deebeedee

I was walking back and forth in front of the TV (as it is in between the home office and the kitchen) while my two-year old son was watching Sesame Street, when something on the screen caught my eye. I turned to the TV and lo and behold, I see Elmo, in a full-body shot, riding his tricycle around Sesame Street. With the camera shooting from a high angle, Elmo is shown pedaling - yes, pedaling - while singing a tune. Now, how can this be? Where is the person who’s supposed to be controlling Elmo’s mouth movements?

There’s no way this could’ve been one of those scenes taken initially with a green screen background. I mean, Elmo was weaving in and out of the area between Hooper’s store and the apartment’s front steps, all the while being surrounded by other kids in tricycles. With the camera on a crane moving about and following Elmo around, this would’ve been a difficult scene to put together. This couldn’t have been CG work, either (does PBS have the budget for that?). It would’ve been overkill (unless there’s some sort of charitable CG work that Lucasfilm has meted out to Sesame Street in appreciation for Frank Oz’s contribution to the Star Wars franchise over the years, but I doubt it. Too far-fetched.).

Has Elmo finally gone fully remote-controlled? I can’t say. No matter what muppet wizardry the CPB has come up with, Elmo on wheels has certainly impressed this dad who himself grew up watching the muppets. But back then they were only shown from the waste up.

Shadowlands comes highly recommended in this post at Rhesa’s blog. I saw it a few months ago on DVD. The 1993 movie stars Anthony Hopkins as C.S. Lewis, the Oxford don and writer, and Debra Winger as Joy Gresham, an American fan of his whom he weds in a marriage of convenience. He realizes his deep love for her when she becomes terminally ill. The film got a 100% Tomato Meter Rating. Do check it out.

On a related note, I regret missing the PBS special The Question of God which aired last September. It compares C.S. Lewis’s deep religious convictions to Sigmund Freud’s scientific skepticism. I wonder where I can rent the DVD?

Saw part one of Masterpiece Theatre’s Dr. Zhivago last night on PBS. Never did see the 1965 release* so I have no basis for comparison. The television version has the typical earmarks of a PBS production, managing to eke out an epic love story from a limited budget. It stars Hans Matheson as Yuri Zhivago, Sam Neill as Victor Komarovsky, and Keira Knightley as Lara Antipova. Yes, that’s Keira from the Pirates of the Caribbean. She reminds me of Brooke Shields with a hint of Natalie Portman (Keira played the Queen Amidala decoy in The Phantom Menace). I eagerly await part two of Dr. Zhivago airing next Sunday at 8 p.m.

(*clarification: mainly because I haven’t been born yet! hehe. i’ll probably rent it one of these days.)