Grooveshark

Best. Site. Ever.

Filed under: fun, music

I was present for a chick flick last night…

I have a noted hesitancy towards “chick flicks” or “date movies”. I don’t know why. That’s a lie, I really do. In general, they are mind-numbingly formulaic and, as a result, spine-grindingly predictable. The humor usually attempts to be cute and clever, but comes across cheesy and decidedly un-clever. Additionally, there is all too often little depth to any of the characters. Also, there are rarely robots, space ships, or giant monsters.

Now, I completely understand that there are exceptions to my reservations, and I completely understand that even though some movies adhere to the above criticisms they can turn out to be entertaining. I get those things. Suffice it to say, I simply have a noted hesitancy towards films of this ilk.

In any case, with relatives from distant lands staying with my wife and family over the weekend, the opportunity arose to watch a film, and as I was the only adult male in the house, I had absolutely nothing to do with the choice. And that was fine, I truly didn’t mind. So it was that we embarked upon the journey which was The Holiday.

I won’t go into any kind of summary at this point; in fact, I have provided a handy link to IMDB for those of you with no clue what movie I’m talking about. The movie is, afterall, already more than 18 months old. Instead, I will merely detail my observations and thoughts of the film. There may be some spoiler action here, so be warned.

These items will be in order of things I think of first to things I think of afterwards. Absent from this list will be things I failed to think of or forgot to mention.

1. I’m not a fan of Cameron Diaz. I haven’t seen her in a ton of films; however, the times I’ve seen her and thought, “Hrmm…,” greatly outnumber the times I’ve said, “she didn’t look malnourished in The Mask.” Having said that, I have not been wronged by Diaz, so this is nothing personal. I have simply yet to be impressed with her in a role that I’ve seen.
2. Jack Black’s character in this movie should have been split in half, and one half should have been thrown away. Simply put, Black should never be the love interest in a movie. It’s just not the correct decision. Remove that part and leave the rest of his character, and you have a well-played, funny strength to the film.
3. Eli Wallach was the best thing about this movie.
4. Kate Winslet is a fine actress, and when she was given material to truly act out in this film, she was quite good. However, the horrible comic relief she was forced to portray in the guise of a never-ending scene of surprise and joy made me want to inhabit a tauntaun.
5. Winslet and Black demonstrated chemistry reminiscent of the chemistry between fire and hamsters. See point #2 for solution.
6. Jude Law did a fine job of acting in this film, and there were things about his character that were genuinely unpredictable and refreshing.
7. The tent scene was the best scene in this movie.
8. The whole crying thing with the character of Amanda was painfully see-through. I found myself thinking, “Is there any possible way they can stop themselves from ending with that?”
9. Rufus Sewell played the part of insanely-obvious, spontaneously-generating chick flick bad guy. Poorly.
10. This is a bit of a side note, but I just read on IMDB trivia that “This film was written specifically with actors Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, and Jack Black in mind.” If this is true, then I am even more infuriated with some of the scenes written for these actors/actresses.
11. The final dancing scene simply must be removed and injested by those responsible.

Having said all that, I was marginally entertained by parts of this film, particularly those that truly surprised me. Much, however, was as expected.

I remain hesitant towards “chick flicks” or “date movies”.

Filed under: entertainment, family, movies

Movie realizations over the past week…

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire isn’t as bad as I thought it was during my initial experience with it. True, it is riddled with things I wished they’d done differently, but I tend to enjoy it more each time I see it. On a related note, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is my favorite movie of the series. Evanna Lynch’s as Luna Lovegood is perfectly cast.

Stranger Than Fiction is quite good. I particularly enjoy that the majority of humor isn’t so in-your-face as one might expect from the protagonist, Will Ferrell.

When I first saw The Fifth Element in the movie theater, I hated it. I don’t know why, I suspect it was the same reason I hated Eddie Vedder’s voice the first time I heard it: too good to hear for the first time. In any case, the movie is outstanding.

As much as I was interested in seeing the Silver Surfer in 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, I must say that the 20 or 30 minutes or so of the movie I was able to endure was a waste of life.

300 isn’t for the family, but despite the blood, gore, nudity, funky looking dudes, and bucket-loads of testosterone-induced screaming, it is certainly a beautifully entertaining film. It was a movie that, although I enjoyed it in the theater, I didn’t think I’d want to see many more times. I was wrong.

It’s a guilty pleasure, but Galaxy Quest is fun. I watch it. I like it.

For whatever reason, it took me a very long time to get around to watching The Green Mile, but I accept all that time as worth the price of admission. A truly great movie.

Filed under: movies

Flowers on the Wall

This song is one of my few memories of early childhood. I can distinctly remember listening to this song, singing this song, and thinking that it was a naughty song because it mentioned smoking cigarettes. Ah, youth.

I still like the song despite it’s silly bizareness. Anyhoo, enjoy.

Filed under: entertainment, fun, music

Casting Call

This is an interesting list of roles that actors/actresses have turned down. I always find these types of lists interesting. Of course, you can rarely be sure that everything in them is completely accurate, but it’s still humorous to picture some of these. Imagining John Travolta in the role the list claims he turned down is most amusing…and slightly horrifying.

When reading lists such as this one is reminded of how obviously important casting is to the success of a character and the movie as a whole. At no time is casting more important than in movies based on pre-existing stories (books, popular stories, historical events, movie-remakes, etc.) Any time a character has already been established in some way, that character’s casting becomes paramount to its success.

I’ve heard of actors being cast in a certain role and thought, “Wow, that’s a horrible choice,” many times. For instance, I thought Hugh Jackman was a horrible choice for the role of Wolverine in the X-Men films. I was quite wrong about that one. I’m currently feeling that way about a movie set to come out at the end of 2008. It is a remake of one of my favorite science fiction movies of all time, The Day the Earth Stood Still.

In the original 1951 movie, the leading man (alien, really) is played by Michael Rennie, who plays the role perfectly (in my opinion, of course). I had often thought that this movie would be a great movie to remake, as long as it was done properly and as long as Klaatu was properly cast. It has been announced that the remake scheduled to be released in December of 2008 will cast Keanu Reeves in the role of Klaatu. I hope I’m wrong about this, but I this news makes me want to lay in a bed of Mongolian Death Worms.

Filed under: entertainment, movies

New Cloverfield (1-18-08) Trailer

Empire Magazine now has the new, full, second 1-18-08 trailer exclusively. I love them with many touchy-feelings.

Watch it and adore it.

Filed under: entertainment, movies

Jumpstart the Madness

Recent posts by friends and colleagues on the their respective blogs have brought to light the fact that I haven’t done the same in quite some time. Therefore, anyone reading this will be awarded the obligatory “I haven’t posted in a while, so saying so will serve as a new post” post.

Alas, I will post at least something entertaining. I am greatly intrigued by the upcoming J.J. Abrams production with no name. It has been called Cloverfield, Slusho!, and more commonly 1-18-08, after it’s release date. In any case, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, go watch the trailer without any further delay. Failure to do so may result in many things unspeakable.

Filed under: entertainment, general, movies

Bobby Mcferrin

wow

Filed under: entertainment, music

Giovanni Jones

Bugs Bunny Opera

And then, of course, there’s this one which may be the best ending of any Bugs Bunny cartoon.

Filed under: entertainment, fun, television

“the Citizen Kane of animated film”

One Froggy Evening

Perhaps the most perfect short cartoon ever created.

Filed under: entertainment, fun, television