Holiday time means movie marathons!

The holidays are great because not only do we get to watch great old Christmas movies, but the cable networks also capitalize on this time to run various movie marathons, from James Bond Fests to John Wayne Westerns and other themed parades of great films. Here are a few of the latest gems I've been able to catch:


"Miracle on 34th Street" (1973)

This film has been made and remade several times and this version is certainly not the best, but is still entertaining to watch because it captures the zeitgeist of an early 70s Christmas, reminiscent of my formative years growing up. Watch this with a fellow TV buff and have fun picking out all of the stars. Kris Kringle is played by Sebastian Cabot (Mr. French on "Family Affair"), Roddy McDowall as the psychiatrist ("Planet of the Apes"), Jim Backus ("Gilligans Island" and "Mr. Magoo"), David Doyle as Mr. Macy (Bosley on "Charlie's Angels"), Tom Bosley as the judge (Mr. C on "Happy Days"), and James Gregory as the District Attorney (Fish on "Barney Miller")!! ABC opened up their cavalcade of acting talent and threw them all at this camp Christmas classic. I'd stick with the original 1947 version for pure entertainment or the very well done 1994 remake, but this one is still fun for viewers like myself who grew up in the 70s and 80s.

"Hondo"

If you like John Wayne or westerns, this is one good flick, based on a Louis L'Amor story and filmed in 1953 during the height of the Western's popularity. Here's a brief summary without any spoilers: Wayne meets rancher's wife and kid, Wayne falls in love with said rancher's wife, Wayne tussles with local Indians, everyone ends up happily ever after...that is after plenty of gun fights and positive male role-modeling!

"Jeremiah Johnson"
This 1972 Robert Redford film directed by the recently deceased and brilliant Sydney Pollack chronicles the fabled life of the 1800s mountain man named in the title. Not really a western, but still of that genre, this drama does not follow the typical Hollywood version we often see of historical figures, which makes it refreshing and interesting to watch. This film is only very loosely based on a real mountain man, but still provides some history lessons for viewers dealing with the cruel realities of life during that era and the hardships that accompanied.

Kitchen Nightmares are my TV dreams

You've probably all at least seen the commercials if not the actual program "Hell's Kitchen." I haven't yet but I know the charismatic and angry main character Chef Gordon Ramsay well.

I was introduced to him on a more personal level when I saw his other show, "Kitchen Nightmares," now in its second season on FOX. I never thought I'd care about a show focusing on chefs and restaurants, but this one is a winner.

The show follows Ramsay as he criss-crosses America, visiting some of the worst restaurants you could imagine, each of them on the brink of bankruptcy, failure, and utter collapse. The kitchens are dirty, moldy, and infested with vermin, and the owners, chefs, and other staff are usually egotistical and often inept.

That's where Ramsay comes in. This tall lanky Englishman with a penchant for the "F-word" swoops into these places, immediately determines their fallacies, and attacks them with furious anger. Unafraid of even the largest megalomaniac culinary personality, he cuts master chefs, head cooks, restaurant managers, and owners down to size, usually with tremendously entertaining results.

He calls them losers, horrible businessmen, pigs (usually for the less than clean state of their kitchens, walk-ins, and food prep areas) along with a never ending list of other colorful epithets, usually with plenty of bleeped out swear words mixed in that are easy to decipher for even the most church going of viewers.

No one is sacred in Chef Ramsay's world, and it's a guilty pleasure to watch him work.

What's best about this show is that he doesn't even try to baby these people. He tells them their shortcomings blatantly and without hesitation. In turn they cry, they scream, they even break things. Under this deluge of honesty and the subsequent breakdown of their tremendous egos, most of them hate Ramsey passionately for the first three days that he spends trying to resurrect their failing restaurants.

By the end of the week, though, he revamps the menu, the staff, the decor (ala several other home makeover type shows) and most important of all, he turns these places into operations that finally turn a profit. As a result, most of these eating establishments even manage to dig themselves out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of paralyzing debt.

And despite the venom and turmoil he unleashes on each of these restauranteurs and the businesses they run, each one of them learns to like Gordon by the end and even thanks him for coming. More than one owner has called the Chef an "angel" or a "blessing" on the program.

And they have good reason to do so; he's saved more failing small businesses in the last two seasons than Roosevelt's New Deal.

I used to hate that Ramsay guy, always swearing at the poor defenseless young chefs on "Hell's Kitchen," but now I respect him. Because, behind the yelling is something that this country and her citizens could use, especially in these tough financial times we're experiencing: It's honest talk that motivates good people to do what will make them successful.

And its this straight talk that Ramsay delivers which makes the program "Kitchen Nightmares" successful as well.

I give Chef Ramsay and "Kitchen Nightmares" five Ginsu knives out of five.

Fallout 3 not for me

I read the reviews. I watched the trailers. I thought I would like the game.

Unfortunately, less than an hour, and 20 achievement points into the new release "Fallout 3" I knew I wasn't going to like it.

Why? Too much reading.

Okay, I'm not trying to sound like a Neanderthal, but I love a good old fashioned first person shooter. When I read about Fallout I did indeed realize that it was supposed to be a role player mixed with a shooter rather than a pure shooter. But from what I gathered -- or maybe just my own high hopes -- I figured there would be enough action to balance the talking parts. The game's story and setting just seemed too cool to pass up.

But that wasn't the case, at least for me. The game just doesn't suit my personal gaming sensibilities. I'm a moron shoot 'em up guy without the patience or time to walk around talking to citizens of the video game world for hours on end. For the same reason, I didn't like "Viking" either.

I get bored just interviewing people and aimlessly wandering around an open world map trying to figure out the best place to go next. Some people love that, and that's great, but if I wanted to play "World of Warcraft," I would have bought WOW. I guess I just need more direction in my games to keep me engaged.

Oh well, you live and learn. Hopefully Gamestop will buy it back and not hit me too hard...

I give Fallout 3 one mutant zombie out of five.

Dead Space is rather lively fun

I recently finished the title "Dead Space" on the XBOX 360, and found it to be the most fun I've had since Bioshock. The story has a true cinematic feel to it, and there are some scary moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat during gameplay. The weapons are diverse and require some skill to determine which tool is the right one for each job or each creature.

Each mission is challenging yet not so difficult that you'll be running to the walkthrough to leaf through and find the answers. There's also a unique set of skins, weapons, and other add-ons available for download which will enhance the gaming experience.

With multiple difficulty levels to suit every style of gamer and plenty of room to roam and explore what feels like a working mining ship which has been invaded by an alien presence, this game will give 12 hours plus of playtime and will make it difficult to put down the controller for any lover of first person shooters.

I give "Dead Space" four and a half severed limbs out of five. Oh, yeah, did I mention the best way to kill the mutated monstrosities in this game is to shoot off their limbs? How cool is that?

Battlefield: Bad Company isn't bad at all

As a purchaser and player of all the "Battlefield" titles from the PC days on up to the next gen consoles, I have to admit, I got burned out on the World War II gaming genre.

Then came "Battlefield: Bad Company," a game set presumably in modern day that includes big guns, comedic content, and the ability to blow apart just about anything your heart desires -- such as walls, trees, you name it. This game plays like a dream, has no blaring technical problems, surrounds a decent storyline, and is, well...fun as hell.

The story mode is pretty easy to play on "normal" but still has its challenging moments filled with plenty of bad guys to kill, mortars to dodge, and heavy artillery to blow up before advancing to the next chapter or mission. You can drive, fly, or boat (is that even a verb?) about in a number of vehicles as well. The helicopter, unlike other games, is actually not too hard to fly once you get the hang of it, either.

For more hardcore first person shooter fans like myself, you can go back and play through the game on "hard" for an even greater challenge. Some sections get tedious because of their difficulty, but going through a second time allows you to gather all of the collectables (which are in the form of a couple dozen different weapons), and of course the all important gold bars that the game bases its story around.

Expect to use a walkthrough in order to find all of these prizes, though, as they aren't easy to stumble across. In fact, expect to have to use more than one walkthrough and maybe a user created map of locations in order to find the little buggers at times.

Not usually a fan of online play myself, I have to say, "Bad Company's" multiplayer content sucked me right in and kept me playing for over 100 quick matches. There are plenty of additional achievements you can earn along with patches and other trophies for which you don't earn any gamer points but nonetheless are fun to see pop up on your screen during a match.

I got more than the $39 I plunked down for this on Ebay in terms of gaming hours and enjoyment, and rank it one of the top three games I've played in recent months. I give "Battlefield: Bad Company" four and a half blown up tanks out of five.

What's new on TV

I have to admit I wasn't too excited about the new shows this fall season but here's one to watch: "True Blood" on HBO.

Yes, HBO has been churning out hit after hit, and with "The Wire" over, I had given up almost entirely on them, but this modern day vampire tale starring Ana Pacquin is a good watch. TiVo or DVR it and see for yourself. This isn't your father's well-worn vampire tale.



Speaking of HBO, "Generation Kill" from the writers of "The Wire," which follows a company of Recon Marines during the Iraq invasion is another excellent 6 program series. There's plenty of great dialogue, action, and character study that we've grown to love from this writer/producer pair.

Seen from the prospective of the grunts on the ground and an imbedded journalist, this "warts and all" view of the war is telling, informative, and moving -- sometimes even hard to watch.



Fans of HBO's "Entourage" who felt that maybe they strayed too far from the winning formula of season one in their sophomore year will be glad to see that season 3 is back on track. With this triad of hits, HBO is still a good alternative to the blah broadcast TV networks this fall.

I give "True Blood" 3 fangs out of four but expect that number to increase as the season plays out, and the miniseries "Generation Kill" gets five spent shell casings out of five. Entourage as a series gets 4 stars, but the direction this season is taking could add a half point to that summation.

TV series review: The Wire

As the credits rolled on the series finale of season 5 of HBO's "The Wire" (just released on DVD this month) I felt as if a family member or two had just died. There was a definite disturbance in the force -- the "quality television" force that is.

Okay, I know I'm being melodramatic, but I haven't felt this maudlin since the M*A*S*H series finale almost 25 years ago. If ever I didn't want a series to end, this was the one.

Written and directed like a television novel, "The Wire" introduced audiences to a cavalcade of characters: from cops, crooks, judges, lawyers, and politicians to schoolchildren and newspaper writers. Each one was multidimensional, real, and endearing in their own way to fans of the critically acclaimed program. Not one of them was without flaws, and each were presented, warts and all, to the viewing public.

I have to admit that while the series was in its first run I never watched the show and was a little suspicious of the hype. I have to be when the phrase "best show ever on television" is bandied about so readily. But I eventually found myself with some free time and a few bucks to spend on Amazon, so I bought season one. Then in rapid succession I gobbled up season two, three, four, and finally season five; each time barely able to contain myself as I waited for the UPS truck to arrive.

For those who aren't familiar, the show explored the lives of several characters, but the most important one was Baltimore. Like the river in "Huck Finn," the city of Baltimore stood as the real main character of the show, with the myriad assortment of other flavorful players all orbiting around this colorful town and the themes of corruption, bureacracy run wild, urban blight, crime, an educational system in crisis, the abondonment of the working class, and the scourge of drugs in the inner city -- to name but a few.

Each season highlighted a set of these topics while still pulling along all of our favorite characters -- those who were still living that is -- and gave us multiple viewpoints which made good storytelling rise to the level of greatness. Created and penned by a former Baltimore City "Police" and inner city teacher, along with a former Baltimore Sun reporter, viewers were instantly aware that this was a no-holds barred, zero B.S. representation of the real goings on of a major metropolitan city with major problems -- the same problems shared by all large cities across the U.S.

Film, communications, and journalism students will be dissecting and writing about this show for decades to come, and discussions of "The Wire" will show up on college curriculums as an example of what quality telvision should aspire to. TV critics, similarly, will hold this as an example of writing at it's best and characterizations that haven't ever been seen on this scale in the television medium.

You might think that this praise for "The Wire" is far too high -- as I once did -- but I ask you to set aside your skepticism and run to the local rental store to obtain a copy of season one to see for yourself. It's obvious immediately that this is something different and special.

"The Wire" was a true treat every step of the way from start to finish, one which I will sorely miss. I can only hope that this amalgamation of writing, acting, and storytelling will once again come together in some future program.

Odds are that it won't, though.

I give the entire series of "The Wire" six wire-taps out of five, my highest rating ever. And deservedly so.