R.I.P.

I have to do it. It wouldn't be right for a TV lover like me not to. As much as I hated the over-the-top campiness of his shows, TV today wouldn't be TV today without his vision. And let's face it, I did love some of it. They don't call them "guilty pleasures" for nothing...

The countless hours spent daydreaming over the pretties he put on the television screen.
The laugh-out-loud absurdness of his show's plotlines.
The endless stunts and, self-promotional marketing.

But seriously, can you find a single person in America who wasn't a fan of his shows at some point?

So here's to you, Mr. Spelling. May you rest in peace, and may Angels (maybe even Charlie's) lead you home.

Aaron Spelling- 1923-2006 Television Production Credits included: Charmed, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place, Dynasty, Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, 7th Heaven, Hart to Hart, TJ Hooker, Fantasy Island, Starsky and Hutch, S.W.A.T. and The Mod Squad.
And seriously, folks, that's not including TV movies, film features, his daughter Tori....

Newsweek: "Aaron Spelling was the McDonald's of TV producers—no one ever accused him of being a master chef, but he sold more shows than anyone."
"...the Guinness Book of World Records says he created 3,842 hours of television since 1956..."
MSNBC: "To create one of these social mileposts is an honor. To create a few is amazing. To be the man behind all of them borders on a pact with the devil late one night on a lonely road outside Pasadena. Yet anyone who doubts Spelling’s ability to coerce art out of a cultural void need only look at “T.J. Hooker”: Here is a man who somehow convinced William Shatner to run!"
CNN: "But even rarer is the visionary who can satisfy the audience's tastes -- the impresario who knows what viewers want, sometimes even before they do, and then gives it to them. On this, Spelling's track record certifies the exacting calibration of his gut."

Look Ma! No wires!

I can tell it's a good action flick, if I hit the 10 minute mark and I don't care if it has a plot or not. I can tell it's a great one if a plot actually appears.

B13- all action junkies should go see this movie. It's what VanDamme and Segal desperately wanted to be back in the day. It's Jet Li without wires and art house rainshowers and bamboo forests, and Jackie Chan without the comedy pratfalls. The action is based on Parkour, which is a French-originated discipline of getting from A to B under your own power, any way you can. You go over, under, or around obstacles using only your hands, feet, agility and speed. Sound easy? Go to YouTube, search, and wince at the people who do it badly. And then go see this movie and see people doing it right.

It's not too long and it's absolutely breathtaking. (And that's just the stars, Cyril Raffaelli (warning: link has sound!) and David Belle. Couldn't resist.)

The pacing is frantically excellent, and the aforementioned plot is actually rooted pretty strongly in the present-day turbulance of the French "ghettos." Just maybe not the stuff about the neutron bomb....

And yes, I said French- there are subtitles, get over it. If I could manage not to giggle everytime they mentioned the bomb had a 24 hour timer on it- you can read a few subtitles.

Go!