Archive for April, 2015

Some assembly required for ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’

Posted by Duane Dudek
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“The Avengers” came fully assembled. But “Avengers: Age of Ultron” – both were written and directed by Joss Whedon – has so many moving parts that some assembly is required.

The less I thought about this sequel, the more I liked it.

But the more I pondered it, all I remembered was the big picture and the spectacle. A bunch of super-pals hang out at a high-tech playhouse where they josh around waiting for a new super villain to strike.

This one is an artificial intelligence created in the arrogant image of industrialist Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, whose dream is to create a guardian angel to protect the earth so the Avengers wouldn’t have to.

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Mwoky media notes: Getting the ‘L’ out of Milwaukee

Posted by Duane Dudek
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One of the first things I learned in radio was the correct, multi-syllable pronunciation of Milwaukee.

Say it with me. Mil-wau-kee. It just rolls off the tongue. So if I knew how to turn “Around the Horn” host Tony Reali’s pronunciation of Milwaukee as “Mwoky” into a meme I would do so.

But since I don’t, feel free.

Mwoky has been getting some regular mentions on that afternoon ESPN commentary show thanks to the Bucks, which the show’s sportswriter guests pronounced the real deal.

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DVD blowout sale, May 8 and 9

Posted by Duane Dudek
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Hundreds of DVDs of all kinds can be found in the upcoming DVD blowout sale May 8 and 9.

Favorites, classics, kids movies, collectibles, box sets and just plain weird titles will all be available.

Shoot a note to thedudekabides using the contact form below, for prices, locations, etc.

To get a reply, please include your email address.

(If form does not appear, click on headline)

Brookfield native Akhtar gets Tony nomination

Posted by Duane Dudek
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Brookfield native Ayad Akhtar’s drama “Disgraced” has been nominated for a Tony Award as best play, it was announced Tuesday. The awards salute excellence in Broadway theater.

It was its only nomination.

In 2013 Akhtar won the Pulitzer Prize for “Disgraced.” The play is about an assimilated Pakistani-American corporate lawyer who thinks he has distanced himself from his roots until he and his wife, a white artist influenced by Islamic imagery, host a dinner party where religious and cultural tensions explode.

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Milwaukee Media Notes: Beer, Donald Driver, Same Old WKLH

Posted by Duane Dudek

—Reports of the demise, after three decades, of classic rock on WKLH-FM (96.5) last week were premature. The station may have shifted its “center of gravity” from 1970s rock  to 1980s but, except for a little more Bon Jovi, the musical change is almost too subtle to be detected. As the station noted the shedding of the word “classic” was mostly about image.

The music being played certainly sounds awfully familiar. Sampling the station over the weekend, one heard familiar refrains by Steve Miller, U2, the Eagles, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Phil Collins, Styx, Z.Z. Top, Fleetwood Mac  and the Rolling Stones. In March the station ranked seventh among total listeners.

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Milwaukee Media notes: Jenner ratings triumph

Posted by Duane Dudek
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The Bruce Jenner interview Friday on ABC was a triumph for all concerned.

Jenner, the Olympic champion in transition to become a woman, explained the decision with logic and passion. The questions by Diane Sawyer showed both curiosity and the sensitivity. The most surprising moment was when a nonplussed Sawyer was told Jenner was a Republican.

And WISN-TV (Channel 12) localized the story with a strong package by reporter Toni Valliere that included interviews with two transgender Milwaukeeans.

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Milwaukee radio & TV stations win ten Murrow Awards

Posted by Duane Dudek

Local broadcasters came away with multiple regional Murrow Awards for journalistic excellence, announced by the Radio Television Digital News Association.  Wisconsin stations compete with large market stations in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota in the Region 4 category.

Winners include:

RADIO

WTMJ-AM (620), for Newscast (); Breaking News ();

WISN-AM (1130), for Writing ();

WUWM-FM (89.7), for Continuing Coverage (Dontre’s Death); News Series (Black Men in Prison)

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Well told “Age of Adaline” lives in the present. Forever.

Posted by Duane Dudek
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There is suspension of belief. And there is a suspension bridge too far.

“The Age of Adaline” is both. It is in the tradition of time traveling romances like “The Lake House,” “Somewhere in Time” and “About Time.”

Except the title character, played by Blake Lively, never leaves the present.

Because that’s where she lives. Forever.

After an accident in the early 20th century that might turn her into a superhero in a Marvel film, Adaline becomes immortal. Eight decades years later, she remains 29 years of age and no worse for the wear.

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WKLH-FM rebrands itself as “Hometown Rock”

Posted by Duane Dudek
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After nearly 30 years of billing itself as Milwaukee’s “classic rock” station, WKLH-FM (96.5) is rebranding itself as “Hometown Rock.”

The Saga Broadcasting owned station made the announcement Thursday in a release from “brand manager”Bob Bellini.

In the March A.C. Nielsen ratings survey the station ranked seventh among total listeners.

However it ranked considerably lower in the 25-54 demographic over the past three months, suggesting it was not reaching its target audience or that the desired audience segment was shrinking. Also many listeners are abandoning traditional terrestrial outlets for music streaming services.

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“Ex Machina” is spare but persuasive thought experiment

Posted by Duane Dudek
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Fans awaiting  “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” should find “Ex Machina” a suitable placeholder.

But where the “Avengers” sequel is likely to be bluntly predictable every step of the way, “Ex Machibna,” a spare and provocative thought experiment, floats like a butterfly among an array of possibilities before picking its poison.

Films about artificial intelligence usually check certain boxes. Here those include: although the life-like creation is made in the image of man, it looks like a (beautiful) woman; and she’s not intrinsically bad, she’s just programmed that way.

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