And just as a friendly reminder, I’m still writing pieces for online magazine Suite 101, and my list of articles can be found …right here!

UPDATE: My column is up and running, invading the interwebs on a weekly basis! Come read my musings on everything cool and not so cool in the world of pop culture.  Click here for “It’s All Geek To Me” !

The Place To Be?

The introduction of Digital Video Recording technology several years ago was one hell of a game changer in the world of pop culture. The Tivo ushered in the age of entertainment-on-demand that we all live in now – the taping convenience of a VCR with many times more storage space and infinitely less clutter on the shelf. Shortly after the Tivo was released, several cable television companies released rentable set-top converter boxes with DVR built in.  Time Warner was one of those cable providers, and has been my personal choice for a decade now. Occasional technical glitches aside, I’ve had no problems with them. Until now.

After about 4 years of working with the same, perfectly effective user interface, Time Warner performed a major, mandatory overhaul that was rolled out this past summer. After sitting with the thing for a few months now, I decree that this new interface represents some serious steps backward from the previous build, actually making the experience worse. A lot of these differences may not mean much to the average user, but some of them do, and they are plentiful enough that I can’t in good conscience keep quiet.  Advancements in technology are supposed to, you know, advance things and make them better. Especially if I’m paying for them, I never asked for any changes, and have no choice in the matter.

Before we dig in, yes, I am a big, honking nerd about this stuff, and it’s certainly possible you might not give a crap about any of it. But if you got this far, if you nodded silently in understanding at the mere title of this post, then come along, won’t you?

So here we go.  The list of offenses:

• The channel guide, containing several hundred channels (spaced out in numbers 1 through about 1100), used to allow the user to jump ahead to the beginning of the next group of 100 channels at the press of one button.  This is no longer the case.  Now you have to sit on the page button, scrolling ahead through all the channels, taking significantly more time. Or you could spell out a specific number with the keys, a pain to do if you’re just surfing.  A perfect example of a feature that previously existed to streamline the experience, that was actually taken away.

• Another removed feature related to the channel guide has to do with the program search.  Let’s say you’re in the guide and want to see when else the selected show is going to be on.  Previously, if you accessed the program search from the guide, it would search for instances of the currently selected show by default.  Now, it starts from scratch, and you have to slowly and clunkily spell out the name of your show, every time.

• Let’s talk recording now.  Previously, it was part of the series recording options to choose what specific days of the week you wanted to record your program. This option is now gone, and that creates a major headache.  If your show only airs a new episode once a week, but is rerun on another day at the same time (which happens often), your lovely DVR will record that one, too, unnecessarily, against your will.  Ah, but what about the “new shows only” vs. “new and repeats” option?  The thing that’s supposed to prevent that from happening?  Yes, it’s still here.  Guess what? It’s broken.  It doesn’t work.  The DVR is entirely dependent on the labeling system of the channel guide to distinguish what is a “new” show versus a rerun.  Only first-run episodes are supposed to have the “new” label on them, triggering the proper use of the recording function. Well, whoever is responsible for this labeling has gotten worse, as there are multiple instances of the same show being rerun, and labeled as “new”.  Add to that the fact that even shows without the “new” label show up in the “new” recording queue, and the result is constantly having to babysit the recording list to make sure you’re not having a conflict that will result in missing something you actually want.  This was simply not a problem before.

• Previously, it was possible to create a “manual recording”. This means a recording of any length that you can set to start and stop at any time you want. Now, you can’t. Let’s say you only want a small part of a broadcast that’s programmed on the guide for a multiple hour block, like on a news channel, or a sporting event. Unless you are there in person to start and stop the recording yourself, you have to record the entire block of programming.  If you don’t have enough space on your hard drive, you’re just plain out of luck and can’t do it. You could before.

• The new rewind and fast forward functions are a lot more janky than before.  In the previous build, it was possible to jump to a particular frame in the recording and know that’s where it would resume. Not now. There’s a terrible lag time to it, and you have to guess several seconds either before or after where you want to be in order to get there.

• And finally, the time synchronization is worse than before. The majority of programs I used to record would sync up nicely with the programmed start and end times. Not anymore. Now it’s a festival of padded extra minutes before and after most recordings, which can once again cause conflict problems if you’re not careful. Granted, sometimes this can be an issue with the individual stations (Cartoon Network and Comedy Central are particularly big offenders), but it wasn’t nearly this widespread a problem before the changeover.

To recap, these are all great features that were taken away. So, has anything been added to the new build?  Aside from the cosmetic overhaul, here are a few additions I’ve noticed:

• You now have the option of seeing your recorded programs and scheduled recordings ordered by name as well as by date. Whoop-de-freaking-doo.

• There is now a “recording log” that tells you what was erased and when, a feature that seems to exist for the sole purpose of starting fights among family members and roommates. “You erased CSI!” “No, I didn’t!” “Yes, you did! It says so right here!”

• The recording list now tells you what percentage of your box’s memory is full.  This is, to be fair, a nice feature, and one that should have been included originally.

• The box now allows for overlapping recordings on the same channel. This is somewhat helpful, and is more necessary now that the time synch is worse.

These are all minor improvements at best, and frankly not worth the trade-off.  But what of the big feature that Time Warner was touting all summer long? What of the great and almighty “Start Over”?

“Start Over” enables the user to flip to a non-recorded program at any point in its broadcast, and have the box restart the program from the beginning of its scheduled time. A great idea, in theory. In practice, not so much. First of all, because of the aforementioned wonky time synching, there’s no guarantee the scheduled beginning of the program will be at the right spot, potentially cutting off part of the show.  Second, the feature is only available on certain channels, only for certain shows at certain times. Finally, while the information bar seems to indicate the box has downloaded all the updated program information, and while you can pause and rewind the show, you cannot fast forward. This means you have to watch the show as if it were live, commercials and all. No escaping that damn Progressive car insurance woman that everyone wants to beat with a sack of doorknobs. This feature loses a lot of luster for that, and seems to be designed for the impulse surfer and those who are too lazy to schedule series recordings of the shows they watch regularly.

Now, I’m not much for conspiracy theories, but it seems to me that the technology exists to fix this and enable the fast forwarding.  Advertisers have been biting their nails for years ever since the advent of DVR, trying to figure out ways of forcing viewers to not skip over their commercials, even approaching certain DVR manufacturers to develop technology to solve this problem. This seems an awful lot like the first step toward that goal.

So, in conclusion …well, you get the idea. I just don’t understand how there could be any number of people in focus groups or in boardrooms who actually thought this was an improvement of the DVR experience. A completely misguided overhaul now has me thinking seriously about changing providers for the first time since subscribing to cable.

Or perhaps I could just go outside more.

UPDATE:  Great thanks to The Consumerist for featuring this post!  It has come to my attention that the “Start Over” feature is not a DVR function, but rather a digital cable on-demand function, available to Time Warner subscribers with or without a DVR box. That distinction being made, my complaint still stands. Especially given that all other Time Warner on-demand programs enable fast forwarding. Of course, most of that programming only has one or two commercials, at the very beginning, making user fast forwarding an easier pill for advertisers to swallow.

Wolverine balances, on that line, right on his claws.  Right on his horrible CG claws.

I came to this movie without a huge investment in the character.  While I have collected comics on and off for many years, even having some of the older runs of X-Men and X-Force from the ’80s,  I could never bring myself to get into Logan that much.  Yes, he’s overexposed, but that’s only part of it.  The X-men, while existing in the Marvel universe, have such a long and convoluted history that they are almost an entirely separate universe all to themselves.  And Logan’s backstory on top of that is one of the most labyrinthine of all the mutants.  Just the thought of even approaching an X-men comic these days would feel like Lucy Ricardo entering the chocolate factory after the conveyor belt was already at top speed.  Blindfolded. Where the hell am I supposed to begin, and what am I supposed to do? Waaaah, Ricky!!

But I’m a fan of the original X-men movies, even the third one.  I think they were an excellent modern realization of  powers that showed that the superhero genre can be tremendously exciting and satisfying if you actually take it seriously.

So at least Wolverine’s characterization here is somewhat consistent with the one established by the earlier films, if not so much with what I know of his original comic persona.  In the films he’s at heart a nice guy who’s really just a victim of a lot of bad circumstances with a biiiiig growling chip on his shoulder as a result.  In the beginning of Origins we see how an unfortunate misunderstanding  leads to the death of his father.  And how this in turn leads him and his half-brother, also a feral mutant (who will later be known as Sabretooth), to go on the run and fall in with a special ops unit of the army that uses soldiers with powers to carry out their missions.  The mercenary nature of these missions ultimately starts to wear at Logan, and causes a rift between him and his brother, who is relishing all the bloodshed a little too much.  Logan leaves the unit and establishes a new life for himself in Canada, but years later his past comes back to call, fangs bared and guns drawn.

Part of the problem for me was a personal one.  I just don’t care for prequels.  Without fail, they feel a little less exciting.  Going in, we already know the fate of most of the players.  Seeing how the dots connect is, at best, interesting, and at worst, The Phantom Menace. They always feel like a brazen attempt to just cash in on a franchise.  So the production has to be really, really good to pass muster, and here it just wasn’t.  Everyone familiar with comics at all, even without reading the X-men stuff,  knows more or less how Wolverine got his adamantium covered bones.  So, that happens.  Nothing here is particularly surprising, exciting, or interesting, and the script just plugs along, doing its job, while staring at the clock waiting for 5pm.  Not terrible, not great.

Contributing to the feeling that this was superhero-origin-via-Fox-executive-committee was a couple of oddly included appearances by other mutants from the comics, like The Blob and Gambit. “Just find a way to put them in there, it’ll be cool. Fat doofuses and obnoxious Cajuns are really hot right now. Logic be damned.”  Plus, I’ve been finding it hard to wash the image of the “young” Patrick Stewart out of my brain.  His CG face was so creepy and frozen, he looked like he was wearing a V For Vendetta mask of himself.

Hugh Jackman commits to every role he does, and this was no exception.  He’s always charismatic and entertaining to watch, but he can only do so much.  Liev Schreiber does his best as Sabretooth, but is woefully miscast.  I just don’t buy him as menacing, no matter how pointy you make him.  The only real winner here seems to be Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, who not only gets the sole genuine laugh lines in the film, but has also earned himself a full-blown spin-off!  Maybe that’ll be more fun.

The action sequences are cool enough, but they fail to elevate the film above the trope-filled, milquetoast direction and story.

Whoops! It’s five o’clock, Wolverine!  Time to punch out and get in the bargain DVD bin at Wal-Mart.

I heart the Muppets.  I mean,  I really heart the Muppets.  Sesame Street debuted the year I was born, and The Muppet Show aired 7 years later, so they were basically my pop culture buddies throughout most of my formative years.  The combination of the unparalleled character design, the corny-as-hell jokes, the self-deprication, the bewilderment at the world around them, and the sheer purity and innocence of these felt creations spoke directly to my core. And still do.  I’m man enough to admit I shed a few tears when I heard about Jim Henson’s death.  Even though I’d never met him, I felt like I’d lost a friend. Many friends, actually.

But the characters soldiered on through several different later TV series, specials, and feature films, with mixed success.  We shall not discuss the special with Scooter and Sam the Eagle dressed in leather at a rave.  I’m not joking.

So here come BOOM! Studios and this Roger Landridge person to tread on seriously hallowed territory by creating this mini series, set back in the traditional variety show format where we first met Miss Piggy and Gonzo.   So how is it?

Pretty damn good.

This is a new episode of The Muppet Show on paper.  It’s got Statler and Waldorf heckling, a Muppet News Flash, explosions, the Swedish Chef, musical numbers, classic sketches, “celebrity” guest stars, and even a through-line story behind the scenes.  It’s actually funny.  And corny.  And ultimately, even poignant.

The only gripe I have is with the art.  Yeah, it’s a kid’s book, but the characters all seem a little…not right.  You’re constantly aware throughout that even though the characters’ voices are spot-on, the designs are someone else’s interpretation of how they look.  And it’s a little strange to see them gesturing with arms and fingers, and even….elbows.  Whoah.  But these are just the admittedly nitpicky ramblings of a rabid fan.  And Mr. Landridge is both writing and drawing the thing, so I’ll cut him some slack.

If you love the Muppets, and want a nice, fuzzy trip down memory lane, you can’t beat this comic.

“EAT COMIC!!! EAT COMIC!!! RAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!”

Animal, no!!

I am speaking, of course, of the Sci-Fi channel’s recent decision to rename, no, wait, “rebrand” their network “Syfy”.

Really?

They claim it will still be pronounced the same.  I claim otherwise and will henceforth and forever only pronounce it as it would seem to actually be written; like “jiffy” with an “s”.

Clearly the execs at NBC Universal, who own the channel, are panicking in their space boots.  Their most, really their only popular series, “Battlestar Galactica”, is ending this week, and they must be desperate not to lose their viewership.  So what do you do?  Why, change your name, of course!  The kids will love it!  Because when I decide what shows to watch, the first thing I check?  The name of the network.  “Boy, I’d love to see a Seinfeld rerun, but, I don’t know- it’s on TBS. That’s not a word I know and/or respond to.”

But then, neither is “Syfy”.  In fact, that’s the problem.  The term “sci-fi”, as coined by beloved editor and writer of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, Forrest J. Ackerman, is the proper, time-honored contraction of the science fiction genre.  “Syfy” looks like someone had a brief seizure on their keyboard.  So not only is it just plain not correct, it flies in the face of a geeky tradition we didn’t even realize was a tradition until someone f’ed with it.

But hey, the Nintendo Wii is the most popular console in the galaxy!  And its name, in some circles, means PENIS.   That may be true, but it also has Mario Kart,  Zelda, Metroid, Wii Sports, and Smash Brothers on it.

“Siffie” has Stargate.  Two of them.

Instead of concentrating on blatantly transparent boardroom “synergy” BS, why not instead make sure your remake of Flash Gordon wasn’t worse than the movie? You know, the one from the 80′s.

So, good job, network-who-shall-not-be-named!  Have fun spending your extended unemployment benefits!

On the other hand, Mansquito was pretty epic.

Boy, Geoff Johns likes to get his hands deep and dirty in the sandboxes, doesn’t he?  Between introducing new colored Lanterns, and freeing the city of Kandor, the guy sure doesn’t balk at playing with the core mythologies of the DC pantheon.

In this issue, some of the senior members of the JSA, along with the newly returned Atom Smasher,  accompany the recently de-Shazamed Billy Batson back to the Rock of Eternity to face off against Black Adam, Isis, and, as teased last issue, a corrupted other member of the Marvel family.  You know, the one who also apparently has an evil hair stylist.

As someone without the cash flow, time, or John Nash-level mental capacity to be a DC completist, I appreciated the quick origin of Captain Marvel presented here, which gives all you need to know about Black Adam and his connection to Billy and his family.  Odd that we had to wait until part two of the arc, but I had faith that Johns would get us up to speed at some point.

Pretty standard beat-em up fare here, until we get to a mysterious mist that swallows up Jay Garrick, and this is where the mythology tweaking comes in, as it seems to lead to, let’s just say, someplace new. And lo, I am intrigued.

Of even more note, however, is the “Origins and Omens” back-up story here, by Matthew Sturges and Fernando Pasarin, which falls more into the “Omens” category.  Much like an earlier JSA issue teased upcoming stories with some excerpted panels,  a renegade Oan narrates a future of worse things to come for the legacy team, hinting at even more of a rift forming in the ranks.  With Bill Willingham taking over the reins of the title soon, I think we’re gonna get a lot of awesome coming down in this corner of the DCU.

Your movie, The Dark Knight just earned $1 billion, as announced by Warner Brothers on Friday.  Woo hoo!!

To say this movie is anticipated is like saying the economy is on somewhat of a downward trend.  But anticipated by whom?  Will it do crazy business like Dark Knight? I don’t know.  It’s getting a lot of press as the Next Big Movie, but it has a lot of work to do to get non-diehards into the seats. First off is brand recognition.  People know Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.  But Rorshach?  Dr. Man-what-now?  Secondly, I read Watchmen again last year, and while it is an excellent piece of superhero fiction, it is 20 years old, with everything it’s influenced having come out and been explored since then, including Dark Knight. One of the reasons Watchmen was such a sensation was its timing in the industry, and in society.  The idea of seriously and deeply flawed superheroes, the cold war themes, the perception of “superpowers” in the spandex and global context; all of these at the time were revolutionary for a comic book.  Most who are learning about this for the first time might see it and say, yeah it was a great movie, but huh, I was expecting more.  The production, unlike most modern comic films, also rightly does nothing to change the design of some of the sillier costumes that populate this world, which may also add an obstacle to being taken seriously.

Or perhaps, like 300 did to the mostly uninitiated, it’ll come out of nowhere, sneak up behind them and kick them right in the nards.  Figuratively, of course. In the good way.

Now that the suits at Fox and Warner Brothers have made nice nice, we’ll get to find out in a few weeks…

First of all, take a second and say the title of this post out loud to yourself, without pausing between “Oz” and “number”.  It kinda flows trippingly off the tongue, doesn’t it?  That same jaunty feeling permeates every panel of this great series.

Like many of you, I’m sure,  I’ve never read the original book by L. Frank Baum, or any of the sequels.  Just one of those things I fooled myself into thinking I’d actually do someday.  But whatever I’d heard or seen about it always hinted that there was more to be discovered than in the films.  So when this series, purposefully based on the book, was announced, dollars prepared to bail from my pocket.

In this installment, Dorothy has already been “cycloned” away to the magical land of Oz and been sent on her way by the munchkins to find the great and powerful wizard who might be able to get her home to Kansas.  She has just been joined by the Scarecrow, and sets off with him on her way, where she encounters her final two companions, the Tin Man and the Lion.

The first thing you notice here is that you actually get a more fleshed out backstory for Dorothy’s quirky companions, and Eric Shanower gets a lot of mileage out of the characterizations revealed as each tells their story.  The lamenting Scarecrow in particular reveals the childish, poignant innocence of a newly created lifeform just trying to figure everything out.  He constantly feels foolish for his lack of brains, while at the same time making astute observations about the human condition afforded only to a non-jaded observer.  Think of Commander Data from Star Trek:TNG, and you get the idea (many of the characters even speak in a simple cadence, with no contractions).  As kind of a man-child myself, this stuff always hits me where I live.

The Tin Man’s origin alone is a good indicator that we’re not in the movie realm anymore, Toto, as it’s very sad, and surprisingly macabre for a children’s story.

And now the art.  Skottie Young does a magnificent job on this.  The whimsical curlicues and rough lines are a perfect match for this story, and evoke all the warmth, fuzziness, and invention of Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes. Jean-Francois Beaulieu’s coloring also deserves mention, especially for the sepia sequences and sunrises, which coat the eyes like honey.

This series is the cup of warm cider you sip as you envelop yourself with a blanket in front of a fireplace and the winter winds howl in vain outside your window.

Just because.