A Very ScreenFix Christmas

It’s that time of year again folks, the magical day that children spend all year waiting for: the day the winter Doctor Who special airs. To celebrate, each member of our writing staff is contributing their favorite movie featuring the other important event of Doctor Who Day- a minor holiday called Christmas. Enjoy.

A Muppet Christmas Carol (Ryan)
What happens when you mix the beloved Dickens classic about the true meaning of Christmas with a bunch of singing felt puppets? It may sound like your 11th grade English Teacher’s “progressive teaching style,” but it is in fact one of, if not the, best Muppet movie of the 90’s. The 90’s were a magical time when the Muppets started redoing classic pieces of literature with their own Muppet-y twist, starting with A Christmas Carol. There are so many reasons to love this movie. Gonzo as Charles Dickens, the omniscient story-teller, Kermit as Bob Crachet, and of course Michael Caine playing the original Scrooge. The movie is filled to bursting with memorable songs, hilarious jokes, and a surprisingly faithful adaptation of Dickens’s most well known work. With the Muppets well on their way back to the top, why not grab the entire family and force them to sit down and watch the Muppets for the second holiday in a row. Trust me, they’ll thank you when it’s over.


How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Brian)
When you want wisdom dispensed with equal parts zany premise, made-up words, and sometimes-strained end-rhyme, there is no better source than the esteemed Dr. Seuss. To champion the cause of environmental conservation, you have the Lorax (he speaks for the trees). For graduation gifts, a copy of “Oh the Places You’ll Go” is expected, generally with a three-copy minimum. And at Christmas time, you complain about the interruption of regular television, and find yourself watching the animated classic from the 60s, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, sometimes in various states of inebriation. Seuss manages to convey the meaning of Christmas without any specific religious message or inherent Santa Claus mythology, and we somehow get a happy ending out of lies, thievery, cruelty, bitterness, and jealousy. Maybe the reason I enjoy How the Grinch Stole Christmas so much is that the Grinch actually spends the vast majority of the feature ruining Christmas, delighting my inner-Scrooge. Roast beast is, after all, a feast I can’t stand in the least, either. And let’s not forget my favorite Christmas carol, “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” which is also excellent for teaching simile and metaphor, and also does nicely for particularly unpleasant breakups. With several airings on most major networks and a few cable channels, such as ABC Family, during the holiday season, it’s not hard to find and definitely worth catching to assuage your Christmas stress.


Home Alone (Amanda)
What says Christmas more than the story of a busy family forgetting to pack their 8 year old son for the holiday vacation in France? Thus begins the story of Home Alone. Macaulay Culkin stars as Kevin, who thinks being forgotten is the perfect Christmas gift. Shortly after the beginning of his personal party, he discovers that his “empty” home has become the target for two of the most inept thieves ever seen who call themselves the “Wet Bandits.” Unfortunately for the thieves, Kevin is, perhaps, the most industrious and creative child ever left alone to defend his home. What isn’t to love about the series of tricks and traps Kevin plots for the unsuspecting criminals? (except for the mess he left for his parents to clean up but it serves them right for forgetting him.) Home Alone is packed with comedy the whole family can enjoy and for other children of the 90’s it’s a trip down memory lane!

And if you enjoyed the first one, try the second movie Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. This time, Kevin’s family forgets him at Christmas for a second year, except this time he’s on his own in New York City.


Elf (Zoe)
I will probably watch this one at least three more times before Sunday while I consolidate and wrap my presents. It just puts a smile on my face every time I watch it; hell, I’m smiling right now just thinking about it. Elf is about Buddy, a baby human who stows away in Santa’s toy bag and ends up back at the North Pole. Raised by elves, he grows up to be Will Ferrell and the single most cheerful person I have ever seen on my TV. After discovering that he was adopted, Buddy goes on a quest to find his biological father in New York City, who happens to be on the naughty list. It sounds really silly when you type it out like that. However, the plot really isn’t the important part here. The reason this movie works is almost exclusively Will Ferrell. It’s as if he took that feeling you got when you were a kid setting out the milk and cookies for Santa (and carrots for the Reindeer of course) on Christmas Eve with the lights dimmed and the tree glowing softly, when everything is just about family and the Christmas spirit, not all the stuff you’re going to get when you wake up in five hours, and made a character out of that.

Relentlessly optimistic, excited and faithful in his own way, Buddy is pure Christmas spirit with none of the cynicism about Christmas that we gather as we age. Elf is hilarious to boot, with a terrific score and featuring a blond Zooey Deschanel (whose last name I spelled correctly on the first try, hoo-rah). Honorable mention- Hogfather (It’s on Netflix, look it up).


A Charlie Brown Christmas Special (Scotty)
There comes a time in one’s life where Christmas isn’t the same. The things that used to excite you as a child now seem dull. The presents, the decorations, and the pageantry all seem vapid and material. And it sucks big time.

Charlie Brown is going through this midlife crisis while still in primary school. All the aspects of Christmas from which his friends seem to be deriving joy don’t really interest him anymore. His attempt to recapture the wonder of Christmas fails miserably. Plus, there was almost a case of tree homicide. Chuck almost gives up on Christmas entirely until Linus schools him and pretty much everyone in earshot.

This is why A Charlie Brown Christmas Special is so great. It shows that the way to get over the adult melancholy of Christmas is not to revert to a childlike state where commercialism still amuses you, but to look beyond the superficial and find the deeper spiritual meaning behind the holiday. Christmas is not about Santa, elves, gifts or having a pretty Christmas tree. It’s about something small and almost insignificant having the promise of bringing great joy.

That and the soundtrack is awesome.

(Cue Linus and Lucy)


Die Hard (James)
‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the Nakatomi skyscraper
Not a creature was stirring, except the guard with his newspaper.
John McClane stalked terrorists in air-ducts with care
In hopes to save his wife with her huge 80’s hair.

The children were home, all snuggled in bed
With an illegal immigrant watching over their heads.
Without any socks or even a shoe
And no outside help, what will McClane do?

When down on the plaza there arose such a clatter,
Al sprang from his post to see what was the matter.
A body from a window falls down on his car
He wondered where all of the other police are.


“Come Karl, and Tony, and Fritz, and Theo!
And you Uli and Heinrich, and Kristoff, and Franco!
To the top of the roof, I’ll fight you all!”
And defeated every one in a mighty brawl.


Down to the garage goes the evil man
Hanz thinks he’s finished his dastardly plan
When from out of the night comes Argyle quickly
and rams the terrorist with his limo.


Up sprang McClane, with a plan for attack
He pulled out a gun from the tape on his back
And I heard him exclaim as he shot down poor Hanz,
“Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker!”


What do you think? Did we miss your favorite Christmas film? Let us know what you think in the comments, and from everyone here at ScreenFix, have a Merry Christmas!

New On Fox: A Look at Fall 2011

Last week Fox released its schedule for Fall 2011 and Spring of 2012. Returning are some old favorites including House, Glee, and Bones, set to continue airing at their usual times. Surprisingly, Fringe continues to hold on to one of the Friday night death slots, previously used to kill of shows such as Dollhouse and Firefly.

New this Fall:

• New on Monday night is Terra Nova, a science fiction adventure. The year is 2149 and Earth is overcrowded and overdeveloped. Luckily, a particle accelerator unexpectedly finds a fracture in time that allows travel back to prehistoric Earth. The decision is made to start resettling people in the past with the hope of creating a better future. The story follows the Shannon family as they look for a new beginning, however they quickly discover that things are not as awesome in dinosaur times as they seem. Terra Nova looks interesting and potentially enjoyable. To me it seems like a crossover between the Swiss Family Robinson and Jurassic Park but with time travel. The cast is filled with actors with some experience, from shows that I have never heard of, but with Steven Spielberg listed as an executive producer, it might stand half a chance of success.

• New for Tuesday is New Girl (working title), a half hour sitcom staring Zoe Deschanel as Jess Day, a “offbeat and adorable girl in her lat twenties who, after a bad breakup, moves in with three single guys” (fox.com). Awkward moments and hilarity ensue as they, along with Jess's best friend Cece, become a dysfunctional sort of family. Overall, the trailer for the show contains a few funny moments and seems to be well suited for a short slot between Glee and Raising Hope. I'll probably catch the first few episodes online and decide if it's worth following.

• The next new non-reality show for the new Fox fall line up is a comedy called I Hate My Teenage Daughter (working title), which will be airing at 9:30pm on Wednesday nights. Annie (Jamie Pressly) and Nikki (Katie Finneran) star as best friends and single mothers trying to raise their teenage daughters. Annie and Nikki's original intent was to give their daughters the lives they themselves never had, but inadvertently the mothers end up creating new versions of the girls who bullied them through their teenage years. Realizing their mistakes, they now must try to fix what has been broken. I Hate My Teenage Daughter looks like it might have some funny moments as it takes a comedic look at the sometimes complicated mother-daughter relationship dynamic.

• I would be remiss in a review of Fox's fall TV lineup if I did not mention the two and a half hours it will be dedicating to The X-Factor on Wednesday (8-9:30) and Thursday (8-9) nights. This is the same block of time reserved for American Idol in the spring and is another variety of singing competition. The X Factor is really going to have to be something special if they hope to make it distinctive from every other singing competition on television, especially with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul as judges on the show. Joining them are Antonio “L.A.” Reid and Cheryl Cole. I'm really not sure how I feel about Fox dedicating so much time to yet another singing completion. We all know that there are people in America who can sing. Pick a new topic, please.

• I also feel the need to mention Allen Gregory, the new addition to Fox's Sunday night comedy lineup. The show is about an ultra-smart and pretentious seven year old who leaves the homeschooling of his father to join elementary school with children his own age. The show looks to be about in line with the rest of the Fox Sunday night shows,which have never really been an interest to me, but some people find hilarious. If you like shows like Family Guy and The Simpsons, it might be worth it to check out Allen Gregory, airing at 8:30 on Sunday night.

For a more detailed description of the above mentioned shows, check out http://www.fox.com/programming/. Stop back sometime in the winter months for a look at the new mid-season pickups including Alcatraz, The Finder, and Napoleon Dynamite. Feel free to sound off below on your thoughts for new TV this Fall on Fox.

A Few Gaps in the Evidence: A First Look at "Body of Proof"

ABC's new crime drama “Body of Proof” presents the flip side of most typical medical or crime dramas. The show asks, “What can you learn about a person's life and the way they died from their corpse?” Dr. Megan Hunt, played by Dana Delany, is the sassy, borderline bitter, former neurosurgeon who left her promising career to become a medical examiner following a serious car accident. The accident resulted in a condition where her hands sporadically go numb, for which there is no physical cause. She is joined in her investigations by Peter Dunlop (Nicholas Bishop) who is a “medical legal investigator.” Together, they collect evidence from the body of the murdered individual and look for clues to catch the killer. What is unusual about Megan's approach to her role as an ME is that she is very involved in the overall process, going as far as to accompany the detectives to interviews with suspects, witnesses and family members and even conducting interviews of her own.

While the show focuses on a different crime each episode, the overall story is connected through the conflicts of Megan's life. Her uniquely involved approach to her role as an ME puts her at odds with the detectives of the Philadelphia police department, particularly the two unlucky detectives who end up more or less assigned to her. Detectives Samantha Baker (Sonja Sohn) and Bud Morris (John Carroll Lynch) are initially depicted as somewhat bumbling and ignorant until they start to believe what Megan is trying to tell them about the body and the suspect. However, after a rocky first encounter or two, they develop into a formidable team of crime solvers, employing traditional police work and Megan's unconventional medical examination techniques to bring the guilty to justice.

The course of the story is also punctuated by issues caused by Megan's detachment from the world around her. Her failed marriage and strained relationship with her daughter Lacie (Mary Matilyn Mouser) are a constant source of disappointment, vexation, and eventually growth for Megan as she tries to figure out how to make amends with Lacie for her previous absence while pursuing her neurosurgery career. As Megan reaches out and connects with her daughter, the audience can connect with Megan and try to better understand her.

Megan also seems to have issues connecting to her coworkers in the morgue. Thus far, she seems to have almost constant friction with her superior, Dr. Kate Murphy (Jeri Ryan). Megan is not at all intimidated by Dr. Murphy, who seems to have very little control over her. Dr. Ethan Gross (Geoffrey Arend) and Dr. Curtis Brumfield (Windell Middlebrooks) provide the comic relief element as the quirky sidekicks to the strong and serious female protagonist, Megan.

“Body of Proof” recently aired its fourth episode and I have waited so long to post this critique in the hopes of giving the writers time to fill in some of the gaps in the story. One of the important background pieces of information the show has yet to explain is how a Medical Examiner is allowed to tag along on interviews with families and potential suspects. While her smart comments and ability to see to the point of the matter have, thus far, proved useful to solving the crimes, it seems a little unusual for a simple ME to be allowed that kind of privilege. You don't see “Castle's” Lanie or “NCIS's” Ducky tagging along outside of the lab following the initial recovery of the body. While I appreciate the attempt at a different look at crime solving, I need an explanation of her unprecedented privilege if the story is going to be believable.

The second gap I have been hoping to see repaired is the presence of Peter Dunlap. While he calls himself a “medical legal investigator” in the second episode, we have yet to see any explanation for his presence on the show. There are other detective characters to do the police work, yet Peter has a fancy badge to flash around at people and spends time looking for clues involving the case. Peter's main role seems to be as Megan's guide to the world. We are told that Megan was very busy as a neurosurgeon and, consequently, lost her connections to her now-ex husband and daughter, as well as to anyone resembling a friend. Peter's job seems to be to help Megan connect with other people. You can tell Peter is doing well in this function when the ABC-created mini-description for the fourth episode is “Megan starts taking an interest in what is going on around her.”

Regarding character development, the show has significantly improved since the pilot episode. Megan is much more likeable now that we've gotten to see more of what makes her tick. Her philosophy for her role as a medical examiner is honorable and personable in a way we would not expect from the distant Megan Hunt. The secondary characters have become more involved in the story and have developed into real characters who take an active role in the plot's progression.

“Body of Proof” offers a different perspective on crime solving that is worth checking out. While it starts slow, it does improve once it moves past the pilot and starts working to the heart of what the characters and the show are really about. If you were considering giving up on “Body of Proof” or were thinking of picking it up, I offer this piece of advice: it does get better, so hang in there. I decided to stick around and have started to see it as a show with a lot of potential.

Welcome to ScreenFix

Welcome, pop culture aficionados, to a blog by nerds for nerds. Our goal here is to take the latest in pop culture and try to build a community around it, whether that is spreading the word on the latest cool shows, discussing the biggest blockbusters, or pontificating on the meaning of blowing people away in the latest FPS. Music, movies, books, games, TV; anything is fair game here. This blog was started by a group of people who met in college and found that they all spent more time talking about movies and last night’s episode of “How I Met Your Mother” than was really healthy. So, I guess now it is appropriate for us to introduce ourselves:

Ryan – My major vice is TV and I follow close to two dozen shows. I came up with the idea for this blog mostly out of boredom and a desire to find other people that want to talk about TV as much as I do. I really like sitcoms and police procedurals though I still don’t know why. I have a B.A. in English so I tend to over analyze things.

Zoe - While I definitely on average watch more TV than movies, I have been trying recently to better keep up with both although I may or may not have ten saved episodes of Chuck on my DVR. I have a thing for off beat plots and historical dramas but good luck getting me to watch anything scary, Ghost Hunters is my limit.

Brian - I like to pick and choose my pop culture according to my whims, which flit unpredictably between movies, television, video games, and music. Fantasy and science fiction are my comfort zone when it comes to fiction, though like most 18-24 year olds, I’ve wasted countless hours on the Law & Order franchise, CSI, and NCIS as well.

James – Film and Television are my specialty. I actually work in the industry, which means that unlike the rest of the poor sops who write for this blog, I can write off my DVD purchases on my taxes as research material. I'm an aspiring cinematographer and I'm currently working mostly as a PA or grip. I also dabble in video games and literature. I've got a degree in Film and Cinematography Studies as well as Philosophy so that means that I have a private collegiate institution that says I know what I'm talking about.

Manda - The hours I spend reading and watching television and movies have significantly increased since my college graduation. I enjoy things from a very broad spectrum of genres. While I have a soft spot for science fiction and stories with historical settings, I have been known to get drawn in to the occasional medical drama marathon.

drmamaje (Jess) - I too have a degree in film, with some hope to break into the industry. My tastes range from the popular to the obscure, from Die Hard to Dil Se. I can probably tell you more about Hou Hsaio Hsien then you would ever want to know.

Scotty - It's a rather long story on how ended up contributing to this blog. I am the only contributor, so far, with a (mostly) quantitative background. Mostly, I do reviews with Zoe in a dialog format. This usually entails us sitting at the same table with Zoe typing something profound while I play Farmville. Sometimes I interject with witty phrases such as "I liked it" and "bleh." One day I might write review of my own, but that would require me to write something longer than a paragraph.

That’s us. I assume the cast of characters might change slightly from time to time but these are the brave souls that were somehow convinced to put their names to this blog. Have something to say? If you are interested in contributing to ScreenFix send an email to Info.ScreenFix@gmail.com and let me know what you want to talk about.