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TV Verdict: Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse (Kairo)…

Jamie Bamber: Thank you for mentioning it.

TVV: Of course. The film was a fascinating J-Horror metaphor for our increasing anxiety over technology dependence…

JB: You know, I loved it. I just loved it, from the very first shot of these people in this sort of plant nurturing place which is on a building… like a nursery within an office building… it’s just a patio… and they’re so distant from each other… and it’s just about how disconnected we actually are. We think we’re connected by this technology, and that’s an illusion. And then people get haunted by the illusion, and ghosts come through and it takes over their lives… I thought it was mesmerizing, really mesmerizing. I have to say that’s why… Pulse 2, a sequel to a film I really liked… that’s why I decided to do it. To see if we could do something a bit more faithful to Kurosawa’s piece. I have no idea whether it is or not. It probably wasn’t one of the aims of the producers to be honest… to be faithful… because foreign films that leave the camera rolling on wide shots and don’t cut into it every two seconds are just not particularly en vogue in America right now. But I think we’ll learn and we’ll wake up that that’s actually more dramatic than being slapped around the head with a bat and told you don’t expect this, but you do and here it is.

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TV Verdict: Two of your films have recently been given the Special Edition DVD treatment — Wargames to coincide with the release of the follow-up WarGames: Dead Code and Short Circuit to capitalize on WALL-E…

John Badham: We think WALL-E is capitalizing on Short Circuit. (He laughs)

TVV: Do you look at these films differently now, twenty years later, than you did when you were making them?

JB: Gosh, no. I love both of these movies and you hope that every movie you work on you’re going to be that excited about; that thrill, because you know it’s such a great script. In the course of your life, you’re gonna have to work on some stuff that maybe is not the greatest — for one reason or another — and reading both of these scripts, I’ll always remember my reaction to them, which was so positive and strong. “Whoa man, this is great!” Feeling that they both turned out really well even early on, that’s the strength of the script being decently done by the actors and the director. But if you don’t have a good script, you’re never gonna have something you’re happy with. All you can do with a bad script is dress it up and try and dance around it; do what Bob Fosse called “all that jazz,” to try and conceal the weaknesses of it. But when you get down to the heart of it, it’s still a piece of crap. But that’s not the case with these movies. You know, these movies stand because the characters are strong. Number 5 is a strong character. David Lightman is a character you just go “Aw man, I care about this kid. He’s in a lot of trouble. How’s he gonna get out of this shit?”

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“Most are very satisfied with the performance of their current DVD players,” the firm’s main analyst Steve Wilson said in a press release. The cost and the requirement for an HDTV to go with it were also cited as reasons why people haven’t bought yet.

Makes you wonder: If we’d had economic downturns at the wrong times in our gadget evolution, would we still be watching VHS movies and listening to eight-track and vinyl?

You can read more about it here.

Oh yeah, Kring said to spread the word about the show’s return, so in agreement with this request, here is a spoiler-laden summary of the events of Season Three’s “The Second Coming”, after the jump:

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In between Friday’s “Showrunners” Panel with the producers of Chuck, Pushing Daisies, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Saturday’s Lost Q&A, I’ve spent a bit of non-quality time with producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof. Aside from being a couple of funny guys (Lindelof wore a “Trust Snape” T-shirt to Saturday’s event and cracked wise on several occasions), they certainly know their stuff. Some of what they answered was covered in Michael Stailey’s blog and Twitter entries from last week, but I’ll add onto some others after the jump:

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Lost is the rare television show that keeps running even after the episodes dry up during the summer. Devoted fans got to participate in The Lost Experience, an intertextual cross marketing affair that involves easter egg hunts, viral marketing, obscure Web sites and fragments of clues dropped like breadcrumbs. It all amounts to very little in the way of understanding the show, but hey, it’s not like you had anything else to do this summer. Admit it.

Fans at last year’s Comic Con got an advanced taste of The Orchid orientation video, which as we all know, played heavily into the finale of Season Four. This year at Comic Con, a mysterious presence known as Octagon Global Recruiting were recruiting convention-goers to take a strange aptitude test. High scorers would presumably be invited to participate in a mysterious project that may or may not have the word Dharma in it.

Didn’t make it to California? Don’t fret. Starting today, www.dharmawantsyou.com will be hosting a series of tests for participants to judge their worthiness, and no doubt will unveil a host of interesting tidbits and secrets. The site is blank at the moment, but I’ll be checking it all day.

Yeah, so, I don’t have anything else to do this summer either. Wanna make something of it?

You want video? Oh, we got video. Two embedded videos after the jump.

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THIS TV is MGM’s new digital channel, designed to be broadcast as part of free digital packages put together by local stations. Partner Weigel Broadcasting is bringing it out first in Chicago, Milwaukee, and South Bend. THIS will feature MGM movies and TV shows, although MGM’s press release doesn’t go into specifics.

I’m not sold on digital TV, but if we’re going to have it, it’s time to start coming up with some of that improved content that the broadcasters promised. This sounds like a decent start.

To read more, check out MGM’s release.

To look at Britain’s Freeview, which has been a bit more ambitious in a digital conversion, check here.

Started the day by interviewing William Katt on the rebirth of the Greatest American Hero franchise, as unveiled at Thursday’s packed panel discussion with special guests Robert Culp and Connie Sellecca. With the blessing of series creator Stephen J. Cannell, Katt’s publishing company, Catastrophic Comics, will bring the series to comic book form by retelling the original pilot (with a few modern updates) and then proceed to fill in the gaps with many more tales of Ralph, Bill, Pam, and the suit. They’ll also be doing flash animation shorts, with Bob, Connie, and William voicing the characters. I’ll have the full interview for you shortly.

From there, it was over to the Marriott for a sit down with three of the original MST3K creators, Joel Hodgson, Jim Mallon, and Trace Beaulieu. Getting there early, I got to hang out while UGO did their on-camera interview, providing a little more insight into the show’s history. Then it was my turn for a less formal discussion, which ranged from the series origins to the nuts and bolts of what it took to create the show week in and week out. This was without a doubt the highlight of the day. At the moment, the interview is half transcribed, so with any luck I’ll have it for you before the end of Saturday.

Back to the convention center for Entertainment Weekly’s Showrunners panel, featuring producers Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies), Carlton Cuse (Lost), Damon Lindelof (Lost), Josh Schwartz (Chuck), and Josh Friedman (Sarah Connor Chronicles). As you might imagine, it ended up being very Lost-centric, but everyone seemed to find the humor in it, and we got some great insights into the other shows as well. The one Lost tidbit I wasn’t aware of is that the demise of Mr Eko was not according to plan. Apparently, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje came down with a severe case of island fever (the stir crazies) and wanted out of his contract, forcing Damon and Carlton to end Eko’s storyline long before they had originally planned. On the Sarah Connor front, Josh explained the casting of Brian Austin Green happened at the very last minute, less than a day before the character was schedule to shoot, and the entire staff thought Josh was insane for hiring him. Luckily for him, the move paid off in spades. And with regards to Pushing Daisies, the new season will pick up 10 months after we last saw our heroes, with all of them still desperately holding onto their respective secrets now tearing them apart. I’ll have the full report for you shortly. In the meantime, check out TV Verdict’s Twitter feed for live highlights of the discussion (typos included).

After taking a break from the festivities to work on transcribing, I sat in on the Robot Chicken panel and man are those guys nuts. Seth Green and Breckin Meyer have the greatest rapport of two friends I have ever seen, and the rest of this cast of characters are a comedy series unto themselves. Highlights from this discussion include teases for what to expect in Season Four — Tentacle porn; A war between the Smurfs and the Snorks; a second Star Wars special with Carrie Fisher; guest appearances by Joss Whedon and Ron Moore; and an unseen behind-the-scenes look at the making of Indiana Jones. You know, they’ve repeatedly asked Harrison Ford to appear on the show, but his agent (who has been repping him since the early ’70s) had no idea what the show was and was floored that there’s an entire network dedicated to cartoons. Again, head over to the Twitter feed for more highlights and stay tuned for a full report. Oh, and just remember, if anyone asks, Breckin wrote the Emperor Palpatine sketch.

Finally, we closed the day with the MST3K 20th Anniversary Celebration, featuring all 11 creative contributors to the series’ 11-year run. The well documented split between the gang still seems somewhat palpable, with Joel, Jim, and Trace seated to one side of the podium, while Mike, Kevin, Frank, Mary Jo, Josh, Bill, Brigid, and Paul were on the other. Not to make more out of this than there is, it’s just interesting to see the interactions between them all. Hosted by Patton Oswalt, the evening opened with a musical montage and clips, followed by a moderated discussion. No questions were taken from the audience though, which was a bit disappointing. Kevin and Frank ended up talking the most, with Mike and Josh saying the least. It may be strong of me to say the evening was a letdown, but given my talk with the guys earlier in the day, perhaps my expectations were too high. In any case, the 20th Anniversary DVD set will be released October 28 by Shout! Factory and include four never before released episodes — First Spaceship On Venus, Laserblast, Werewolf, and Future War — four lobby cards, a Crow figurine, and the bonus materials I mentioned earlier, much of which is being recorded this weekend. I’ll have a more robust summary for you, alongside the interview later this weekend.

Preview for Day Three:
* Jamie Bamber interview
* Interviews with cast and crew for DC’s next animated feature — Wonder Woman
* Lost, BSG, Pushing Daisies, and Fringe presentations (time and crowds permitting)
* TV Guide Fall preview