Hi all…

Sometimes even the combination of an amazing story from Hungary in the 16th century, a beautiful actress, and Connor MacLeod can’t quite get a movie on track. Filmed in Austria, Germany, and Hungary, the locations were gorgeous. Add to that the horrific tales of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, accused of killing and torturing young women and possibly even bathing in their blood to keep her youth, and you have some great elements that could have made for a good, if not great, horror film. Unfortunately it doesn’t hit that mark…

Metamorphosis was filmed in 2007 and is coming to DVD on August 24, 2010. The film stars Christopher Lambert (Highlander), Corey Sevier (Decoys), and Irena A. Hoffman (Four Christmases). It was written, directed, and produced by Jeno Hodi, who also directed Black Sea Raid and wrote Armstrong.

At the beginning of the film, we see Constantine Thurzo (Lambert) at the funeral of his brother. The strange ceremony ends with men driving a stake into his brother’s heart before burial in consecrated ground. Constantine wants his brother to be buried near their castle and digs the body up after dark, intent on reburying the body in the family cemetery. And as you might suspect, bad things tend to happen when you remove the stake from a dead body in a horror movie.

Keith (Sevier) is doing research for a book about the Countess and brought along his friends J.J. (Charlie Hollway) and Kim (Jennifer Higham) for company. While on their way to a monastery near the Bathory castle, the trio gets lost at night in the Carpathian Mountains and pick up the mysterious and beautiful Elizabeth (Hoffman) who offers to help them find their way. When they get there, they learn that the monks won’t take them to the castle as they had agreed because of recent wolf attacks in the area.

But don’t worry, Elizabeth knows the way to the castle. Along the way, the jeep the group is driving hits a rock and everyone is thrown out of the vehicle as it bounces down a mountainside. Somehow nobody gets seriously hurt and they continue on foot to the castle, meeting up with a creepy bearded man and his girlfriend also headed to the castle.

After being chased by wolves and meeting up with a monk and a nun, they manage to find their way to the castle and get the lights turned on. It seems however, that they might have done better if the lights had stayed off…

First, let me talk a bit about the good things for this film.

The use of the legend of Countess Bathory was a great start. Anyone who allegedly drains victims of blood so she can bathe in it to stay young is definitely a perfect horror movie character. It’s not the first time we’ve seen the Bathory legend used in a film either. The animated movie Hellboy: Blood and Iron used a similar legend as the backstory for its plot and did it more effectively in cartoon form. My only wish for Metamorphosis was that they’d managed a stronger story based on the history and legend.

Also, Lambert seemed to have a great time with his character Constantine as a vampire. The “Lambert laugh” was in full swing along with the evil grin we’ve seen in movies like Highlander and Mortal Kombat. Honestly, it was Lambert’s gleeful villain that saved the film for me. Everyone else took themselves far too seriously.

It’s never good when I can’t come up with a third good thing for a film. Honestly, I’m not sure if it was the acting, the directing, or the writing that really made it drag in places, but something simply didn’t click.

My biggest issue was the film was the way that it played with time. Once the group crashes down the mountain, there are these bizarre flashes where you see the same scene a couple of times in succession. Later, these “flashes” are explained as Keith’s attempts to change events while they were all in Purgatory. Vampires in this world seem to have the ability to shift from the real world to the spirit world of Purgatory at will. And since Keith wants to change how things ended up, he tries a few times to adjust how things happened.

It was this little wrinkle that kept me from really enjoying the movie. I think if those aspects of the story had been written out of the script and the film was made more linear, it might have worked better.

Beyond the movie, some trailers, and the option for Spanish subtitles, there were no extras for the DVD.

So if you’re interested in the Bathory legend, I would recommend Metamorphosis as a renter. But other than that, unless you’re a huge Christopher Lambert fan, I’d probably avoid this one.

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

p.s. Look for this movie at your local rental store, pick up Hellboy: Blood and Iron, or read about the stories of Countess Bathory…
Metamorphosis

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What is the difference between seeing the world at fifteen and seeing it at twenty-two? As a teenager, you may wish to be perceived as an adult, but once you are an adult you no longer have the innocence of your teenage years. So how does that work when you have the composure of an older soul in the body of a younger person?

The Season of Risks is the third in Susan Hubbard’s series of “Ethical Vampire” novels documenting the path of young Ariella Montero, a half-vampire struggling to understand her place in the world. As much a coming-of-age story as anything, Hubbard weaves the tricks of memory, facing the consequences of impulsive decisions, and the fragility of love, friendship, and family into a compelling world that somehow manages to avoid the pitfalls of your usual vampire series.

Hubbard, a professor of English at the University of Central Florida, has proven that a novel can be entertaining and literary at the same time. Her gift for language is reflected on every page with her fluid descriptions of places, thoughts, and feelings that never seem to get bogged down by cliche or overly flowery prose. And yet she still manages to present complex stories with intriguing characters without mixing High School Musical and the supernatural.

In The Society of S, we were introduced to then thirteen-year old Ariella and her father Raphael in New York as Ari discovered that she’s not your average home schooled teenager. She is in fact a half-vampire, born of her vampire father and her human mother, who disappeared soon after she was born. As if that wasn’t enough, her friend Katherine was tragically killed. By the end of the book, she’s gone on a Jack Keroac-inspired road trip to find her mother and come to grips with the new world she finds herself in.

Then in The Year of Disappearances, she reconnected with her mother and her friends Dashay and Bennett on a ranch in Homosassa Springs, Florida. Along the way, she met some new friends and ends up starting college at Hillhouse, a private liberal arts school in Georgia her mother had attended. Much like in the first book, death and mystery seemed to follow poor Ari as she continued to explore life as a vampire in a human world.

Now in The Season of Risks she is older and wiser, with a few more experiences under her belt. Beginning her second year of college, Ari is not only dealing with the deaths of her friends the previous year but possible romantic feelings for Neil Cameron, a Presidential candidate who happens to be a vampire.

The difference in ages between the potential lovers raises some sticky ethical issues for Ari and Cameron, trying to keep their budding relationship a secret from prying eyes. But when Ari hears about a medicine that may age her forward a few years to bridge the gap, a love affair becomes more of a possibility. Would aging herself from fifteen to twenty-two be enough to let them be together?

Though Ari would have liked to discuss the treatment with her parents and friends, she knows they would quickly shoot the idea down as unsafe. Plus, her parents have moved to Ireland to continue her father’s research into vampiric DNA and her friend Dashay is putting things back together on their ranch in Homosassa Springs, Florida. And her friends at college probably wouldn’t understand either, except for possibly Sloan, a new art student who’d taken an interest in Ari.

Hubbard shakes things up towards the end with a great twist that caught me by surprise and pushes the story through to the end. Many questions arise and most are answered by the conclusion. But I think this world still has many stories to tell about the world of vampires.

Like the first two books of the series, this one was a fast read. Thanks to the amazing writing and engaging story, it took me three sittings to complete. And, like when I finished The Year of Disappearances I was already looking forward to the next book, which is always a good sign!

If you are looking for an alternative to Twilight, I’d strongly encourage you to check out Susan Hubbard’s series. These books present vampires without all the shirtless flexing. Look for The Society of S, The Year of Disappearances, and The Season of Risks on bookshelves now!

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

p.s. Pick up these great books below!

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Have you ever seen a movie where music composer John Williams did a movie score? His film scores for movies such as Star Wars, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and so on have entertained us for more than four decades. Some of his influences for the first Star Wars soundtrack may have come from a particular work by composer Gustav Holst. Holst’s most famous piece is “The Planets,” which was a suite of seven movements, each named after a planet and its corresponding astrological character.

In “The Planets,” the seven movements correspond to Mars (War), Venus (Peace), Mercury (the Messenger), Jupiter (Jollity), Saturn (Old Age), Uranus (the Magician) and Neptune (the Mystic). Each movement has a different character to it. For example, Mars is heavy and insistent with horns and drums, like a general marshaling his troops for a battle, while Neptune has a lighter, more mysterious feel to it using woodwinds. And each movement also is tied to the astrological character of the subject.

A new group has taken a similar approach to Holst in their new CD Eight Moons, composing songs about eight of the major moons with names of the gods – from Mars to the distant dwarf planet of Eris. Omnimi seems to seek a blend of classical, choral, and world music to evoke some of the same powerful feelings as Holst’s work – from the dramatic to the relaxing.

And, like Holst, each track feels as though it should be part of a movie soundtrack. “Phobos – Mars I” with its merging of a choir and driving percussion would be at home in a film like the upcoming Conan reboot starring Jason Momoa coming to theaters in 2011. There’s almost a desert feel to some of the percussion, giving it a vaguely “Arabian Nights” flavor.

From Phobos we move to “Io – Jupiter I,” which has a less insistent beat but somehow manages to fill the room with power with higher voices and strings building and building. What’s intriguing is there’s a rock guitar in the middle punctuating the lighter vocal performances, bringing this tune into a more modern era. Parts of the melody would feel right at home in the recent trailers for Chrisopher Nolan’s Inception.

My favorite of the tracks is “Neso – Neptune XIII” which manages to capture an ethereal, almost fairy-like sound and merges it with the incessant roll of the sea. Neso in Greel mythology is one of the goddesses of the sea and one of the 50 Nereids – one of the sea nymphs. Through a use of interesting beats behind the scenes along with the strings and voices it truly feels as though you are rolling along the waves.

Ultimately, I think Omnimi has done an amazing job in composing some truly unique songs in a Holst style. Movie directors and producers seeking full-sounding orchestrations for their own films would do well to give Eight Moons a listen to see how they might be worked into current productions. Hopefully we’ll hear more from Omnimi in the future!

For more information about Omnimi, be sure to check out their website at OmnimiMusic.com.

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

p.s. Pick up the CD here:

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Hey all…

Today I saw a press release from the Syfy Channel announcing that on August 6 we’re going to see not one but two crossover episodes of two of our favorite series on Syfy!!

Airing August 3, Fargo is going to visit the Warehouse and on August 6 Claudia will be visiting Eureka… you can bet both will be getting into (and hopefully out of) trouble!

Here’s the release!

–Fitz

EUREKA AND WAREHOUSE 13 – SYFY’S MOST WATCHED SCRIPTED SERIES – TEAM UP FOR FIRST EVER CROSSOVER EPISODES

Warehouse 13‘s Allison Scagliotti visits the town of Eureka and Neil Grayston of Eureka visits Warehouse 13

New York, NY – May 19, 2010 – Warehouse 13 and Eureka, Syfy’s top scripted series, are joining together for the first time ever for a pair of crossover episodes this summer, it was announced today by Mark Stern, Executive Vice President of Development, Syfy, and Co-Head Original Content, Universal Cable Productions.In the episodes, which are currently filming, Douglas Fargo (Neil Grayston) of Eureka’s Global Dynamics is sent to Warehouse 13 to help update its aging computer system. This triggers a seemingly sentient computer virus that sends the Warehouse into lockdown and traps the team inside. The Warehouse 13 episode is entitled “13.1″ and will air on Tuesday, August 3, at 9PM (ET/PT). The Eureka episode entitled “Crossing Over,” will air on Friday, August 6, at 9PM (ET/PT). Warehouse 13′s Claudia Donovan (Allison Scagliotti) pays a visit to Eureka, hoping to see some amazing technological wonders. She gets more than she bargained for when seemingly random objects begin appearing around town. Working with Sheriff Carter (Colin Ferguson) and Fargo, Claudia has to help solve the mystery before the strange anomalies have deadly consequences…particularly for newcomer Dr. Grant (James Callis).Rene Auberjonois (Boston Legal and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) will guest star in the Warehouse 13 episode as former Warehouse agent Hugo Miller. About Warehouse 13Warehouse 13 follows two Secret Service agents who find themselves abruptly transferred to a massive, top-secret storage facility in windswept South Dakota which houses every strange artifact, mysterious relic, fantastical object and supernatural souvenir ever collected by the U.S. government. The Warehouse’s caretaker Artie (Saul Rubinek) charges Pete (Eddie McClintock) and Myka (Joanne Kelly) with chasing down reports of supernatural and paranormal activity in search of new objects to cache at the Warehouse, as well as helping him to control the Warehouse itself.Warehouse 13 is produced for Syfy by Universal Cable Productions. Jack Kenny (The Book of Daniel) returns as showrunner. The second season premieres Tuesday, July 6 at 9PM (ET/PT).

In its first season, Warehouse 13 became the all-time Syfy leader in total viewers (4.1 million), Adults 25-54 (2.1 million) and Household ratings (2.9), as measured by 7-Day DVR data.

About Eureka

Eureka seems like any other cozy, Pacific Northwest town, but is actually a secret community of geniuses assembled by the government to conduct top-secret research. What they’ve unwittingly created is a place where anything imaginable can happen… and does. Eureka stars Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Joe Morton, Erica Cerra, Neil Grayston, Niall Matter, James Callis and features Jordon Hinson. Guest stars this season include Wil Wheaton, Jamie Kennedy, Jaime Ray Newman and Matt Frewer.

Eureka is produced for Syfyby Universal Cable Productions. Jack Kenny () returns as showrunner. The second season premieres Tuesday, July 6 at 9PM (ET/PT).In its first season, became the all-time Syfy leader in total viewers (4.1 million), Adults 25-54 (2.1 million) and Household ratings (2.9), as measured by 7-Day DVR data.Eureka seems like any other cozy, Pacific Northwest town, but is actually a secret community of geniuses assembled by the government to conduct top-secret research. What they’ve unwittingly created is a place where anything imaginable can happen… and does. stars Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Joe Morton, Erica Cerra, Neil Grayston, Niall Matter, James Callis and features Jordon Hinson. Guest stars this season include Wil Wheaton, Jamie Kennedy, Jaime Ray Newman and Matt Frewer. Syfy is a media destination for imagination-based entertainment. With year round acclaimed original series, events, blockbuster movies, classic science fiction and fantasy programming, a dynamic Web site (WWW.SYFY.COM), and a portfolio of adjacent business (Syfy Ventures), Syfy is a passport to limitless possibilities. Originally launched in 1992 as SCI FI Channel, and currently in 95 million homes, Syfy is a network of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies. Syfy. Imagine greater.

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Once upon a time, I was more aware of up and coming bands. While living around Denver, CO, I regularly listened to KBCO on the radio – a station famous for a mix of both new and old tracks. Through KBCO I was introduced to bands and performers like Peter Mulvey, Snow Patrol, Jason Mraz, Brandi Carlile, and many many others. Unfortunately I don’t get to Denver much to take advantage of that influx of new artists and music. So I’d never heard of the band White Apple Tree before…

White Apple Tree (WAT) consists of brothers Ryan and Taylor Lawhon, and drummer Stefan Mac. Though founded in 2007 by Ryan as a solo project, his brother Taylor and Stefan joined pretty quickly after he recorded a solo five song EP – Taste the Celebration. In 2008, they released a single – “Snowflakes” – that was picked up by the hit TV show Gossip Girl, which gave them worldwide exposure far beyond their Southern California haunts as they toured across America and did numerous local shows. Fans clamored soon after for more songs from the group, resulting in Velvet Mustache – their debut album.

When Velvet Mustache appeared one day and I started to listen, I found myself immersed in a landscape of drums, synthesizers, and the occasional guitar and loving every minute of it. And as I started listening to the words behind the lush electronic landscape, I began to see a very unique point of view start to emerge.

What I immediately heard in the music itself were similarities to groups like Dishwalla and Snow Patrol – the layered electronic sounds mostly based around a synthesizer built upon with drums and voices singing about growing up in Southern California, the trials found in relationships of all kinds, and the swelling numbness all too common in the madness of the everyday.

“Youth” provides driving melodies and drums while its lyrics describing the seeming apathy of today’s kids. “We stick around because we don’t care / None of us have had to work for nothing / Let’s go to Tyler’s house and waste some air…” It’s tragic and yet telling of many of this new generation growing up without a direction. The music injects an urgency lost in the words.

“Clarity” is my favorite song on the album. There’s a beauty to the almost haunting synthesizer melodies and voices that reminds me of the hopeful nature of music I listened to in the ’80s. But again the lyrics call out a moment of clarity in the darkness – “Cover up my eyes / The tint is dark / So no one sees their shit fall apart…”

And “As Seen On TV” compares life to what’s on television and wondering if we’ve become jaded by all the violence. “Not death, life, birth, or pain / Can shock us now, we’re all the same / And now, or then, we’re jaded” they sing “It’s the man with the gun pointed at my chest / A whispered threat under his breath and I know / It’s just as seen on TV…” With another generation raised in front of the tube, can any of us be surprised or affected by the violence in the world? If it happens to us, do we see it as real or break it down mentally as though “this doesn’t happen in real life, just on TV”…

White Apple Tree not only creates great electronic-based music, but lyrics that make you think. Social commentary and music have always gone hand in hand. Is it enough that young bands like WAT try to inject their passion and observations of the world around them into their music? Velvet Mustache is an awesome mix of music and introspection I hope to hear again soon.

For lyrics and more details about the band, be sure to check out their website at WhiteAppleTree.com.

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

p.s. Pick up Velvet Mustache below!

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Yes, I know that there are people who on principle skip anything Jerry Bruckheimer produces. And yes, I know that there are those people who try to miss anything Nicolas Cage appears in because they simply don’t like him. And there are probably a third group who believe that Fantasia is sacrosanct and must not ever be touched again by human hands… But I’m evidently not one of those.

I’ll admit that I was skeptical that it could be done. Who could possibly write a script for a two hour film that’s based on the short animated feature as part of 1940′s Fantasia from Walt Disney? How could you take Mickey Mouse and the dancing mops, brooms, and buckets and modernize it for today’s audiences?

Well, I think they actually managed to pull it off. We went as a family and all of us really enjoyed The Sorcerer’s Apprentice with Cage, Jay Baruchel, and Alfred Molina playing the lead roles. Hopefully it will make more money than it has so far so that we can continue to see the adventures of “Dave the Sorcerer”.

What is it about? It starts in medieval times with the saga of Merlin (James A. Stephens) and his three apprentices – Veronica (Monica Bellucci), Balthazar (Cage), and Horvath (Molina). When Horvath turns on his friends and master to join the evil wizardess Morgana (Alice Krige) in an attempt to take over the world and killing Merlin – Veronica sacrifices herself and binds Morgana’s soul within herself, and Balthazar captures them both in a Russian Doll magic item. That starts a war between the Merlinians, with Balthazar at the lead, and the Morganians seeking to free Morgana to take over the world.

Balthazar spends the next thousand years trying to find what Merlin called “the Prime Merlinian” – an individual with the potential to take Merlin’s place in the world. Along the way, he captures other evil wizards in the doll as they continue to try to release their queen.

When young Dave stumbles into Balthazar’s magic shop while on a field trip, it’s revealed that he is the Prime Merlinian Balthazar’s been looking for all this time… But through a series of mishaps, Dave unwittingly releases Horvath and a battle ensues that eventually finds the two ancient enemies locked away for 10 years. That gives Dave some time to get some therapy for what nobody believes he saw.

And that brings us to the present day, with Dave having become a physics geek working with electricity and plasma. I won’t spoil the rest, but suffice it to say that it’s a wild ride where Balthazar and Dave must work together to try and save the world from Horvath and Morgana.

Before I saw the film, I read a few reviews chastising the exposition at the beginning that sets the stage for the transition to the modern day. As such, I was a bit concerned. Turned out that I need not have been. Though director Jon Turteltaub might have chosen to “show, not tell” that section of the story, I think it would have added another 30+ minutes to the already two hour long film. As such, to keep it short enough to play frequently at most movie theaters I think it was a good choice to avoid the lengthier storytelling option.

It was obvious that Cage and Baruchel had a good time working together. The relationship between Balthazar and Dave seems genuine and the Master/Apprentice ties that bind them together lead to some touching moments. Molina simply ate up the screen as Horvath and cut a dashing figure in what looked like a late 18th century/early 19th century suit, hat, and cane. Even Teresa Palmer as Dave’s eventual girlfriend Becky played the “fish out of water” character well, even going so far as to play a pivotal role in the climax.

The only character I didn’t like was Toby Kebbel’s magician Drake Stone, the evil wizard who helps Horvath set Morgana free. Stone played a Criss Angel-type stage magician who was in it more for stroking his ego than for any perfection of his art. But I think we were supposed to dislike the slimy character – so if that was the case then bravo to Kebbel’s acting chops.

The special effects were spectacular. From the dragon in Chinatown to the car chases on the flip side of a mirror, the effects seamlessly transported me into a world where magic exists. I found myself watching, wide-eyed and enjoying every minute in that world – wishing there was a bit more magic day to day in our own.

For me, Bruckheimer has struck again as he did with films like Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and National Treasure. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice offers escapism and a big budget popcorn movie where you can just sit back and enjoy the ride.

If you don’t like Bruckheimer, Nick Cage, or the idea that a Mickey Mouse cartoon could be made into a big budget live action adventure movie, I’d recommend that you stay home. But I’m certainly glad I went to see it.

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

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Hey!

Last week, NBC announced their slate of programs for the Fall 2010 season…

Some of our favorites are back such as Chuck and Parenthood as well as some new potentially entertaining programs like Chase, The Undercovers, and Outsourced.

Here are the dates for the fall premieres…

• Chuck – Monday, September 20, 2010, 8pm EST
• Chase – Monday, September 20, 2010, 10pm EST
• Parenthood – Tuesday, September 21, 2010, 10pm EST
• Undercovers – Wednesday, September 22, 2010, 8pm EST
• Outsourced – Thursday, September 23, 2010, 9:30pm EST

Looks like another busy TV season!

–Fitz

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This book had my attention from the moment I saw the amazingly creepy picture of the hairless cat on the cover (Creepiosity Index: 9.47). Of course, I had to check out Creepiosity. Author David Bickel has managed to pull together about 90 pictures and concepts that somehow capture the bizarre, uncomfortable realm we all find ourselves dealing with from time to time. And like many people, Bickel’s response is to point them out to us and help us laugh about them. Will it help us get over how creepy some of these things are? Probably not, but let’s give it a shot.

Creepiness surrounds us in everyday life. From the creepiness of a restaurant’s animal mascot encouraging you to eat its own kind (p.36) to kids on leashes (p.86), from the ancient, mysterious candies found in a Grandma’s candy dish all wrapped in colored cellophane (p.104) to kiddie beauty pageants (p. 118), and everything in-between, above, below, and on the edges of things brought forth from the human mind.

But how do you measure this realm of the unintentionally creepy? I’ll leave the tale of how the Creepiosity Index came to be for Bickel to tell, but it all boils down to a fancy looking mathematical formula involving neck hairs per square inch standing on end, the number of time you wince, and a 10% factor if there are clowns involved. Clowns are damn creepy at times (Steven King’s It ring a bell for anyone?) so I certainly get that. And there’s enough pseudo-science to the formula to sell me on the idea. Some things in life are too creepy to NOT be measured!

Obviously Bickel is one of the world’s most respected creepiologists. “Creepiologist” is a term not to be confused with Creepologists who study creeps (which are in a different category all together), or Crêpeologists who study crêpes (tasty thin French pancakes served with a variety of fillings). Though Bickel might get a kick out of eating a crêpe with a creep, I’m guessing he’ll stick with finding creepy pictures and determining their Creepiosity.

By far my favorite part of the book talks about “Squirrels That Look At You a Bit Too Long.” He describes squirrels as basically rats “with a great PR person” and I’ve had my share of their knowing, creepy stares from time to time. These days, the squirrels in our neighborhood are more likely to raise the ire of my two dogs in the back yard. But every once in a while I still see an occasional squirrel with a suicidal streak standing his ground in the middle of the road tempting me to “make his day.”

Bickel manages to capture those odd moments we all have in pictures we can share with others and have a laugh together. I think Creepiosity would make a great gift for a friend or as something to break the tension in a room. But overall, I’m still pondering the Creepiosity of Nursery Rhymes (p.160) and whether I should continue to warp my children…

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

p.s. Pick up this book below!

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When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, Sesame Street was a good friend on the television. My parents knew it was safe to leave me in front of the TV for an hour. And when the Electric Company was on, it was a two hour event. Now as a parent, I know the content has changed but the quality remains high and I trust Sesame Street to educate and entertain this new generation just as well as educated me.

The Sesame Street: 20 Years and Still Counting documentary was produced in 1989, covering the first 20 years of its continuing run on PBS. The series has continued to have another 20 years of success since then, so I can hardly wait to see what the show looks like in another 20! The documentary, hosted by Bill Cosby, provides a look back at the beginnings of the series, from its humble beginnings in 1969 to the worldwide acclaim and adoption it’s seen since then.

Watching with my two daughters, the video looks out of date but offers a great historical perspective on the series’ amazing legacy. Not only do you get some wonderful musical performances from Ray Charles and Plácido Domingo, but you get to hear from some of the actors who have called Sesame Street their home forever. What was more interesting to me was that Jim Henson appears to introduce the show, only a year before his untimely death. Neither of my girls knew him on sight, but when I mentioned the name they knew immediately who he was.

Seeing a much younger Luis (Emilio Delgado), Maria (Sonia Manzano), and Bob (Bob McGrath) really took me back to my childhood. It was quite obvious that the trio believed in the series from the beginning – not only as an integrated cast, but the first educational show to focus on using a curriculum to teach kids the alphabet, their numbers, language skills, shapes, colors, science, and much much more. Though the series went through occasional cast changes, such as when Mr. Hooper (Will Lee) passed away in 1983, that core trio has remained in place for more than 40 years now.

Add to that the many characters who call Sesame Street home – Bert and Ernie, Grover and the Grouch, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Kermit, and the whole gang – and you end up with a snapshot of that wonderful world. Cosby, with his usual humor and style, manages to interact with them all and give us a walking tour of the street most kids across America (and around the world) know and love.

It was very interesting to listen to the Sesame Street theme in different languages and see how different countries and cultures had adapted the show for their own children. Big Bird as a parrot instead of an eight foot yellow bird was fun to see, and listening to the theme song in Spanish, French, and Hebrew was intriguing. It’s amazing to think that kids in Germany, Israel, the West Bank, the Netherlands, and elsewhere are all benefiting from the pioneering work done by the show creators Jim Henson and Joan Cooney.

I have to admit that it’s a bit odd to me that Lionsgate chose now to release this special on DVD, but I think it proves the staying power of one of the tent poles of public television. Today, just like every day for the last 40+ years, children around the world have tuned in to learn and have fun at home.

Though I think this documentary will appeal more to parents than to kids, Sesame Street: 20 Years and Still Counting provides a historical record of the great work Sesame Street has done for four decades and will hopefully do for my grandkids over the next 20. Hopefully we will see more of these “messages in a bottle” from the past to inform the viewers of tomorrow about the enduring legacy of this series.

This article first appeared at BlogCritics.org here.

–Fitz

p.s. Pick up this and other great Sesame Street DVDs below!

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On the left you have Chris Hemsworth as Thor. In the middle is Anthony Hopkins as Odin. And on the right is Tom Hiddleston as Loki.

Yes, I know this picture is probably staged for Comic-Con, but dang… it takes the wind out of my sails. I was much happier with this earlier image I saw:

So I guess we’ll find out what the actual movie looks like, directed by Kenneth Branagh, when it’s released May 6, 2011.

Also in the news is that Thor and Captain America will both be in 3D. Why? Why does everything have to be in 3D now? [Sigh]

What do you think?

–Fitz

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