Wrapped Up Like a Blog

Captain America comes out next month. The latest trailer looks fantastic. And it looks to me like it may be the capper of what's been a pretty darn good summer for movies.

I saw Super 8 recently. It was fun and exciting and it had a lot of heart. The flick was carried by a group of young actors who were engaging, entertaining and likable. There were some strong emotional themes running throught it, coupled with mystery, action and good effects. I'd have to say it's one of the best films I have seen in a while, thoroughly enjoyable.

I also really enjoyed the latest X-Men outing. If I was a slave to comic book continuity, the flick would've made my head explode, but heck, if I felt that way, none of the Comic Book flicks of the last 40 years would have passed muster. Still, the movie needed to have a better plot and better acting than the last X-flick in order to excite me. And guess what? It did. Great central actors, an exciting plot, and thematic elements to make me think. Throw in a little humor and some good effects, and it gave me something to dig.

Ditto with Thor- good story, great acting, thematic resonance, with approprately placed humor and effects. Are we sensing a pattern here?

Those were my top 3 flicks of the summer so far. I've been trying to see as many movies as I can. It's always been a passion of mine but something I've let slip in recent years. I've seen others: Pirates 4, Bridesmaids, Green Lantern and Hangover 2. All had elements that were good, but all had major flaws as well.

So the season is not over. I look forward to two more comic book flicks: Cowboys and Aliens and the aforementioned CAP movie. Then comes the fall, and another crop of goodies, like MUPPETS. I am happy to be back in the movie swing, and perhaps I'll pop in and review a couple flicks along the way. Whaddaya think?

I figured I'd never receive it. The call, that is. I'd wait for 2 years and never hear from the good folks at Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Then I'd go and try out again, keeping false hope alive. I knew they were taping the show through the fall of last year, but as much as I wanted it, that call never came.

Until it did.

An unknown New York number on the caller ID. I didn't pick up, of course. Who would be calling me? I checked the voice mail.

Brian from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, that's who.

I called him back in a hurry. He asked me a bunch of questions to verify my identity and the fact that I did not work for Valleycrest, or mow Meredith's lawn or something. I didn't, and I was me.

And I was going to be on the show.

Don't get me wrong. I am VERY thankful for my DVR. It is possibly the best invention since indoor plumbing, which I also dig. Perhaps I'll post sometime about my other favorite inventions, from gum to toilet paper, but for now, we'll stick with the DVR.

Back in the dark ages, I used to record every episode of my favorite TV shows on VHS. When I moved, I had crates of tapes with old Buffy and Angel episodes. Little did I anticipate the DVD Seasons! But the DVR lets me be lazy and forget to record, and it also lets me skip commercials, which is nifty. But most importantly, it let me study for Millionaire.

I recorded every episode of the new version of the show. And I played along with every single contestant, every single question. I listened to each question. I paused the DVR. I decided whether to answer, jump, ask the audience or walk away. I was every single contestant. I did better than many, worse than some. But I got the hang of it.

I learned about when to jump. I discovered what types of questions to ask the audience. I thought about Mr. Rogers, and when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. I admired Meredith's style. I also learned about the sweet spot.

Not as dirty as it sounds. More on that soon...

Yes indeed! Here is my guest blog post at the amazing website of D. G. Gass!

http://musingsamongstmagnolias.com/2011/06/01/guest-author-r-p-steeves-me-and-my-shirt-loud-enough-for-you/

So I waited.

But I prepared, too. A lot of people have asked me if I studied. Did I memorize the presidents? (I didn’t really need to, Yakko, Wakko and Dot taught me that in song) The periodic table? Kentucky Derby winners? Truthfully, I did not. The chances that I’d actually get a question pertaining to any area that I chose to study was infinitesimal, so I chose not to waste my time on facts. I went for strategy instead.

One thing I did was to play as many trivia games as I could. Trivia night at the Bear and Grill? I am there. There’s a new Scene It for the Xbox 360? In the cart, please. Video games, board games, anything I could find, I played, whether by myself or with friends. At least, those friends who didn’t mind that I usually won. (I’m good at trivia, not gonna lie).

My main plan, though, was strictly Millionaire related. I recorded Every. Single. Episode. Of the new format. Many people, upon seeing the show this season, were unaware of how radically the format had changed. The producers, in a candid moment, explained that they thought the old version of the show had stagnated and they wanted to make it exciting again. Gone was the hot seat, replaced by a podium. No more comfort, but more of a chance to be demonstrative.

Gone, too, was the nice logical order. Questions were randomized. Hard ones could come first, easy ones could be in the middle. And the values did not increase either, they , too, were random. So easy questions could be worth a lot, but so could the hard ones.

Lifelines were changed. No more phone a google or double dip. Now you could jump over 2 questions, but you could still ask the trusty audience if need be.
I saw early on that new contestants struggled in their adjustment to the reinvented game. I was not going to let that happen to me. So the studying began in earnest…