Army Wives: The Messenger
Army Wives is the kind of show that’s not afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve, metaphorically speaking. That’s what this episode was in essence. The writers weren’t afraid to deal with some core themes like faith, courage, fear and bravery.
Time has passed since Amanda’s death, but life is not returning to normal for the Holdens. Until Claudia Joy is able to begin to heal, Michael and Emmalin will be suffering, a point driven home in this episode by the messenger. In the guise of guest star Bill Cobbs, he’s not real.
At least not real in human form; he’s imaginary and only Claudia Joy can see and speak with him. This is very much a dramatic device to help her see that life goes on.
Family tradition dictates that Claudia Joy teach Em how to drive a stick shift, but just like she can’t go to church or be intimate with Michael, she also can’t be there for her daughter. Everybody seems to want something from her. When she encounters the messenger — outside the church — he tells her that, “I don’t want a thing.”
It’s only when she’s able to lash out in anger, telling him how mad she is that she’ll never see Amanda get married, or hold her babies, that his message makes sense to her. “Death is a part of life. You can’t have one without the other,” he explains.
It was a nice touch to see Emmalin finding an outlet for her pain and confusion about Amanda by asking Roland if she could play basketball with him. She’s able to tell him about her fears that the soldiers on base now longer make her feel safe. Roland, who’s not working at the hospital right now — remember he resigned to go to Northwestern, then changed his mind — begins an ad hoc practice on the court. Em returns and brings troubled friends along.
At the hospital, Denise meets a young man, an amputee whose legs were blown off in Iraq, and while he compares her to Mona Lisa, he’s not really flirting with her. He sees a sadness in her smile. They talk motorcycles, she sneaks him out for a beer. Mac, in his innocent way, helps Denise to remember a part of her life that was lost years before, when she was a teenager and less regimented by first her father, and later Frank. Mac’s gift to her is a set of keys. He leaves her his motorcycle when he’s sent to Walter Reed Hospital.
When Claudia Joy literally putting her hands to her daughter’s hands to show her how to drive a stick, she is finally able to reconnect. This was excellent dialog and really worked. She tells Em, “Until you can trust, you can’t move forward.”
Other points of interest
– Pamela and Chase are again caught in the push-pull of his being back for a short time and trying to be super dad and spouse while he’s home.
– The subplot of Finn dressing up with a tie to ask Claudia out on a date was adorable. His imaginary friend, Harry, eggs him on. Roxy explains to Claudia, and later, out on their date, Finn says Harry is at the bar. When Claudia Joy looks over, her messenger is there. Are they one in the same?
— Finn looked like a little Harry Potter with his suit and tie and glasses. Interesting that his imaginary friend is named Harry.
— It was nice that Roland’s well enough to be shooting hoops and helping others, but what’s going on with Joan? There was no mention of her and the baby.
— Chase is deploying again, but they actually give him three days notice. That was a change of pace. Delta Force rules usually means he comes and goes without warning. Given some time to get his life in order, the guy stepped up and told his wife and kids how much he loves and needs them.
— Betty is not easy to live with. Her cancer has progressed and she needs chemo. She also doesn’t like kids because she could never have any of her own.
Game on for the Godfather
Yes, it was an offer they couldn’t refuse.
More than 30 years after Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall and James Caan first starred in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 masterpiece, The Godfather, the trio have reunited for Electronic Arts’ new videogame based on the movie.
Before Brando died last June, the Oscar winner granted EA permission to use his likeness and voice for the game’s cinematic interludes and even revisited his Don Vito Corleone role by recording new parts.
While it’s not known how much Electronic Arts shelled out to secure Brando, who was notorious for his outrageous salary demands, the company forked over enough to convince Caan and Duvall to take another stab in the family business as, respectively, hotheaded heir Santino "Sonny" Corleone and consigliere and adopted son Tom Hagen.
Caan and Duvall turned up for The Godfather videogame’s official unveiling at Little Italy’s Il Cortile restaurant in New York Thursday, where the actors watched for the first time teaser clips of their CG selves and explained why more than three decades later, they got pulled back in.
"It was fun," said an antsy Caan (who looked like he’d rather have been back at work on his NBC series Las Vegas). "Bobby called me…and it was a thrill to be working with him again. Obviously, Marlon did the game and Bobby did it, and it was great. For me, it was like my kids could play with me even if I’m not there."
The Godfather game allows players to invent their own GoodFella and climb the ranks of the criminal underworld controlled by the Corleones and the other families. As they work their way up, players employ tried-and-true mob tactics like intimidation, protection rackets, extortion, pistol-whipping, drive-by shootings and, of course, horse beheading–a Corleone family tradition.
"The game is based heavily on the same thing the film was: respect. Family. Expanding one’s territory. You have the opportunity to live the life of the godfather," said David DeMartini, the game’s executive producer.
Nick Earl, EA’s vice president and general manager, says having Brando, Caan and Duvall aboard reprising their iconic characters adds an element of realism.
"You’re kind of a guy off the street who gets sucked into the family because you helped them out," Earl told Online. "Here are different paths. You can become the godfather of the Corleone family, or the don of every family. You can play everything."
Electronic Arts also acquired the rights to use Godfather composer Nino Rota’s score in the game and hired Oscar-winning composer Bill Conti to write an additional 100 minutes of original music.
Development on The Godfather videogame started 18 months ago, when Paramount and parent company Viacom pitched EA execs the long-shot idea of adapting one of its most famous properties. After Paramount embraced the games EA did based on The Lord of the Rings, the company got the greenlight and set about making the concept work.
"A lot of entertainment executives are afraid of technology, don’t understand interactive, don’t know how big our audience is, how many million people around the world spend more time playing games than they do watching television," said Jeffrey Brown, EA’s vice president of corporate communications. "Paramount gets it. They understood early on what an interactive Godfather could be."
Along with Brando, Caan and Duvall’s characters, gamers will encounter other notables from the movies–including Fredo Corleone, Luca Brasi and the heads of the five families.
There has been no word whether Michael Corleone made the cut, but Al Pacino’s voice is not in the game. Also MIA is the other Corleone sibling, Talia Shire’s Connie Corleone.
Caan was asked how he would play the scene where Sonny pulls up to a tollbooth–and winds up getting ambushed.
"If I knew there was a Godfather II, you bet I would’ve had change," Caan said.
After their brief appearance plugging the game, Caan and Duvall made a swift getaway through Il Cortile’s kitchen.
The Godfather videogame is due out in time for the holiday shopping season and will be available for a variety of platforms, including PlayStation 2, Xbox and Sony’s new PSP.
Faith Hill: The New Voice Of The NFL
Faith Hill: The New Voice Of The NFL
There’s always that familiar song at the beginning of football broadcasts that signifies the impending clash of two teams. And this year, that song will be sung by none other than country hottie Faith Hill.
The NBC Sunday Night Football song, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” was Pink’s gig last season. And Faith is thrilled to be taking over the crooning duties for this upcoming year.
She told press, “I’m honored to have been asked. I truly am a football fan. Particularly, men find it hard to believe that women can be big fans of football, but I love it. I loved it in junior high and high school, but being married to a man who schedules his life around football games, it makes it a lot easier.”
And her new gig has the This Kiss singer feeling grateful that football is a family tradition. “Around our house in football season there’s a big routine. Dinner has to be planned out around the game, homework has to be finished. It’s an all-gather-around the television time. I’ve learned when to ask questions and when not to ask them - like in the middle of a replay.”
You can also catch Faith performing live in Indianapolis on September 6th during the season-opening Colts/Saints game.