Category Archives: TV and movies

Special Friday video break: Dash away all

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Once more with my favorite narration of “Twas The Night Before Christmas”: Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

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RIP, Blake Edwards

Posted on December 16, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

The man who gave us the one true “Pink Panther” movies has passed away at the age of 88. One of Hollywood’s most successful specialists in comedy, Edwards was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1922 and started out as an … Continue reading →

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No film commission incentives for you!

Posted on December 14, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Noted for the record. The Texas Film Commission has denied incentives for “Machete,” the controversial immigration-related feature film from Robert Rodriguez’s Austin-based Troublemaker Studios. In a brief, formal letter dated Dec. 1 and released Wednesday by Katherine Cesinger , a … Continue reading →

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“CSI:San Antonio” would be far preferable

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Oh, hell no. According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS is planning a neo-Western crime drama from executive producer Anthony Zuiker called “Desperado.” It focuses on a group of lawmen who enact cowboy-style justice in modern times on criminals in San … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: It’s never wrong to mash up “Star Trek”

Posted on December 4, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Some things don’t require an introduction, others defy the very attempt at one: Beam me up, Scotty. UPDATE: This can happen when you draft stuff in advance. Go here to see the video. Sorry about that.

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RIP, Leslie Nielsen

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

As Mel Brooks said when his friend Harvey Korman passed away, the world is a more serious place today. Leslie Nielsen, the actor best known for starring in such comedies as Airplane! and the Naked Gun film franchise, died Sunday … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Won’t I get a reputation for being soft on turkeys?

Posted on November 27, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

President Bartlett, doing his Constitutional duty: There’s also the classic Butterball hotline sequence if you want more. Happy Saturday!

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Cutting the cord on cable

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I have no plans to change the way I watch TV any time soon, but a lot of other people are at least thinking about it. The Convergence Consulting Group of Toronto predicts that about 1.6 million U.S. households will … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: This is Halloween

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

And this is how you celebrate it: Happy Halloween!

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“For the Sake of the Song: The Story of Anderson Fair”

Posted on October 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

From the inbox: Gish Creative (www.gishcreative.com) and Southwest Alternate Media Project/SWAMP (www.swamp.org) have come together to celebrate the arts and cultural landmarks with a public screening of “For the Sake of the Song: The Story of Anderson Fair” (www.andersonfairthemovie.com) on … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: For excitement, and emotion

Posted on August 21, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

School starts Monday in these parts. In honor of that, here’s a little Schoolhouse Rock: We have one of the Schoolhouse Rock DVD sets. I need to play it for Olivia, I think she might be old enough to appreciate … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Fireworks

Posted on July 3, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

At times like this, we turn to Schoolhouse Rock for answers: Happy Third of July, everybody.

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Saturday video break: Life’s great mysteries

Posted on June 26, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

For those of you of a certain age, the following needs no introduction: I don’t know about you, but I didn’t even know there was an extended version of this commercial. Truly, the Internet is a marvelous thing. In case … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Re-Micks

Posted on June 5, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

So we spend a fair amount of our TV-watching time on stuff the TiVo has recorded off the Disney Channel. They don’t run commercials, so to fill the out their time slots they do a lot of promos of other … Continue reading →

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Special Sunday video break: What cats have to say about “Lost”

Posted on May 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

“Lost” re-enacted by cats in one minute: There are some actual spoilery bits in there, so if you’re not prepared to watch the finale, click at your own peril.

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Saturday video break: Squirrels in my pants

Posted on April 10, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Don’t you hate it when this happens to you? If you’re not a fan of Phineas and Ferb, you should be. See more of their music videos here. I recommend the Evil Love Song as a starting place: Who says … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Birthday time

Posted on February 20, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

One of the things you learn when you reach a certain age is the extent to which children’s television has completely taken over your brain. It’s the times when you’re by yourself and you find yourself humming or even singing … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Happy Presidents Day!

Posted on February 13, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Monday is Presidents Day, which normally means no mail delivery and mattress sales. But it should mean a bit more than that, so here’s a little song to help you celebrate: Obviously, a newer version is needed now, but it’ll … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: “Lost”, as explained by people who could have been my neighbors

Posted on January 30, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

Every once in awhile, I am reminded why the Internet exists. It’s for stuff like this: You can’t stop awesomeness like that. You can only hope to contain it. Via the nearly as awesome Therese Odell.

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Saturday video break: Do the android!

Posted on January 23, 2010 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t even know how to introduce this one, so let’s just dive right in. Don’t be distracted by the fact that it starts out in French. It’s totally worth it, trust me. What can I say? It was the … Continue reading →

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Night Before Christmas video break

Posted on December 24, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve embedded this before, but it’s worth running again because it just rocks: Now go get your kerchief and cap ready for that long winter’s nap.

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Saturday video break: I triple dog dare ya!

Posted on December 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

A little snow on the ground, and my thoughts turn to this: The secret to getting unstuck, as I understand it, is to pour some warm water over the affected area. I do not know this from personal experience.

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Special Friday video break: As God is my witness…

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I give you the 1970s precursor to “The Office”, the wonderful and underrated “WKRP In Cincinnati” and their all-time classic Thanksgiving episode. Seriously, if you’ve never seen this, you really need to watch it all the way through. If you … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: But that trick never works!

Posted on November 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Fifty years ago this week, “Rocky and His Friends” debuted on TV. Thanks to the magic of the internets, we can watch that first ever episode You can see a bunch more here at Hulu. For more on Rocky and … Continue reading →

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RIP, Soupy Sales

Posted on October 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Soupy Sales, the world’s funniest pie-in-the-face man, has passed away at the age of 83. As the star of “The Soupy Sales Show,” he performed live on television for 13 years in Detroit, Los Angeles and New York before the … Continue reading →

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More Alamo Drafthouse locations on tap

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Some news of interest from Nancy Sarnoff’s new blog. The two Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas in the Houston area are being sold to an investment team that plans to open at least seven more in Texas. Triple Tap Ventures LLC will … Continue reading →

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The best idea you’ll hear for what to do with the Alabama Theater

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

How about turning it back into a movie theater? And not just any theater, either, but an Alamo Drafthouse theater. I wholeheartedly endorse the concept that ‘stina enunciates in her letter to the Alamo Drafthouse corporate office. I don’t know … Continue reading →

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Bourdain on kids’ TV

Posted on September 16, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Anthony Bourdain gives a rundown of what’s on kids’ TV these days, mostly stuff on Noggin and Nick Jr. We are quite familiar with most of what he and his daughter watch – Olivia in particular loves “Lazytown”, somewhat to … Continue reading →

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Tom DeLay to dance with the stars

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’m speechless. The news this morning that former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay will be a contestant on the upcoming season of “Dancing With the Stars” triggered a mixture of chortling and bemusement as it whipped through cyberspace. “Also: Denny Hastert … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: A John Hughes twofer

Posted on August 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

“Twist and Shout”, from “Ferris Bueller’s Day off”: And the original video to Simple Minds’ “Don’t You Forget About Me”, which was used in “The Breakfast Club”. Thanks to Steven Goldman for that link. And if you haven’t read this … Continue reading →

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RIP, John Hughes

Posted on August 6, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

John Hughes, iconic 80s movie director, has passed away from a heart attack at the age of 59. A native of Lansing, Mich., who later moved to suburban Chicago and set much of his work there, Hughes rose from ad … Continue reading →

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Saturday video break: Buffy versus Twilight

Posted on July 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Need I say who wins? I found this here. You can read more about the creator’s intent here.

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RIP, Farrah Fawcett

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Not unexpected, but still sad. Fawcett was voted “most beautiful” her sophomore, junior and senior years at Ray High School [in Corpus Christi]. Her freshman year at the University of Texas, where she was majoring in microbiology and minoring in … Continue reading →

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Remaking “The Prisoner”

Posted on June 19, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

If you’ve ever seen The Prisoner, the trippy sci-fi British miniseries that starred Patrick McGoohan as a former British intelligence agent trapped in a bizarre remote village by his former employers who want to know why he quit, you will … Continue reading →

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