Survivor 13 Goes Hollywood

CBS's hit reality show Survivor has been credited with bringing the reality television crazy to network primetime. Hailed, for bringing fresh unseen faces of everyday America into our common everyday world.

Since then, we've seen other reality shows follow this pattern of casting the unknown from across the United States, who strangely because a part of our pop-ethos.

YET...in the upcoming season of Survivor 13 of the 20 cast members are from California, certainly not the cross section of American life. And even more striking, 9 of those people are from Los Angeles and it's surrounding area (Venice & Marina Del Rey). (source)

In addition, Survivor: Cook Islands stars Sundra Oakley and Jonathan Penner (both pictured right) each have decent list of past acting credits on imdb.com, both having roles on different different franchises of CSI.

How many more of these "real-life Survivor characters" are "want to make in big in Hollywood characters?"

In 2000, the concept of unknowns exposed to entire world was an enchanting concept for television viewers, perhaps today the Unknown is overexposed?

Maybe the casting department for Survivor is having a hard time finding attractive able bodied people across the US who are willing to travel overseas for 39 days at a time?*

Perhaps it was hard to find 5 Asian-Americans/Hispanics/African-Americans/Whites that they felt would round out the contestants the way that they wanted to? Or maybe it was just too much work?

It's hard to tell.

*Normal seasons have 16 contestants on an island for 39 days. Will this season with 20 contestants, leave Jeff Probst and his crew on the island for more than 39 days of filming?

Related Tags: CBS, Survivor, Television, Cook Islands, Reality Television, Survivor 13, Los Angeles, Sundra Oakley, Jonathan Penner, CSI, Hollywood

Update: Vomit Inducing Summer Movies

On May 2nd I posted my list of Vomit Inducing Summer Movies. The last of those films, Beerfest is released in theaters today.

True Confession:
Of the 17 films on the list, I saw 2 of the films. Both at the invitation of others. In both cases I enjoyed the films. Those two films were... Wordplay& Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

Not Even a 2006 Film:
No one had a chance to see The Reaping, although I caught the trailer a few times, this Hillary Swank film about the plagues has had multiple release date changes and is now coming out March 2007.

The Box Office Speaks:
Currently The Break-up & Talladega Nights are the highest grossing films of the 17 on the list. Poseidon with it's $160 million dollar production budget only gross $60 million.

The Tomatoes Speak:
The 16 movies (The list of 17 minus The Reaping) in order of freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

95% fresh: Wordplay (read note above...saw it and loved it)
72% fresh: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
70% fresh: Brothers of the Head
68% fresh: Snakes on a Plane
49% fresh: Beerfest
36% fresh: The Lake House
36% fresh: The Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift
33% fresh: The Break-up
31% fresh: Poseidon
27% fresh: The Omen
21% fresh: You, Me, and Dupree
15% fresh: Pulse
14% fresh: Little Man
11% fresh: Garfield's A Tale of Two Kitties
7% fresh: Material Girls
6% fresh: See No Evil

I guess I lucked out by seeing the two highest rated films off my list...the one film I really missed by not including on the list was Zoom staring Tim Allen and Courtney Cox which received a 0% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

StrangeCulture stories relating to the 17 movies on the list:
Tallagega Nights: John C. Reilly Choosing Comedy
Wordplay: Square Fillers: War vs. Play
Wordplay: Ellen Ripstein Responds on StrangeCulture
The Reaping: Biblical Horror
4 movies in the same weekend: Stink-fest Movie Weekend

Related Tags: zoom, rotten tomatoes, bad movies, poseidon, see no evil, the break-up, the omen, The Fast and The Furious 3, Tokyo Drift, The Lake House, Documentary, Wordplay, Garfield's A Tale of Two Kitties, Little Man, You Me and Dupree, Talladega Nights, The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, The Reaping, Snakes on A Plane, Beerfest, Material Girls, Summer Movies

A Steady Stream of Tears

There are movies that have made me cry. Often for just a short moment, or at a scene built for creating a couple tear drops.

For me it's the most random combination of movies like Big Fish, Schindler's List, World Trade Center, For Love of the Game, Dead Poet's Society, and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and I am Sam (to name a few).

But the films were I have cried most consistently through out the majority of the films are Hotel Rwanda and the documentary Paper Clips.

Last night, my wife and I watched Paper Clips and it was the most bizarre experience that I cried almost from start to finish...not because the entire film was overly emotional but it hit me in all the emotional themes that sometimes "get me."

Why are these the two movies that have made me continuously emotional? They are completly different films, but still there are many common themes between these two films. Can you seen any themes between Hotel Rwanda and Paper Clips. (I can see a few)

Related Tags: Paper Clips, Documentary, Hotel Rwanda, Emotional Movies, Film, Crying

Survivor 13 Adds Major Racial Element

Are the new people Surivors more tan than usual?

CBS's hit series Survivor: Cook Islands is entering it's 13th season, and this time changed up in a major way...they'll begin the season dividing the tribes by race.

Normally, there are 16 contestants when the season begins, this year there are 20.

Traditionally they begin the season in 2 tribes that have gotten mixed and mingled through various random ways. The 2 tribes at the begin are sometimes created randomly or picked by the producers. Last season on Surivor: Exile Island the show began with 4 tribes of 4 divided older men, younger men, older women, younger women.

This year they will begin with 4 tribes of 5 people divided by race. The four groups (CBS's terms) are white, African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic.

These teams will probably get intermingled and mixed early on, but surely this is a bold move to create stir and pick up viewers.

What are people saying?

"white America will learn the occult secret of how the little-understood Hispanics make fuego in their secretive barrios" -- Shakespeare's Sister

"I can't believe how bad of an idea this is. Please, all you people out there still watching Survivor: give this one a miss." --Feminist Engineer

"the term, the 'white tribe,' really makes me uncomfortable. are they serious?" --blac(k)ademic

"I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in the CBS board room when it was decided" --Kimberly Ann

"what I'm really looking forward to - the following season of Survivor will feature teams consisting respectively of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. It will be called Survivor: Holy Land, and the winner gets Lebanon." --Rod

"I'll watch to see how the Asians do and also so I can yell at them on television when they do something stupid..." --The Hyphenator!

"However, I will make a prediction. The Hispanics will win. Why? They'll do the challenges that the other tribes just won't do." --Rick Moore

"I guess they are desperate for attention. We're supposed to talk about them. Should we fall for it?" --Althouse

"If the folks at CBS want to use Survivor to talk about race, they should figure out how Black people manage to survive with inadequate health care, diminishing job opportunities, poor schools, and institutionalized racism." --Marc Lamont Hill

"...looking at the Olympics, you'd have to say the white tribe would be the best swimmers." --Rush Limbaugh

Pictured above are Sundra, Cao Boi, & Ozzy.

Survivor: Cook Islands premiers premiering Thursday, September 14.

(Thanks to Anthony & my mom for sending me e-mail about this today)

Related Tags: Survivor 13 Cook Islands, Race, White, African American, Asian American, Hispanic, Ethnicity, Rush Limbaugh, Reality Television, TV, Survivor, Tribes, Ozzy Lusth, Sundra Oakley, Cao Boi

More Unfortunate than Infamous

in-fa-mous (adjective) 1. having an extremely bad reputation 2. deserving of or causing an evil reputation

un-for-tu-nate (adjective) 1. suffering from bad luck 2. marked by or inviting misfortune

Friday the 13th (October 13, 2006) Infamous will come out in theaters in the US (at least in LA and New York) after a premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

Infamous tells this story (from imdb.com): While researching his book In Cold Blood, writer Truman Capote (Jones) develops a close relationship with convicted murderers Dick Hickock and Perry Smith.

Sound familiar??? It's a very similar story to 2005's Capote which received 5 Academy award nominations including the best actor Oscar for Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

Bummer for Toby Jones who is playing the part of Truman Capote. Toby Jones, is best known to me for playing the voice of Dobby the House Elf in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Smee in Finding Neverland.

Bummber for Sandra Bullock who is playing the part of Harper Lee which Catherine Keener got a supporting actress nod for last year.

Bummer for Douglas McGrath who wrote and directed this fun and gutsy film when Bennett Miller was nominated for best director last year and Dan Futterman was nominated for best adapted screenplay last year.

Bummer for Warner Independent who are distributing Infamous.

Bummer, bummer, bummer.

The cast for infamous also includes soon-to-be-James-Bond Daniel Craig & Lee Pace (playing the killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickock) as well as stars Peter Bogdanovich, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, and Sigourney Weaver.

See the trailer here.

Related Tags: Infamous, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Truman Capote, Toby Jones, Daniel Craig, Lee Pace, Perry Smith, Dick Hickock, Peter Bogdanovich, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini, Sigourney Weaver, Douglas McGrath, Sandra Bullock, Catherine Keener, Bennett Miller, Dan Futterman, Dobby the House Elf, In Cold Blood, Harper Lee, upcoming movies, film, award buzz, academy awards

Bugs, Bugs, Everywhere

You can tell by my list of vomit enducing summer movies that I'm not too keen on the serge in horror movies that has taken place over the past couple years.

But, the film Bug has caught my attention because...

(1) Ashley Judd has gotten rave reviews since this film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year.

(2) Michael Shannon (pictured right, with Judd) was a standout in World Trade Center (as the marine) and I think his career could begin to take off.

(3) The story seems intriguing (although reminds me somewhat of the opening scene in A Scanner Darkly)

The Story...
A paranoid war veteran sees invicible bugs crawling everywhere.

The film is directed by William Friedkin (who won an academy award for The French Connection and was nominated for The Exorcist).

The film comes out in limited release December 1st, 2006. The preview for the film can be viewed here.

Related Tags: Bug, Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, William Friedkin, Horror Films, Cannes Film Festival, Upcoming Movies

Dead's Man Chest - over $400 million domestic gross

After coming in at number 8 in the US Box Office this weekend (just over $5 million dollars), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest has passed the 400 million dollar marker.

It's currently the 5th highest grossing film (domestic box office) of all time*

1. Titanic, $600 million
2. Shrek 2, $441 million
3. Star Wars: Episode I, $431 million
4. Spider-Man, $403 million
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, $401 million (as of 8/20/06)

What's the draw to Pirates of the Caribbean to make it a break out success...I mean, c'mon it's based on a Disney World ride about pirates?

It can only be Johnny Depp in the role of Jack Sparrow. He's created a unique and iconic film character that's funny, dramatic, and has a humble humanistic nature unlike most other summer blockbuster heroes.

* This number does not include Star Wars: New Hope which made 460 million but in 3 release time periods 1977 (307 million), 1982 (re-issue, 15 million), 1997 (special edition 138 million) or E.T. with three releases 1982 (359 million), 1985 (re-issue, 40 million), 2002 (20th Anniversary 35 million).

figures via boxofficemojo

Related Tags: Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest, Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp, Box Office, Records, Movies, Summer Blockbusters

The Blood Diamond: I am Hopeful

I am hopeful that The Blood Diamond could be a great film.

Director Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai, Glory) brings this interesting story due out in theaters December 15, 2006...just in time for award season.

The movie tells the story of two men(Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou) from very different backgrounds searching for a rare pink diamond. All this takes place during civil war in Sierra Leon during the 1990s.

Previous Academy Award nominees in the cast and crew of The Blood Diamond:

• Jennifer Connelly (won for A Beautiful Mind)
• Leonardo DiCaprio (nominated for The Aviator & What's Eating Gilbert Grape)
• Djimon Hounsou (nominated for In America)
• Producer/Screenwriter Marshall Herskovitz (nominated best picture for Traffic)
• Producer Graham King (nominated best picture for The Aviator)
• Producer/Director Edward Zwick (nominated best picture for Traffic, won best picture for Shakespeare in Love)
• Cinemotographer Eduardo Serra (nominated for Girl with a Pearl Earring & The Wings of the Dove)
• Editor Steven Rosenblum (nomated for Braveheart & Glory)
• Costume Designer Ngila Dickson (won for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King & nominted for The Last Samurai)
• Sound Mixer Ivan Sharrock (won for The Last Emperor, nominated for U-571 & Gangs of New York)
• Special effects supervisor Neil Corbould (won for Gladiator)

Could any of these people receive recognition for their role in this film??? Good cast, an issue film, with some technical standouts...I think so.

Picture above via FirstShowing.

Related Tags: The Blood Diamond, Oscar, Academy Awards, Upcoming Movies, Film, Edward Zwick, Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Sierra Leon, Civil War, Africa, Award Buzz

Chris Carey (Editor, Sharesleuth.com) Responds to Strange Culture

Chris Carey is the editor of Sharesleuth.com, the Mark Cuban related financial "journalism" site mentioned in my recent post: Mark Cuban Supports Slinging Mud For Money.

Former St. Louis Dispatch Reporter Chris Carey responded to my posting via e-mail saying:

The only quibble I have is with this paragraph:

"Mark Cuban will short stocks prior to the publication of reports on shareslueth website. Then when the stock price falls he will make piles of money."

I think it should say "if" the stock price falls, because there is no guarantee that our reports will have a negative impact on the stocks we write about

And he won't be shorting the stock of every company we write about.

Also, Mark has said that he won't trade in and out of the market to capitalize on short- term price swings, but rather will hold his position until there's a material change at the company. That means he's expecting a sustained, long-term decline in the stock price -- the sort of thing that verifies our reporting.

I thought this was interesting, and so here's my correction...

IF stock prices fall Mark Cuban will make piles of Money.

Thanks Chris for you your clarifications.

Related Tags: Chris Carey, Share Sleuth, Mark Cuban, Stock Market, Journalism, Investments, Money, Finance, Stocks, Reporting, Information

Samuel L. Jackson's: Best and Worst

Today, August 18th, 2006 is an important day.

Not only is it my wife's birthday (Happy Birthday!) it is also the release day of 2 movies off of my vomit enducing summer movie list: Material Girls (staring the Hillary and Haylie Duff) and the notorious Snakes on a Plane.

Back in April I asked people to sort through the best and worst of Samuel L. Jackson's work.

The nominees for best Samuel L. Jackson role:

• Unbreakable
• Pulp Fiction
• The Negotiator
• Die Hard 3
• Changing Lanes

The nominees for worst Samuel L. Jackson role:

• Star Wars: Episode III
• The Red Violin
• xXx
• Johnny Suede
• National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon I
• Deep Blue Sea

In honor of Snakes on a Plane coming out in theaters feel free to vote by leaving a comment or writing in your own vote if the movie you'd choose is not listed.

Thanks to those who helped create this list of nominations.

Related Tags: Samuel L Jackson, Snakes on a Plane, Best, Worst, Material Girls, Unbreakable, Pulp Fiction, The Negotiator, Die Hard 3, Changing Lanes, Star Wars: Episode III, The Red Violin, xXx, Johnny Suede, National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon I, The Deep, Movies

Thoughts on Oliver Stone's World Trade Center

People wonder if this movie "World Trade Center" is too soon. After seeing the film the answer is nah, of course not. It's a real life story, and art is about creating a lens to help understand truth, beauty, ideas, and things that words alone cannot express. A lot of words have been expressed post-9/11, and words alone can not express human emotion and help create understanding.

Is the movie good? My friend Mitsu called this film a "one and done." You wouldn't want to buy this and watch it over and over again with a tub of buttered popcorn. But, Oliver Stone tells the unique story of Port Authority Police Officers John McLoughlin and William Jimeno. And while the overall story takes part in a larger context this story makes a great piece of a much larger mosaic of what happened that day.

It reminded me of the 2,996 September 11th Tribute that D.Challener Roe has initated on his site. I encourage you to participate. I sent him an e-mail this morning and he says that so far 1900 names have been given out. There's still 1000 people who are left to be memoralized for this project. I urge you to take part.

Did the movie make me cry? Yea, it did a little bit. I know some people cried more, but I cry in some of the strangest movies, at some of the strangest parts. This movie doesn't force an emotional response as much as I thought it would. The homefront stories led by the characters wives (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and and Maria Bello) were emotional, but not in the heavy handed way I expected.

One of the most interesting parts of the story I thought was the Dave Karnes character (played by Michael Shannon). I thought every scene Shannon was in was very interesting, and that they made Karnes a very interesting piece of the Jimeno-McLoughlin story.

Was Nicolas Cage distracting in this role? I don't really think so. There were a few times were I felt like Cage was overacting, but that was probably because the injuries of his character were probably far worse than those of William Jimeno (played by Michael Pena).

Will World Trade Center play a role in the 79th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony? Many have currently begun predicting that World Trade Center will get nominated for best picture. I'm not sure about that, it will depend on the success of later movies this year and how award buzz developes, and whether current thoughts stick around. I am sure it will get nominated for something, and maybe Michael Pena will get a supporting nod, but I really am not certain.

How does it compare to United 93? I loved United 93. With it's unknown cast and complicatedly simple style and story telling, I really think it's a unique film and Greengrass certainly deserves a Best Director nod for his work on the film. But these stories are simply different. They take place on the same day and deal with September 11th themes of shock and uncertainty, and yet they involved different people, different places, and in different hard circumstances. In the years to come I think we will see many films that create a wide dialogue that discusses what happened and was experienced that day. And these films both just look at 9-11, the actual day, just think what stories will come out of the days that followed.

Are either of the film United 93 or World Trade Center more controversial than the other? No, neither are very controversial in my opinion, and Oliver Stone really doesn't introduce conspiracy into this story.

Did you know the real William Jimeno plays a port authority police in the film. Check him out next to Michael Pena in the picture above.

Related Tags: World Trade Center, Movie, Oliver Stone, Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, William Jimeno, John McLoughlin, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, United 93, Award Buzz, Academy Awards, Dave Karnes, Michael Shannon, US Marines, 2,996, September 11, Tribute, 9-11, Emotion, Best Picture Predictions, Art, Controversy, Film

Mark Cuban Supports Slinging Mud For Money

Mark Cuban, slides in and out controversy, (as well as in and out of different business ventures). His ability to weasel his way out of difficult situation reminds me of Aaron Eckhart's character in Thank You For Smoking.

Mark Cuban is the creative tech billionaire, crazy investor, movie shaker-upper, and verbose and often fined Dallas Mavericks owner.

His newest project involves a new website called Sharesleuth.com where business reporter Christopher Carey will try to "shine a spotlight on questionable companies, to build an audience through unique, compelling stories and to generate multimedia content for other outlets, including HDNet and HDNet Films." (HDNet and HDNet films is owned by Cuban and friend Todd Wagner)

They admit that they will be reporting with "clear bias," while "scrutinize the people behind the companies" for entertainment and personal financial benefit. They also full disclosure that says they are going "to make personal investments based on information we uncover." (Read: Mark Cuban will short stocks prior to the publication of reports on shareslueth website. Then when the stock price falls he will make piles of money)

Mark Cuban and Christopher Carey's first victim, Xethanol Corp. (XNL) posted on August 7. Shareslueth criticizes shareholders like William Scott Smith and other with former SEC disciplinary problems. The post also claims that Xethanol makes energy claims are fabricated and embellished.

Is what Cuban is doing here legal? For now, yes. There's full disclosure. If anything I would foresee libel cases down the road, but not Insider Trading lawsuits.

Mark Cuban even responds to some of these thoughts on "responsible journalism" on his own blog, blog Maverick.

Cuban is smart and sneaky, and not necessarily an admirable person, just an interesting one. And I'll be interested to if nothing else continue to watch the films out of Magnolia Pictures (like Bubble, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Capturing the Friedmans) and films produced by 2929 entertainment (like Good Night, and Good Luck).

Update: See Editor Chris Carey's response to this post here.

Related Tags: Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner, Dallas Mavericks, share sleuth, stock market, HDNet, Magnolia Pictures, 2929 Entertainment, Christopher Carey, Journalism, Business, Blogs, Bias, Personal Investment, Libel, Xethanol Corp, XNL

11 Thoughts after watching Soderbergh's film Bubble

1. I'm not sure that releasing Bubble in the three major movie mediums (Television, DVD, and Theater Release) was incredibly advantageous, except for the fact that maybe it gave Soderbergh's film free press and opened a dialogue about releasing films differently.
2. The film is highly enjoyable, it's pretty independent film feeling, it had the same feel to me in many ways as last years film Junebug.
3. I enjoyed the movie, and at the same time couldn't help but wonder if only the most talented directors, like a Steven Soderbergh would be able to pull off a film like Bubble (a super-low-budget-film, shot in only 3 weeks, with a completly unknown and untrained cast).
4. Props to Soderberg for his low-budget effort. It's like a well made youtube video, which somehow is attractive in a market of very large scale, large budget movies.
5. I think it's kind of fun that the characters improvised many of their lines, and it makes you wonder if these people could ever act in other projects.
6. The three leads did excellent jobs, especially Debbie Doebereiner, a retired KFC employee, who in this film plays an odd, lonely, doll factory employee. I'd like to see a director give her a shot at another film.
7. I think it's kind of funny that director/producer Steven Soderberg also was the cinemotographer (under the name Peter Andrews) and editor (under the name Mary Ann Bernard).
8. I'd like to see more big time directors attempt projects like this.
9. I used to love when on Mr. Rogers that would show clips of how crayons, straws, and other random things were created...it was very interesting to see how dolls were made.
10. I think Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner are certainly influential people in the movie world as they try new projects like this out of their different companies, Magnolia Pictures, 2727 Entertainment, HDNet, and Landmark Theaters)
11. In my mind, this film is the first successful film to mimic the production style of The Blair Witch Project , although the tone and style were very different.

Previous Bubble Post.

Related Tags: Bubble, Steven Soderbergh, Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner, Magnolia Pictures, HDNet, 2727 Entertainment, Landmark Theaters, Debbie Doebereiner, Former KFC Employees, Improvision, The Blair Witch Project, Mary Ann Bernard, Peter Andrews, Low Budget, Creative, Film

The Heart of An Unfinished Life

An Unfinished Life(2005) directed by Lasse Hallstrom and staring Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez...

This film can sometimes be slow and over-acted, but the story is quite touching.

Few films deal with the power of forgiveness as directly as this one. This film reminds us that forgiveness is not just freedom for the person who did wrong, but for the person who forgives.

Forgiveness is a beautiful thing, and many film climax to a moment were a character says "I fogive you." But this film is far deeper in it investigation of when forgiveness is appropriate and the change forgiveness is to make in us, and the difficulty and worth of forgiveness.

Related Tags: An Unfinished Life, Lasse Hallstrom, Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez, Forgiveness