SUPER- the sequel

I'd like to share some responce I've received to my prior blog "SUPER-sized and in 3D."

Chris R. from Bridgeport writes: Hello Heather, I read your blog and I agree with you. That movie was too long. Nowadays hollywood sticks you with 3 hour plus movies or something similar. I hope you can cover that in a future "What's Bugging You Segment". Have a great 4th of July Weekend!

Connecticut Post Movie Critic Joe Meyers told me he wasn't crazy about "Superman Returns." He wrote: " I didn't think the actor who played him was very good (compared with C. Reeve) and Lois was too young and naive (I hated them having her tote that little boy around all the time, too).
CLICK HERE to read his full review for the Post. You might remember Meyers helped me out with a previous "What's Bugging You" segment by explaining why you might not find the raving reviews found in movie ads in the critic's actual review. He says many times publicists call critics and ask just for a quote before their review is written so it can be used in ads. He says he doesn't think the practice is really ethical, because then the critic faces the challenge of having to write that quote into the review.

Back to Meyer's response of what he thought of "Superman Returns."  He says  it had to be a lot more fun in 3-D. I thought so, but I've also been told some people think the 3-D made it too jarring. Here is more of Meyer's responce. I did read in the Times that the IMAX theaters had their biggest advance sales ever for this picture. Hollywood does need to do special, big format material to blast people off their couches and into theaters. When I was young there was a a big screen process called Cinerama that was very popular (and so much more fun that watching a movie at home on TV).

Superman received mixed reviews from the critics. You can read the articles from most of the major papers on Metacritic.

SUPER-sized and in 3D

In order to draw people out of their make-shift theatre living environs and into movie theatres, Hollywood needs to sweeten the deal. Besides, it's much more comfortable on my couch with the ability to pause and rewind while wrapped in a blankie than it is sitting nearly straight up in a hard chair in an either freezing or hot room with two heads right in front of me.

However, entice me with a screen that is 72 feet wide and 52 feet tall and have the characters jump out into my lap, and I might pay the ten to 14-dollar ticket.

With Superman Returns: An IMAX 3D Experience, which opened Wednesday, Warner Bros. has released the world's first live action feature with segments converted from ordinary two-dimentions into IMAX 3D. I saw a screening of the movie Tuesday night and it is interesting that you don't have to wear the large goofy glasses throughout the entire movie. Flashing icons tell you when to put the glasses on or to take them off. I enjoyed the experience,  but now worry my own 50-inch screen won't suffice.

I just hope the current trend of making two-hour-plus movies doesn't last. Maybe it's meant to make you feel like you got your ten-dollars worth, but I still don't want to sit in a non-childproof kick chair for that long. The only criticism I have for Superman Returns is that it was too long. Two-hours and 34-minutes in all. (No, that is AFTER previews.)

A local link to the film: Kate Bosworth, who plays Lois Lane, lived in Darien from the age of nine to 13. The new Superman, Brandon Routh, grew up in Norwalk, but not Connecticut, rather Norwalk, Ohio. He's cute anyway. To see the movie in both IMAX and 3D, you might have to drive to Manchester, Connecticut, or New York. Find out here.

To see compare figures at the box office from this weekend to last weekend to a year ago, click here.

Sweet Strawberries

Have I mentioned that I am SO SICK of the rain?

Some farmers here in southwestern Connecticut are tired of it too! Jamie Jones of Jones Family Farms in Shelton told me yesterday that the rain has been keeping people away from the farm during this very important time: strawberry picking season. Though he says the abundance of rain has made for large, juicy strawberries, if people aren't picking, they'll just rot on the vine. He needs the sun to come out because people only have a week or two left to pick!

I went out to the farm yesterday to shoot this upcoming weekend's "What's To Do" report - to remind people that strawberry season is very short- it begins in June and ends in mid July. When we arrived around 9:30 it was overcast and humid, but there were a dozen or so people already out filling their baskets. So we grabbed the camera and boarded the "Very Merry Berry Ferry" which takes you out into the middle of the farm for the best picking. As soon as we started shooting, it started pouring.  I got drenched. I looked like I had just stepped out of the shower... and I had to be at a news conference and do a live-shot in just two hours.

Of course the heavy rain that drenched me stopped in about five minutes, so we were able to do some picking of our own. At least while I was blow drying my hair via the car air-conditioner, I was able to eat breakfast.

You know how the strawberries you buy from the store often have a tasteless, hard white part in the middle and top near the stem? Not these. From top to bottom they are soft and sweet. Jones Family Farms shares some its favorite recipes for strawberries on its website, including strawberry salsa, strawberry soup and strawberry jam. Actually, that is what the fresh strawberries smell like to me- sweet strawberry jam.

Jones says the strawberries are at their peak now. They are less than two-dollars a pound.  The current special is all-you-can-fit into the Jones box pictured at the beginning of this blog for $20.30. Call the daily crop report at (203) 929-8425.

If you go out this 4th of July holiday weekend, be sure to visit Jamie in his tasting room at the Jones Winery. Oh, by the way, blueberry season starts soon- usually in mid-July.

Try WNBA

In a previous blog and in stories on News 12 Connecticut, I've tried to figure out which baseball team southwestern Connecticut should cheer for: the New York Yankees or the the Boston Red Sox. Of course Yankee stadium is closer to us here in southwestern Connecticut, plus its usually easier to hear Yankees games on the radio or see them on TV. On the other hand, the Red Sox is New England's team, and historically Connecticut is considered New England. However, I've found most die-fans are reared. All it takes is a few trips to the stadium as a child, and a family tradition is born. I'll pose another dilemma. Should people in southwestern Connecticut root for the WNBA's New York Liberty or Connecticut Sun? The distance between where these two teams play isn't as great as Yankee Stadium to Fenway. The New York Liberty play at Madison Square Garden, about 48 miles from Norwalk. The Connecticut Sun play at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, about 80 miles from Norwalk. Since the WNBA is celebrating its 10th season, the league hasn't been around long enough to build generations of fans, so take your pick! If you haven't watched much women's basketball, now may be a good time to take in a few games. The NBA season is over- and America is out of the World Cup - plus, you can get an inside look at how these professional women train in my "Living Fit" reports on News 12 Connecticut. Tomorrow beginning at noon, find out what the first thing   #24 Megan Mahoney does after practice. Then tomorrow night, both the Connecticut Sun and the New York Liberty play at home. It's Connecticut vs. the Houston Comets and New York against the Charlotte Sting.

If you are a fan of either team, please let me know! Send an email to BlogHRKovar@news12.com .

Bring Your Dog to Work Day

Friday was  Bring Your Dog to Work Day.

I didn't know until I heard it on the radio while driving in and it was too late to fetch Ms. Willamena. However, I was really close to bringing her in Friday morning anyway.  I was going to use her as a prop in my "What's To Do Report." I had even written the script. But at the last minute I decided to leave her at home because she really isn't too helpful at the office and its too hot and cruel to make her wait in the car.

I should introduce you to Willamena. She is an eight-year-old full-blood NEWSHOUND. She was a rescue pup and is said to be a mix of Lab, German Shepard and Rottweiler. Whatever she is, she enjoys digging up good news stories!

She once tried her paw as "Willamena with the Weather", but she likes using her nose to uncover truth, justice and whatever food is left out on the sidewalk.

Yes. Willamena has a boyfriend. His name is Otis and lives in Black Rock.