Monthly Archives: February 2009

A Day at the Movies

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Apparently, AMC liked my write up of the new Fork & Screen experience so much that they invited me to their annual Best Picture Showcase on the day before the Oscars.

This is an awesome experience. For $30 (only $25 for MovieWatcher members), you get to watch all five Best Picture nominees back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back. It’s a whole Saturday, starting at 10:30 in the morning and ending well after 11 at night. Kansas City is one of many cities across the country hosting this event and here in town, it’s at both my home court theater (Olathe Studio) and at the BarryWoods 24.

I plan on live-tweeting the event along with bloggers across the U.S. If you’re also planning on live-tweeting, the official hash tag (which yours truly put into play) is #amcbps.

If you want to join in the fun, make sure to pick up your tickets soon. If you want the $5 discount, you’ll have to go to the box office to pick up your pass.

I love the Oscars and I love the movies. This is like the perfect storm of awesomeness. Plus I get to cross something off my Bucket List (spend all day at the movie theater with Alli).

And just in case you’re wondering…here are the showtimes:

  • “Milk”- 10:30am
  • “The Reader”- 1:05pm
  • “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”- 3:45pm
  • “Slumdog Millionaire”- 7:15pm
  • “Frost/Nixon”- 9:45pm

It’s gonna be legendary.

Cupid sans The Pivs?

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So I was on ABC’s website today and I saw a little blurb on the home page for a new show called Cupid.

Wait a sec…

Originally starring the brilliant Jeremy Piven (well before he hit it huge as Ari Gold), the show is centered around a guy named Trevor who is thoroughly convinced that he is the reincarnation of Cupid “sent down from Mt. Olympus by Zeus to connect 100 couples without his powers as a punishment for his arrogance.”

The show has managed to be re-green-lighted by ABC (who also carried the original show) for the original creator Rob Thomas, only with a different cast. Now, Bobby Cannavale (Third Watch) and Sarah Paulson (Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) will play the main characters, Cupid/Trevor and his psychiatrist/love interest.

Bobby Cannavale on ABC's Cupid

I don’t mean to be doom-and-gloom here, but if this show couldn’t succeed with Jeremy Piven in the lead role, what makes anyone think it will get an audience with a guy who is probably best known for playing Will’s firefighter love interest on Will & Grace? I understand the desire that creator Rob Thomas might have to resurrect his baby, but this is just another example of how lazy people are getting on TV. What…were all the other new ideas gone?

The Pivs in an original Cupid promo shot

And it’s not that this show is a bad idea. It’s just that I can’t figure out what makes the studio believe that things will be different this time. If audiences aren’t going to get into Pushing Daisies, they sure as heck aren’t going to get into a show like this.

Mark my words. The second incarnation of this show won’t last any longer than the pre-fully-bald-pre-hair-plugs-Piven-helmed first. Which was only 14 episodes (plus one unaired in the can).

KS Unemployment Success

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As of last week, it was still amazingly difficult to get through to the Kansas Unemployment Office on the phone.

Hopefully today that will all change. According to the website:

Effective Monday, Feb. 9, 2009, the Kansas Department of Labor’s Unemployment Contact Center will temporarily extend its hours of operation from 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

This is great news for people who have been laid off. The online system is nice for submitting your initial and weekly claims, but when there are problems with your claim (I detailed my own a few weeks ago), the communication from the unemployment office is horrible. The best way to get your issues resolved is to try and get someone on the phone.

This isn’t easy. First, you have to actually get through. It took me days of calling and calling just to actually get through. Then, once you get through, you get kicked off the calls randomly because they don’t want too many people waiting on hold. Of course, they wait over 10 minutes to do so (a number that has decreased over time). When you finally get into the queue, you have to wait almost an hour to talk to an actual person. In my case, I was told that there was a single form that I had not filled out…something that could have been communicated to me on the site along with a link to the form.

Now that the hours have been extended, I’m hopeful that people will not experience the same frustrations that I did. Although, with the horrible January unemployment numbers, the office may continue to be just as busy as it was before. Either way, I applaud the Kansas Department of Labor for responding to the needs of the people. Perhaps they were tired of a post entitled KS Unemployment FAIL being on the first page of Google results for ‘ks unemployment’.

The power of blogging.

Trust Me

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No…I’m not asking you to make a judgment on me.

I’m asking…nay, TELLING…you to watch a new show of the same name on TNT with Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanaugh about best friends in the world of advertising in Chicago.

Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanaugh in Trust Me on TNT

It comes from the same people who made cable-stalwart shows The Closer and nip/tuck and was created by a couple of dudes who spent time at BBDO and Leo Burnett.

Honestly, if you put Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanaugh on a show, you’re gonna have something good. Cavanaugh is a comedic gem with great timing whose shows unfortunately get cancelled. But he’s great in this show as a wacky copywriter to McCormack’s straight man creative director.

I suggest that you watch this show. It’s billed as a drama, but it’s more of in the dramedy genre. I think it’s funny and cleverly written. Give it a couple chances on your DVR.

I’m not dead…

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…I’m just busy.

I don’t want to lose readers. I just haven’t had a ton to talk about this week. Plus, I’m preaching on Sunday, we have family coming in this weekend, and I’ve been interviewing a lot.

Let’s hope for something awesome!