For a couple years I've been meaning to attend a panel at PaleyFest. If you're a TV fan you may have seen a panel without knowing what it was from. Many of them end up as special features on DVDs. With the announcement of this year's panels I decided I couldn't let another year go by without going.

The first panel I attended was Saturday's Pushing Daisies panel. This year they moved the panels to the Cinerama Dome at the Arclight, which is a fabulous venue. They started things off by showing a clip package highlighting the characters and main storylines of the show. They often will show a new episode of the show but since they aren't coming back until the fall and don't start production until June that wasn't possible. Watching the clips reminded me how amazing this show is and how much I miss it. I'm so glad ABC picked it up for next season!

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A little bird recommended this one in his 2007 list, so I decided to give it a try. One of his other choices sent me to dreamland every time I tried to watch it (which doesn't mean it's a bad film), so I approached this one with some trepidation. In French, the movie is actually called Hearts, and the story follows a small group of characters as their lives intertwine while each one of them is looking for love in different places. While that synopsis might constitute a comedy in America, this movie does has many humorous moments, but they are fairly balanced by the disappointments one experiences when looking for love. The mood of the stories is captured well by the bright colors in the middle of a snow-covered Paris.

This was a pleasant film, despite its sad moments. I was instantly drawn into its little world, which seems limited to just a few settings and a few characters. One can definitely sense that it was adapted from a play, but it still works. Depending on the character, the search is for the feeling of being loved, looking for a new person to love, parting from old loves, remembering old loves, and the sensations that accompany love relationships. My favorite story is that of a man who separates from his fiancee and meets up with a girl from a personal ad. I think his character is more flushed out than the rest, and as a result is more significant than some of the others.

While I admired the style and movement of the movie (loved the architectural details and emphasis on walls) and some of its stories, I wouldn't say that it resonated at a deep level. It's still a very good movie, but I sense that some limitations must have presented it from being a greater one. I would place it in the upper half of my 2007 list, but not in the top 15.

Comic Book Resources - CBR News: Marvel to Adapt Stephen King's "The Stand"

This is pretty sweet news:

"I did go to Marvel and ask them if they would have any interest in adapting 'The Stand' as a graphic novel and they are going to do that," King told Talk of the Nation. "Marvel is going to do 'The Stand' as a graphic novel."

A Marvel spokesperson simply offered "no comment" Sunday afternoon when asked for further details including creative teams, format and when this may see release.

As some of you may know, I'm a Stephen King nut. The Stand is probably one of my favorite books. I've been very pleased so far with The Dark Tower comics Marvel has put out so I think this will be great too. I'll be happy if it's a straight up adaptation of the book but would be even more happy if it were a continuation or even a prequel to the original story or perhaps expanded further on the events that occur in the book. Maybe a series of vignettes on individual characters, seeing as there are so many captivating characters in the book and we, the readers, got to know some better than others. I really like how the comic book format offers limitless possibilities for this sort of thing and I'm glad King has embraced that.

Blogthings - How's Your Spelling?

Just a fun little test to pass the time. I got a perfect score. I need to do write-ups for the Pushing Daisies and Judd Apatow PaleyFest panels but I'm feeling a little lazy. What else is new, right? Hope you all had a fun St. Patrick's Day. Since I was at the Judd Apatow panel I didn't do anything particularly Irish. I was tempted to walk over to the Cat and Fiddle but I knew it would be a total mob scene and it was getting late so I just went home.