Archive for March, 2016

Hiddleston is Hank Williams “Lite” In Biopic

Posted by Duane Dudek
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I grant that lanky, slouching British actor Tom Hiddleston, in wide-brimmed hat and Nudie designed outfits, has a slight physical resemblance to tragic country music legend Hank Williams.

But Williams’ music was not about how he looked but who he was.

And the new Williams biopic “I Saw The Light” never captures who that is.

Williams died in 1953 of heart problems and hard living at the age of 29 after an amazingly prolific six-year career.

He is a brick in the foundation of the country music firmament and genuinely one of the few people for whom the accolades icon and legend are justified.

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Batman, Superman And The Chaos Of Tentpole Solidarity

Posted by Duane Dudek
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To gaggle of geese, murder of crows and implausibility of gnus – which is an actual thing – let me add the aggregate descriptor, a din of superheroes.

Whenever two or more Avengers or X-Men are gathered in the name of tentpole solidarity chaos usually reigns.

The din you hear in the calamitous “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” is the sound of fun being sucked out of two DC Comics franchises at the same time.

Impressionistic, bleak, visually murky, narratively random, pervasively violent, often incomprehensible, bombastic and self-serious to a fault this union of the resilient, profitable and admired Batman and dormant and disappointing Superman franchises is a marriage made in fan boy and gal heaven.

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Packer Ahman Green An Extra in ‘Batman v. Superman’

Posted by Duane Dudek
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Ahman Green at NYC premiere. Credit www.zimbio.com

Im not going to pretend I saw former Green Bay Packer Ahman Green in the new superhero movie “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”

It does, after all, have a cast of thousands. But I did see him in the credits.

The movie website IMDB lists him as appearing as Thug #2.

His name appears in the alphabetical cast addendum that follows the main cast characters. Extras typically have no dialogue and  appear in passing.

Green previously appeared in two obscure B-movies: the Rob Schneider film “Big Stan” and the Ed Helms film “Stretch.”

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“Whad’Ya?” Know To End Production

Posted by Duane Dudek
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Wisconsin Public Radio has announced that Michael Feldman’s “Whad’Ya Know?” will end production this summer. The live, two-hour weekly comedy quiz program has been on the air since 1985.

The last broadcast will air June 25.

According to a release announcing the news it is “one of the most successful programs in WPR history.

At its peak, the program was heard by more than 1.5 million listeners each week on more than 300 stations around the nation.'”

Below find the complete WPR announcement.

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February Sweeps Ratings: Who Won, Who Lost

Posted by Duane Dudek
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So many numbers, so little time.

Here’s a brief breakdown of the February sweeps ratings results.

The survey was conducted Feb. 4 through March 2, and big events during this period included the Super Bowl on CBS and the Oscars on ABC, with the Grammy Awards on CBS somewhere in the middle.

Its only worth mentioning because such events can inflate or otherwise impact a station’s late news ratings.

And a little thing called the presidential debates generated considerable attention.

The local news ratings cited here reflect broadcasts Monday through Friday. In parenthesis are increase or decrease compared to the November 2015 and what that figure represents in net loss or gain of viewers. A local rating point is the equivalent of 8,822 television households.

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Viewer Catches WDJT Van In Disabled Parking Space

Posted by Duane Dudek
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A remote news van from WDJT-TV (Channel 58) was spotted in a disabled parking space.

The media watchdog website FTV Live posted a photo of the van Tuesday calling the station out with the admonition: “…it seems news crews don’t bat an eye pulling into these spots and screw the people that really need them.”

According to the site the picture was snapped by a viewer.

A case of a citizen journalist catching supposedly professional journalists acting unprofessionally.

It’s like committing a crime and leaving your ID at the scene. Bad branding.

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WITI Meteorologist Vince Condella Retires

Posted by Duane Dudek
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Veteran WITI-TV (Channel 6) meteorologist Vince Condella will retire on May 25, the station announced late Wednesday. Condella, a multiple Emmy Award winner, has been with the station for 34 years.

In a release, station president and general manager Chuck Steinmetz called him “one of, if not the best and most trusted television meteorologist in the country.”

Condella has been interested in meteorology since the third grade and the station “allowed me fulfill a lifelong passion,” he said in the statement.

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