exactly how did Neytiri's lame explanation to the other Na'vi to keep Jake alive convince them to do so? Did the Na'vi's notice when Jake would leave his Avatar and go back to his human body? At times, he seemed to be human for a long time, and it was light out, so do the Na'vi sleep during the day and for 14 hours? These are some of the questions that came to me when watching...and unless a film is a book adaption, I don't really enjoy watching a film with that many unanswered questions.
I'm also convinced that seeing 25 minutes of the film at Comic-Con last summer really couldn't have helped. My expectations were pretty high going in, and since I've waited five weeks since it opened, I guess I was sure it had to be Titanic good or else it wouldn't be making Titanic money. Walking out of Comic-Con I told a reporter who had stopped me for a quote about the footage I saw, and I told him that the film was going to change the way we watch movies. After seeing the entire film, I still agree with that statement. I think that Jim Cameron has upped the stakes for the quality of 3D and CGI. Unfortunately, I think that Avatar's success has also solidified our collective forgiveness of mediocre story telling and plot holes.
Jen says we need to go see it again, she is convinced our off center aisle seats, didn't give us the full viewing experience. I'm sure she is right in this case because Avatar is all about the visuals. So I guess my point is- If Avatar is truly a great film, wouldn't the story have made up for the short comings of my seat location?
So if it wasn't a dislike of JC, then why did Avatar not 'thrill' me? My first reaction was that it was missing that all important, indescribable 'magic'. I'm very fond of magic, if you couldn't tell by my other posts. Avatar was missing something...now it wasn't missing anything visually, it just seemed like a typically good vs. evil story told on a very interesting planet. I guess that is one of my issues, we don't get into enough of what Pandora is. I know. Jim is saving that for the sequel, but I really would've rather seen 2 hours and 42 minutes of the Na'vi and Pandora than the 35 minute battle at the end that was like pretty much every other loud movie I've seen. Please- don't think that I'm about to compare JC with Michael Bay, the evil of all directors, no way. JC is truly a genus, in the areas I mentioned above and has actual talent.
As far as the story goes, I had trouble buying into the belief that the military really needed to strike an offensive against the Na'vi. They had already destroyed the Hometree and could mine all the Unobtanium (dumbest name for an element, ever, okay- that's nitpicking) that they wanted. Jen said that it was the general's ego that was behind his orders to strike an offensive against the Na'vi. It just seemed unnecessary to me for about 20 minutes and that didn't add to my enjoyment of the film. At times I felt like I had missed something important, it was like watching a book adaption where the film leaves out some explanations expecting the audience to already know important details. For example, it would have been nice to have one line where someone explained about the Na'vi communicators around their necks. Did I miss a scene, was that explained? I did see early in the film when Dr. Augustine used her necklace to communicate with Jake, but I keep thinking that a one line explanation could've been added, much like when Obi-Wan introduces Luke to the lightsaber. Other unexplained details: What do the people of Earth need Unobtanium for? Exactly how did Neytiri's lame explanation to the other Na'vi to keep Jake alive convince them to do so? Did the Na'vi's notice when Jake would leave his Avatar and go back to his human body? At times, he seemed to be human for a long time, and it was light out, so do the Na'vi sleep during the day and for 14 hours? These are some of the questions that came to me when watching...and unless a film is a book adaption, I don't really enjoy watching a film with that many unanswered questions.
I'm also convinced that seeing 25 minutes of the film at Comic-Con last summer really couldn't have helped. My expectations were pretty high going in, and since I've waited five weeks since it opened, I guess I was sure it had to be Titanic good or else it wouldn't be making Titanic money. Walking out of Comic-Con I told a reporter who had stopped me for a quote about the footage I saw, and I told him that the film was going to change the way we watch movies. After seeing the entire film, I still agree with that statement. I think that Jim Cameron has upped the stakes for the quality of 3D and CGI. Unfortunately, I think that Avatar's success has also solidified our collective forgiveness of mediocre story telling and plot holes.
Jen says we need to go see it again, she is convinced our off center aisle seats, didn't give us the full viewing experience. I'm sure she is right in this case because Avatar is all about the visuals. So I guess my point is- If Avatar is truly a great film, wouldn't the story have made up for the short comings of my seat location?
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