Wednesday, May 14, 2008

I Think I Just Rusted Myself


Tripping the Rift: The Movie

In a measure of full discloser, I have never seen an episode of Tripping the Rift, or could even tell you what channel it is on, before checking out the aptly titled Tripping the Rift: The Movie. So this review is from that point of view and if you are a longtime fan of the show you may want to skip this review.

For those that haven’t seen the show, it wants to believe it is South Park meets Star Trek in that the characters are fowl mouthed in a setting of space. But the planets that they visit should look familiar because they are all based on pop culture. First the crew head to a black and white setting reminiscent of the old Frankenstein, followed by trips to an Indiana Jones themed planet before going low key on Hysteria Lane surround by desperate, albeit green, housewives.

The lead cartoon Chode (voiced by Office Space’s Stephen Root) is your typical purple captain who cares more about sex than, well, just about everything else combines. Which could explain the inclusion of Six (voiced by Singled Out’s Jenny McCarthy) in the crew, a sex slave cyborg. Rounding out the rest of the crew is Chode’s inept nephew Whip, T’nuk, who sounds like a combination of every lunch lady ever (prudes and females in general may not want to spell her name backwards), and the ambiguously gay robot Gus. Although they should have learned from Ace and Gary, ambiguously gay dudes are much funnier in pairs.

Also thrown in the mix for the movie is a killer robot clown from the future sent back in time to kill Chode. Yes this is an obvious Terminator reference, but instead of going into a biker bar to get cloths, it is a bar that launches plenty of Gus jokes. There are plenty of decent laughs throughout the movie that it almost makes me want to hunt down where the television show airs. Almost.

Tripping the Rift: The Movie gets a Terror Alert Level: Elevated [YELLOW] on my Terror Alert Scale.



Tuesday, May 13, 2008

And They Carried on Like Long Division


Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie

Much has been made of the eight and a half minute epic first single from Death Cab for Cutie, I Will Possess Your Heart and its four and a half minutes of a bass line on a constant loop before a single lyric is uttered. But ironically Narrow Stairs starts right off with the voice of Ben Gibbard. In fact Bixby Canyon Bridge sounds like it could have been an unheard track off of their last album Plans. That is until the track deconstructs around the two thirty mark into a fuzzy distortion for the last nearly singer-less three minutes. Which could explain why it takes the next track, I Will Possess Your Heart took almost as long to finally find its groove.

Aside from the extended outro and intro of the first two songs, Narrow Stairs really doesn’t deviate too far from the band’s previous sound. Sure you find some more feedback on Talking Bird and the organ bounce of You Can Do Better Than Me is reminiscent of the golden era of The Beach Boys as well as the abrupt end of Pity and Fear. While the track length ranges from under two minutes to over eight.

As the music of the band evolves, the songwriting really doesn’t deviate as Gibbard’s old stand bys of love, loss, and obsession are still preeminent. The latter of course show up in I Will Possess Your Heart (how disturbingly great is that title) which could be the best song written by a stalker since Crash into Me. The ode to California wildfires Grapevine Fires is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.

And no one is better at making depressing things sound gloomy like when he asks what became of a girl “in a hand-me-down wedding dress” on Cath… Then there is something funny yet sad about the girl in Your New Twin Sized Bed who downgrades from a queen because she just doesn’t need the extra space after realizing no one was going to it take up. But Gibbard saved the most lovelorn story for himself when he declares on You Can Do Better than Me that he can’t do better than her.

Song to Download - I Will Possess Your Heart

Narrow Stairs gets a Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE] on my Terror Alert Scale.



Death Cab for Cutie on iTunes


Monday, May 12, 2008

You Guys Are Dumber Than You Look


Survivor has been consistently entertaining even though it has hit a double digits number of seasons and despite it being obvious who will get voted out next as soon as the previews from the previous week’s episode. Not that the editors didn’t try to put a speck of doubt in your mind not that made the next castoff any less apparent. But those editors must have had a field day during the most recent installment Fan vs. Favorites.

In previous season we were lucky to get more than one shocking tribal council, but in this installment we had eight blindsides, two removals because of injury, one quitter, and even thought he was voted out, you had Johnny Fairplay asking to be voted for. Then you can throw in that two people got tossed while in the possession of a hidden immunity idol (Ozzy Lusth and Jason Siska), a surprised played idol by Amanda Kimmel as well as a fake idol that Eliza Orlins.

Then there was the most shocking tribal council play possibly ever and unarguable dumbest move ever in the history Survivor when ice cream scooper Erik Reichenbach inexplicably gave up his immunity necklace and promptly got voted out unanimously. I have been racking my brains these last couple days and I cannot even come up with a dumber move ever in the history of reality television in fact.

What was almost as worse is that earlier in the season, the same thing should have happened to Jason when he stupidly agree to step out of the immunity challenge if everyone promised not to vote for him. You know what else can get people to not vote for you at tribal council? Actually having the immunity necklace. The only thing that saved him was half the tribe wanted to blindside Ozzy.

Usually as good as any season is, the finale is always the most boring episode because there are so little contestants left, the stupid remember the fallen segment, the last challenge is a boring endurance one, and the final tribal councils tend to be anti-climatic. But not this one. First was the twist of a final two that no one saw coming. Granted I realized it back when James left thanks to counting out the remaining episodes. And thanks to Natalie's bizarre question about Parvati's bedroom habits, which she did not actually answer, the final tribal was almost enjoyable. Granted Ozzy ruined it with his lame melodrama. Which made me glad Parvati won just to spite him.

Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites gets a Terror Alert Level: High [ORANGE] on my Terror Alert Scale.



Survivor on iTunes


Saturday, May 10, 2008

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. XXVIII


Quote of the Week: This is going to be legendary, wait for it… dary. (Will Forte, How I Met Your Mother)

Song of the Week: Word Up! - Cameo (Everybody Hates Chris)

Big News of the Week: Men in Trees Canceled: I think I speak for every straight dude out there when I say, “Wait, Men in Trees was still on the air?”

Coalition Links of the Week:
With her mind fully blown by a Wire character joining the 90210 spinoff, Buzz asks which actors you'll always associate with particular characters. (BuzzSugar)

Amie shared her thoughts on MTV's The Hills' latest episode "No Place Like Home." (Daemon's TV)

"Fame, I'dols going to live forever, I'dols going to learn how to fly, high!" Vance notes how this weeks American Idol fit into the lyrics of "Fame" eerily well. (Tapeworthy)

While once again obsessed with Lost, Jace remembered why he loves Battlestar Galactica so frakking much. (Televisionary)

Once again, TiFaux's kinky side reared its ugly head as Dan discussed which TV star tattoos were the hottest. Vote on who you think is the hottest! (TiFaux)

Tube Talk vents its frustration at ABC for cancelling Men in Trees. (Tube Talk.

With the rumblings in the press that Smallville's Allison Mack is getting ready to jump ship, this TV Addict thought he'd offer up a word of caution. (the TV Addict)

Kate broke down who will be in and who will be out when Project Runway makes its move to Lifetime. (TV Filter)


The Big Bang Theory: It is interesting how the first couple episodes made it look like Leonard courting Penny would be the big theme of the show until the writers quickly learned that Sheldon was the bread and butter of the show. So we get a second Sheldon family member visit which is two more than the four other characters combined. Granted the other three trying to ask the sister out was the funniest part of the episode. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download or The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.


How I Met Your Mother: Yeah this Ted not talking to Barney is just not going to work out well, aside from the one funny line, this episode was a bust. It is time for the others to start an intervention. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.


My Name Is Earl: Finally Earl is back to crossing things off his list and not so coincidentally, the show got back to being funny even if it guest stared the dude from Napoleon Dynamite. Possibly the funniest episode of the season. All the grocery allusions had me laughing throughout. And the broken finger might be the funniest sight gag on television this year. They still need to get rid of Billy though. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.


Survivor: There is really nothing else to say but Erik is going to go down as the dumbest Survivor contestant ever, in fact, possibly the dumbest reality contestant ever. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.

Survivor on iTunes



Lost: I am convinced that the writers decided to put in as many “what the frak” moments this week even if there is no possible why they can or will ever explain them. Just off the top of my head, they include:

- What the frak is Claire doing in the cabin and what the frak was up with her grinning?

- Why the frak is Jack’s father talking to Locke and for Jacob?

- Where the frak is Jacob?

- What the frak is with all the time skipping?

- Why the frak won’t Michael die?

- What the frak is on the dude from Smoking Aces’ arm?

- What the frak were the Hispanic and black dude doing in Locke’s flashbacks?

- Why the frak does Locke have the same last name as his birth mother (don’t adopted kids take the name of their adopted parents?)?

- How the frak do you move an island (especially after the freighter dudes came back)?

- What the frak is the contingency plan?

- Why the frak do I still watch?

Oh yeah, it is because of Not-Henry’s bemused, I don’t care what you do anymore, but I’ll just play along as if I almost do look which is basically the look I had all episode. Check out the latest episode over at ABC.com.

Lost on iTunes



Next Week’s Pick: My Name Is Earl, Thursday at 8:00 on NBC: For the shows that came back from the strike, their season premieres start rolling out this week, and looking at the list for the week, I am less than impressed by television this year. Hopefully My Name Is Earl can turn things around after a sub par year marred my jail time, comas, and little crossing off the list.





Friday, May 09, 2008

I Want My Music Television vol. XXV


There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.


Teenage Love Affair - Alicia Keys



Alicia Keys in eighties garb and a nightgown? Yes please. But I’m not sure what is more out of place, the inexplicable “2 Weeks Ago” or the for no reason inclusion of the epidemic in Africa. For a not out of place public service announcement check out:


All I Need - Radiohead



Radiohead tends not to get much talk on the 9th Green on account that I am not pretentious enough to care even if they are letting people download their album for free. But this video does highlight a very serious subject with human trafficking and should get you to thinking the next time you head down to Walmart to buy, well, anything. There are reasons to how Walmart and stores of its ilk can keep there prices so low and it mostly has to do with 70% of their products come from China where employees tend not to get health insurance or anything that resembles minimum wage in the USA. For more information check out End Exploitation and Trafficking.


Beat It - Fall Out Boy and John Mayer



I was on the fence for this Michael Jackson remake, but after seeing this Fall Out Boy video, I think I may fall into the dislike side. John Mayer was wise to sit this one out. Unfortunately Buster Bluth didn’t follow his lead. What’s sad is I think I can find all the MJ references in the video.


Falling Down - Scarlett Johansson



Instead of using this space to talk about boring the song and video is, I would rather talk about the recent news that Scarlett Johansson is engaged to the dude from Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Parlor. Wait, huh? How did this happen? I know I am not up on the high school gossip of rags like US Weekly, but wasn’t she dating the equaling boring dude from 40 Days and 40 Nights?

Thursday, May 08, 2008

Previewing America at a Crossroads


“Today almost half of Americans hold a negative view of Islam. One in four hold “extreme” anti Muslim views.” I guess things like that happen when a group of Islamic men use airplanes as missiles if it is warranted or not. But as I have found in life, when you are quick to make fun of yourself, oddly enough the quicker people are to accept you. And that is what five comedians are doing as highlighted in the upcoming PBS series America at a Crossroads with their newest installment Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age premiering this Sunday, May 11 at 10:00 (you may want to still check your local listing just in case).

Judging how African Americans comedians such as Richard Pryor in the seventies, Eddie Murphy in the eighties, Chris Rock in the nineties, and Dave Chappelle this decade have been able to help thaw the race relations since the era of Jim Crowe by poking fun of their race and how everyone reacts to the color of their skin, these new Muslim comics just may be able to help ease the animosity that still lingers from the 9/11 attacks as seen in one review that had a caption reading, “trying not to suicide bomb” on stage.

The comics profiled are pretty diverse unto themselves, with only their religion sometimes binding them, with the five being descended from Iran, Palestine, India, Egypt, and one that is half Palestinian and half Italian. It is interesting see how each balances humor with their religion considering how none of them would be about to do their routine as is in their native country.

Here is a preview of America at a Crossroads:




My personal favorite of the five was Ahmed Ahmed:




Then a funny skit about Arabs being the new Black:



What up Mustafa? I am totally using that in the future. You can find a bunch more clips from America at a Crossroads on its YouTube page. And here is a little more information on America at a Crossroads for those that tend not to watch public television (personally I need my weekly Bob Ross fix):

Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age is part of the acclaimed series America at a Crossroads, created by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to present an in-depth, provocative series of films exploring the challenges confronting the world post-9/11. CPB developed the initial concept for America at a Crossroads in 2004, with an open call for film projects. More than 400 proposals were submitted from public television stations and independent documentary filmmakers around the world. In 2006, CPB named WETA the producing station to oversee all films throughout production. Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age is part of a series of specials following the premiere week in April 2007. The series has a major interactive Web presence at www.pbs.org/crossroads. Funding for the series was provided by CPB.

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

We on Award Tour: 2008 MTV Movie Awards Nominations


It has been over a decade since the last time Mike Myers hosted the MTV Movie Awards and if I am not mistaken; his Riverdance spoof was one of TV Guide’s top ten funniest things on television ever. Granted it has been about that long since Myers has been consistently funny (I have the second Austin Powers being that specific date). No music performance announced yet, but last year they boasted both Rihanna and Amy Winehouse. I have the rundown of the nominees below and who I voted for. Vote for yourself over at MTV.com.


Best Movie
Juno
Transformers
Pirates of the Caribbean - At World's End
I Am Legend
Superbad
National Treasure 2 - Book of Secrets

Who Will Win: Transformers
Who I Voted For: Superbad

I would scoff at the inclusion of the Pirates movie because I and everyone I know panned it, but I thought that about the second one, but it won last year. But I still think the nerds will come out in force for Transformers, which I didn’t see because I didn’t want my childhood destroyed again by Michael Bruckheimer.


Best Male Performance
Will Smith - I Am Legend
Shia LaBeouf - Transformers
Denzel Washington - American Gangster
Matt Damon - The Bourne Ultimatum
Michael Cera - Juno

Who Will Win: Will Smith
Who I Voted For: Michael Cera

My vote for Michael Cera was more because I wanted to vote for his Superbad role, but Juno will have to do.


Best Female Performance
Ellen Page - Juno
Keira Knightley - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Katherine Heigl - Knocked Up
Amy Adams - Enchanted
Jessica Biel - I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry

Who Will Win: Keira Knightley
Who I Voted For: Amy Adams

It is not a good sign about the fairer sex that two of the nominees (Heigl, Biel) were the least interesting part of their respected movies.


Best Villain
Johnny Depp - Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Denzel Washington - American Gangster
Angelina Jolie - Beowulf
Topher Grace - Spider-Man 3
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men

Who Will Win: Javier Bardem
Who I Voted For: Javier Bardem

How is Venom nominated but no Sandman? That may be the biggest snub of the year. Not that anyone could beat the creepy dude from No Country for Old Men.


Best Comedic Performance
Johnny Depp - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Adam Sandler - I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
Jonah Hill - Superbad
Seth Rogen - Knocked Up
Amy Adams - Enchanted

Who Will Win: Seth Rogan
Who I Voted For: Adam Sandler

This may come down to the Apatow guys with Rogan edging it out thanks to Hill’s sub par job on Saturday Night Live. Granted with my name, I am required to vote for Sandler.


Best Fight
Matt Damon vs. Joey Ansah - The Bourne Ultimatum
Tobey Maguire vs. James Franco - Spider-Man 3
Hayden Christensen vs. Jamie Bell - Jumper
Sean Faris vs. Cam Gigandet - Never Back Down
Chris Tucker & Jackie Chan vs. Sun Ming Ming - Rush Hour 3
Alien vs. Predator - Aliens vs. Predator - Requiem

Who Will Win: The Bourne Ultimatum
Who I Voted For: Spiderman 3

In a measure of full discloser, the only fight here I saw was from Spiderman.


Best Kiss
Shia LaBeouf and Sarah Roemer - Disturbia
Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey - Enchanted
Daniel Radcliffe and Katie Leung - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Ellen Page and Michael Cera - Juno
Briana Evigan and Robert Hoffman - Step Up 2 The Streets

Who Will Win: Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey
Who I Voted For: Ellen Page and Michael Cera

I think I say this every year, but they need to kill this category.


Breakthrough Performance
Zac Efron - Hairspray
Seth Rogen - Knocked Up
Jonah Hill - Superbad
Michael Cera - Superbad
Chris Brown - This Christmas
Nikki Blonsky - Hairspray
Megan Fox - Transformers
Christopher Mintz-Plasse - Superbad

Who Will Win: Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Who I Voted For: Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Vote McLovin, if only for his PSA with Kristen Bell.




Best Summer Movie So Far
Iron Man
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Sex and the City: The Movie
Speed Racer
The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Who Will Win: Iron Man
Who I Voted For: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I guess this replaces last year’s lame Best Movie You Haven’t Seen, but the Studio’s are Paying Us Big Bucks to Promote Them. Of these, only one has actually been released so far, so this is still lame.

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

I Can Stay Here in This Parking Lot All By Myself


P2

As a life long suburban dweller, I really do not have much experience with parking decks and even most of them have been above ground, accessed in the daylight or overcrowded at the end of a ball game. Come to think of it, the only time I have been in an underground parking deck may have been playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. So P2, a suspenseful thriller about being confined to an underground parking deck, really isn’t up my alley.

Despite taking place on Christmas Eve, the timing had to do more about picking a day where no one would be there late (sans our heroine of course), than making this a holiday theme thriller, granted a well placed Blue Christmas is used. The protagonist in question is Rachel Nichols (Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd) who plays the damsel is distress quite well in a how does she not pop out of that dress with all that action going on kind of way.

She is put into that dress by lowly parking attendant Wes Bentley (Soul Survivors) who takes matters into his own hands when Nichols laughs off his suggestion of eating Christmas dinner with him when her car doesn’t start as the last one out of the parking deck. Needless to say Bentley meticulously planned everything to keep Nichols inside the building locking all the exits with the underground dwelling helping out with the bad cell phone reception.

But as Nichols breaks free, the movie turning into a slow moving, literally, Bentley goes after her with Jason Voorhees-like speed throughout the whole movie, plot with somewhat interesting encounters, like when Nichols finds a ax or is stuck in an elevator, buffered by boring cat and mouse games. It is hard to tell what is more to blame, Bentley, who cannot command a movie when he is one of only two people on screen, or the screenwriters who thought the location of a darkly lit underground place could write itself as a horror flick that they skimp on actual thrills, but P2 may have been an idea best left on the drawing board.

P2 gets a Terror Alert Level: Guarded [BLUE] on my Terror Alert Scale.



Sunday, May 04, 2008

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. XXVII


Quote of the Week: It looks like something Elton John would drive in the Everglades. (Penny, The Big Bang Theory)

Song of the Week: Burning Love - Elvis Pressley (My Name Is Earl)

Big News of the Week: Read the 9th Green with Your Breakfast: For a while I have been flirting with the idea of posting new posts in the morning, but never ended up doing so because the extra ten minutes of sleep always wins out over that idea. But last week, Blogger introduced a new feature where you can have future dated posts so the 9th Green can be updated as I sleep. God bless technology. I am thinking of a 6:00 AM post time but if you have any suggestions, shoot me an e-mail or drop a comment. I am going to give this test throughout May starting most likely Tuesday and I will see how it goes before I make it permanent or go back to the early evening that I have been doing this year.

Coalition Links of the Week:
With the Sex and the City movie looming, Buzz proposed a dozen essential episodes of the series to watch before May 30. (BuzzSugar)

With the start of season 2 of Robin Hood on BBC America, Sandie shared her interview with Richard Armitage, who plays Guy of Gisbourne. (Daemon's TV)

Marcia created a Lost drinking game, ensuring that she'll never again be sober on Thursday nights. (Pop Vultures)

With apologies to Supernatural, Scrubs and My Name Is Earl, Vance is supa dupa excited from the amazing Thursday onslaught of Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, Lost, The Office and Survivor. (Tapeworthy)

This week, while Jace thrilled over Doctor Who and his casting scoop (Catherine O'Hara signs on for Rob Thomas' new drama pilot Good Behavior), he once again found himself enthralled by the latest episode of Lost. (Televisionary)

In the wake of a prominent death on Battlestar Galactica, Dan got all Mr. Wizard on us and did some hasty internet research on what would actually happen to you if you got sucked out of the airlock and into outer space. It ain't pretty. (TiFaux)

Jennifer was outraged to hear of the impending cancellation of Aliens in America and launched into a red-faced rant about the current state of television. (Tube Talk)

Raoul talked to the rather fascinating Lauren of America's Next Top Model. (TV Filter)


The Big Bang Theory: If there were ever a litmus test for if you were a geek or not, it may be how hard you laughed, or if all, when Leonard started up the time machine and his crew went into fast-forward mode. For the record, I don’t think I laughed harder at that then anything else in the past year. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download or The Big Bang Theory on iTunes.


Greek: When my free time last month was reduced to zero, on Mondays I decided that I would tape The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother and just catch up with Greek by streaming. But when I went over to ABCFamily.com, for some absurd reason you can stream episodes 1-10, 15 and 16. Um, what about episodes 11-14, coincidentally three of which I had missed. Now I’ll have to wait to rent the DVD or hope for a marathon as I am too cheap to buy Greek on iTunes.


How I Met Your Mother: I do not think there is a show that flirts with the shark more than How I Met Your Mother. And the show certainly tap-danced around the shark once again by putting Barney on the outs with Ted. Once Barney crossed the line I do not see how he get redeemed. Check out the latest episodes over at Innertube. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.


My Name Is Earl: So Catalina was lesbian for a whole episode? Guess that is better than none, and the gay homosexual’s reation to her confessing her love for women was hilarious. Not so hilarious was Earl getting married to Alyssa Milano and another Michael Rappaport sighting. Can we please get these two off this show. Check out the latest episodes over at NBC.com. You can also download My Name Is Earl on iTunes.


Survivor: Even though it was pretty obvious that Amanda found the idol, I was still on the edge of my seat, shouting, “please have the idol” at the television all throughout the tribal council until she finally reached back for it. I’m not sure I want to add a six DVD set of this season to my collection, but I have the cull together all of this season’s tribal councils together on in DVD because almost everyone has been great. Check out the latest episode over at Innertube.

Survivor on iTunes



Lost: Well that didn’t take very long for Jack flashforwards to get boring much like his flashbacks since the first season. So even though he made a point of not seeing Aaron for whatever reason, growing a Grizzly Adams beard in the process, he seemed to pull it all together for no apparent reason, agreeing to raise the boy. Yawn. But what was worse was his is he going to die from a burst appendix storyline on the island when we already knew he’d make it. Of course it will be a couple week, if not next season until we learn more about the most interesting part of the week in what was up with Claire and her dad? Check out the latest episode over at ABC.com.

Lost on iTunes



Next Week’s Pick: Survivor, 8:00 Thursday and Sunday at 8:00 on CBS: In a story I broke earlier in this post, this season’s tribal councils have been the most entertaining ever. That could set us up for a boring conclusion to the Fans vs. Favorite but with the hidden immunity idol being put into play last week by Amanda may have shaken things up to where we may see even more scrabbling as the remaining five get widdled down to the sole survivor.