More Leslie Nielsen, Monday Night Football Promo

As we celebrate the late Leslie Nielsen's life, it's time to bring back the Monday Night Football promo he did for the 2004 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Denver Broncos. In the video he ponders why the Bengals were missing from the Monday Night game. Um,.... back then the Bengals sucked. And today they still suck. Anyway, enjoy the video. By the way, the Bengals won 23-10.

Two Greats Pass Away

Long ago, in a far away place, I was a projectionist at a movie theater. One of the movies we ran was "The Empire Strikes Back" aka Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back. (1980) It was directed by Irvin Kershner, who passed away three days ago. I've must have seen Empire hundreds of times since its release, TV broadcast and I also own the DVD. And it never grew tiresome.

Some consider Empire the greatest of the Star Wars movies. And for good reason. Kershner kept the characters center to the film. The romance between Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is something out of the best love stories that Hollywood has ever told. But that doesn't mean he didn't know how to film an action scene. From the attack on ice planet Hoth to the asteroid chase to the climatic light saber duel between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, Kershner made iconic images that cling to your mind. And don't forget the special effects of Industrial Light and Magic and the writers. Kudos to the writers. George Lucas wrote the the story. Leigh Brackett who wrote the screenplay for "The Big Sleep" (1946) and Lawrence Kasdan (Body Heat, Raiders of the Lost Ark) completed the screenplay.

Actor Leslie Nielsen passed away two days ago. I knew him initially as the star of the classic science fiction film "Forbidden Planet" (1956) Later I would watch him on television. His characters would never smile and they would display a super serious masculine sensibility. He would later smash that characterization to smithereens in Airplane. (1980) Delivering his lines in a dead pan authoritative manner, he would utter the silliest and most awful yet funny puns. The result? Comedy magic.

Surely, we will mess these great artists. And I'm not calling you Shirley. Oh, Leslie let him RIP.

Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back Trailer



Keith Olbermann salutes Leslie Nielsen even though he was in that right-wing movie, An American Carol. (2008) Keith is still fair and honors him.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sometimes, I hate being right, part 2.

On Thanksgiving, the Cincinnati Bengals lost again to the New Youk Jets, 26-10. Sigh. I predicted the following:

1) Pick six thrown by Carson Palmer
2) Heartbreaking fumble
3) Jets Gadget Play for a Touchdown

Well, most of it happened. Carson did throw a pick but it was picked off by the Jets in the Bengals endzone. Not a pick six but painful all the same. On a Jets punt, the ball hit Andre Caldwell in the head. There's your fumble and bumble. Doh! Jets recover. The gadget play for a touchdown? Jets ran a reverse for a TD.

Sometimes, I hate being right.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part I, Movie Review

If you haven't read the books and are a Muggle like me, you might get lost watching the seventh film installment of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. Based on the alleged last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is a continuation of the storyline in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. (2009) At the end of Half Blood Prince, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) must find all the horcruxes and destroy them in order to destroy Voldemort. (Ralph Fiennes) Okay, for those of you who have not read the books or saw the movies, the horcruxes contain parts of Voldemort's soul. Got it?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows starts out with the Ministry of Magic trying to hold on as the dark forces of Voldemort, the Death Eaters, gain strength. Voldemort is hunting down Harry so he can kill him and thus live forever. This sends Harry on the run. His protectors are what's left of the Order of the Phoenix and Dumbledore's Army. Unfortunately, the Death Eaters seize the Ministry of Magic and take power over the wizard world. Good witches are forced into hiding while Harry is now in full retreat, trying to stay alive and also hunt down the Horcruxes with pals Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint).

Screenwriter Steve Kloves has written all the Harry Potter movies with the exception of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. (2007) Unlike his adaptation for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) which was a heavy and elongated version of a Scooby Doo mystery, Kloves returns to the lean and character driven style of the sublime Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. (2004) Thanks to Kloves' screenplay and the direction by David Yates, the film takes off from the beginning. Yates knows how to direct an action sequence. Flinging spells is something out of a Star Wars laser fight. The action comes close to his masterful direction with the Order of the Phoenix. The film does lose its way about an hour and twenty minutes in. This could be because of the idea to split the book into two films. Thus, when Harry, Ron and Hermione wander the wilderness so does the movie. Some tightening up here with more exposition would be helpful. That's because not everyone has read the books.

Eduardo Serra's cinematography is beautiful in a desolate way. I'm guessing that Yates and Serra choose to drain the film of much of its color. Obviously, that's a reflection of the darker times. The predominant colors are grey-white for the snow, black and more grey. This topic of cinematography brings me to my pet peeve, the 3-D conversion. Fortunately, Distributor Warner Brothers decided not to release this film in 3-D as a conversion from 2-D. Warner cited quality concerns. If you see this movie, you'll realize why it was so difficult to convert. A lot of this movie takes place at night or during dreary cloudy days. Conversions to 3-D are usually too dark. If they converted the Deathly Hallows, it would be too dark and you couldn't see the special effects, such as the streaks of black smoke from the Death Eaters against a dark sky. Let's just hope that Warner will scrap Part 2 in 3-D because I have yet to see a quality conversion. Memo to movie studios. If you release a movie in 3-D, film it in 3-D. No conversions.

As for as the performances of the main trio, they have matured as they have literally grown up in the this film franchise. Emma Watson now plays Hermione not as a precocious little girl but a confident woman. Rupert Grint as Ron is no longer a clumsy boy but man who must deal with adult emotions. Daniel Radcliffe, no longer is the wide eyed boy filled with wonder but a knight on a quest that may kill him. The supporting cast is also solid. There is not one false note. A special kudos to Helena Bonham Carter who plays Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange. In previous Potter films, she came off campy. Now she is a full blown monster with a sadistic urge to inflict pain and death. She gives Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort) a run for his money as far as badness goes.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I is a tense, and thrilling fantasy film. It's packed with real emotion. While it seems that splitting the movie in two was for increased profits, this first part works on its own. It serves as stand alone film while fulfilling the task of setting up the last act. The grade is A-.

Joey Votto, MVP

The Cincinnati Reds first baseman, Joey Votto, was named NL MVP. St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols was second. Here's the story. Look Votto and Pujols numbers are comparable. But Votto leads him in one big category that I believe determines whether you can perform in the clutch. It's hitting with runners in scoring position. If you drive in runs with runners in scoring position, you are a clutch hitter. For 2010 with runners in scoring position, Pujols batted .343. Votto batted .369 with runners in scoring position, more than twenty points higher. Case closed. Below is video of Votto's walkoff home run filmed by sports talk show host Lance McAlister of 1530 Homer. The boy to the right is his son, Casey. Listen to the chants of MVP. Ah, you Reds fans had it right. (Here's the official video and story. Watch early and often, because I don't know when MLB will take it down.) Congratulations, Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds.

The NFL Turkey

Ah, this Thursday is Thanksgiving. And you will get NFL football. Unfortunately, it's the playoff bound New York Jets and the NFL version of Thanksgiving turkey, the Cincinnati Bengals. This could get embarrassing for the 2-8 Bengals.

So, what do I expect? There will probably be a Carson Palmer interception for a touchdown. Expect a heartbreaking fumble. Look for a Jets gadget play that will fool the Bengals for another touchdown. Does this sound like the Steelers game? Yep. So, I'm sure the Jets are saying this phrase from he words of White Goodman in the movie Dodgeball (2004), "Prepare to be humiliated on cable television!"

Okay, want me to say something positive? The Bengals upset the Jets on national television.

Epic Loss

Biblical. That's how I describe yesterday's loss by the Cincinnati Bungles, er, Cincinnati Bengals to the Buffalo Bills. At one point during the first half, the Bengals were ahead of the 1-8 Bills by twenty one points. At half time, the Bengals were leading 31-14. For any competent NFL team, that's enough to win. But these are the Bengals.

And then came the second half. QB Carson Palmer threw two interceptions. He threw one pick in the endzone. Of course, we need a fumble. RB Cedric Benson fumbled the ball which was returned for a touchdown. How about getting burned by a seventh round draft pick? Wide receiver Steve Johnson caught three touchdown passes as the Bengals defenders decided they didn't want to get hurt. The vaunted defense was absolutely dreadful in the second half. The result? Thirty five unanswered points.

How ludicrous was this game? Bengals' first play on offense. Guess what? False start. Gee, when has that happened? Hint: Not unusual for the Bengals. At a zero question news conference, hapless Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said, "I guess you all are speechless, too." Um, coach, you think? Finally the ineptness is everywhere. As Bengals' safety Chris Crocker was lying in agony from an injury, the scoreboard showed his picture and name, "Chris Cocker." (Here's the picture and story from WhoDeyRevolution.)