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Can bad movies get better on reflection?  I saw a film this weekend that I didn't enjoy at all and yet I keep hearing the theme song playing in my noggin and keep reflecting on the experience.  That doesn't happen with most films made in Hollywood.

This film was made far outside of Hollywood.  In Colma.  That's a suburb of San Francisco which is best know apparently for having far more dead people buried in its many cemetaries than people living in the city.

The film is called, "Colma, the Musical" and from its engaging trailer and high rating over at Rotten Tomatoes, I decided to give it a chance.  I love to discover gems that are out of the mainstream and was hoping this would be one of them. 

It's a musical, shot on digital video on a very, very, very low budget.  I'd say no budget.  I was hoping that would actually add to its charm but I found the performances, writing and direction disappointing. 

Am I sorry I saw it?  Nope.  I'm sorry I dragged a friend to it.  It was the first time we saw a movie together and I knew I was taking a chance with the selection but if it had been a winner it's something we could have discovered together. 

But I'm still thinking about the film...so maybe it wasn't a failure.  And maybe it'd be a great film to revisit sometime down the lane. 

Oh, and having just watched the trailer again...I want to see that film!  I guess that's the power of a good trailer.

Have you ever watched a newscast and seen the same shots show up over and over again?  Fat people walking down the street from the neck down?  Smokers lighting up a butt outdoors?  Partiers downing beer with friends?

That's stock footage that gets used when there's no new footage to show.

Sometimes those shots have to be retired because we've all seen them too many freakin' times.   Such is the case with this classic clip.  This will be the very last time you see the fake dead bird with his feet in the air, used too often in a West Nile Virus story.

What We Have Here is a Dead Polly  R.I.P. Fake Dead Bird.  Died for the last time on 8/17/07.

So long, fake dead bird with his feet in the air.  We hardly knew ye.

With Merv Griffin's passing, I was recalling how much he was enjoyed in my household when I was growing up.  We all gathered to watch his afternoon syndicated talkshow which introduced me to a lot of old-time show biz folks and a lot of young up-and-comers as well.

It was a place where people like Totie Fields and Ann Miller could always drop in but Merv also gave big breaks to people like David Letterman and Garry Shandling, too. 

Unlike the mild Mike Douglas, Merv always had a freewheeling sense of humor and I recall my dad especially roaring with laughter most days.  Okay, dad was an easy target.  But Merv did have great comic timing, as I was reminded when I watched this video of Merv singing his early novelty hit, "I've Got a Loverly Bunch of Coconuts."

Doing a quick search, I was amazed how much Merv there is on YouTube.  I'm sorry to say my two favorite guests aren't there.  I loved it when either of the two Orsons would stop by.  Orson Bean and Orson Welles were both tremendous story tellers and you could tell Merv loved having them as guests.

Merv Griffin Dies 8/12/07 The entertainment world has lost a legend. Merv Griffin, who created the hit game shows "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" died of prostate cancer at the age of 82.

The Skyfox chopper caught some fun footage today for all you aviation fans.  The Bed Bull stunt plane took off from the deck of the Midway and spent ten minutes doing some daring loop-de-loops around the bay. 

It's take-off is remarkable.  It becomes something close to a helicopter as it suddenly goes into a steep climb from the deck.  This is raw unedited footage so bear with the occasional fumbling of the camera on the helicopter.  They managed to captured some great shots.

Red Bull Stunt Plane 8/8/07 The Skyfox chopper shot some footage of the Red Bull stunt plane rehearsing before a big air show. This raw, unedited footage follows the plane from it's spectacular take-off from the deck of the Midway to it's landing. Runs 10 min.

My dad loved planes although we were rarely up in the skies ourselves as a family.  Our trips were usually car treks, filled with lots of sturm und drang...whatever that means.  It can't be good from the sound of it.

But dad would often times drag us to the local airport and park the car outside the fence by the landing strip on a quiet evening and we would sit there with our Dairy Queen treats and watch the planes take-off and land.  Yes, it was every bit as exciting as it sounds...but those Dilly Bars were tasty.

Here's some more airshow video from our archives, in honor of my dad.  Unwrap a Dilly and enjoy.

Miramar Air Show 10/14/06 A salute to the Blue Angels highlights the annual event.

Miramar Air Show 10/12/06 The best civilian and military pilots take to the air as the show opens at MCAS Miramar.

Miramar Air Show #2 10/12/06 They're fast, they're loud, and boy will they draw a big crowd this weekend, the Blue Angels are in town for the Miramar airshow. Fox-6's Sherri Palmeri gives us preview.

When I wrote yesterday about my love of streaming video on the web, it was really just part one of my blog entry.  I didn't have time to talk about the newest and most welcome web video treasure trove: The The Balcony Archives debuted online Thursday.   All of the movie reviews to have ever appeared on Siskel and Ebert's and now on Ebert and Roeper's movie review shows are online and searchable.

I grew up in Wisconsin.  With my rabbit ear antennae on my little TV, I could just barely pick up the distant and flickering images of the Chicago public TV station where Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert did their first program, and I followed them to commercial TV when their show became "Sneak Previews", then "At the Movies," and then "Siskel and Ebert."  

I still have a VHS copy of the tribute show Roger did for Gene Siskel after Gene passed away.  They were unique as critics in that their exchanges were often more entertaining than the movies they reviewed.

After Gene's death, the show carried on with guest hosts until settling on Richard Roeper who has now grown comfortable with Roger, and I in time grew comfortable with him.   As Roger recovers from his own health crisis, Richard has done a fine job of holding down the fort.

Incidentially, when Roger made his first public appearance again after his surgury, I put some video of him and his wife on the site:

Roger Ebert Interview Ebert makes first public appearance since cancer surgery. Runs 3:20 4/26/07

Now the great news is that every single review that Roger, Gene and Richard have ever done can be accessed on their website.  Just do a quick search and the review pops right up.  My confession here...the first movie I searched for was "Battlefield Earth."  I wanted to cozy up to some good old fashion thumbs down action.

But to see Gene again, I chose next their classic disagreement over "Blue Velvet."  Gene never let Roger forget that he gave David Lynch's film a thumbs down.  I love seeing them spar once again.

Some day I may tell you of the time I met Roger and Gene, or even better, the time I was told "Don't let Mike Tyson walk through that door."

Til then, the balcony is closed.

Are you a crossword puzzle addict?   I go through periods when I can't get enough of them.  I'll buy the softbound books and fill in page after page.  Then I go cold turkey and try to swear off, only to be tempted by an unsolved puzzle left out on a friend's kitchen counter. 

Recently, our webmaster, Aaron, told me that we had some cool new features on the FOX6 website in the Entertainment section, including gossip, movie reviews, comic strips and...puzzles!  Sure enough, we have a new daily Flash-based crossword puzzle which is really fun to solve.

The interface is terrific.  You can quickly go from entry to entry and fill in the blanks.  Enter a wrong letter and a quick backspace gives you a second chance...and a third and fouth if you need it.  I have to admit, I have only tried it on the "Regular Skill Level" which tells you immediately if you've entered a wrong letter.  The "Master Skill Level" sends you out into the cruel up-and-down maze on your own.

We have so many features on the FOX6 website that many of our own staff here in the station are surprised to discover a certain feature.   But imagine my surprise this afternoon when I mentioned the crossword puzzle to Aaron and he said, "We have a crossword puzzle?"

I showed him today's puzzle and the elegant interface and before you know it we were hooked and had to finish the thing.  But if management asks, we were working.  It was important research.  And it led directly to this blog entry.

Give it a try.  Or maybe you prefer one of the other many puzzles on the site.  Let us know what you like and dislike and what you'd like to see on the FOX6 website.