Film

Wonderfalls

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Wonderfalls is a totally amazing, quirky, witty, irreverant, bizarre, ethereal, romantic ‘dramedy’ that you probably have never even heard of! Wonderfalls began airing on Fox television in early 2004 to critical acclaim but was canceled after only 4 episodes. The Fox brain trust proclaimed dismal ratings to be the reason for the shows untimely demise but in all honesty they didn’t give Wonderfalls a fighting chance. Think of Northern Exposure, Joan of Arcadia, Seinfeld, Arrested Development, Malcom in the Middle and Married with Children all rolled up together and you’ll get some idea of what Wonderfalls is like.

The premise of the show is this: Jaye Tyler, played to sarcastic perfection by newcomer Caroline Dhavernas, is a recent philosophy graduate from Brown University who has decided to take on the role of disaffected 20-something, live in a trailer park, and work at a tacky tourist gift shop in her hometown of Niagara Falls. All is nirvana for our slacker heroine until the day a defective wax lion begins to speak to her in cryptic messages leading her to go out of her way to assist her fellow man, something she is reluctant to do even on her best days. Jaye unhappily acquiesces and is soon barraged by the insistent voices of other inanimate objects all attempting to mold her into an agent of help for those around her.

The cast of this show is marvelous. As I said, Caroline Dhavernas plays Jaye perfectly. She is sarcastic and caustic without being annoying and her outlook on life is hilarious and refreshingly honest. Jaye’s weathly, successful parents, played by William Sadler and Diana Scarwid are terrific as is Katie Finneran as her high-strung sister, Sharon. Tyron Leitso plays the local bartender and would-be love interest and brings a charming humor to what could’ve been just a ‘pretty-boy’ role. The writing is top-notch. The first episode, “Wax Lion”, was nominated for a Writer’s Guild of America Award in late 2004. The show is also shot in a very quirky, creative way which, in combination with the acting and writing, makes it easy to see why this show quickly became a cult hit.

I remember sitting with Mary the night the first episode aired and saying ‘this show will never last’. It only takes a few minutes of viewing to see how creative this show is and to realize how so many people just don’t get this brand of humor. It is too bad that shows like this don’t get a chance to build an audience while drek like American Idol and The Swan live on and on. Upon notice that the show was going to be cancelled a Save Wonderfalls campaign began that may have been instrumental in making sure that the 4 aired episodes as well as the other 9 un-aired episodes went to DVD so quickly.

I can’t recommend this enough. I got this in on Netflix and have only watched the first 4 episodes and can’t wait to watch the next 9. Check it out. If you like inventive, fun television Wonderfalls won’t disappoint. There’s a great interview with Caroline Dhavernas here that is worth a read.

Film

The Pacifier

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Went with the family this past weekend to see Walt Disney’s The Pacifier starring Vin Diesel. First off I’m a sucker for these type of family films. Parent Trap, Raising Helen, Cheaper by the Dozen…they’re all very formulaic and have somewhat unrealistic happy endings, but so what? They’re fun, entertaining, and are movies that you can go to with the entire family without being embarrassed that your child is going to see or hear something age-inappropriate.

In The Pacifier Vin Diesel plays Navy S.E.A.L. Shane Wolf. His latest assignment is to protect the family of a scientist who was killed while under Wolf’s protection. The scientist’s top-secret research is allegedly hidden in the home and the government wants Wolf to watch over the kids, and try to discover the research, while their mother and Wolf’s commanding officer fly off to retrieve something left in a safety deposit box. The typical kids vs. adult scenario ensues when Wolf begins his nanny duties by turning the household into S.E.A.L. bootcamp. However, unlike the recent remake of Cheaper by the Dozen, the ‘kids getting even’ shtick is very short-lived and they soon learn to bond with and trust their would-be babysitter.

It was this fact that made this movie even more entertaining to me. There are fewer attempts at cheap laughs than one might imagine with a film of this sort and more emphasis on the family bonding with each other and learning how to cope with the loss of their father. This was a feel-good movie that succeeding in making you feel good about family life.

I was a Vin Diesel fan after seeing him in xXx and I was curious as to how he would do in a humorous role. I thought he was great! The actors/actresses who played the children were perfectly cast and were very believable in their roles. Morgan York played the youngest daughter Lulu and she very nearly stole the show. Lauren Graham was fun as the school prinicpal, and the addition of Brad Garrett as vice-prinicipal, wrestling coach, and would-be nemesis to Diesel’s Wolf was terrific casting.

If you’re a fan of good, clean, entertaining family films you won’t be disappointed with this one.

Home

Happy Birthday, Darling

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Ironically, today is also my wife Mary’s birthday. This is the 18th birthday that I’ve been able to celebrate with this marvelous woman. I’ll save details of our meeting for an anniversary post but suffice it to say I was attracted to her immediately. She is truly everything I could ever want in a partner.

Its like God took a picture of all my heart’s desires throughout the whole of my existence, things I didn’t even know were important to me in a companion, and then created this amazing woman who would embody all of those things. As a teenager I read alot of Archie comics and always loved Betty. Mary is my Betty. She is the kindest, most unselfish and compassionate person I have ever known. Her care and concern for others and their feelings puts me to shame. Mary puts the needs of others before her own and she is such a great example to our daughter.

Mary and I share a love of reading and I’ve marveled over the years that I’ve gotten her to read and enjoy science fiction and fantasy books that she would not have picked up on her own. In turn she has rekindled my love of good children’s literature. One of the things I really love about Mary is that she also likes to watch movies again and again. Most of the movies we own we’ve watched over and over together. We’re both saps for a good romantic movie, regardless of the genre. There’s nothing better than cuddling up with her while we lose ourselves in a good movie.

I’m so proud of my wife. She maintains a full-time career, cooks (very well I might add), does the dishes, the laundry, grocery shopping (all with less help from Tori and I than she deserves), keeps up with our daughter’s activities and needs and still finds time to laugh and love and give and be the most amazing women. We have such a good time together and I truly enjoy her company as well as her companionship. I could go on and on but will save much of what I could say for our upcoming 16th anniversary.

Happy Birthday, Mary! I truly love you more with each passing day. Everytime I have a moment to reflect I am awed at how blessed I am to be your husband. I’m so happy to be able to share this day with you. You grow more stunningly beautiful every year and the woman that you’ve grown to be makes me want to be a better man than I am today. Thank you for all that you do and for being who you are. I love you.

Home

Happy Birthday, bro

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Today is my brother Jason’s 34th birthday and I wanted to make sure and wish him a happy one. My brother (on the left) is a little over 2 years younger than me and looking back over old pictures today I had many fond memories of the good times we had together as kids. Sure, we fought like all siblings do, but we enjoyed hanging around with each other and playing games together.

We grew up initially in a trailer court and then moved to a small housing area in the country. There were few television channels and even when cable emerged it wouldn’t reach out that far so we were used to making up ways to entertain ourselves. We ‘invented’ a game we played frequently called ‘ship-a-boat’. This was essentially us using our beds or the furniture as boats from which we would embark on high seas adventures. How we ever came up with that name I’ll never remember but the family teases us about it today. Don’t misunderstand me, however, we still watched alot of television!

I’ve posted on this blog and others that many of the things that I am nostalgic about today, The Muppet Show, Star Trek, Dr. Who, Night Gallery, are all programs that I watched with my brother and my memories and fondess for them are inextricably linked with Jason. Jason and I watched many a test pattern together in the mornings before cartoons would come on!

I love my brother very much. He was more than a brother growing up, he was a friend. We shared a bedroom, we worked jobs together, and we had many, many good times together. One of my lasting memories of Jason happened just before I moved to Tulsa to go to college. In high school we didn’t spend nearly as much time together as we had our own friends, and jobs, girlfriends, etc. Jason took me to the local mall and bought me a really nice pair of name brand tennis shoes as a going away gift. He purchased them with his own money that he had earned at his restaurant job and they were the first pair of truly ‘name brand’ shoes that I ever owned. This really touched me deeply and I’ve never forgotten it.

My brother lives in Nebraska and I don’t get to see him as much as I’d like to. We still have a tremendous amount of fun when we get together. My brother is a movie trivia wiz and is an absolute blast to play games with. He has a great family and I miss them all very much. Happy Birthday Jason, I hope you have a terrific day and know that your older brother loves you very much. I’m proud of the man that you’ve become.

Eclectic Musings of a Renaissance Geek