Tough Questions from Barry Green

Here are some more questions that Barry Green (the last question man) would like answered?

Why weren't poor people mentioned more frequently in this debate?

How do you, the reader of this post, feel about the term "poor people?"

Is it politically correct to still use this term in 2012?

To Lorraine: How do you pronounce your name? Lorena? Laura, but with an 'e' at the end?

Can you describe in a 300-word essay what makes you (the reader of this post) a well-informed voter for the election?

Would "Gangnam Style" be considered 'hip-hop' for the Grammy nominations?

Or will the Recording Academy place it under 'dance' or 'pop?'

Why did no one ask what Jeremy's major was?

Are Tina Fey and Amy Poehler excellent choices for hosts for the upcoming Golden Globes?

What is your opinion on couples costumes?

Should Blythe & Eric, Ben & Erika, Jim & Lauren, and Colette & Nick (as well as numerous other couples I forgot)

don a couples costume for Halloween?

What kind of binder should I purchase for my collection of women pictures? The classic 3-ring on sale at Office Max? Or something morestrudy, like the D-Ring 6 inch from TOPS Cardinal?

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the phrase "My pension is bigger?" Would you be surprised if someone DIDN'T title an upcoming

adult video "My Pension is Bigger?"

This one is for Michael Jones: Did you know that one efficient way to save on your expenses is to clip coupons and visit supermarkets during the

times when they offer free samples to customers?

Would it easier to take the 41 (Skokie Highway) to get to Six Flags for Fright Fest this weekend once the Edens ends? Or should I stick to the toll roads all the way through?

To Lorraine: I'm so sorry, how do you pronounce your name again? Lou Ann? Louie, as in Louis C.K.?

Who would you consider a prominent competitor against Daniel-Day Lewis in the Best Actor Oscar race? Why?

Who wears those dark-square black glasses better? Anderson Cooper or Wolf Blizter?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

How do you think Romney is going to cook Big Bird once he catches him? Slow-roasted? Deep-fried? Make him into one of those Tur-Duck-Kins?

If it isn't the government's job to create jobs, then what is the Secretary of Labor supposed to do with her time? Listen to complaints filed by H.R. all day?

Will the presidential and vice-presidential debates be eligibie for the Primetime Emmys next year under the category "Outstanding Reality-Competition Program?"

To Lorraine: I'm so sorry, I know I'm bad at this. Is there a nickname that you go by?

Like L? Or Lo-Lo? There, I'll call you Lo-Lo. 

Have you decided who you are voting for in 20 days?

Versus #1: Hitchcock vs. Hitckcock

This is a new feature titled "Versus", in which I will compare and contrast two similar items, whether it is movies (or the trailers for the movies), songs, books, stories, people, ideas, etc. Today, the battle of the Hitchcock biopics.

Two movies about the Master of Suspense will be released within several weeks apart this autumn. HBO's "The Girl", which chronicles Hitchcock's often sadistic relationship with actress Tippi Hedren premières on October 20. Veteran actor Toby Jones (The Hunger Games, Oliver Stone's version of George W. Bush in W., and Christopher and His Kind) is the egomaniac genius that is Hitchcock and Sienna Miller (Layer Cake, Jude Law's lame version of Alfie, and Interview) is the icy blonde that is Hedren.
With no previous acting experience, it was obvious that Hitchcock chose Hedren, who would later become the mother of actress Melanie Griffith, simply for her looks. She became the latest icy blonde that the director was obsessed about throughout his career (Ingrid Bergman, Grace Kelly, Eva Marie Saint, Kim Novak, Janet Leigh). The major difference between Hedren's predecessors and herself is that they were actually trained in the dramatic arts. Three of the five actresses I just mentioned won an Academy Award, which often proves that the recipient of the statue could act his or her way out of a giant paper bag on fire.

 On November 23, Hitchcock hits theatres nationwide. Here we witness the struggles in bringing the now-cinematic masterpiece Psycho to the big screen, which at the time was considered career suicide for all involved. (It was unthinkable to kill off the lead actor, Janet Leigh, who was one of America's top box-office draws in the 1950s and early 1960s, in the first act, and have the then-wholesome, All-American Anthony Perkins as the unstable Norman Bates.) Anthony Hopkins does a remarkable job (according to the trailer) as the director. With an excellent cast that includes Helen Mirren as the Missus and Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Hitchcock is already being shortlisted for the Academy Awards, especially for the actors performances.

Which has led to the Battle of the Hitchcocks, which sounds like a great sci-fi movie. Hitch could come back from the dead to direct.

Jones faced a similar dilemma several years when his Truman Capote biopic, Infamous, was released and mostly overlooked in the fall of 2006, a year after Capote, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman as the author, received all the critical acclaim, awards (Hoffman earned the Oscar, BAFTA, SAG Award, and Golden Globe for Best Actor) and Netflix rentals that a biopic about a short-stature man with a bigger-than-life persona and enough personal demons to occupy a dozen Tennessee William dramas could get. When Infamous came along, it was inevitably compared to the former and given little else. The only notable buzz the film received was that Daniel Craig, whose star shot through the roof at the time for his first outing as James Bond in Casino Royale, was in a supporting role as the killer Perry Smith, which earned him a nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards. (Sidebar: Around the same time, Craig became the first actor to earn a BAFTA Best Actor nomination for playing Bond.)

Originally Hopkins' Hitchcock was set to be released in 2013, which would have given Jones the opportunity he was denied in 2005-2006 to be in the spotlight for praise and awards recognition. Now if both actors at the ballroom at the Beverly Hills Hotel for the Golden Globes, Jones will be relegated to the guy who was "in the other Hitchcock movie on HBO."

THE GIRL

An HBO feature, which is always good, given the prestige an HBO production has upon release and review. Even though the Emmys have passed, this could earn leads Toby Jones and Sienna Miller nominations from the Golden Globes, maybe be shortlisted for next year's Emmy Awards, unless HBO has a slew of projects ready to release next spring. Or BBC America pushes to finally get Matt Smith and David Tennant their first Emmy nominations for "Doctor Who" and "The Spies of Warsaw", respectively, therefore eliminating Jones' chances at Emmy recognition, since some Americans have to be nominated for something in that category.

HITCHCOCK

Both Hopkins and Mirren are Oscar winners who have racked up multiple nominations in the past for portraying real-life people. (British-born and knighted Hopkins earned nods for portraying not one but two American presidents--Richard Nixon and John Quincy Adams--and Mirren earned nods for portraying the wives of King George III and Leo Tolstoy). Both seem to be guaranteed nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress. And Scarlett Johansson, who has earned mulitple Golden Globe nominations in the past and the Best Actress BAFTA for Lost in Translation, could finally score some serious awards-cred with her first nomination in the supporting actress category. If this occurs, Johansson could be the first person to be nominated for an Oscar for portraying a real-life actor who delivers a performance that was nominated for an Oscar. Mind-boggling stuff, I know.

While both men are remarkable actors, Hopkins has the edge here. He is a household name, he looks a lot more like Hitchcock than Jones does, and he does appear in a big-budget picture that will most likely become a box-office hit and Oscar-bait, a combo that Hitch was able to accomplish many times throughout his lengthy career in the movies.

5x5: Five Great Songs by Five Bands with Awesome Names

The name of a rock band says a lot about them, even before they play the first chords or guitar riffs. These bands have some very interesting names, and they also have a newly released song that lives up to the awesome-sounding bands' potentials. All tracks are courtesy of RCRDLBL.

THE BABIES
"Get Lost"


THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE
"Down"


LETTING UP DESPITE GREAT FAULTS
"Bulletproof Girl"



NIGHT TERRORS OF 1927
"Watch the World Go Dark"


TREASURE FLEET*
"The Well"

*A band from Chicago, which is always cool.


And a bonus track from a solo artist with an awesome name.

MAC DeMARCO
"Ode to Viceroy"

This Is What PBS Has to Offer and Why We Need to Save It

What I learned from the presidential debate: 

Mitt Romney: Big Bird Killer

Police reports that the 43-year old Big Bird was killed by M.D.--Mormon Drive-by

The people of the Internet, which can occasionally do some good, has taken upon themselves to make sure that the beloved character from Sesame Street overshadowed just about everything that both candidates have said or done in the first presidential debate. Well, Jim Lehrer's less-than-gracious moderating skills have also taken center stage. 

Poor Jim. Maybe he should stick to telling his guests on his show to shut up.

Please stop interrupting---fuck it, I can't do this anymore.
You bastards can fight to the death for all  I care

Sidebar: 

"I'm not going to say I've done a poor job..." -Jim Lehrer

It was so bad that Chris Traeger is still crying uncontrollably.

Response from Twitter: "Worst moderator ever." -Rob Lowe

Imaginary response from Chris Traeger: "That was literally the worst moderating I have ever seen in the history of debates."

But Lehrer may not have a show to host come November if Romney is elected president. He has stated that he would cut any and all programs that would not benefit America if it meant that he "had to borrow the money from China." PBS is one of those programs.

Now, the Save Big Bird campaign is kicking into overdrive. Even Big Bird has created a Twitter account to speak out against this atrocity. Within 3 hours, he has amassed over 15,000 followers.

I don't know I have ever seen Big Bird angry. I didn't know he could get angry.

And oh man, he is not just angry--he is fucking pissed. 

He's mad as a badass motherfucker could ever be.

But it's not only Big Bird and the rest of the Sesame Street clan who would lose their home if PBS is destroyed. Here is a list of programs that have appeared on the network, most of them becoming cultural institutions, if not widely beloved, popular programs for millions of people not only in the United States but across the globe.

PBS turns 42 on October 5.
The now-awkward birthday party will be held on Saturday at the Y
in Green Park. BYOB.

Downton Abbey.


The 9-time Emmy winner has not only broken record ratings for PBS but has caused millions of Americans to develop emotional bonds to Matthew Crawley and Lady Grantham, John and Anna Bates; earned Dame Maggie Smith 2 Emmys and even more popularity (as if Harry Potter and numerous Oscar-winning or nominated film roles, and a celebrated stage career didn't already do the trick), and has revived the career of Evanston native Elizabeth McGovern, who was once best known for being Timothy Hutton's much-needed girlfriend and for being the woman was having a baby with Kevin Bacon in that John Hughes movie.

Sherlock


Yes, Robert Downey Jr. is Sherlock on the big screen. But have you ever seen Sherlock research and solve a crime on his iPhone? This version from the BBC was able to confirm that Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman, in his best role since the British version of "The Office") would be a decent roommate and figure out his life story within three seconds of meeting him. Benedict Cumberland, who was once deemed sexy as an otter, was born to play this conflicted, pompous genius. At least until he is hopefully officially attached to portrayed Wikileaks' Julian Assange in a movie that may or may not be directed by Academy Award winner Bill Condon, aka the man who directed two "Twilight" movies. (Which ones? I don't know. Go Google it if you're that curious.)

Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide


This month, a two-part documentary aired in which six actresses/activists (America Ferrera, Diane Lane, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Gabrielle Union, and Olivia Wilde) traveled to different parts of the world to cover a different segment that the best-selling book/movement discusses are the biggest challenges women face on a global scale, such female mutation/circumcision, child and intergenerational prostitution, and macroeconomic obstacles. If nothing else, this proves that television cannot be deemed a "vast wasteland", which was what one of the first commissioners for the FCC once described the medium.

Julia Child


In 1963, Julia Child's "The French Chef" debuted on PBS. She quickly became one of the most popular shows ever broadcasted by PBS, as millions of people tuned in to either learn how to make beef bourguigon, soufflé  pastries, etc. or simply watch in amazement as this larger-than-life personality created such edible masterpieces with ease, wit, and charm.

Arthur


"Hey Arthur!" I totally related to the four-eyed aardvark. We both wore glasses. We were picked on. We often broke the fourth wall and talked to an invisible camera and TV audience. (We were mock-doc-ing life before mock-doc-ing was cool, then not cool.) We also had a sister 4 years younger than us. And she was annoying. (We are totally cool now with our sisters, cuz, we grew up. Well, Diana and I did. Arthur and D.W. are still 8 and 4 years old, respectively.) And they are still on PBS, and they are in the middle of producing their 16th season, an impressive feat for any fictional program, let alone in a genre where shows often become tiresome, outdated, and unable to adapt to the always unpredictable TV-watching habits of kids.

Austin City Limits


Hundreds of artists from all genres of music have performed on this program since 1976. The capital of Texas has become the "Live Music Capital of the World", which has later been solidified by the presence of SWSX. It is also the only television show to earn the National Media of Arts. 

Great Performances

Hamlet


The first time I watched an episode of Great Performances was for a theatre appreciation course back in community college. I watched Cyrano de Bergerac, which featured Kevin Kline as Cyrano. It was one of the reasons why I became a big fan of theatre. Even though I wasn't there to witness it live, the production, as well as the performances from Jennifer Garner and Daniel Sunjata, were impressive enough to transcend the TV I was watching it on.
In addition to dramas, "Great Performances" features ballets, operas, classical and contemporary music, Broadway musical adaptations, and others.

Frontline



Since 1983, Frontline has broadcasted over 500 episodes of in-depth and thought-provoking documentaries which have covered has about every topic under the sun. The newest episode will cover unbiased views of Obama and Romney. Ha, ha, irony!

Charlie Rose

Kurt Vonnegut, 2007. This is actually the last interview he gave before his death. It was broadcast one day after he passed away on April 11, 2007.


Look, I have no idea what Charlie Rose is doing on a morning talk show with Oprah's "special friend." And I don't care. (I think this is beneath him.) Here's why. No offensive to Anderson Cooper, Rachel Maddow, Lisa Ling or the numerous others, but Charlie Rose is the best living television journalist in the United States. (Mike Wallace once held this title, but then, he died.) He doesn't bullshit. He has no agenda. He just asks questions and gets the answers that viewers deserve to hear. And he gets a couple of extra videos for this list.

The White Stripes, 2007


Auug San Suu Kyi, 2012


Sesame Street

Opening for the show, mid-1970s


Feist performs, 2008


Sesame Street needs no explanation. It was amazing and entertaining when we were kids, when our PARENTS were kids, and it is amazing and entertaining today, and will continue to do so for generations to come. SAVE BIG BIRD!

I told you he was a badass.

The public broadcaster, which for decades was the only alternative to the once-big and mighty networks for unbiased news reporting, thought-provoking documentaries, dramatic programming, children's programming, Julia Child, etc. has always depended on federal funding along with grants from public and private institutions and donations from viewers like you. In an era when Americans cannot trust the government or mainstream media, they have be able to place their faith in public broadcasting. After military defense, PBS is the best investment of tax dollars. Maybe Romney doesn't want his tax dollars being invested on Downton Abbey or Elmo. That's fine. What little he pays in tax can go fund the military or whatever other "non-essential" program he wishes to gut and cut.

PBS is not just a public broadcasting channel. It is a part of our national identity. Their current slogan describes what Americans should do: "Be More"