Note: This posting is safely spoiler-free. If you've seen all, some, or none of "The Wire," read on.

It's been several years since I wrote more than a paragraph about "The Wire." Despite my unlimited adoration for the show — which is one of the best shows in the history of the medium — my mention of it has been mostly limited to occasional name-dropping. (Read more...)

After two years, the war is finally over. I'm talking, of course, about the format war between rival high-def next-generation DVD formats HD DVD (manufactured by Toshiba) and Blu-ray (Sony).

The writing has been on the wall for about a month now, as media companies — some that had remained neutral until recently — have been slowly aligning themselves into Blu-ray's camp and tipping the scales of the stalemate. But today Toshiba made it official with their announcement that they will discontinue all manufacturing operations for HD DVD players. (Read more...)

The Internet is the future of video, as has been proven by the WGA strike (which looks to be officially ending this week). But watching movies on the Internet is still not a particularly good option, in my opinion. It can provide a substitute in a pinch, but with current technology and bandwidth, it's not a way I would ever choose to watch a movie, given the alternative. (Read more...)

Although I'm of the opinion that someone is, in some way, helping to write late-night TV despite the supposition that there are no writers during the strike (I simply have a hard time buying that everything is improvised, or that the hosts are writing all their material with no help), there is a certain amusement in seeing what zaniness can become possible when one is forced to put on a TV show while hamstrung without one's WGA-card-carrying staffers. (Read more...)

The Super Bowl has become so overhyped as to become ridiculous (Fox had five-plus hours of pregame coverage on Sunday). And there's always the overhyped halftime show, which I never give a damn about, in which some band (lately more has-beens than fresh acts) gives a performance on a stage that is rushed by an audience which is rocking out with the kind of enthusiasm that can only have been bought. Call me a purist, but I watch the Super Bowl because I truly like to watch, you know, football, not because it's the biggest self-indulgent media event of the year. (Read more...)

That Super Bowl was an exciting game, with a final two drives by both teams that displayed the sort of classic drama and heroics that get repeated as sports cliches. I wasn't expecting to be so much on the edge of my seat, but by the end of that game I was high-fiving and cheering like I was a Giants fan (which I'm not). (Read more...)