HSM Still Going Strong

De's ankle is much better. And the show is going well. We had to miss last Sunday's show due to injury but today's show was great. Cast and the band are spot on.

The audience was clapping along with the entr'acte. This show is a hit with the kids, adults not so much

One more week left of High School Musical then it's on to singing Nazis...

Missed the Sunday Show Due to Injury

The bride and I missed the Sunday show because she fractured her ankle. We're hoping she'll get better for the shows this weekend...

High School Musical Rocked Again

Show went very smooth tonight. The techies rocked - as always. Group of us techies and actors headed to Chili's after the show. Good times. Good people.

Pensacola's High School Musical Is A Hit!

Opening Night last night and the house was packed. Show went off without a hitch. Everybody was awesome. Techies were fantastic!

Heck, the audience applauded when the house lights went out for the first act. They even applauded when the house doors closed. They were a great audience.

The balcony ushers were dancing and clapping along during the finale. Good show. Good job everybody.

HSM Rehearsals...

...are going well. The lighting has been updated and looks really good.

The cast is superb. They're all able to bring the play's two-dimensional characters to life. Claney Outzen is very funny as Kelsi, the nerdy writer of "Juliet and Romeo." Valerie Remic as Charpay and Benjamin Haupt [Jo Jo from last year's Seussical] as her sidekick Ryan are delightful.

The two leads, Jordan Moore as Troy and Courtney Ricardo as Gabriella, bring warmth and likability to some pretty bland characters.

The techies are brilliant, as always.

Working the follow spots on this show is fun. It's not a difficult show like Seussical was. Most of the spots are on stationary characters. In Seussical, the cast was jumping and running all over the place.

Spot Ops at the High School Musical

The Bride and I operated the spots at last night's rehearsal. It went well. This is gonna be a fun show for the kids.

The band was in the pit and the songs sound pretty good. This cast of actors can really sing. That's a good thing because the play itself is so...well...horrendous.

Okay, it's horrendous only for people born before Clinton's first inaugural. God, I'm old...

High School Musical Tech Week Has Begun

No spot ops were needed at last night's rehearsal but got to watch the whole show.

First, I shall commend this awesome cast. They are talented kids. Pensacola actors never cease to amaze me. There is a lot of talented people - of all ages - in this little town.

But the storyline of the show is painful. It's best described as "Grease" meets that episode of "Saved By The Bell" wherein troublemaker Zak Morris takes a drama class to get a credit so he can graduate.

Not having seen the original Disney movie with Zac Efron and whats-her-name I cannot judge the songs. The music at the rehearsal was provied by a very loud piano.

Now, the cast does a great job performing "Status Quo," the song that closes out the first act. But the show's finale never seems to arrive. There is this endless reprise of all the songs and it just goes on and on and on...but the kids that'll make up the audience will just dig it.

Needless to say I'm out of this show's target demographic.

Tonight we shall run the spot ops.

Next Up - High School Musical

The wife and I shall run the spotlights on Pensacola Little Theater's 2009 production of High School Musical...oy vey!

Tech week starts tonight.

The performance dates are: July 24-26, July 31- Aug 2, and Aug 7-9.

Authentic Spock Ears on Ebay

Ebay find of the day: Spock ears! Check out the description from the seller:

A pair of Latex Mr. Spock Ear Tips worn by Leonard Nimoy during the shooting of the Star Trek IV Movie which he directed. Has an Autographed COA by Leonard Nimoy and it's dated June 1986. Obtained from Leonard Nimoy through his secretary at the time Teresa Victor.

Framed Dimensions are 11'X13'. In fabulous condition.

The buy it now price is only $2500.00!

Shatner Sells The Commodore VIC-20

Gotta love Shatner!

T.J. Hooker The Movie. For Real.

Word on the street is that the classic 1980s cop show TJ Hooker, starring The Shat during his curly headed toupe era, is being turned into a big time "action comedy" motion picture.

The producers of this future classic plan to do a retro comedy like the Starsky and Hutch movie. The good news is the filmmakers are interested in having The Shat appear in this film.

Bad news? No word on the status of Adrian Zmed's participation in this new project.

Read more at Trekmovie.com

Michael Cimino Please Make Another Movie

Film lovers need another Michael Cimino epic, that is a movie of epic proportions that feature real, three dimensional characters and awe inspiring visuals.

The Deer Hunter and Heaven's Gate are visually exciting, intelligent movies, not dumbed down time-wasters like so much crap that's spewed out by the studios.

Back then it was Jaws and Star Wars rip-offs. But there were also truly good movies produced like the Godfather, Clockwork Orange, and Nashville.

But today's movie screens are mostly filled with multi-million dollar retreads of old TV shows and video games. Studios spend a lot of money churning out uninspired pablum. Hell, even 3D is making a come back.

Studios are so cynical. Distract the audience with 3D! The audience won't know that they've paid $10 to watch crap.

Come back to the movies, Mr. Cimino. Save us from such nightmarish drek as the upcoming movie versions of Dallas, CHiPS, and yes, even I Dream of Jeannie.

We need big budget, adult films. Adult as in intelligent, real, personal.

The Deer Hunter is a beautiful, painful, gut wrenching experience. It is filled with some of the best film performances. John Cazale, Christopher Walken, and non-actor Chuck Aspergren, bring truth and honesty to their characters.

I've discussed Heaven's Gate in a previous post. Many people love this movie for what it is, an attempt to transcend the Western genre to become of the greatest movies ever made. It's visionary scale goes back to Griffith with Intolerance and Von Stroheim with Greed.

I know you haven't been totally out of the loop. You have directed a short film in France and have appeared at the Cannes Film Festival. But we need you to make a complete return to movie making.

The French government would be willing to finance another Cimino movie. It's only a matter of time.

We'll even forgive that new hair style.

Theater News Story of the Day™ - Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis, Academy Award-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch, and Rupert "(Escape) The Pina Colda Song" Holmes have joined forces to bring The Nutty Professor to the Broadway stage with Jerry making his Broadway directorial debut. Good luck, Jerry.

Read the story here.

Movie Review of the Day™ - The Devil's Rain

Heaven help us all when The Devil's Rain! That sentence makes no grammatical sense but it is the tag line of The Movie Review of the Day™: The Devil's Rain, one of the great bad movies of the 1970s. Follow an all-star cast as they do battle with Satan over human souls trapped within a glass orb in which there is constant rain.

That’s right, The Devil’s Rain!

All-star cast features William Shatner, wearing a bland, pre-TJ Hooker toupee, Ida Lupino, Tom Skerrit, Eddie “Green Acres” Albert, and Ernest Borgnine as the demonic Goat-Man man named Corbis.

This is a low budget movie so there's a lot of driving around. Lots of dirt roads. A small, old western town serves as the main location. A satanic church sits just on the edge of the abandoned town.

So this movie is very 70s, very dry, and very sweaty. Imagine being stuck out West with 1970s quality air-conditioning.

Get this, The Shat plays a man named Martin Fife - that’s right, Martin Fife - and for centuries his family has been hiding a book that contains the names of people whose souls have been promised to Satan (kind of like Beelzebug's accounting ledger, if you will.)

Corbis, the demonic Goat-Man, wants the book, needs the book. Why? Something to do with The Devil’s Rain, but what is The Devil’s Rain? No one knows. The Shat doesn't know. Corbis doesn't know. The filmmakers didn't know.

I have a copy of the screenplay (purchased from Script City because a free copy was nowhere to be found on the world wide Internet!) and it's as confusing as the finished movie. Funny thing, the screenplay has a few typos.

The Devil's Rain touches on ESP - what 70s movie didn't touch on ESP? Tom Skerrit and Eddie Albert are doctors that study the paranormal. Skerrit plays the Shat’s brother. Skerrit’s wife has ESP abilities and senses something is wrong back home.

John Travolta has a “blink and you’ll miss him” role as Danny. Anton LeVay and his Church of Satan were consultants on the film. Ernest Borgnine looks cool with horns.

The highlight of the film occurs when the cult members melt in The Devil's Rain during the climactic confrontation between good and evil. Green and yellow goo - looking for all the world like melted candle wax - oozes out of the cult members’ eye sockets. The melting scene goes on for what feels like hours but, man, it’s worth every sweaty 1970s minute.

Spread the word. People must see The Devil’s Rain.

Star Trek (2009) A Review

Star Trek (2009) is a wonderful, action packed, humor filled, and loving reboot of the classic original Trek series. Chris Pine, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, and John Cho are awesome. Zachary Quinto is spectacular as Spock.


Eric Bana is great as the villain Nero. He gives depth to his character, a character that we've seen in Trek before: a man bent on a self-destructive obsession to hurt the one that had hurt him in the past, like the brilliantly mad Khan in ST:TWOK. Nero could have ended up being a one dimensional cartoon villain, but Bana is a very good actor and brings much to the role.


Like Khan, Nero is a man obsessed with vengeance. He wants to hurt Spock, just as Khan had wanted to hurt Kirk.

Nero blames Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy in an ST:TNG episode) for the destruction of his home world Romulus and the death of his family. Nero wishes to destroy Vulcan and to force a helpless Spock to watch.

Zachary Quinto as Spock and Zoe Saldana as Uhura bring out levels of feelings and emotions not found in the original series or movies. They have a very touching, very close, and very real relationship, the type of relation ship that Dr. Chapel on the original series had always wanted with Spock.


Saldana portrays Uhura not only smart, funny and tough but also as a very caring human being. She truly cares for Spock and unlike, Nurse Chapel, Uhura has managed to get emotionally close to Quinto's Spock. So, in a way, we can get a glimpse of how Spock's mother, Amanda, must have bonded with Sarek during their own courtship.

In Star Trek (2009) there is a subtle acknowledgment by Ambassador Spock the events in this movie are taking place in an alternate time-line. Nero fell through a black hole that existed within the TNG universe and he fell into this movie's alternate time line

Thus the destinies of some of our beloved characters, in addition to Kirk, such as Spock, Uhura, and Scotty, are totally screwed up.

That screw up in the time-line could also explain why the Enterprise is built on Earth, in Iowa, instead of at the San Francisco Ship Yards.

This is the most beautiful looking Trek movie since The Motion Picture. The visual effects are top-notch. The production design is imaginative and a delight to behold. The Enterprise Bridge is a thing of beauty. It's like being inside of a futuristic Apple computer.


The re-visioned Enterprise is a true work of art. Hard core Trekkers will not be disappointed. Yes, there are some minor differences, for example, the Boussard collectors are larger than on the original ship, making the warp nacelles a bit thicker. But overall, this ship is as beautiful as The Motion Picture Enterprise.

Star Trek (2009) is the best movie of 2009. A perfect movie.

Over-Rated Movie Directors in No Particular Order

1) Charlie Chaplin. That’s right, I said it. I never got The Tramp and never will. And, by the way, The Three Stooges did a hell of a better job making fun of Hitler in You Nazty Spy and I'll Never Heil Again than Chaplin did in that Great Dictator movie.

2) Noam Baumbach. Pretentious filmmaker about pretentious, self-involved people. With Mr. Baumbach movies, movie critics are under the impression that they are watching an intellectual movie about intellectual people made by an intellectual. Wrong on all counts.

3) Whit Stillman. Pretentious filmmaker about pretentious WASPs. His movies are just a painful, excruciating look at characters created by some lame Noel Coward wanna-be. So witty, so smart, so stomach-turning.

4) Michel Gondry. Just pretentious. And like my complaint with Tim Burton, Mr. Gondry seems to do the same wacky, arty-farty stuff over and over. Intellectual? Intelligent? Witty? No, just tedious and boring.

5) QT. I liked Reservoir Dogs but Pulp Fiction was all hype and style over substance. Kill Bill was watchable thanks to the great cameraman Robert Richardson, but overall, that movie was way too long, too indulgent.

6) Michael Moore. Preaching to the choir. Yawn. We get it, Mr. Moore, America (the land that's been paying your royalties from your books, movies, and TV shows for years) sucks. Big Deal.

7) Marty Scorsese. Yes, his record is pretty darn good but come on movie critics, admit it when he makes a stinker like Gangs of New York or Age of Innocence.

8) Tim Burton. He may tackle different stories but his films all end up looking the same: Male and female characters with Bride of Frankenstein hair, heavy Goth make up. Wacky production design. Same old, same old. Tedious and exhausting.

Follow Spot Blog of the Day™ - Music Man

The Music Man has ended its interminable run at Pensacola Little Theater. The techies - managed by Carol Mankins - and the large cast rocked on this show.

The sets were nutty, like the two-sided set pieces. Stage right had a large living room set on one side and the exterior of a billiard hall on the other side, stage left had the exterior of a porch backed with the exterior of a Livery stable.

During scene changes the techies ran out onto the darkened stage to rotate the set pieces so that the appropriate side faced the audience for the next scene. Therefore the techies were as choreographed as the actors and dancers.

The lighting designer and follow spot operators also rocked. Sound was great despite technical difficulties like broken wireless mikes.

The cast really shined on the stage. Everyone brought life and joyous excitement into their repective roles.

For example, Scott Haring, who portrayed Marcellus, the Music Man's former partner in crime, acted with such gusto that we tech folk fell apart everytime he growled "Hey! Gregory!!"

The biggest plus of the production was the Barber Shop Quartet as portrayed by Pensacola Fiesta Barbershop Chorus. Listening to their delightful voices blend into a glorious harmony as they sang “Lida Rose” and “Sin in Sincere” made sitting through the show night after night tolerable.

Music Man ain't a bad show but some of those dialog scenes just went on and on...and on...

The music numbers: "Wells Fargo Wagon", "You Got Trouble", "Gary Indiana", "Pick-a-Little", and "Seventy Six Trombones" were spectacular. The orchestra was energetic, the dancing and singing by the large cast was perfect.

But thank the Lords of Kobol this show is finally over. Now, onto the next.

Retro Blog - Seussical The Musical Summer of 2008

My wife and I had operated the spot lights for the Pensacola Little Theater production of Seussical The Musical this past summer(2008.)

The show was a big hit. The cast was fantastic. I had never worked spot before and it was quite an experience.

The entire show was movement and music. My wife had one side of the stage and I covered the other side. We did the best we could with only two spotlights. Huge cast. Something like 30 actors.

The show is a blast. I never grew tired of the songs during the run of the show.

Halloween Poster Illustration of the Day - Satan's Deadly Brides

Here's another poster done up for last year's Halloween party. It's an homage to all of those great 1970s "Satanic cult - Witches coven" type horror movies that were all the rage back then.

You know classics like The Devil's Rain (reviewed in a previous blog), Dracula AD 1972, The Wicker Man (original version please), Manos:The Hands of Fate and Simon King of the Witches (reviewed in a previous blog)

I did the entire artwork in pencil. I used Prismacolor pencils to colour in the picture. I like the Prismacolor brand of pencils for their flexibility and colorful richness.

Click image for full resolution and to read the witty screen credits.

Halloween Poster Illustration of the Day

Ah yes, this drawing was used for last year's Halloween party. I was asked to create a series of old style horror movie posters to help decorate the party. I created five or six posters each being a nod toward different genres of the B-horror film, such as the haunted house, sea monsters, Draculas, etc.

This poster is a tribute to the lovable Shatner-mask wearing murder machine known as Michael Myers. This Michael Myers is one wack character. The dude just won't stay dead!

He was shot up by a bunch of bullets and fell off a second story balcony but managed to escape at the end of the original Halloween.

Then he was blow'd up real good at the end of Halloween II.

But thanks to the Satanic evil known as Hollywood accountants Mr. Myers managed to come back for many more pictures.

Michael Myers was finally beheaded by Jamie Lee Curtis in fantastic H20, but somehow was brought back for the campy Resurrection. You know the movie about a reality show set in the Myers house and...um...who the really hell cares...

Any-hoo, you can't keep a good killer down. Rob Zombie successfully brought him back in the 2007 remake and bringing back again in the upcoming H2.

Click on the image to read the - dare I say - witty screen credits and to view picture at full resolution.

Pierrot le Fou – A Review

The Jean Luc Godard masterpiece Pierrot le Fou tells the story of Ferdinand, portrayed by Jean-Paul Belmondo. He’s bored with his middle class life and hooks up with Marianne, played by the beautiful Anna Karina.

The plot is that of a simple detective novel: a guy, a girl, guns, and money. There are a couple of double crosses. Marianne is searching for her brother who is involved with smuggling or gun running in Africa.

Just like Ferdinand, we can never be sure if Marianne is ever telling the truth. But the truth doesn’t matter. Marianne is beautiful and full of life.

Early in the film, Ferdinand is at a party where everyone speaks in advertising slogans. A brilliant Godard technique showing how programmed, predictable, and boring “successful” middle class people are.

The heart of the film follows Ferdinand and Marianne as they hide-out in the French Riviera, along the Mediterranean Sea.

The camera work by Raoul Coutard is amazing. Pierrot le Fou is in full color Cinemascope and is one of the most beautiful movies ever made in color. And the Criterion Collection DVD is stunning.

There are wonderful bits of musical whimsy during the French Riviera sequence. There is also political commentary thrown in as well. To raise some money, Ferdinand and Marianne put on an impromptu play about the Vietnam War for the amusement of some American tourists.

But not is all fun and games. At one point Marianne is captured by a dwarf then escapes. Ferdinand is water-boarded by two men looking for Marianne and the money she stole from them.

To think that this movie came out in 1965 and features water-boarding is interesting. People have tortured in the past and will continue to torture in the future. The reasons for torture may change but the torture remains the same.

Seconds - A Review

This is a review of the Rock Hudson movie Seconds, a surreal yet penetrating movie directed by John Frankenheimer.

Seconds deals with an older man, Arthur Hamilton, who is a successful upper-middle class bank executive with a wife, large home, green lawn, air conditioning. He is miserable. A friend of Hamilton's hooks him up with The Company that will give Hamilton a new life.

This entails faking Hamilton's death and heavy reconstruction surgery. The old man Hamilton becomes a young man named Wilson. And Wilson just happens to look like Rock Hudson.

Seconds is very artsy. It came out in 1966 when American filmmakers were using European styles of film making. The scenes involving the old Hamilton and his wife play like Ingmar Bergman. The later scenes with young Wilson and The Company are surreal, like Godard.

I won't give any of the surprises away. The first twenty minutes is a little difficult to get into but once the plot kicks in the movie works really well.

Seconds deals with second chances and freedom. Old man Hamilton represents the status quo. He has the American Dream but is miserable. By becoming a younger man, Wilson, he is allowed to live as a successful artist but he is still miserable. Even jumping into a large vat of grapes with a bunch of naked hippies doesn't make him in happier.

This guy is miserable no matter what life he choses to go with.

Seconds is a very good, very unique American made thriller. It's like a Twilight Zone episode that was written by Bergman and directed by Godard.

Millionaire Matchmaker - Review of Last Night's Episode

Well, Patty Stanger and her gang were at it again last night on Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker show. They were hard at work at helping lonely millionaires find true love.

The two guys on last night’s show were interesting. One was Uri, a Jew from Florida looking for a Jewish girl. He’s way too quiet and nice. A perfect gentleman. Of course that made Patty crazy. She wanted Uri to go after the women, throw them up against the wall and be an animal.

The other guy, Zagros, a Kurdish-Iranian-American, is a momma’s boy but loves the ladies. He’s tall and charming, a total opposite of Uri. Patty wanted this guy to slow down, keep it in his pants.

Patty made a funny comment about this episode having something to do with Israeli-Palestinian relations.

But both Uri and Zagros were somewhat endearing and likeable. Uri remained way too boring for Patty but Zagros and his date, Teal, crossed the line by breaking Patty’s number one rule.

Patty was outrageous as always, Chelsea was the perfect sidekick, and Destin was, well, Destin.

Good show.

Simon, King of the Witches – A Review of a Classic 1970s Occult Horror Movie

This is a review of a truly eccentric and unique horror movie from the 1970s. Unlike The Devil’s Rain, Simon, King of the Witches isn’t cheesy or goofy.

Andrew Prine plays a mysterious man named Simon who lives in a storm drain. He performs magick. Andrew Prine does an excellent job in making Simon very real and very likable. Simon is no cartoon character, even though he does talk to trees.

Simon befriends a male “escort” named Turk, who wants to learn about the occult and to become a warlock. But first, Simon tells Turk not anyone can get involved with the occult. Simon is very serious. For Simon, magick and the occult are real and can be very dangerous.

Turk takes them to a swinging 1970s-style party thrown by a wacky rich guy named Hercules. Simon, against his better judgment, performs magick for the party guests. For them, Simon is just a performer and magick is mere entertainment. The party goers laugh. Good times. But not for Simon.

Hercules also believes magick is just a joke but Simon teaches him a lesson. Simon teaches everyone a lesson: don't mess with magick, don't mess with the warlock.

Unlike other low budget occult movies from the 1970s, this movie takes the subject seriously. The screenplay was written by a real warlock. There are no demonic caricatures with large horns terrorizing people, there are no devil possessed kids, and no zombies in this movie.

Simon, King of the Witches culminates with a really cool 2001-style psychedelic freak-out.

I don’t want to say anymore. I recommend watching this movie and being surprised by how good it is.

Simon, King of the Witches is now available on DVD. The transfer is spectacular, especially when the age of the film is considered.

Sci Fi Channel's Ghost Hunters - The Spaulding Inn

Okay, did the TAPS guys cross the line on last night's episode of Ghost Hunters? As y’all know by now, Jay and Grant went out and bought The Spalding Inn, an old haunted hotel. Jay and Grant are in the process of renovating the Inn when they, their wives, and their kids began to come across strange goings on.

So what to do? Well, investigate and put the investigation on the TV.

To keep the investigation on the up and up and not appear biased, Jay and Grant sit this investigation out, and bring in their friends from Ghost Hunters International. No bias there, right?

It wasn’t like if Jay and Grant had brought in Zac Bagans and the guys from Ghost Adventures.

But did Jay and Grant cross the line of view trust by running what could be seen as an hour long infomercial for The Spalding Inn?

Well no, of course not. Featuring the Spalding Inn on the TV is no different than when they wear their TAPS shirts and TAPS hats. It’s all commercialization, baby.

I say more power to Jay and Grant. They are combining their love of ghost hunting with the love of being hoteliers, and that equation equals money.

That’s what America is all about. Sure, last night’s episode was a little cheesy. Come on, did anyone really think Robb or Joe Chinn would have told Jay and Grant that the Inn wasn’t haunted and that they should pack it in and return to full time ghost hunting?

Of course, Robb was gonna tell Jay and Grant that the place was haunted.

But last night's show was fun. It was good to see Joe Chinn and the rest of the GHI gang. And like most women, my wife has a thing for Barry Fiztgerald. Must be that accent.

Well, this episode worked, me and the wife want to check out The Spalding.

So, for fans of Jay and Grant, The Spaulding episode was no surprise. The surprise would have been Jay and Grant NOT doing any kind of televised investigation.

Good luck, guys, in your new endeavor.

Ghost Hunters on the Sci-Fi Channel

Gotta love the guys and gals of TAPS on the Ghost Hunters TV show. Every week Jay, Grant, and their gang of paranormal detectives explore someplace haunted. Those places can be large like old sanitariums, or small like someone’s suburban home.

Yet no matter where they choose to do that week’s ghost hunt, each episode will follow a specific formula. The formula seems to work because they’ve been using it for many seasons now.

Each show opens with an exterior of the TAPS headquarters, a nondescript building with blacked out windows emblazoned with the TAPS name.

Jay and Grant are either out on a Roto-Rooter assignment and get a phone call from case manager Kris Williams or they are already in the TAPS office with Kris as she goes over that week’s case.

TAPS guys and gals throw their ghost hunting equipment into large black General Motors SUVs and drive off.

In route, they discuss the case over their speaker phones acting as if they haven’t discussed where they’re going and what they are to do before driving off.

Jay, Grant, and tech manager Steve meet either the property owner, or care taker, or tour guide.

Montage of cables being unwound, computers set up, cameras positioned. Lights out. Then a montage of fingers flicking off light switches.

Then the investigation begins. Now the show goes black and white. Someone feels cold. Someone else gets queasy. Weird sounds are heard.

Cut to a color shot of one of the TAPS guys explaining what an EMF is, or what an EVP is.

Back to black and white. Eventually Jay says, “let’s wrap this up.”

Montage of lights switched back on, cables wound back up, cameras and computers put away.

The next day, Steve and Tango go over the “evidence” that was captured. “No way!” one will exclaim while pointing at the computer screen. Cut to commercial break.

The reveal. Jay and Grant go over their “evidence” with the property owner, caretaker, or tour guide. We get to hear and see what made Steve and Tango freak out at the end of the last segment.

Jay will usually say something about how they can’t prove or disprove any supernatural events based exclusively on their “evidence.” So, that place could be or could not be haunted.

The property owner, caretaker, or tour guide, tells the home audience that they are glad that TAPS came by and now everyone feels much better.

Finally, Jay and Grant in the big SUV heading home. They feel good about how the reveal turned out. Then we hear an announcer say, “Next time on Ghost Hunters…”

But, you know, I do like the show. I really do. It’s fun to watch.

Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi ***** out of 5

Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate - A Review

Heaven's Gate, the notorious financial disaster that sank United Artists and the directing career of Michael Cimino.

First, the positives: The production design, set design, costumes, lighting are all amazing. And the music is beautiful.

But the story and characters...kind of thin. Remove the trappings of the epic and you end up with a simple story of a worn out, cynical, law man named James Averill (Kris Kristofferson) in love with a brothel owner, Ella Watson (Isabelle Huppert). She, in turn, is in love with Nate Champion (Christopher Walken), a mercenary hired by the rich land owners to kill off the immigrants living on their land.

Problem is Ella is an immigrant. And it is hinted that Nate Champion might also be an immigrant. "You work for them (land owners)? You look like one of us," an immigrant kid yells at Champion. Yet Champion remains an enigma throughout the film.

The movie opens with a beautifully staged prologue, a graduation sequence set some twenty years before the main events of the film.

We see a young James Averill and his drunken college buddy William Irvine (John Hurt). They are happy, full of life. The graduating students dance the waltz out in the courtyard.

But at the end of the prologue, William is depressed and saddened by the thought of impending adulthood and lost youth. "It's over, James," Irvine cries out as fellow graduates crowd around them, cheering and screaming for joy. Thus the movie begins with a melancholy tone and a longing for a past already gone.

Flash forward twenty years later. Jim Averill sits alone in a large, ornate train car. The image of Averill, with his graying beard and cowboy hat is strong and iconic. Outside of the train, seated along the top are hundreds of immigrants, huddled masses looking for a new life out West.

The train arrives in Casper, Wyoming. Averill learns that the rich land owners plan to get rid of the immigrants. At a social club, where Averill was once a member, he meets up with old friend William Irvine.

Irvine is now a sad drunk, longing for the good old days of their youth. Averill confides in Irvine that he hates getting old. Irvine complains that they are all prisoners of their class. Both realize the battle to rid the immigrants is inevitable.

Turns out there is a death list to kill off more than one hundred immigrants, including Ella Watson. Jim wants Ella to leave and start a new life with him. Ella wants to stay. Nate is in love with Ella and doesn't want her to go with Jim. Ella doesn't know who she should be with.

Nate and Jim have a rivally not so much based upon the love of Ella but of class.

"You're a rich man, with a fancy name," a towns person says to Averill. "I want to get rich, like you," Champion tells Jim. And after helping Averill into his bed after a night of heavy drinking Champion puts on Averill's hat and looks in the mirror. "You have class," Nate says to the passed out Averill as he admires himself wearing Averill's hat.

They are all prisoners of their class.

There is a sweet scene when Nate shows Ella his cabin and that the inside walls have wallpaper - old newspapers glued to the walls. Champion has made an attempt to be somewhat civilized and classy, like Jim Averill.

It's takes a while to build up steam but after about three hours the movie kicks into high gear with an exciting battle between the immigrants and a mercenary army hired by the rich landowners.

Heaven's Gate is not a bad movie. It is not a roller coaster comic-book movie. Yes, the story is weak and many of the shots last way too long. The movie's running time is three hours forty minutes. But the technical aspect is first-rate. Kris Kristofferson is brilliant at playing a cynical, sad, world weary character. Christopher Walken is mysterious and dark. Isabella Hubert is wonderful as Ella Watson.

Despite its many flaws, Michael Cimino's Heaven's Gate deserves a chance with lovers of film.

Millionaire Matchmaker - Best Reality Show on TV

Millionaire Matchmaker on Bravo is the best reality show on TV. The show is addictive. I had seen bits and pieces of it before but last night the wife and I caught a marathon on Bravo. We are hooked.

The matchmaker, Patti Stanger, is awesome. She's blunt, no-nonsense, funny, and, as is pointed out on the show, like a Jewish mother that really wants those lonely rich people to find love and happiness.

Each episode is constructed with a story arc that begins with a millionaire (or millionairess) who is so pathetic that even Patti doesn't want to help them out.

Patti takes them on as clients. For example, if the client is a superficial jerk, the story is structured so that Patti will hook the client up with superficial people and that way the client will learn the error of their ways and become better a person.

Millionaire Matchmaker avoids reality show cliches such as manufactured "drama."

The clients also make the show engaging. Some are pathetic creeps (you know who you are) but others are in genuine need of help and we feel for them, just as Patti and her crew feel for them, and we wish them success. See, just cause you have millions don't mean you're happy.

Patti and her crew are awesome. They keep it real. Patti is just so much fun to watch. You never know what she's going to say or do next.