Axl Makes Good

There are a lot of urban legends about getting free stuff. Like the one about being able to get a free Tootsie Roll Pop if you redeemed a wrapper with the picture of an indian shooting an arrow at a star. Everyone's heard that, but is it actually true? Probably not. But that's just one example. I'm sure there are hundreds of others that got started by someone. I'm sure there are more false ones than have ever been true ones.

However, this one turned out to be true.

Honestly, I originally brought this up because I like Dr. Pepper, and was hoping that Axl Rose would stop procrastinating on this damn album and get us all some free Dr. But I, like the rest of the free world, took this at face value as a hoax and completely forgot all about it. I was even at Best Buy the day Chinese Democracy dropped, and still forgot about it.

And I think that's what Dr. Pepper was relying on, as they made the coupons for free pop available for 24 hours only. If you missed it, you missed it. Maybe they'll bring it back. But I wouldn't count on it.

BTW, the album is terrible; the absence of Izzy and Slash is a deathblow to the record and GN'R.

I suspect more people got free Dr. Peppers than will buy this album.

24 Returns

Last night marked the return of 24, coming back after a Sopranos-esque 18 month hiatus. However, it wasn't the season premiere; it was only a "prequel" movie that sets up Season Seven, which starts in January.

And while it's good to have 24 back on the air, I hated that nearly the whole thing took place in Africa, my most-hated of locales. It also appears that some of the season takes place there as well.

Maybe we'll get lucky and it won't take place in Africa. The movie isn't just the first two episodes joined together, as I first thought, but a completely standalone product they made about six months ago. And Jack does leave Africa at the end, which is a good sign.

We'll see what happens in January.

It's Time To Break Out The Old Guitar!

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting (what terrible alliteration) that both Mitchell Hurwitz and Ron Howard have signed deals with Fox to produce an Arrested Development movie.

If this really does turn out to be true, I guess it is time to break out the old guitar.

It's Almost Over

Last night, the second-to-last episode of The Shield aired. I've tried not to read any spoilers about the final episode, but, based upon what's happened so far and where the show appears to be heading, I'm going to say that the show ends with Vic Mackey going down. And I don't mean to jail; I mean into the ground. And who's gonna do it? Well, I don't won't to jinx it by telling you, but, if you go back and read any post I've written about The Shield on this blog, you'll get a pretty good idea of who I think the triggerman will be.

And, with the end of the "evil" Vic Mackey comes the end of The Shield. But, with this particular ending also comes the reason I typically hate shows like this: They make us root for the wrong guy.

Vic Mackey is obviously an anti-hero of the highest order. He bends, even breaks, the law to serve his own twisted agenda. He is inherently evil, but, still...he's the best character on the show. It's not helped by the fact that all of the "good" characters are boring and tedious. It's impossible NOT to root for the charismatic bad guy.

But, since our society and morals require that evil be punished, guys like Vic Mackey end up going down in flames. And I end up being pissed off.

Regardless of how it ends next Tuesday, it's still been a great seven-year run. I just wish it had worked out a little bit better for my favorite bad guy. Who knows; maybe he walks away in the end.

There's still hope.

Last Five Movies

Quantum of Solace (2008)
Or, The Bond Supremacy. Anything that made Casino Royale a new and fresh take on the Bond franchise is gone in favor of making, essentially, a fourth Bourne movie. In fact, I'd go so far as to say this movie isn't as good as the Bourne movies OR the last couple Brosnan Bonds, for that matter. It doesn't help that the movie is burdened with a boring villain, or that the movie is at times incomprehensible due to some Michael Bay-level editing. And if you think Quantum of Solace is a stupid title, wait until you say it aloud at the box office. Disappointing.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)
Not the worst movie Kevin Smith has made, not the best movie he's made. Like 99% of his movies, it's basically another take on Clerks. Funny as hell, but nothing we haven't seen before.

Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971)
Yet another of the 100,000,000 Italian murder mysteries that came out during the '70s. The only thing that separates this one from the other 99,999,999 is that it features three Bond Girls in various stages of undress.

Hell Ride (2008)
Really? 2008 and people are still making Pulp Fiction rip-offs? Isn't there a more recent movie people can rip-off? It's not helped by the fact this piece of crap was written, directed, and stars Larry Bishop, who directed another deplorable Pulp Fiction rip-off called Mad Dog Time back in '96, back when it was actually fashionable to do so. Let's leave the Pulp Fiction plagiarism to Tarantino, who's making an entire career out of it.

Zack and Miri is a close second, but...

Role Models (2008)
Take any romantic comedy that Kate Hudson or Anne Hathaway (who actually have a really terrible-looking joint flick coming out) has ever made, reverse the genders, and actually make it funny, and you have some idea of what Role Models is like. It's a heavily-disguised Chick Flick, with a plot that you've seen a thousand times before. But the fact that it's so goddamned funny sets it apart from the rest of its ilk. It's a great date movie that everyone will enjoy.

Check it out.

Dr. Greene Returns From The Dead

If you happened to catch last night's episode of ER about half-way through, you might have been tricked into thinking that NBC was just fucking around and airing a rerun. But no, it was a brand-new episode. And why might you think it was a rerun? Because it starred Anthony Edwards, whose character, Dr. Mark Greene, died six years ago.

Actually, the show was a half flashback, half real-time show. Other actors from the past, like Laura Innes, Abe Benrubi, and Paul McCrane made appearances as well. Admittedly, it was pretty cool to see characters that have been off the show for years reappear. And Edwards' appearance was some particularly soap opera-type shit, like when Roger Thorpe on Guiding Light returned from the dead after nine years. (Paul McCrane's character died on the show, too, but I don't think anyone remembers he was on it anyway.)

I did wonder why they didn't have more "period" characters on, like Dr. Carter or Dr. Lewis, who were on the show around that time. It must have been their days off. Maybe they'll turn up in the finale.

By the way, Eriq La Salle, who eulogized Michael Crichton, the show's creator, at the start of the episode, looks like hell. Apparently, not doing anything since leaving the show really wears a man down.