Powerful performances make 'Precious' a must-see

Practically before it screened at any film festival - much less reached any theater where regular people could buy a ticket to see it - critics and awards pundits were declaring "Precious" a lock for all sorts of nominations and awards.

Believe the hype.

"Precious" features two of the most raw, heartbreaking performances you'll see all year.

From the opening, misspelled credits (a reflection of the title character's struggle with illiteracy) to the heartbreaking final speech, "Precious," based on the novel "Push" by the mono-named writer Sapphire, is mesmerizing.

Surviving "Survivor"

The show:

"Survivor: Samoa"

The issue:

The reality of reality

The set-up:

After 18 other seasons, you know the drill: A group of strangers is sent to live in a challenging environment, divide into teams and face off in challenges in which the losing team votes someone off the tribe. In this 19th incarnation, the living conditions on Samoa are unusually brutal.

A "Three Rivers" stumble

Since CBS sent the pilot of "Three Rivers" to media outlets earlier in the summer, things have changed.

First, there was the recasting of one character (the role played by Juliette Binoche is now played by Alfre Woodard) -- a fine, harmless change.

But the problem the show faces now is the switch-up of episodes. The one you'll see premiering at 9 p.m. today on CBS is completely new. That in itself is not a problem. The problem lies in the lack of backstory audiences will have about a key character: Ryan Abbott (Christopher J. Hanke) is a newbie to the organ donation team. In fact, as the assistant to the transplant coordinator, he's had zero experience in medicine. Mostly, he's been a radio DJ and reporter. He's clearly out of his element.

"Three Rivers": Making a great case for organ donation

The show:

"Three Rivers," debuting Oct. 4 on CBS

The social issue:

Organ donation

The set-up:

"Three Rivers" follows a Pittsburgh organ transplant team as they work to save lives by finding organ donors to match their patients' needs. The title refers to the city's three rivers as well as the three converging storylines in each episode (transplant docs, donor recipients and donor families).

"Drop Dead Diva": Size acceptance or silly?

The show: "Drop Dead Diva" on Lifetime

The social issue:

Can a skinny girl find happiness in a world that openly discriminates against fat people?

The set-up:

Deb (Brooke D'Orsay) is a blonde ditz-bomb of a spokesmodel wannabe. Jane (Brooke Elliott) is a dowdy lawyer who's got smarts to spare but is seriously lacking in the self-confidence and style department. On her way to an audition to be a "Price Is Right" model, Deb's too busy putting on lipgloss to notice an oncoming fruit truck, slams into it and is killed. Around the same time, a crazed husband shows up at Jane's law office brandishing a gun, wanting to kill Jane's boss who had an affair with his wife. Jane trips and takes the bullet.

Deb's trip to the hereafter (which owes a good bit to Albert Brooks' 1991 comedy "Defending Your Life") puts her in front of one of heaven's "gatekeepers," Fred (Ben Feldman), who tells her she's a total zero -- no good deeds or bad deeds to her credit. As he struggles to determine what to do with her, she hits a button on his computer and is zapped into Jane's just-dead body.

Skinny Deb wakes up size-16 Jane, with the knowledge of both in her brain.

Stuck inside a really nice hotel

So, my big plan this week was to tag along to B's conference in St. Louis and spend the days exploring the city, trying cool new restaurants and basically enjoying the utter lack of any kind of "have to," then hang with her at night for more fun. So why is it that when a ginormous thunderstorm (with ping-pong-ball-sized hail) blows into town, I'm suddenly at a loss for how to amuse myself indoors?

If I'm being honest, I'm normally more of an inside-type of person. Yes, I love being outside, especially on vacation, but -- back home, at least -- it doesn't often occur to me to leave any building I'm in. So today, faced with no other alternative than to stay inside the really nice Hyatt Regency with a view of the St. Louis Arch from my window, all I wanted to do was be outside. I even got so desperate for something to do that I sat in on one of her conference sessions. Know what's more boring than a conference session? A session at a conference that isn't yours. Whoops.

Lesson learned.

On the upside, we did have a great where-the-day-takes-you Sunday in St. Louis, wandering through the Landing and ending up in a casino where we played roulette across from Detroit Tigers right-fielder Magglio Ordonez. We must have been the only people in the room who knew who he was. Plus, we won at the tables.

As the sun is peeking through the clouds now, I have high hopes that we'll return to the Landing tonight and try the sushi at The Drunken Fish.

Hello again, outside.

Am I the only person ...

... who pretty much never wants to see a movie with the general public anymore? Or, more to the point, are there any people left who DON'T take their babies to movies ... or text their friends ... or talk through the entire film?

I recognize that I come from a unique position -- generally I'm seeing movies in empty theaters (local press screenings) or theaters filled with other critics (regional press screenings) or on screener DVDs in my basement. So as a result I suppose I'm extra-sensitive to anyone who doesn't sit quietly with his hands folded in his lap in a public theater, but COME ON. Turn your phone off. Pay for a sitter. Leave the crying baby with your mom. Infants and "Monsters vs. Aliens" (in 3-D, no less) don't really mix.

Being disconnected from the work world this week has allowed me to fully appreciate the feeling of disconnected-ness. It's a lovely thing. So give yourself over to "I Love You, Man" for all 105 minutes and see how nice it is to escape.

Diving in ...

Nothing quite like feeling as though you're talking to yourself in an empty room, but here goes. Between the seminars I've sat through this week -- the week of my (first) furlough from Gannettland -- and the reading I've been doing about social media, it seems like it's high time to dive in to this sort of thing.

I guess what I'm wondering about most these days is how thousands of journalists across the country are going to figure out what to do with their lives and their skills as the industry continues to crumble before our eyes. Hence, the foray into social media realms. I've always been of the mind that things will work out for the best because, mostly, they have for me. So do I carry that feeling into journalism's new horizons or do I start looking for a door? Probably most smart journalists are doing a good bit of both these days.

And yet, in the midst of all this, all I can seem to think about is the MSU men's and women's basketball teams playing in the Sweet 16 this weekend. ADD or adept mental multitasking? All I know is I look forward to a whole lot of screaming in the next two days. Happy screaming, that is.