Stuff Ellen wants me to write about.....

This week, John Kalish reported on the retirement of long time controversial reporter Jimmy Breslin.

Jimmy Breslin, a writer for Newsday, retired on November 2nd, the same day as the Presidential elections. His last article was title “I’m Right Again, So I Quit. Beautiful.” This article implied that John Kerry was going to win the election. As we all no, he was wrong.

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Recently the weather has decided to do as it pleases by giving us both sunny days and rainy days. I noticed that when it’s raining, I feel a little mellow and like to listen to slow songs. Coincidently, most slow songs are breakup songs so it can get a little depressing, but it does add to the rainy weather. Here’s my list. (in no particular order)

1) Crazy – Patsy Cline
2) Josephine – The Wallflowers
3) Careless Whisper – George Michael
4) Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Connor
5) How Deep Is Your Love – Bee Gees
6) Honestly For You – Tony Lucca
7) It Ain’t Over Till It’s Over – Lenny Kravitz
8) Can’t Get You Off of My Mind – Lenny Kravitz
9) Got To Be There – Jackson 5
10) Staring Through My Rearview - Tupac
11) This Woman’s Work – Maxwell
12) Take A Bow – Madonna
13) Con Te Partiro – Andrea Bocelli
14) Crash – Dave Matthews Band
15) Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Israel Kamakawiwo’ole
16) November Rain – Guns N Roses
17) One Mic – Nas
18) Bringing on the Hearbreak – Def Leppard
19) The Drugs Don’t Work – Ben Harper
20) Ballad For My One True Love – Mason Jennings

The remake of a classical movie is not too uncommon in today’s Hollywood industry. Like the remix of a song, remaking a movie uses the same basic outline and plot of the original, and twists it to better conform to today’s generation. The movie, “The Stepford Wives” is a great example of the remakes of today’s generation.

The story behind the Stepford Wives in both movies is exactly the same. The successful woman Joann has suddenly been laid off from her job. In order to get out of the city and start over, her husband recommends they move to Connecticut to “get away from it all.” Little does Joann know that she is about to be transformed into the “ideal wife.”

Little things do change in the remake of the movie. The original depiction of the film has Joann be a successful businesswoman, where as the remake has Joann as the producer of a high-rating reality show. They are both working in the big city, so of course, moving to Connecticut would be the perfect answer.

The story continues as the family moves into an eerily perfect neighborhood where the wives seem like they just stepped out of a 50s television show. The men seem to meet for “Guy’s Night” all the time, where they secretly work on their transformation of their wives. Turns out, the wives are turned into robots, so life will be perfect for all the men of Stepford, Connecticut.

So where are the differences? Let’s start from the beginning. In the original SW movie, Joanna is a businesswoman, however, in the remake, Joanna is show as a prominent produce for a reality television show. Something that was unimaginable during the release of the first show, but yet, something very common nowadays.

Another change in the new SW’s is that homosexuality is present in the town of Stepford. There is a gay couple, however, one man takes the role of the “male” and the other takes the role of the “female,” so he is converted to a robot, ready to be at the beck and call of his partner. Sex is very prominent in the remake as well. The wives have sex whenever their husband desires it. And it’s very clear that it is occurring at all hours of the day. The first SW’s takes a more conservative approach to the situation.

Although the two movies differ do to generations, the underlying tone of feminism and women’s’ liberation is still indebted deep in the heart of this film. The new film did it in a much more subtle fashion. The main focus of the newer version, as with most films today, was to make a huge profit by casting big named actors and adding a bit of cultural sarcasm, where as the first film dealt with the original story from the book attempting to change the mentality of the audience.

The film follows the guideline for remakes. Try to capture the audience of the moment, try to change as much as you can without really changing the story, and try to present it in a way that’s “bigger and better.”

Howard Stern, the self proclaimed “King of all media” announced that he would be leaving Infinity Broadcasting in 2006 and will be working for Sirius Satellite Radio. This transition also comes with a five-year contract for one hundred million dollars a year. Stern believes that not only will this be a better agreement for him and his co-hosts, but also he is happy that the FCC will no longer be able to monitor and “fine” him for all his obscenities.

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“Uncovered: The Whole Truth About The War in Iraq”

The title gives you the impression that you are going to see real documented footage of the Iraqi war. My imagination went wild when I saw the title. Of course, someone will finally be able to prove to us what was so wrong about the war. But once again I was misled. The movie gave documentation by people who “were there.” People involved in the war in every way possible. The very liberal documentary included interviews with over 20 people who are all related to the war with Iraq in one way or another. They include CIA Agents, Diplomats, Government scientist, and members of the United Nations. Each of whose comments was very liberal, very anti-Bush, and very one-sided.

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