A smattering of news and random interesting stuff:
If you’re a fan of director Christopher Nolan (“Inception,” “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight,” “Memento”), you can check out his first film, “Following,” on demand and on Netflix. The 1998 thriller is about a London writer’s descent into voyeurism and violence. Looks pretty cool. If you get your cable through Comcast, Cox, Cablevision, Time Warner, Bright House, Charter or Insight, you’ll find it under “IFC In Theaters.” My Comcast On Demand lists it for $6.99; hey, still a lot cheaper than a movie. It’s also available through Netflix streaming.
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Former Cowboys coach and current Fox NFL studio analyst Jimmy Johnson will be on next season’s “Survivor.” The 67-year-old will among the series’ oldest-ever competitors. Shooting in Nicaragua began in June. Hmmm, wonder how his hair helmet will fare in that humidity. Hopefully there’ll be a Niners fan or two in that group and Johnson will be voted off the island ASAP. I always hated that guy.
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So who’ll replace Simon Cowell on “American Idol” next season? How about Chris Isaak? The San Francisco-based crooner is reportedly among the leading contenders. I don’t know though — he’s way too nice. And with him and Ellen DeGeneres, it might be nice overload. You need a Simon-like snarl to balance everything out. Also reportedly under consideration: Harry Connick Jr. and Donald Trump. (Ah, no and NO!, respectively).
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ESPN ombudsman Don Ohlenmeyer rips the network’s decision to air LeBron James’ “The Decision” special a couple of weeks ago, saying it pushed ethical boundaries and damaged ESPN’s journalistic credibility. Only he says it a lot longer than I just did, in a wordy ESPN.com post approaching Bill Simmons-like length.
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Conan O’Brien was toasted by SF Sketchfest last weekend, in a makeup show that was bumped in February when the whole late-night fiasco blew up. Conan got schnockered on wine with Andy Richter and host Patton Oswalt, and said that if the Internet and viral videos were around in 1993, when he got his “Late Night” gig, “”I’d have lost my job to a cat s——- on a toilet.”
