14 February 2000

THE BAD: Homicide: The Movie made me cry. It made me cry before it started, while it was going on and certainly at the end. But it was the "before it started" and when Pembleton showed up that made me wonder what I was going on about. And as best I can tell, it's this: "Homicide" is the best hour-long TV series ever to air. Others say "East Side, West Side" and I'm sure there will be those who have other favorites, but for me, it was "Homicide" going away. It was one of the few shows I always taped, and when it was on Lifetime TV at 1:30 a.m., I watched it almost every night. There isn't an episode I haven't seen 3 or 4 times. It was a TV show that changed my life, the way that is usually reserved for films. And now, it was really ending. Not to be remembered for the troubled last season which took so long to get over the loss of Andre Braugher (as though it ever could.) Remembered as the brilliant show it was and will always be on cable and video and wherever. And if I someday marry Callie Thorn, I hope you'll keep this all to yourself so she doesn't think I'm a stalker.

THE UGLY: What kind of agony will be inflicted on Leonardo next? Well, a German tabloid called BZ put a price on the guy's head. 1000 marks ($502) for the girl who kisses Leo and has a picture to prove it. DiCaprio was in Berlin to promote the opening of The Beach at the Berlin Film Festival. The offer fills my head with images of Phil Hartman in drag during one of those Sprockets sketches at "Saturday Night Live". No one has taken the reward yet.

THE UGLIER: There is also a reward on the head of Rex Reed. Well, not really. He was apprehended by the authorities with no manhunt needed. According to the NYC police, Reed was caught trying to shoplift three fabulous CDs from Tower Records when he was apprehended by a security guard. The rumor that Reed offered the security a pull-quote to use in an effort for a promotion has not been confirmed. However, Reed's quote for The Cider House Rules may have been motivated by the photo they've been using of Charlize Theron trying to pick Tobey Maguire's pocket.

THE CHAT MEETS RADIO RADIO: I'm not 100 percent sure whether I'm broadcasting from Tuesday morning's Oscar® nomination announcements or not. I'm supposed to be live on Yahoo!, but as of this hour, I don't know if we'll have a phone line or not. So, feel free to come by and take a look or take a listen to KABC-790 here in L.A…who knows what will happen?!

BAD AD WATCH: Isn't She Great does something I've never seen before. They use one quote ("Hillarious!") and credit two critics. The critics are Lou Lumenick of The New York Post and Kevin Thomas of The L.A. Times. Make your own joke here.

READER OF THE DAY: Alexis on Rex: "When I read the news over the weekend that Mr. Reed had been arrested for shoplifting 3 CDs from a store, I thought truly there is such a thing as divine justice - you just can't go around saying Leo is a bad actor, and not have some bad luck to befall you."

Ron on the Excitement of Oscar: "Oh, David, it's always exciting. Just cutting it all down to five makes for a horse race, which is of course what it really is -- though we never know who pulled off their win by a nose or by a long stretch. I'm a pretty good amateur at predictions (I've been doing them for a long time) and this year will, as always, have a few surprises. My picks for surprises that haven't shown up too much in votings previous to the Oscar ballots will be Toni Colette (SIXTH SENSE) and John Malkovich (YOU KNOW WHAT). I could be wrong, but it's always fun to do this."

And A Guy isn't so excited: "This is the first year in a while that I am not excited about the Oscars. I am interested in knowing the nominations and will get up at 5:30 in the morning to watch them, but that's more out of tradition. Anyway, I'm not as huge a fan of American Beauty as most everyone else on the planet is. And, most of the films that I loved this year -- Eyes Wide Shut, Three Kings, Bringing Out The Dead and Fight Club -- don't stand a chance of being nominated in any of the major categories. So, what's a movie lover to do? If you can answer this, you'll be even smarter than you already are."

E ME: I'm not feeling so well...anyone have a secret cold remedies to suggest? And what would be a fair punishment for Sexy Rexy?