Opinion Poll

What classic police or private eye related show do you think needs to be released on DVD?

My vote goes to Police Story and Harry-O

Leave your votes in the comments section please

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DVD Review: The Rockford Files: Season Six

Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Release date: January 20th, 2009
MSRP: $39.98

Stars: James Garner, Noah Beery Jr., Joe Santos

I'm an unabashed James Garner fan and The Rockford Files season six is among his best. By this, the last season, he's so comfortable in the role he could have done it in his sleep, but seems to add greater and greater depth to the character. Co-stars like Lauren Bacall, Tom Selleck and Mariette Hartley from the hugely successful Polaroid camera commercials they did together a few years before didn't hurt either. The stories for the most part were a reason to bring Jim and his crew together but that was plenty. And some, like Katheryn Harrolds reprisal of the blind Psychologist and deep love interest Megan, are downright tender, as is Noah Beery's caring but somewhat befuddled father role as Rocky.

For the one or two of you who have been living in a Yurt in Lower Slobovia the last several decades, or are too young, I'll give a brief backstory. Ex-con Jim Rockford is a Private Investigator (a neat trick in itself) barely hanging on. He lives in a trailer in the low rent district of Malibu. He has a friend, Angel, another ex-con who if he were your or my friend we would throw under a bus A.S.A.P. (My Editor said that would have made a great episode explaining why Jim didn't). Jim is not your usual iron jawed, steel fisted P.I. He gets the stew knocked out of him at regular intervals and will fight if he has to and run when he can. The anti-hero hero that was a hit because he played you and me only better.

I'm not going to belabor the point. This is good stuff and stands up well considering it's thirty plus year age.

There's something for everyone here from comedy to angst and you youngsters owe it to yourselves to check it out. Us old schoolers already know.

Order season six of The Rockford Files.

Lee Crawford

P.S. There are no special features.

For more reviews from Lee, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.

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DVD Review: Funny Face: Centennial Collection

Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date: January 13th 2009
MSRP: $24.99

Director: Stanley Donen
Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire, Kay Thompson, Michel Auclair, Robert Flemyng


I ALMOST shut this off and threw it back at the editor and said, "I'm not goin to jail for YOU or ANYONE!"

Wait, no....that was on a different matter. I almost shut it off because I was thinking, "GREAT another f'n musical!"

Not being made "that" way, I thought we could give the assignment to someone who actually likes this romatic/"break into song over a blueberry muffin" crap.

([sing] Muffin...there's a muffin....look at the muffin...it's BLUEBERRY! cha! cha! cha! BLUEBERRY! [snap!...(shake head) snap!(shake head) snap!] WHAAAAAAAAAAA! SHAA! SHAA! SHAA! BUUUUUUUUUUEBERRY! Muffin! MUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUffin!)

But then...SHE came on. That's right SHE!

I fell in love with Audrey Hepburn the first time I saw saw her stick her head out from under a car in "Sabrina" and say "Hello." ...and have kept falling in love with her everytime I see another movie of hers that I have not seen before.

Audrey always offers an infectiousness that makes you want to jump through the screen and hug her and listen to her read War & Peace because she could make it sound bubbly.

"That's right! It's the Russian winter! People dying! Isn't it wonderful!" (content sigh) "Yes, Audrey"

Back to Funny Face: Man meets girl, sings about it. Girl laments about never finding a man, sings about it. Girl falls in love with said man, sings about it. (I can't find love....LOOK! A may-on! [man] I will take that guy who is 20 years older than me because he happens to be standing there when I realize I am lonely.) Girl loses man, sings about it. They get back together and....you guessed it. They sing about it.

Did I really enjoy Funny Face? No, it was another f'n musical as I had thought and, like I said, I am not a fan of musicals. Is it worth buying? Actually yes, Audrey was unbelievable. Buy it for your self and buy copies for your friends.

Oh...and Fred Astaire, Fred Astaire was in it! Did you know Fred got an Acadamy Award nomination for the Towering Inferno? Useless trivia point.

Order Funny Face from Amazon.

Randy Otteson
For more reviews from Randy, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.

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Gerald looks at Lie To Me.

Based on the work of Dr. Paul Ekman, FOX's new crime drama Lie to Me stars Tim Roth as Dr. Cal Lightman, a renowned expert on lying with a tarnished reputation. Founder of the FBI's Deception Detection Unit, Lightman now heads a private firm based in Washington DC offering his services to high profile clients such as politicians and celebrities.

Lightman's partner at the firm is Dr. Gillian Foster (Kelli Williams of The Practice). Also on hand are Eli Loker (Brendan Hines), who never tells a lie, and the newly-hired Ria Torres (Monica Raymund), one of an extremely small percentage of the population who can spot deceptive body language with no prior training. (When Loker meets Torres, he says, "I would like to sleep with you." She asks how he is in bed, and he says, "Fair.")

Like most niche procedurals, Lie to Me highlights the role of its particular science in crime-solving, but that's fine by me as a psychology minor and body language buff. In the pilot (aired January 21), Lightman and his team take on the case of a high school student (Jake Thomas) accused of murdering his teacher. A side case involves a member of the Senate Ethics Committee who's allegedly been seeing a prostitute.

Though Ekman is American, Roth asked that Lightman be British. As Roth is well known for playing American, it was odd hearing a different accent out of his mouth, but this doesn't detract from the show. The pilot episode beat the season premiere of Lost in the Nielsen ratings. Here's to continued success.

Gerald So
For more of Gerald's thoughts and observations, check out his blog: If you want to know about my Life...

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DVD Review: MANNIX: Season two

CBS/Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date: Jan 6th, 2009
MSRP: $49.99

Stars: Mike Connors, Peggy Fair

Paramount has just released all 25 episodes of the second season of Mannix, season one came out last June so I’m hoping this means the wait between releases is short. I really enjoy Mannix and I think it holds up well and is one of the better classic Television PI shows. Of all the older TV shows to be released Mannix is the one I wanted the most.

The biggest change up in season two is that Mannix has left Intertect and opened his own agency. He has one other employee, Peggy Fair played by Gail Fischer. Peggy is the widow of a cop buddy of Joe Mannix and she is now a single mother. Peggy adds a new dynamic to the show in that she helps Mannix not just by being a good secretary but by keeping Joe focused. She occasionally has a chat with people at Intertect when Joe needs a lead and she does it on the QT so as not to make him feel obligated. Peggy was with the show for the rest of its run till 1975. In addition to making the show stronger, she also has the distinction of being one of the first black women to have a major television role. In today’s society it wouldn’t seem like much, but in 1968 it was pretty big deal.

Joseph Campanella is back in season 2 in a few episodes and it’s nice to see them as friends and not boss and employee. Other guest stars in Season 2 include: Cloris Leachman, William Windom, Barbara Rush, Barbara Babcock, Hugh Beaumont, Jill Ireland, Eve Plumb, Harry Dean Stanton, , Yaphet Kotto, and Sally Kellerman. Also along for the ride are a number of actors playing cops that lend Joe a hand including Larry Linville of M*A*S*H fame and Robert Reed from the Brady Bunch.

Mannix handles all the cases with typical Mannix style, which means someone is going to get punched. I think my favorite episode was the one that had Mannix working for a publisher to find the last chapter of a book by an author who had been murdered. Small town setting, corruption and damsel in distress. Classic Mannix.

Unlike season one, season two has no extra features, but that’s fine by me, 25 more episodes of Mannix in my home to watch over and over again is a real treat. I’d read on a few websites that some of the older television show being released on disc have new or different music (including the Fugitive). Mannix has all the original music and I have to say it looks and sounds great.

Order season two of Mannix.

Jon Jordan
For more reviews from Jon, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.

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Knightley and Farrell to star in film version of Bruen's London Boulevard.

The Daily Mail is reporting that Keira Knightley and Colin Farrell will star in the film version of Ken Bruen's London Boulevard.

The story revolves around a South London criminal who, after release from prison, tries to give up the gangster life by becoming a handyman for a reclusive young actress.

The article has an interesting comment from Miz Knightley:
'This could have been me if I'd let the madness of fame and celebrity get to me'.

As was previously reported, writer William Monahan (The Departed, The Kingdom of Heaven)will, in addition to writing the screenplay, be making his directorial debut.

Keira is an interesting choice, one that might be just right, but Colin Farrell? Couldn't they have at least gotten an actor?

Maybe I am being too harsh, but I have not seen much from him that suggests he is right for the part.

One last comment: Would it have killed the Mail to have mentioned the source? Not a single word about Mr. Bruen or the fact that the story is based on the novel of the same name. Instead, the article states that the film is "loosely based on the Hollywood classic Sunset Boulevard." C'mon, give Mr. Bruen some love!!! Using that logic, almost everything is loosely based on something else.

If you have not yet read London Boulevard, pick up a copy. Actually, pick up about a half dozen Bruen books, the guy is fantastic!

Busted Flush has a nice anthology of Bruen stories.

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Veronica Mars takes one step towards the silver screen:

In August, I mentioned that Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas had interest in making a VM film, but that he had little time to start writing.

Now IF Magazine has Mr. Rob confirming he is ready to start writing the screenplay.

Because his upcoming ABC series Cupid has had it's initial order cut from 13 to 8 episodes, RT has some extra time.

"That means I have time to write the VERONICA MARS movie," he says. "But my
writing the movie is half the battle. Someone else has to pay for it. Joel
Silver does have a certain pile of money. He called on me saying ‘Can we do
this now?’ Kristen wants to do it. Joel wants to do it and I want to do it.
For me, that’s the next project."

Some tidbits from the article:
The film would likely start right before Veronica's college graduation.

Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni and Kristen Bell all have been contacted about the proposed film.

Tip of the hat to Rev.

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DVD Review: JAKE & THE FATMAN: Season One Volume Two

CBS/Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date: Decmeber 2nd, 2008
MSRP: $37.99

Stars: William Conrad, Jake Penny

The obvious parallel here would be Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin, and while there are similarities this is by no means anywhere near that iconic or well written.

It is however decent entertainment. The premise is simple really, William Conrad as District Attorney JL McCabe has his own PI who works for him, Jake Styles played by Joe Penny. They tackle various cases and bring in the bad guys. And while not really setting foot in a reality I’m aware of it is fun to watch. Styles lives the high life and moves from one glamorous apartment to another. McCabe has a cute dog and unlike Nero Wolf his palate leans more towards hot dogs.

The writing isn’t the same caliber as other cop/P.I. shows falling back on some old well worn cliché’s and kind of lame humor. But the action is good and they do show a fair amount of LA.

It is definitely an eighties show, the clothes are a dead give away and every one dressed so trendy that most of the fashions don’t hold up at all. Is this a must own television show? Not really. Is it entertaining? It is, there are some fun moments throughout the series though I might suggest waiting till you find it on sale before purchasing.

Order season one, volume two of Jake and the Fatman.

Jon Jordan
For more reviews from Jon, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.

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DVD Review: CANNON Season One Volume Two.

CBS/Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date: December 2nd, 2008
MSRP: $37.99

Stars: William Conrad

Canon is another of those classic PI and cop shows that I remember fondly from my childhood. I also remember making fun of the sheer girth and size of William Conrad. Watching the show again as an adult I have a new take on it. While not the best of the show from the early 70’s it is a good show and the way they work around Canon not being the most physical of PIs is interesting and it works. Canon likes to live well, good food, nice things, nice place to live. He takes on cases from around the country, and even out of the country to pay for his lifestyle. He goes undercover, he investigates and because he’s not exactly going to chase too many people he uses his head.

Canon came from Quinn Martin Productions, the same company that did Barnaby Jones with Buddy Epson and they even crossed over on occasion. It was part of a trend to have non traditional Private Eyes. Older, physically challenged etc. A real nice look at 70’s television and fairly typical for its time. Is it as good as Mannix or Banachek or Rockford Files? No. I watched all the episodes from season 1, both volumes, and I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I would recommend this for fans of television from that era.

Jon Jordan

For more reviews from Jon, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.

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Progress??? The Preacher gets a writer.

For what seems like an eternity, there has been plans to adapt the graphic novel The Preacher for either film or television.

Each time, things have fallen apart.

The latest plans actually seem to be getting some traction.

In November, I mentioned that Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Jarhead, Road to Perdition) was interested in developing The Preacher into a film.

Now The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that screenwriter John August has been signed to handling the writing duties.

August has recently been working with Tim Burton on films such as The Corpse Bride, Charle and the Chocolate Factory and the planned film of the 1960s series Dark Shadows.

The story is about a Texas preacher that becomes imbibed with the incredible power of Genesis, an entity that is the result of the coupling of an angel and a demon.

Upon finding out that God has apparently abandoned his duties in heaven, the Preacher heads out, across country, to confront God. His ex-girlfriend and an Irish vampire (with a fondness for liquor) accompany him.

Check out all of our posts on The Preacher.

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Oscar Nominations Announced.

The 2009 Oscar Nominations were announced this morning. No real surprises to speak of.

The only thing I will comment on is Ron Howard's nomination for Director. Frost/Nixon was an ok film that was made great by a couple of performances. I really don't see anything that merits him getting nominated. Take away the performances of Langella and Sheen (Especially Langella) and you would have a mediocre film.


FILM
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

ACTOR
Richard Jenkins, “The Visitor"
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"
Clint Eastwood, "Changeling"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, “Revolutionary Road”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

ANNIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
"WALL-E"

SCREENPLAY (Adapted)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Doubt"
"Frost/Nixon"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire""

SCREENPLAY (Original)
"Frozen River"
"Happy-Go-Lucky"
"In Bruges"
"Milk"
"Wall-E"

ART DIRECTION
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Duchess"
"Revolutionary Road"

CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"The Reader"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia"
''The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
''The Duchess"
''Milk"
''Revolutionary Road"

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
''Encounters at the End of the World"
''The Garden"
''Man on Wire"
''Trouble the Water"

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
''The Final Inch"
''Smile Pinki
''The Witness — From the Balcony of Room 306"

FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"Slumdog Millionaire"

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Beaufort"
"The Counterfeiters"
"Katyn"
"Mongol"
"12"

MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
''The Dark Knight"
''Hellboy II: The Golden Army"

MUSIC (SCORE)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance" James Newton Howard
"Milk" Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire" A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" Thomas Newman"

MUSIC (SONG)
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E"
"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire"
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire"

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
"La Maison en Petits Cubes"
''Lavatory — Lovestory"
''Oktapodi"
''Presto"
''This Way Up"

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
''Manon on the Asphalt"
''New Boy"
''The Pig"
''Spielzeugland (Toyland)"

SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"WALL-E"
"Wanted"

SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"The Dark Knight"
"Slumdog Millionaire"
"'WALL-E"
"Wanted"

VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
The Dark Knight"
"Iron Man"

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The Ghost undergoes cast changes as it heads into production.

Last July, I mentioned that Nicholas Cage, Pierce Brosnan and Tilda Swinton were starring in Roman Polanski's film version of Robert Harris' The Ghost.

The cast has changed a bit since then.

Nicholas Cage and Miss Swinton is no longer involved, with Ewan McGregor and Olivia Williams taking their places.

In my opinion, losing Cage is no big deal, as it has been ages since he really shined, but I am very sad to see that Swinton is no longer attached. I am sure Olivia Williams will do a fine job, but I was already imagining Miz Swinton in the role and was quite giddy.

A ghostwriter (Evan McGregor) is hired to finish the memoirs of an ex-British prime minister (Pierce Brosnan). The ghostwriter's research leads him to uncover skeletons in the pol's closet that put the writer's life in danger. Things are complicated further when the PM's wife (Oliva Williams) falls for the writer.

Here is the Press Release that made known these changes:

OSCAR®-WINNING FILMMAKER ROMAN POLANSKI’S UPCOMING POLITICAL THRILLER THE GHOST TO STAR EWAN MCGREGOR, PIERCE BROSNAN, KIM CATTRALL, TOM WILKINSON, JIM BELUSHI AND OLIVIA WILLIAMS.

Project to Begin Production in
Germany February 2009

PARIS, January 21, 2009 — Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski is to direct his first contemporary thriller in more than twenty years. His new project, THE GHOST, will begin shooting in Berlin in two weeks’ time, on February 4th. The movie tells the story of a former British Prime Minister, Adam Lang, (played by Pierce Brosnan) who is holed up on an island off the Eastern seaboard of the USA in midwinter, writing his memoirs. When his long-standing aide drowns, a professional ghostwriter (played by Ewan McGregor) is sent out to help him finish the book. The anonymous ghostwriter is quickly drawn into a political and sexual intrigue involving Lang’s wife, Ruth (played by Olivia Williams) and his aide (played by Kim Cattrall). Hanging over Lang is the threat of a war crimes trial and a mysterious secret from his past that threatens to jeopardize international relations. Jim Belushi, Robert Pugh and recent Golden Globe® Tom Wilkinson have also joined the cast.

THE GHOST is based onthe novel by the same name written by best-selling author Robert Harris. It won the International Thriller Writers’ Award for best novel of 2008. Harris joined Polanski in adapting the book for the big screen.

Polanski will produce the film along with Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde.

Summit International, which has a long-standing relationship with Polanski and the producers, is representing the worldwide rights to the film for RP Productions and has already pre-sold a number of major territories around the globe including: Pathé in France; Kinowelt in Germany; Optimum in the UK; Rai Cinema, S.P.A. in Italy; Acme UAB in the Baltic States; Dutch Filmworks in Benelux; SPI International in Eastern Europe; Odeon S.A. in Greece; Sam Film in Iceland; United King in Israel; Sun Distribution Group S.A. in Latin America; Jaguar Films in the Middle East; Lusomundo in Portugal; AB Svensk in Scandinavia; and WPM Film in Thailand. A U.S. distributor has yet to be announced. ICM is representing North American rights.

“There are great roles at the heart of the movie and we got great actors to play them. I couldn’t be happier,” said Roman Polanski.

Robert Benmussa and Alain Sarde stated, “After THE PIANIST and OLIVER TWIST, it’s a thrill to make a thriller with Polanski.”

Summit International’s CEO Patrick Wachsberger said, “We are so thrilled to be working again with Roman Polanski in a genre that he mastered over the years with KNIFE IN THE WATER, CUL-DE-SAC and FRANTIC.”

Ewan McGregor will next be seen in ANGELS & DEMONS and is well known for his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi in STAR WARS EPISODE I, II, and III as well as his starring roles in TRAINSPOTTING, BIG FISH and MOULIN ROUGE! for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor.

Pierce Brosnan most recently starred in MAMMA MIA! and the upcoming THE GREATEST, which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this January. The respected actor has brought many great roles to the screen including his Golden Globe nominated performance in THE MATADOR.

Kim Cattrall is best known for her role as Samantha Jones in both the recent theatrical blockbuster success SEX AND THE CITY and the HBO Series of the same name.

Olivia Williams played opposite Bruce Willis in THE SIXTH SENSE and her other credits include PETER PAN and EMMA.

Jim Belushi’s has appeared in numerous films and is well known for his role in the
television series “According to Jim” and for his performances on Saturday Night Live.

Robert Pugh was seen in THE LAST LEGION and MASTER AND COMMANDER:
THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD.

Tom Wilkinson recently won a Golden Globe for his supporting role in the HBO mini-series JOHN ADAMS. Wilkinson also starred in VALKYRIE as well as MICHAEL CLAYTON.

Filming will take place mainly in Studio Babelsberg and as well as additional locations in Berlin.

The production is set up as a French-German-UK Coproduction between RP Films (F) 11, Babelsberg Film (Ger) and Runteam III (UK). Henning Molfenter, Carl L.
Woebcken and Christoph Fisser (Studio Babelsberg) will co-produce the film
along with Timothy Burrill (Runteam). Other production credits include Oliver
Luer as line producer, Daniel Champagnon as production supervisor, Pawel Edelman
as director of photography, Albrecht Konrad as production designer, Dinah Collin
as costume designer, Fiona Weir as casting supervisor, Ralph Remstedt as first assistant director, Sylvette Baudrot as script supervisor, Jean-Marie Blondel as sound engineer, Didier Lavergne the Oscar winner make up designer and Hervé de Luze as editor.

McGregor is represented by Endeavor. Brosnan is represented by CAA. Williams is represented by Independent Talent. Polanski, Cattrall and Belushi are represented by ICM. Pugh is represented by Emptage Gallett in the UK. Wilkinson is represented by Lou Coulson Associates.

Additional Information Roman Polanski, the Academy Award®-winning
director of THE PIANIST (2002) received his first Oscar® nomination for his 1964
film KNIFE IN THE WATER. Another Oscar nomination followed for the screenplay
adaptation of the 1968 psychological thriller ROSEMARY'S BABY. Polanski was again nominated for Best Director in 1974 for CHINATOWN and once more in 1979 for TESS. To date he has directed 17 features in addition to several productions of live theatre.

British writer Robert Harris is the author of Fatherland (1992), a New York Times bestseller which imagined that Germany won World War II, subsequently made into an HBO movie starring Rutger Hauer and Miranda Richardson. His second novel Enigma (1995) about the breaking of the German Enigma code, was turned into a film starring Kate Winslet with a screenplay by Tom Stoppard. Archangel (1998) became a BBC mini-series in 2005, starring Daniel Craig. In 2003, Harris turned his attention towards Ancient Rome with his acclaimed Pompeii. He followed this with Imperium (2006), the first of a trilogy of novels about the life of Rome's great orator, Cicero.

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DVD Info: Paramount announces date/details of Centennial edition of To Catch a Thief.

Paramount Home Entertainment has announced they will be releasing a Centennial edition of Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch A Thief on March 24th.

Cary Grant plays John Robie, reformed jewel thief who was once known as "The Cat," in this suspenseful Alfred Hitchcock classic thriller. Robie is suspected of a new rash of gem thefts in the luxury hotels of the French Riviera, and he must set out to clear himself. Meeting pampered heiress Frances (Grace Kelly), he sees a chance to bait the mysterious thief with her mother's (Jessie Royce Landis) fabulous jewels. His plan backfires, however, but France, who believes him guilty, proves her love by helping him escape. In a spine-tingling climax, the real criminal is exposed.

Extras (New contents labeled as such):
Commentary by Dr. Drew Casper, Hitchcock Film Historian (New)
A Night with the Hitchcock's (New)
Unacceptable Under the Code: Film Censorship in America (New)
Behind the Gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly (Final Runtime TBD) - New
Writing and Casting To Catch a Thief
The Making of To Catch a Thief
Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch a Thief: An Appreciation
Edith Head: The Paramount Years
Theatrical Trailer
If You Love To Catch Thief, You’ll Love this Interactive Travelogue
Galleries

No price has been announced as of yet.

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Blu-ray review: DEXTER: The first season.

Showtime/Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date: January 6, 2009
MSRP: $54.98

Stars: Michael C. Hall, Julie Benz, Jennifer Carpenter, Erik King, Lauren Vélez

Dexter Morgan appears to be the sort of person you meet everyday. He has a job (as a blood splatter analyst for the Miami P.D.) and a girlfriend. He is polite and even brings donuts for his co-workers.

The only thing that really set him apart from everyone else is that he is a cold-blooded serial killer.

Early in his life, Dexter survived a traumatic event, one he can not remember. His foster father, Harry, a former policeman, sees in his son all of the tell-tale signs of a sociopath. Harry channels Dexter's homicidal urges into good, teaching him to kill only those who deserve it. He also helps Dexter to blend with other folk, teaching him how to emulate the human emotions he doesn't actually feel so that he doesn't draw attention to his extracurricular activities.

Had this not been coming from a very successful (both commercially as well as critically) series of novels, I don't think it would have made it past the pitching stage. But all of the things that made the novels captivating have been brought to life on the series: the characters, the storylines and the fascinating mix of humanity and cold-bloodedness.

For all his claims of having no emotions, Dexter is full of them. I think it is more a matter of Dexter being confused with the emotions he does have. As the season progresses, we see him come to terms with many of these feelings. It is sort of like watching a small child figure things out.

Dexter puts on a performance for everyone around him, he seems to be a nice guy, thoughtful and polite. The only person that gets a bad vibe from him is Sgt Doakes (Erik King). Doakes is a former Special Ops turned cop. He is as hard-edged as they come and is certain that there is something very wrong with Dexter.

The only real question I have is why in a building full of cops, all supposedly
with a keen insight to the human soul, is Doakes the only one who gets the creep
from me?

Part of what makes the series work is his relationship with Rita (Julie Benz). Rita is a divorced mother of two who was violently abused (sexually and physically) by her drug addict ex-husband. As a result of this, she is, as Dexter puts it, just as damaged as I am.” She has no interest in sex, which suits Dexter just fine. He tells us that whenever he has sex with a woman, she sees the emptiness inside and leave.

Dexter initially spends time with her because it helps his cover as a normal person. But they slowly come to terms with each other and real feelings develop. These scenes are outstanding and really allow us to see that Dex is not as cold-blooded as he thinks he is. Watching these two very damaged people stumble around each other is both facinating and, at times, brutally awkward. Each one seems to stuggle to give the other what they think is wanted. As time goes on, each provides the other with some of what they need: Dexter gives Rita some much needed confidence and strength, and Rita helps Dexter evolve and start to tap into long dormant emotions. As I said, despite his claims to the contrary, Dexter does have emotions. They are simply buried deep within and he has little to no understanding of them.

The acting is uniformly good, but Michael Hall and Julie Benz both deserve special praise. Each does an amazing job with their respective roles and, in my opinion, deserved Emmy nominations for their work in the first season.


Video:
Dexter is offered up with a 1.78.1 1080p AVC MPEG-4 image. The DVD release looked pretty damn good, but this is certainly a step up. Miami really pops here, with the sun, lush greenery and even the blood that is offered up every episode...all of these are overflowing with a level of vibrancy that is not seen too often.

Prior to watching this set, I never really noticed just how good the cinematography on Dexter is. They do an excellent job of utilizing the city of Miami. Kudos to the crew behind the scenes!

Audio:
Dexter really does not offer up anything that would make use of the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD that is provided. The music is mixed nicely, but you don't need a digital track to notice that. There are some little things here and there that pop out (doorbells, cars and whatnot) but the overall mix is pretty standard.

Extras:
Does Paramount/Showtime not like us? This show has become a definite hit for Showtime, yet precious little goodies are offered to their devoted audience. What is up with that? With the price of this release, we should have been given more bang for our buck! That Michael Hall and Julie Benz are nowhere to be found is absurd.

Using Blu-ray live, you can access Academy of Blood, an extra that came with the DVD release, as well as the first two episodes of Untied States of Tara. Some folks will not be set up to use B-RL and will get hosed. Why not just include it on the discs?

There are two commentary tracks here. Return to Sender features Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, Lauren Velez and Erik King, while Born Free has producers Sara Colleton, Clyde Phillips and Daniel Cerone. The actor's track is more friendly banter; while the commentary for Born Free features more discussion about adapting the successful book and making the show happen.

Season one of Dexter is every bit as good as I remembered. It is a series ignores all conventional rules of television and gives us strong characters, fresh stories with the vivid city of Miami as the setting.

Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy, you won't regret it. Dexter is one of the best shows on television today and is well worth the price.

Order season one of Dexter on Blu-ray.

Jeremy Lynch
For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.

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Whos your Daddy? For NBC's Chuck, it is Scott Bakula.

For a while now, rumors had been floating around about who would be cast as the father of Chuck Bartowski for NBC's series Chuck.

The plan for Pops to appear came about earlier this season when Chuck made a promise to his sister that he would make sure their father walked her down the aisle on her wedding day.

Michael Ausiello, of Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Scott Bakula has signed on as the Elder Bartowski. Bakula is best known for Quantum Leap and Enterprise.

"But when he finds him, he's not necessarily a guy who wants to be found,"
Schwartz continues. "He's living in a trailer, he's disheveled, he's paranoid
and he's claiming constantly that Ted Roark [Chevy Chase] -- who he used to work
with -- stole all his ideas from him. And Ted Roark has now become this
super-successful software billionaire, and Chuck's dad has become an eccentric,
living in the shadows."

And we now have another tidbit: Chevy Chase will be making an appearance. I would love to see Chevy not suck here and have my fingers crossed that he can muster some of his early career mojo for this role.

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Another Wire alumni joining The Office.

Amy Ryan (Holly on The Office, Beadie on The Wire) has already moved from The Wire to The Office, now another will make that move.

Variety is reporting that Idris Elba (AKA Stringer Bell) has signed on for six episodes of the successful NBC series.

His character is described as "no-nonsense hire at Dunder Mifflin's corporate office who will throw Michael Scott (Steve Carell) into turmoil."

Good to see Elba picking up such a high profile role. He has done some excellent work, both on television and in films.

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Canceled shows heading to movies?

It sucks when shows get canceled, but a couple different shows are looking at continuing, with each eying a slightly different approach.

IF Magazine recently spoke with dirctor Jon Turteltaub on the cancelled show Jericho. Turtletaub brought up the prospects of a film based on the series.

“We’re developing a feature for JERICHO,” says Turteltaub. “It would not require you to have seen the TV show, but it get into life after an event like this on a national scale. It would be the bigger, full on American version of what’s going on beyond the town in Jericho.”

And what about the TV cast – would they return?

“Oh yeah!”

And would it be a huge budget?

“Anything would be a huge budget compared to what we were dealing with,” he adds. “If we had $40 million dollars to make a movie with, that’s 20 times more than we did before.”

I question whether or not Jericho could do enough business to be successful on the big screen. Direct to DVD? That would actually make sense. Like Firefly, the series has a very loyal following and could likely make money.

Speaking of direct to DVD:
Pushing Daisies star Kristin Chenoweth told TV Guide that the show's producers are looking at a direct-to-DVD film to wrap up storylines that will be left hanging as the show goes off the air later this year.

The final episodes, when and if they eventually air, won't resolve all of the plotlines on the show — but show creator Bryan Fuller has an idea for a movie that would.

"It would wrap up a lot of the unanswered questions that people will have once they finally air our final episodes," the singer-actress told TVGuide.com.

And is Fuller pushing ABC to air those episodes?

"It's way too good to push on somebody," she said. "You either air it and let the world see it or — you know, that show, I'm sorry if it sounds arrogant, but it's the best thing ever.

The article went on to say that Bryan Fuller, the show's exec producer, hinted at this at a recent appearance.

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Richardo Montalban: 1920-2009.

I am sure most of you have now found out that Ricardo Montalban has passed away. At this time, no cause of death has been announced.

He was 88 years old.

For me, RM will always be Kahn. His performance in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn was amazing and helped revive the series after a lackluster first film.

But my first memories are of Fantasy Island. I was around ten and remember occasionally being creeped out by some of the segments (the ones that took the adage "Be careful what you wish for because you might get it" to the limit).

Over the course of a career that covered parts of seven decades, Mr. Montalban played virtually every type of role imaginable: The dashing hero, cruel villain, smooth Latin lover, kind grandfather...there was hardly a role he would not do.

I am sure many of us can remember him from the Chrysler commercials, talking about the rich Corrrinthian leather. I was a kid with no interest in cars, but I knew that the Chrysler was a fine automobile, Ricardo made that clear enough!

For a look at his entire career, go to IMDB.

He is survived by four children and two grand-children.

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Winter premiere/return dates for Television.

Now that the craziness of the Holidays are past, we can all settle in veg out with the winter television season.

Here is a rundown of the dates for the premieres and returns for both network and cable.

I debated on posting them alphabetically, but decided to go by date. All times on CST.

Jan 15th
The Beast (A&E) 9 p.m.
Jan 16th
Friday Night Lights (NBC) 8 p.m.
Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi) 9 p.m.
Jan 18th
Big Love (HBO) 8 p.m.
The L Word (Showtime) 8 p.m.
Flight of the Conchords (HBO) 9 p.m.
The United States of Tara' (Showtime) 9 p.m.
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (Showtime) 9:30 p.m.
Jan 21st
Lost (ABC) 8 p.m.
Lie to Me (FOX) 8 p.m.
Jan 22nd
Burn Notice (USA) 9 p.m.
Jan 26th
The Closer (TNT) 8 p.m.
Trust Me (TNT) 9 p.m.
Jan 28th
Life on Mars (ABC) 9 p.m.
Feb 2nd
Chuck (CBS) 7 p.m.
Heroes (NBC) 8 p.m.
The Medium (NBC) 9 p.m.
Feb 4th
Life (NBC) 8 p.m.
Feb 13th
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX) 7 p.m.
Dollhouse (FOX) 8 p.m.

Some thoughts:
After having bailed on Life, Rev has convinced me to give it another shot. I am hoping to get caught up in time for the Feb 4th return.
I can't wait to actually see Dollhouse after all of the drama and internet chatter, anything that Joss Whedon does is worth at least looking at.

If I missed anything, let me know.

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Fox cancels Prison Break.

At TCA 09, Fox president Kevin Reilly confirmed that Prison Break is going away.

He praised the show, saying it "had a hell of a run but it's at the end of its run.”

He also said that the show has "a cool ending."

Prison Break is currently in it's fourth season, with the action now set in Panama.

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DVD/Blu-ray info: Date, details for Quantum of Solace.

MGM/Fox Home Entertainment has announced the details for the DVD/Blu-ray release of Quantum of Solace.

QoS will be released, in the U.S. and Canada, on March 24th. The U.K. will get it one day earlier on March 23rd, and Australia on March 18th.

Synopsis
Daniel Craig returns as James Bond in this thrilling, action-packed adventure which starts shortly after Casino Royale ends. Betrayed by the woman he loved, 007 fights the urge to make his latest mission personal. On a nonstop quest for justice that crisscrosses the globe, Bond meets the beautiful but feisty Camille (Olga Kurylenko), who leads him to Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), a ruthless businessman and major force within the mysterious “Quantum” organization. When Bond uncovers a conspiracy to take control of one of the world’s most important natural resources, he must navigate a minefield of treachery, deception and murder to neutralize “Quantum” before it’s too late!


Single-Disc DVD ($29.98) Special Features:
“Another Way to Die” Music Video
Theatrical Trailers

Two-Disc ($34.98) Special Features:
Includes all of the single-disc content plus additional features:
Bond on Location” 24-minute special feature
Start of Shooting
On Location
Olga Kurylenko and the Boat Chase
Director Marc Forster
The Music
Crew Files

Blu-ray ($39.99) has all of the previously mentioned features, except in HD.

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Jamie King comments on Sin City 2.

Ain't It Cool's Capone spoke with Jamie King about a number of subjects, including Sin City 2.

To read the entire interview, go to Ain't It Cool.

Here is what was said about Sin City 2:

Capone: I've also seen your name attached to the SIN CITY sequel, which keeps getting pushed back. Is that actually happening?

Jamie King: Yeah. I went down to work with Rodriguez and George Clooney on this commercial a couple years ago. But I remember Robert saying "Oh yeah, we're getting ready to do SIN CITY soon. Just be ready because you're going to be getting a phone call." And we're getting ready to start, and then all this stuff happened and it's hard. And I think it's hard because they want to make it with certain people, studio wise, and I think the studio has a different vision of how they want to make it, and that's not in line with Robert and Frank's vision. So they're working out the political part of it. But the great thing about they way he shoots it, is that he can get the actors that he wants and work out the scheduling fairly easy. Robert's smart that way. I'll be excited when that one goes.

Hopefully things can be worked out soon so they can get moving on this.

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DAMAGES - 201 - I Lied too.

I am thrilled to announce that Rev will be providing us with summaries of each episode of season two of Damages.

The previous season of Damages was very near to being a masterpiece work, it span a wonderful tale of mystery, intrigue, deception and murder with a competency that was close to perfection. But it did fall down in a few aspects and as such I'm left hoping that the second season will close up these issues.

The first of these is in the characters themselves, Ellen Parsons was a rather weak character and Rose Bryne was left struggling with the weak, hapless, confused kitten role. Compared to the positive mountain lion that we call Patty Hewes she rarely managed to make a serious impact on screen. Often it felt like she was bumbling in a confused manner from one moment to the next until the final episode aired and we were shown something of a transformation.

Well good news everyone, season two Ellen is twice as interesting as she was in season one. From the opening scene where a very dangerous, confident and borderline deranged Ellen monologues at an unseen person before brandishing a gun we're shown an entirely new Ellen. One with a mission, she's filled with rage and tamping at the bit to both bring Patty down and avenge her fiance by getting back at Frobisher. Now the important thing here is to avoid having her become too one dimensional in the other direction, fortunately "I lied, too." attempts to swerve around this by having her see Frobisher in his bed after being shot and not take revenge. Unfortunately this showing of mercy is somewhat tempered by having her apparently shoot someone in the final 'present day' scene at the end of the episode. As long as Ellen grows as a character, doesn't devolve into a facsimile of Patty and remains interesting we're going to be OK on this one.

The second issue was the shooting of both Ray Fiske (Zeljko Ivanek) and Arthur Frobisher (Ted Danson) late in the previous season. They were both mammoth characters who shouldered their load of the plot with a great deal of realism and dignity. The second season has tackled this by having Frobisher's gun shot to not be fatal, bring Zeljko back for a superb guilt/haunting of Patty and bring in not only William Hunt, but also Marcia Gay Harden and Timothy Olyphant. The performances of the cast were key in the first season and these actors should be more than able to shoulder the load. I'm very pleased Ted Danson has remained in the show, he's shown himself to be more than just his Cheers persona here and he deserves more screen time.

The third issue is of course Patty herself, but we needn't worry here. Glenn Close is more than up to the job and Patty's even been given some extra dimensions beyond the first few. Showing genuine guilt over the actions that lead to Ray's suicide and her ordered attempt on Ellen's existence last season. We have nothing to worry about where Patty Hewes is concerned, she's every bit as manipulative and brilliant as ever despite her troubles as her actions surrounding her charity and Arsenault hint at. Patty is still Patty.

The final issue is the biggie, Damages works by throwing about thirty plot balls up into the air and then keeping as many of them in motion as possible. Dropping the odd one here and there to provide suspense and mystery about what the final outcome will be. But the problem is, the first season was pretty much 'made up as they went along'. Which might sound cool, but it actually creates a somewhat soulless entity, when the writers and actors don't really know what's next and why their characters are doing things it can take the edge off the story and leave it all a little lifeless.

Right now it's this final point which leaves me a little concerned, the first episode is amazing. From the initial punch with femme fatal Ellen and her gun, through the scenes where Patty and Ellen both go eye to eye with lies, from Daniel's problems bringing up old personal issues for Patty, to Ellen's attempts to come to terms with the murder of David and so much more the episode just delivers pitch perfect Damages just how you'd expect it to be.

Future episodes will reveal more about the FBI's sting operation involving infant mortality, Daniel's data and his personal involvement with Patty, Wes's involvement with Ellen -- is it friendship? Is he a P.I. hired to keep an eye on her? Or is he a "stalker" red herring? -- and how Frobisher will tie into the new story lines.

An excellent first episode and a great start to the season. If you're not watching Damages, you should be.

Rev

Check out Rev's more extensive report at Rev-Views.

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I now pronounce you brother and sis...husband and wife.

While they share the love of siblings on Dexter, Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter have feelings of a more saucy nature.

The two were wed on New Years Eve in Big Sur.

It is the second married for Hall and the first for Carpenter.

Their first public appearance, as a married couple, is expected to be the Golden Globe awards on Sunday.

Congrats!

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"Sexiest Women on Television in 2008"

Dan, over at Dan's Media Digest, has put together his 2008 list of the sexiest women on television.

If you like hot women, you might want to check out his rankings. Mr. Dan does this each year and includes the previous year's ranking.

I should point out that Mr. Dan is from the U.K., so some of his picks might not be as well known to those of us from the U.S.

The list goes from 1-40 and is broken into groups of ten.

I will not reveal who is where, but Dexter, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Lost, Heroes and The Mentalist are among the shows whose stars made the list.

Check out 31-40.
Check out 21-30
Check out 11-20
And the Top Ten.

Apparently I need to watch some British television...that and Battlestar Galactica.

To left if Christina Hendricks of Mad Men, one of forty lovely ladies to make the list.

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WGA nominees announced.

The Writer's Guild of America has announced the nominees for the 2009 Writer's Guild Awards.

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Burn After Reading, Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Focus Features

Milk, Written by Dustin Lance Black, Focus Features

Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Written by Woody Allen, The Weinstein Company

The Visitor, Written by Tom McCarthy, Overture Films

The Wrestler, Written by Robert Siegel, Fox Searchlight Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen Story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord; Based on the Short Story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures

The Dark Knight, Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan; Story by Christopher Nolan & David S. Goyer; Based on Characters Appearing in Comic Books Published by DC Comics; Batman Created by Bob Kane, Warner Bros. Pictures

Doubt, Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley, Based on his Stage Play, Miramax Films

Frost/Nixon, Screenplay by Peter Morgan, Based on his Stage Play, Universal Pictures

Slumdog Millionaire, Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, Based on the Novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup, Fox Searchlight Pictures

DRAMATIC SERIES
Dexter, Written by Scott Buck, Daniel Cerone, Charles H. Eglee, Adam E. Fierro, Lauren Gussis, Clyde Phillips, Scott Reynolds, Melissa Rosenberg, Tim Schlattmann; Showtime

Friday Night Lights, Written by Bridget Carpenter, Kerry Ehrin, Brent Fletcher, Jason Gavin, Carter Harris, Elizabeth Heldens, David Hudgins, Jason Katims, Patrick Massett, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, John Zinman; NBC

Lost, Written by Carlton Cuse, Drew Goddard, Adam Horowitz, Christina M. Kim, Edward Kitsis, Damon L. Lindelof, Greggory Nations, Kyle Pennington, Elizabeth Sarnoff, Brian K. Vaughan; ABC

Mad Men, Written by Lisa Albert, Jane Anderson, Rick Cleveland, Kater Gordon, David Isaacs, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Marti Noxon, Robin Veith, Matthew Weiner; AMC

The Wire, Written by Ed Burns, Chris Collins, David Mills, David Simon, William F. Zorzi, Richard Price, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos; HBO

Check out the rest of the post for the complete list.



DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story, Written by Stefan Forbes and Noland Walker, InterPositive Media

Chicago 10, Written by Brett Morgen, Roadside Attractions

Fuel, Written by Johnny O'Hara, Greenlight Theatrical / Intention Media

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Screenplay by Alex Gibney, From the Words of Hunter S. Thompson, Magnolia Pictures

Waltz with Bashir, Written by Ari Folman, Sony Pictures Classics



TELEVISION NOMINEES


COMEDY SERIES

30 Rock, Written by Jack Burditt, Kay Cannon, Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Donald Glover, Andrew Guest, Matt Hubbard, Jon Pollack, John Riggi, Tami Sagher, Ron Weiner; NBC

Entourage, Written by Doug Ellin, Jeremy Miller, Ally Musika, Steve Pink, Rob Weiss; HBO

The Office, Written by Steve Carell, Jennifer Celotta, Greg Daniels, Lee Eisenberg, Anthony Farrell, Brent Forrester, Dan Goor, Charlie Grandy, Mindy Kaling, Ryan Koh, Lester Lewis, Paul Lieberstein, Warren Lieberstein, B.J. Novak, Michael Schur, Aaron Shure, Justin Spitzer, Gene Stupnitsky, Halsted Sullivan; NBC

The Simpsons, Written by J. Stewart Burns, Daniel Chun, Joel H. Cohen, Kevin Curran, John Frink, Tom Gammill, Valentina Garza, Stephanie Gillis, Dan Greaney, Reid Harrison, Ron Hauge, Al Jean, Brian Kelly, Billy Kimball, Rob LaZebnik, Tim Long, Ian Maxtone-Graham, David Mirkin, Bill Odenkirk, Carolyn Omine, Don Payne, Michael Price, Max Pross, Mike Reiss, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, Matt Warburton, Jeff Westbrook, Marc Wilmore, William Wright; Fox

Weeds, Written by Roberto Benabib, Mark A. Burley, Ron Fitzgerald, David Holstein, Rolin Jones, Brendan Kelly, Jenji Kohan, Victoria Morrow, Matthew Salsberg; Showtime


NEW SERIES

Breaking Bad, Written by Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Patty Lin, George Mastras, J Roberts; AMC

Fringe, Written by JJ Abrams, Jason Cahill, Julia Cho, David H. Goodman, Felicia Henderson, Brad Caleb Kane, Alex Kurtzman, Darin Morgan, J.R. Orci, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Zack Whedon; Fox

In Treatment, Written by Rodrigo Garcia, Bryan Goluboff, Davey Holmes, William Meritt Johnson, Amy Lippman, Sarah Treem; HBO

Life on Mars, Written by Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Scott Rosenberg, Becky Hartman Edwards, David Wilcox, Adele Lim, Bryan Oh, Tracy McMillan, Sonny Postiglione, Phil M. Rosenberg, Meredith Averill; ABC

True Blood, Written by Alan Ball, Brian Buckner, Raelle Tucker, Alexander Woo, Nancy Oliver, Chris Offutt; HBO



EPISODIC DRAMA - any length - one airing time

“Don’t Ever Change” (House), Written by Doris Egan & Leonard Dick; Fox

“Double Booked” (Burn Notice), Written by Craig O’Neill & Jason Tracey; USA

“Gray Matter” (Breaking Bad), Written by Patty Lin; AMC

“Pilot” (Breaking Bad), Written by Vince Gilligan; AMC

“Pilot” (Eli Stone), Written by Greg Berlanti & Marc Guggenheim; ABC

“There’s Something About Harry” (Dexter), Written by Scott Reynolds; Showtime



EPISODIC COMEDY - any length - one airing time

“Believe in the Stars” (30 Rock), Written by Robert Carlock; NBC

“Cooter” (30 Rock), Written by Tina Fey; NBC

“Crime Aid” (The Office), Written by Charlie Grandy; NBC

“Crush’d” (Ugly Betty), Written by Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally; ABC

“Succession” (30 Rock), Written by Andrew Guest & John Riggi; NBC

“Vote for This and I Promise to Do Something Crazy at the Emmys” (My Name is Earl), Written by Greg Garcia; NBC


LONG FORM - ORIGINAL - over one hour - one or two parts, one or two airing times

An American Crime, Written by Tommy O’Haver & Irene Turner; Showtime

“Pilot” (Fringe), Written by JJ Abrams & Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci; Fox

Recount, Written by Danny Strong; HBO


LONG FORM - ADAPTATION - over one hour - one or two parts, one or two airing times

Generation Kill, “Episode 6,” Teleplay by Ed Burns, Story by David Simon & Ed Burns, Based on the book by Evan Wright; “Episode 7,” Teleplay by David Simon, Story by David Simon & Ed Burns, Based on the book by Evan Wright; HBO

John Adams, “Episode 1, Join or Die,” Teleplay by Kirk Ellis, Based on the book by David McCullough; “Episode 2, Independence,” Teleplay by Kirk Ellis, Based on the book by David McCullough; HBO

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Teleplay by John Pielmeier, Based on the book by Kim Edwards; Lifetime



ANIMATION - any length - one airing time

“Apocalypse Cow” (The Simpsons), Written by Jeff Westbrook; Fox

“The Debarted” (The Simpsons), Written by Joel H. Cohen; Fox

“E Pluribus Wiggum” (The Simpsons), Written by Michael Price; Fox

“Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words” (The Simpsons), Written by Tim Long; Fox

“Life: A Loser’s Manual” (King of the Hill), Written by Dan McGrath; Fox

“Strangeness on a Train” (King of the Hill), Written by Jim Dauterive; Fox


COMEDY/VARIETY - (INCLUDING TALK) SERIES

Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Writers Mike Sweeney, Chris Albers, Jose Arroyo, Dan Cronin, Kevin Dorff, Daniel J. Goor, Michael Gordon, Berkley Johnson, Brian Kiley, Michael Koman, Brian McCann, Guy Nicolucci, Conan O'Brien, Matt O'Brien, Robert Smigel, Brian Stack, Andrew Weinberg; NBC

Late Show with David Letterman, Head Writers Eric Stangel, Justin Stangel, Writers Michael Barrie, Jim Mulholland, Steve Young, Tom Ruprecht, Lee Ellenberg, Matt Roberts, Jeremy Weiner, Joe Grossman, Bill Scheft, Bob Borden, Frank Sebastiano, David Letterman; CBS

Real Time with Bill Maher, Writers Bill Maher, Billy Martin, Scott Carter, Adam Felber, Matt Gunn, Brian Jacobsmeyer, Jay Jaroch, Chris Kelly, Danny Vermont; HBO

Saturday Night Live, Head Writers Seth Meyers, Andrew Steele, Paula Pell, Writers Doug Abeles, James Anderson, Alex Baze, Jessica Conrad, James Downey, Charlie Grandy, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Paula Pell, Simon Rich, Marika Sawyer, Akiva Schaffer, Robert Smigel, John Solomon, Emily Spivey, Andrew Steele, Kent Sublette, Jorma Taccone, Bryan Tucker, Additional Sketches by Robert Carlock; NBC

The Colbert Report, Head Writers Allison Silverman, Tom Purcell, Rich Dahm, Writers Bryan Adams, Michael Brumm, Stephen Colbert, Rob Dubbin, Glenn Eichler, Peter Groz, Peter Gwinn, Barry Julien, Laura Krafft, Jay Katsir, Frank Lesser, Meredith Scardino; Comedy Central

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Head Writer Steve Bodow, Writers Rory Albanese, Rachel Axler, Kevin Bleyer, Rich Blomquist, Tim Carvell, Wyatt Cenac, J.R. Havlan, DJ Javerbaum, Rob Kutner, Josh Lieb, Sam Means, John Oliver, Jason Ross, Jon Stewart; Comedy Central


COMEDY / VARIETY – MUSIC, AWARDS, TRIBUTES – SPECIALS

2008 Film Independent Spirit Awards, Written by Billy Kimball, Aaron Lee, Jennifer Celotta, Rainn Wilson; IFC/AMC

Jimmy Kimmel’s Big Night of Stars, Written by Jimmy Kimmel, Gary Greenberg, Molly McNearney, Bryan Paulk, Ned Rice, Jon Bines, Will Burke, Rick Rosner, Jake Lentz, Sal Iacono, Tony Barbieri; ABC


DAYTIME SERIALS

As the World Turns, Written by Jean Passanante, Leah Laiman, Courtney Simon, Lisa Connor, David A. Levinson, Peter Brash, Richard Culliton, Susan Dansby, Cheryl Davis, Leslie Nipkow; CBS

One Life to Live, Written by Ron Carlivati, Carolyn Culliton, Elizabeth Page, Aida Croal, Shelly Altman, Janet Iacobuzio, Christopher Van Etten, Anna Theresa Cascio; ABC


CHILDREN'S EPISODIC & SPECIALS

“Elmo's Christmas Countdown” (Sesame Workshop), Written by Joey Mazzarino; ABC

“Spencer's 18th Birthday” (South of Nowhere), Written by Arika Lisanne Mittman; The “N”

“The Un-Party” (Imagination Movers), Written by Scott Gray & Rick Gitelson; Disney Channel


CHILDRENS SCRIPT- LONG FORM OR SPECIAL

“Polar Bears” (The Naked Brothers Band), Written by Polly Draper; Nickelodeon


DOCUMENTARY - CURRENT EVENTS

“Bush's War: Part One” (Frontline), Written by Michael Kirk; PBS

Depression: Out of the Shadows, Written by Larkin McPhee; PBS

“Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial” (NOVA), Written by Joseph McMaster; PBS

“Rules of Engagement” (Frontline), Written by Arun Rath; PBS

“The Medicated Child” (Frontline), Written by Marcela Gaviria; PBS


DOCUMENTARY - OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS

Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil & The Presidency, Written by Carl Byker; PBS

“Kit Carson” (American Experience), Written by Michelle Ferrari; PBS

“Secrets of the Parthenon” (NOVA), Written by Gary Glassman; PBS

The Jewish Americans, Episode Two: "The Best of Times, The Worst of Times (1924-1945),” Written by David Grubin; PBS

The Truth About Cancer, Written by Linda Garmon; PBS


NEWS - REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN OR BREAKING REPORT

ABC Weekend News, Written by Joel Siegel, Karen Mooney, David Muir; ABC

“Up to the Minute” (CBS News), Written by Matt Nelko; CBS


NEWS - ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

“Exonerated” (60 Minutes), Written by Tom Anderson and Jenny Dubin; CBS

“Show Me the Love: Amazing Pen Pal Connection” (Good Morning America), Written by Raquel Hecker; ABC

“The Warren Buffett Challenge: Are the Rich Taxed Enough?” (Good Morning America), Written by Lisa Ferri; ABC

“Yankee Stadium and the New Gilded Age” (Bill Moyers Journal), Writers Bill Moyers & Michael Winship; PBS

RADIO NOMINEES

DOCUMENTARY

Black History Month, Written by Anthony J. McHugh; CBS


NEWS - REGULARLY SCHEDULED OR BREAKING

Edmund Hillary Obituary, Written by Steven Gosset; CBS

Passages, Written by Gail Lee; CBS

Paul Harvey News, Written by Stu Chamberlain; ABC

The Passing of George Carlin, Written by Thomas A. Sabella; CBS

World News This Week, Written by Marianne J. Pryor; ABC


NEWS - ANALYSIS, FEATURE OR COMMENTARY

Katie Couric’s Notebook, Written by Paul Farry; CBS

Our Fathers’ Magic Carpet, Written by Mike Silverstein; ABC

Tributes, Written by Gail Lee; CBS


PROMOTIONAL WRITING AND GRAPHIC ANIMATION NOMINEES
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION)

How to Bluster in the Jungle While Staying Two Steps Ahead, Written by Michelle Straebler; WNBC

Jericho: Two-Minute Drills, Written by Eric Jacobson; CBS


TELEVISION GRAPHIC ANIMATION

Coverage of PGA Golf, David Keller; CBS

Three Animations, Monica DiNatale Eureyecko; CBS

“Medical Animations” (CBS Evening News), David Rosen; CBS

VIDEOGAME WRITING NOMINEES
TBA

The 2009 Writers Guild Awards – the WGA’s 61st anniversary awards show – will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2009, with simultaneous ceremonies at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles and the Hudson Theatre at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York City.

Would it not be nice to see The Wire win a freakin' award?

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Killshot being released??

So the film version of Elmore Leonard's Killshot is heading to a theater near you.

Maybe.

A release date of Jan 23rd has been announced. So while that would certainly suggest it is being released, but there is no trailer, no screenings announced and no official web site and it does not even appear on the company's press site.

Right now, it looks like the film will land in a handful of theaters. If it does well, they MAY increase the overall number.

I think it is a safe bet that if Mickey Rourke was not garnering massive critical praise and nominations, Killshot would still be collecting dust.

This would suggest the film is a real turkey, but looking at the cast and director, one would think it would have some redeeming qualities.

A while back, Killshot was slated to head direct to video. That release never actually happened. Actually, this film has had a number of release dates, both for the home entertainment market and for theaters.

One thing of note: This was supposed to be a Quentin Tarantino presentation.

QT has apparently removed his name from the project. There is plenty of speculation as why time occurred, but I honestly have no clue what is accurate. One rumor is that the removal of Johnny Knoxville scenes (He tested very poorly) upset QT.

UPDATE: I spoke with an official from Weinstein and have been told it will only be screening in Pheonix, AZ.

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Film Review: GRAN TORINO

Release date: December 12, 2008 (limited), January 9th, 2009 (Nation wide)
Stars: Clint Eastwood, Christopher Carley, Bee Vang, Ahney Her
Director: Clint Eastwood
Written by Nick Schenk, Story by Dave Johannson & Nick Schenk
Running time: 1 hour, 56 minutes


As Gran Torino opens, Korean war vet and longtime Ford plant worker Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) has just lost his beloved wife. Walt's neighbor, a Hmong boy named Thao (Bee Vang), has recently lost his father. There is no reason their paths should cross until Thao is bullied into trying out for his cousin's gang. His initiation is to steal Walt's prized '72 Gran Torino.

Walt scares Thao off with a shotgun and would prefer that be the end of it, but Thao's mother insists Thao repay Walt by helping with odd jobs around the house. Despite themselves, Walt and Thao develop a bond stronger than the one between Walt and his own grown sons (Brian Haley, Brian Howe) who, like almost everyone around Walt, have yielded to the force of his personality. Only Walt's parish priest (Christopher Carley) persists in trying to get Walt to open up, because Walt's wife asked him to try and get Walt to go to Confession.

Gran Torino isn't easily categorized. It is Kowalski violently laying down the law in his neighborhood. It is a mentoring movie a la The Karate Kid. It is a movie about mortality as Walt is slowing down, succumbing to an unnamed disease causing him to cough up blood. All of these themes are peppered with Walt's trademark invective, encompassing all races and ethnicities. (He consistently calls Thao "Toad" and Thao's love interest "Yum-Yum").

The Asian gang led by Thao's cousin forms the movie's major threat. The neighborhood Hmong are afraid to report them to the police. As the movie touches on its various themes, the threat isn't always felt. The movie's direction isn't always clear over almost two hours, but Eastwood keeps a steady-enough hand on the reins.

After being humiliated by Walt a few times, the gang retaliates by raping Thao's sister (Ahney Her). Thao goes to Walt wanting blood, but Walt has something else in mind, something he prepares for by giving away his dog and finally going to Confession.

Because Walt and Thao are so far apart to begin with, I found it hard to believe the transformation that takes place. I came away thinking if not for Eastwood's presence and directing touch, I might have downright hated Walt, and the movie might have come off like an afterschool special with profanity and racial invective for flavor.

--Gerald So
For more of Gerald's thoughts and observations, check out his blog: If you want to know about my Life...

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Trailer, pilot date for CASTLE.

In April, I talked about Nathan Fillion's new show.

Since then, quite a bit more info has come out, as well as a trailer. I thought I had posted it already, but obviously time is taking it's toll on my head.


"Wildly famous mystery novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion, “Desperate Housewives”), who is bored with his own success, learns that a real-world copycat killer has started staging murder scenes depicted in his novels. Rick is soon questioned by NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic, “The Spirit”), a very bright, aggressive detective who keeps her investigations under tight rein.

Rick and Kate’s styles instantly clash, yet sparks begin to fly, leading both to danger and a hint of romance as Castle steps in to help find the killer. And once that case is solved, he and Beckett build upon their new relationship as they look to solve strange homicides in New York - as much fun as one can have with death & murder. Castle is kept grounded by his Broadway diva mother, Martha Rodgers (Susan Sullivan, “Dharma and Greg”) and quick-witted teenage daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn, “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”).

Also starring in the series are Ruben Santiago-Hudson (”Law & Order”) as NYPD Captain Roy Montgomery, Tamala Jones (”Daddy Day Camp”) as Medical Examiner Lanie Parish, Jon Huertas (”Generation Kill”) as NYPD Detective Tony Esposito and Seamus Dever (”Army Wives”) as NYPD Detective Kevin Ryan.

“Castle” is produced by ABC Studios. Andrew Marlowe serves as executive producer/creator along with executive producers Armyan Bernstein, Barry Schindel, Rob Bowman and Laurie Zaks."

Anyone that knows me knows I was a huge fan of Nathan on Firefly and Serenity. His charisma really comes through in the trailer. My initial thoughts when I heard the concept (Mystery author helps police solve crimes) was "Murder He Wrote. This made me very sad for Nathan. But it looks like it could be a hell of a lot of fun.

Jon Huertas was quite good as Poke in Generation Kill and is an excellent addition to any cast, but the rest of the cast is relatively unknown to me. Katic has made appearances on a dozen plus television shows (including Heroes, ER, 24 and The Unit) as well as starring opposite Noah Wyle in the last Librarian film and even played a love interest for Selma Blair (Wait...conjuring images) in the so-so Feast of Love. That performance was pretty good, all lewd jokes aside.

I can't wait for to see the show and hope it lasts longer than Nathan's previous shows.

ABC has ordered ten episodes (Down from an original order of thirteen) and will debut Castle on Monday, March 9 at 9:00 p.m (CST).

Folks looking for more info can check out the fan site http://www.castletv.net/ . The site is so well done that I initially thought it was the official site!

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DVD Info: Cracker: The comeplete series date and details.

Acorn Media have announced a release date for Cracker: The complete series. This is not the wretched U.S. version, but rather the real deal with Robbie Coltrane.

CRACKER: The Complete Collection will be released on March 10th.

"A brilliant criminologist probes the dark recesses of the soul

With more than 25 major awards—including BAFTAs for best drama series and best actor—Cracker ranks as one of British television’s most acclaimed crime dramas. Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter, Ocean’s Twelve) truly inhabits his role as the brash and brilliant forensic psychologist, Dr. Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald. For the police, Fitz’s astonishing insights into the criminal mind prove invaluable, but his arrogance and boorishness make him barely tolerable as a colleague. For his family, Fitz’s self-destructive compulsions—scotch, sex, and gambling—bring only pain and turmoil.

Complemented by an outstanding cast, Coltrane delivers a bravura performance as a genius who can dissect a psychopath’s motives, but can’t keep his own demons at bay. These powerful crime dramas examine the pressures and prejudices of contemporary urban life and the violence that they spawn.

SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE Cracker: Behind the Scenes, an intimate, 45-minute visit with the show’s cast and creative team. "

MSRP: $119.99 ($139.99 Canada)

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DVD Review: BONES: season three

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release date: November 18, 2008
MSRP: $59.98

Stars: Emily Deschanel, David Boreanaz, Michaela Conlin, Eric Millegan, Tamara Taylor, TJ Thyne.

Well established as a character-driven forensic procedural, Bones' third season tried to raise the stakes with the introduction of an elusive, cannibalistic serial killer dubbed Gormogon. The season's first nine episodes tease at Gormogon's identity, hinting he may be one of Brennan's (Deschanel) colleagues at the Jeffersonian Institute. Unfortunately, last year's writers strike hit Bones particularly hard, cutting its usual twenty-two episodes to fourteen, spoiling plans for a longer chase.

That said, there are many memorable character moments in Season 3: Brennan tries to find common ground with her imprisoned father (Ryan O'Neal) and fugitive brother (Loren Dean); the annoyingly young Dr. Lance Sweets (John Francis Daley) is assigned to psychoanalyze Booth (Boreanaz) and Brennan's partnership; Angela and Hodgins (Conlin and Thyne) hire a P.I. to track down Angela's surprise husband, who kept them from getting married in the second season finale; and of course, the creative decision leading to a regular's departure that has reverberated well into Season 4.

The Season 3 set includes "Player Under Pressure", a Season 2 episode about the murder of a college basketball star, preempted in the wake of the Virgina Tech tragedy. This episode is available in its aired version and an original unaired version. Also included are "Director's Take" featurettes visiting various Bones sets, a gag reel, two extended episode cuts, and three bonus episodes from Season 4 to round out a five-disc package.

Order season three of Bones.

--Gerald So
For more of Gerald's thoughts and observations, check out his blog: If you want to know about my Life...
For more reviews from Gerald, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.

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DVD Review: DOCTOR WHO - The complete fourth series

BBC Video
Release date: November 18th, 2008
MSRP: $98.99

Stars: David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman


I’m a big fan of the Doctor going back to the early eighties at which time I became hooked and consequently found and watched almost all episodes. I don’t want to go over ground people know already so I’ll keep the background on DR WHO brief. The show has been running since the early sixties and was brought back in full blown high production a few years back. The Doctor is a traveling time lord who moves through out space and time in the TARDIS (Time and relative dimensions in space), a machine bigger inside than out that is stuck in a mode to make it look like a police box. The good Doctor travels the universe saving people and planets and has a number of recurring villains.

This set has a total of fourteen episodes which includes the 2007 Christmas Special. The Special is called Voyage of the Damned as sets the Doctor on the Titanic, a space ship named after the famous ocean liner. Based on its name sake you can imagine things are going to go wrong, and they do. The Doctor is a stow away and befriends a waitress named Astrid played by Kylie Minogue. Horrible things happen, the ship is in trouble and the Doctor saves the day. And for the first time in a few years London has a Christmas without a disaster. Great episode and a wonderful transition between seasons.

The season proper starts out with an investigation by the Dr. into a strange weight lose pill and a series of near misses with one Donna Noble from the 2006 Xmas special THE RUNWAY BRIDE. By the end of the episode the world is safe and the Dr. has a new companion. The show continues to get better and better. We have a return of the Solarians, a warrior race who want Earth to be a breeding planet, an episode I loved with Agatha Christie and another with a planet that is a giant library. The season highlight for me however was the final two episodes in which we have a return of an age old villain and a whole lot of companions, the Doctor’s “Time Family”. Rose, Martha, Sarah Jane, Captain Jack and Torchwood, Mickey and more. It’s a wonderful battle and the action is amazing. We end with the Doctor alone traveling off (to the 2008 Xmas special with the Cybermen!)

This show endures because of the fans love of the characters. This is personified by a nice little extra on disc one in which this doctor meets the doctor played by Peter Davidson. David Tennant actually says to him, you were always MY Doctor. I agree. But of course I like them all, and David Tennant is so wonderful in this role. Fans of the show will love every minute and new comers, well this is as good a jumping on point as any other. I loved this show with its cheesy low budget effects, I love it even more now that it’s a high production outing every episode. The writing is intelligent and offers little nods to old time fans and thrills the new comers. Possibly my favorite season(series) of one of my all time favorite shows.

Order Doctor Who: The complete fourth series from Amazon.
Jon Jordan
For more reviews from Jon, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.

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