Japan

I was on Twitter and dreading a barrage of Charlie Sheen news (apparently police were raiding his house last night) when the first mention of an earthquake in Japan hit my news feed. It turned out to be so devastating that, at least for now, just about everyone seems to be ignoring Mr. Sheen. I wish it had been something less terrible than this, however, knocking him off the airwaves and Twitter/Facebook pages.

I started switching between CNN and MSNBC, fascinated and horrified. Fascinated because it's not often you see a disaster movie come to life. Horrified because of the destruction, of course, and also because of the quality of television news. Granted, it was the middle of the night in the United States and the anchors pressed into service aren't the most famous names. But I heard some inane commentary.

One woman on MSNBC kept interrupting her interview subject, an NBC producer stationed in Tokyo, to ask if he could see the video that was being shown. At another point, she and a Weather Channel meteorologist were discussing the tsunami warning issued for Hawaii and the two of them couldn't figure out the time difference between Hawaii and the U.S. East Coast. Sample: "If it hits the East Coast at 5 a.m then it's 3 a.m. there..." The two went back and forth until finally someone informed the weather guy that there was a five-hour difference. Of course, it wouldn't be easy for the tsunami in the Pacific to hit the East Coast.

Perhaps the worst came when there was video of the water surging over some farmland. There was a comment -- and I"m not sure which network I saw it on -- to the effect that "it's good that the tsunami hit a sparsely-populated area." There were a number of buildings and vehicles in the area they were showing. Just because it's not a big city doesn't mean it's not populated. Besides, the tsunami didn't just hit one area of the coast. Look at the video below. Those houses came from somewhere.



So often the interviews (of experts and eyewitnesses) make me NOT want to watch the news, even when it's something like this, the interviews are that bad. Just let the cameras show the event. If you have a reporter on the scene, let the reporter talk.

Dear Charlie Sheen: GO AWAY.

Whatever Charlie Sheen is trying to prove, appearing on at least four different TV shows as well as TMZ.com today and tomorrow, it's not doing anything except pissing me off. Between mentions on Twitter and Facebook and about a hundred blog posts on EW.com -- for once, Entertainment Weekly's abbreviation is apt, and would be even more on target if the magazine were renamed Entertainment World Weekly -- I'm completely sick of him and his story. Apparently he's passed a drug test, which would seem to discount my theory that he didn't spend nearly enough time in rehab. If he is clean, though, then I can't help but wonder if he may have some mental health-related issues. In either case, someone who truly cares about him (in other words, someone besides the porn stars and others clearly latching onto him for money or fame) needs to get him help.

And if he doesn't have those issues, then he's just acting like a complete jackass, and should be ashamed -- as should the TV "news" shows giving him their time. Charlie, take your porn stars/hookers/whatever and GO AWAY.

Where The Oscar Show Went Wrong

It's simple: if you want to be young and hip, it takes more than just hiring young stars to host. I adore James Franco and Anne Hathaway, and I think they had decent chemistry at times, but they were given just awful material to work with, as were the Oscar presenters.

A lot of people on my Twitter feed seemed to think Franco was high. I think they were confusing him with his "Pineapple Express" character. And he spent plenty of time posting videos to Twitter, which I think would be a problem if one is both trying to use a smartphone and host an awards show at the same time. Maybe he was too distracted by Twitter. I just think it was the terrible jokes and banter from the writers. (If Bruce Vilanch had a hand in this, as he often has had in past Oscar shows, perhaps it's time to consider retirement.)

One of the few jokes that worked, and I don't know if it was part of the script or an ad lib, came after Hathaway's little song-and-dance number. Because, he said, "you got to wear a tuxedo," Franco came onstage in drag. He followed that with: "The weird thing is I just got a text message from Charlie Sheen."

The whole reason for Oscar's being is for Hollywood to, metaphorically speaking, fellate itself. They're all there to congratulate each other and kiss each other's ass. There's no room for out there, edgy humor unless they're directing it at themselves (or close friends/coworkers, such as Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law). That's why the Sheen joke went over well: