'Ghost Town' deserves more box office receipts!

Ghost Town (2008)
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear
Director: David Koepp
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

After misanthropic dentist Bertram Pincus (Gervais) dies during an operation and is brought back to life, he gains the ability to see and speak to the spirits of the dead. One of them (Kinnear) badgers Pincus into breaking up his widow's new relationship because he fears she is marrying a gold digger. In the process, Pincus finds himself falling in love with the widow (Leoni) and finally starts living life. But can love find a way when the spirits of the dead are being pests?

"Ghost Town" is a touching film about living life when we can and recognizing love and taking advantage of it when it comes our way. It delivers its messages in quirky and very oblique ways, with the love between Pincus and the widow first starting to bloom over the mummified remains of an Egyptian prince and Greg Kinnear's character only discovering how truly to love after he's already dead.

Although it deals with weighty subjects, the film keeps a breezy pace and an upbeat atmosphere throughout, an atmosphere that's enhanced by the inherent charm possessed by and on-screen chemistry generated by the the film's three stars--Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Tea Leoni.

Gervais and Kinnear play characters who aren't terribly likable, yet the charm of the actors is such that the audience spends the film wanting them to reform their ways and find the happiness they both need. It is also infused with humor that ranges from subtle to borderline slapstick, with every single scene offering something that will at the very least have you smiling but more often than not have you chuckling or laughing loudly. (Even the tagline brought a grin to my face: "He sees dead people... and they annoy him." It's funny and it's also a perfect summary of the movie!)

If you're a lover of ghost movies, the film is also worth checking out due to its unusual ideas for what causes hauntings. Given the last ghost movie I saw from David Koepp--"Stir of Echoes" (click here to read my review)--was pretty traditional, it was a pleasant surprise to see something fresh and original here, a twist in keeping with the overall themes of the story but still one that comes as a surprise.

"Ghost Town" had an undeservedly weak opening weekend, debuting in 8th place in the US box office. I recommend you check it out before it's gone. (That recommendation goes twice if you've complained about the lack of good, well-crafted and intelligent movies in the the theaters recently. If you don't support the good movies with your dollars, we're just going to see more and more crap showing up on the big screen.)

More calls for savagery from the 'Religion of Peace'

Last week, one of THE top "holy men" in Saudi Arabia put out a call for TV executives to be murdered by the faithful followers of the Religion of Peace.

This week, a member of the "Higher Council of Clerics" is saying that astrologers should be tried as sorcerers and put to death if found guilty.

I have to wonder: If the sort of idiot who believes there is ANY validity to astrology--let alone thinks it's some sort of magic--can be admitted to the "Higher Council of Clerics," I have to wonder what sort of retarded morons make up the lower council.

What's next? Fatwas declaring that Chinese restaurants should be burned to the ground as lairs of sorcery because of fortune cookies?

Arabs and Muslims may not all be backwards idiots, but what passes for intellectuals among them certainly are.

RIYADH, Sept 14 (Reuters) - A senior Saudi cleric has said purveyors of horoscopes on Arab television should face the death penalty, a paper said on Sunday, days after another cleric argued death for TV owners.

"Sorcerers who appear on satellite channels who are proven to be sorcerers have committed a great crime ... and the Muslim consensus is that the apostate's punishment is death by the sword," Sheikh Saleh al-Fozan told al-Madina daily.

"Those who call in to these shows should not be accorded Muslim rites when they die," the prominent cleric added.

Many of the hundreds of Arab satellite channels have sprung up in recent years specialise in horoscopes and other advice to callers on solving problems that is seen as "sorcery".

In their capacity as judges, clerics of Saudi Arabia's austere form of Islam often sentence "sorcerers" to death.

Fozan, a member of the Higher Council of Clerics, was responding to a controversy ignited by a Council colleague, Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, who said last week that owners of Arab TV shows should be tried and face death over some shows.

Lohaidan, who is the head of Saudi Arabia's Islamic sharia courts, told Saudi radio: "I want to advise the owners of these channels that broadcast programmes with indecency and vulgarity and warn them of the consequences ... They can be put to death through the judicial process."

He was referring to comedy shows and soap operas airing in Ramadan, a month of fasting when Muslims are supposed to focus on God. Critics say Ramadan has become an orgy of food and television consumption once the fast ends at sunset.

Fozan said entertainment channel owners should be "banished" but stopped short of advocating the death penalty for them.

"The position of Muslims and their rulers about these channels is that they should be talked to and if they continue airing depravity and shamelessness they should be banished from this place and others brought in their place."


Turkish soap operas that became hugely popular in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries this year provoked a storm of anger among Saudi conservatives who fear the spread of secular culture in the key U.S. ally.

The government's official advisor on religious affairs, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Al al-Sheikh, said in July it was not Islamically permissible to watch the Turkish serials.

The owners of Arab entertainment channels, including MBC, ART, Orbit, Rotana and LBC, are mostly Saudi royals and businessmen closely allied to them.

Concerned about the country's international image, some key members of the Saudi royal family have promoted liberal reforms. The clerics fear plans to limit their extensive influence in what is the world's largest oil exporter.

(Reporting by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Muslim 'religious leader' calls for murder of TV execs

Ah, the Religion of Peace (of the Grave). Now, one of the leading "holy men" of Islam has said it's okay to kill television executives over what they broadcast.

From the AP....

A senior Saudi cleric has issued a religious decree saying the owners of television networks broadcasting "depravation and debauchery" may be killed, Al-Arabiya television reported on Friday.

"The owners of these channels propagate depravation and debauchery," said Saleh al-Luhaidan, chief justice of the supreme judicial council, the highest judicial authority in the ultra-conservative Saudi kingdom.

He made the remarks on radio in response to a caller who asked him to give an opinion on what he said were "immoral" programmes on Arab television during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, a source at Al-Arabiya said.

"It is lawful to kill ... the apostles of depravation... if their evil cannot be easily removed through simple sanctions," Luhaidan said, according to excerpt of the remarks broadcast on the Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya.

The situation is "serious ... the degradation of morals is a form of perversion on earth," he added.

During Ramadan, when Muslims must fast from dawn to dusk, Arab satellite televisions broadcast lavish productions, including soap operas and mini-series, some with historical and religious themes, as well as game shows.

A popular soap that was broadcast by Al-Arabiya for several weeks preceding Ramadan already stirred passions in Saudi Arabia, where the grand mufti branded it "subversive" and "anti-Islamic."

Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, head of Saudi Arabia's highest religious authority, earlier this year issued a fatwa against "Noor" and decreed that any channel broadcasting the series is "an enemy of God and his Prophet."

The Turkish-made soap opera dubbed into Arabic tells the story of Mohannad and his equally stunning wife Noor as they wrestle to reconcile the conflicting pressures of traditional and modern worlds.

Al-Arabiya is a news channel based in Dubai and part of the Saudi group MBC.


Someone remind me why we're supposed to be "tolerant" and "respectful" of towards these savage assholes. Things like this need to be pointed out often and in the most obvious of places. There is NO place for Islam in a civilized culture when people like Saleh al-Luhaidan can be a "chief justice" of anything but a inmate-run kangaroo court in an insane asylum.

And if I'm painting with too broad a brush, can someone point me to the fatwa from an equally high-ranking "holy man" that condemns Saleh al-Luhaidan as the psychopath that he is and calls for his removal as chief justice for issuing blanket calls for murder over television programmes?

More idiotic savagery from Saudi Arabian "intellectuals"

Last week, one of THE top "holy men" in Saudi Arabia put out a call for TV executives to be murdered by the faithful followers of the Religion of Peace.

This week, a member of the "Higher Council of Clerics" is saying that astrologers should be tried as sorcerers and put to death if found guilty.

I have to wonder: If the sort of idiot who believes there is ANY validity to astrology--let alone thinks it's some sort of magic--can be admitted to the "Higher Council of Clerics," I have to wonder what sort of retarded morons make up the lower council.

What's next? Fatwas declaring that Chinese restraunts should be burned to the ground as lairs of sorcery because of fortune cookies?

Arabs and Muslims may not all be backwards idiots, but what passes for scholars among certainly are.

RIYADH, Sept 14 (Reuters) - A senior Saudi cleric has said purveyors of horoscopes on Arab television should face the death penalty, a paper said on Sunday, days after another cleric argued death for TV owners.

"Sorcerers who appear on satellite channels who are proven to be sorcerers have committed a great crime ... and the Muslim consensus is that the apostate's punishment is death by the sword," Sheikh Saleh al-Fozan told al-Madina daily.

"Those who call in to these shows should not be accorded Muslim rites when they die," the prominent cleric added.

Many of the hundreds of Arab satellite channels have sprung up in recent years specialise in horoscopes and other advice to callers on solving problems that is seen as "sorcery".

In their capacity as judges, clerics of Saudi Arabia's austere form of Islam often sentence "sorcerers" to death.

Fozan, a member of the Higher Council of Clerics, was responding to a controversy ignited by a Council colleague, Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, who said last week that owners of Arab TV shows should be tried and face death over some shows.

Lohaidan, who is the head of Saudi Arabia's Islamic sharia courts, told Saudi radio: "I want to advise the owners of these channels that broadcast programmes with indecency and vulgarity and warn them of the consequences ... They can be put to death through the judicial process."

He was referring to comedy shows and soap operas airing in Ramadan, a month of fasting when Muslims are supposed to focus on God. Critics say Ramadan has become an orgy of food and television consumption once the fast ends at sunset.

Fozan said entertainment channel owners should be "banished" but stopped short of advocating the death penalty for them.

"The position of Muslims and their rulers about these channels is that they should be talked to and if they continue airing depravity and shamelessness they should be banished from this place and others brought in their place."


Turkish soap operas that became hugely popular in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries this year provoked a storm of anger among Saudi conservatives who fear the spread of secular culture in the key U.S. ally.

The government's official advisor on religious affairs, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdelaziz Al al-Sheikh, said in July it was not Islamically permissible to watch the Turkish serials.

The owners of Arab entertainment channels, including MBC, ART, Orbit, Rotana and LBC, are mostly Saudi royals and businessmen closely allied to them.

Concerned about the country's international image, some key members of the Saudi royal family have promoted liberal reforms. The clerics fear plans to limit their extensive influence in what is the world's largest oil exporter.

(Reporting by Andrew Hammond; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Where are the calls for boycotts against MTV?

Very Special Protestors and their Even More Special Spokespeople were all lathered up for no reason over "Tropic Thunder". It's been three days since MTV aired Russell Brand using "retarded" (or "the R-word" as Very Special Spokespeople like to say) in a truly derogatory and insulting way, yet I;'ve not heard a peep from the Special Olympics or any other group who were driving short buses to screenings of "Tropic Thunder".

You can watch the bit by clicking on this video:

Where are the calls for boycotts against Viacom, Russell Brand, and MTV?

The top features on the Special Olympics homepage (the group that seemed to be the loudest when it came to the "Tropic Thunder" boycott) still has their distortions about the movie's content at the top of their home page and at the rediculous spin-off site r-word.com.

Is it too much to ask for some consistency from these "advocacy groups"? Hell, even some blogs that went on and on about how "Tropic Thunder" should be boycotted seem to be giving MTV and Brand a pass.

Perrhaps it's okay to actually use the "R-word" if it's being direected at a sitting American president while makinng at attempt to boost a candidate running for the office. The silence from the "advocacy groups" makes me think it is.

Or maybe there was another agenda involved as far as "Tropic Thunder" was concerned? Or maybe the other agenda is showing up here... the "advocates for the disabled" are okay with the "r-word" so long as it's being directed at someone they don't like?

I'm even more convinced now than ever that these "advocates" are a bunch of hypocrites looking to line their pockets and further their personal political agendas through the exploitation of the Very Special (aka the retards).

UFOs, mysticism clash in 'Black Harvest'

Black Harvest (2007)
Story and Art: Josh Howard
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

An investigative journalist (for a blog) comes to a small Texas town to witness an annual display of lights in the skies that have elevated the area to a Roswell-like reverence among UFO enthusiasts. When he almost runs over a young woman in the road--a young woman who vanished without a trace three years ago and now has returned under equally mysterious circumstances--he finds himself tangled in a web of treachery, deceit and unholy bargains where the payment is coming due.

"Black Harvest" is an excellent graphic novel from the pen of writer/artist Josh Howard, the creator of the zombie series "Dead@17" and "The Lost Books of Eve". Like those other works, this book incorporates touches of Christianity (although less than "Dead@17" and far less than "The Lost Books of Eve") into a creepy tale that will remind you of "The X-Files" television series at its best.


Howard continues to refine both his writing and artwork since the debut of "Dead@17" and here he delivers a perfectly paced story where he creates a dark world where aliens, supernatural horrors, secret socieites and dark secrets can and will consume entire communities. Howard's story is sharpened by skillfully written dialogue that gives each character a unique voice and personality, bringing them fully to life and making us care about their fates.

Unfortunately, while Howard does a fabulous job at building tension and juggling several mysteries, midirections and disparate elements that would clash and create a jumbled sloppy mess in the hands of a lesser creator (like what happened with "The X-Files" at its worst), he doesn't quite manage to deliver a finale that's worthy of the build-up. The end of the book is a disappointment and something of a cop-out. I was left asking myself "That's all?", but not in the way that had me wondering if there was going to be a "Black Harvest 2".

The weak ending aside, "Black Harvest" is a well-written, well-drawn book that will be an enjoyable read for anyone who likes a little dark conspiracy and strange beings from beyond with their horror fiction.

'Tropic Thunder' slips to #2 at box office

Well, now I'll stop gloating over the failed boycott of "Tropic Thunder". It was knocked from the #1 position by the pathetic display of "Bangkok Dangerous", a Nicholas Cage-starring action film.

"Tropic Thunder" took in $7.5 million (after one month in theaters) and "Bangkok Dangerous" took in $7.8 million. According to a number of sources, it was the slowest weekend at the box office in five years.

(But the movie that was subject of a retarded call for boycotts is still going strong. And if you haven't seen it, you should. The boycott was based on distortions and lies about what actually takes place in the film. You can read my review of the film here.)