kegn

So long Life on Mars

2009-03-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

This is the last week for the U.S. version of Life on Mars. I will miss it, one of my favorite shows this season. I’m glad to see that it had developed a cult following, even an unofficial podcast. It’s a shame this fun show wasn’t given another season or a shot on cable like Mad Men or The Closer.

I have to say that even though I am a fan of the original BBC version, I prefer the U.S. one. Maybe it has to do with me being American and enjoying the show’s American stamp, its gritty ‘70’s Kojak/Serpico/French Connection style of tv cops. Not that the UK show didn’t have that tough guy detective stuff, but this show seem to enjoy pushing it. Imperioli’s whole look is Al Pacino with a porn mustache. Plus Mr. Mean Streets himself, Harvey Keitel.

I also enjoyed the supporting cast more in the U.S. version. The UK ensemble was fine, but Sam and Gene were the only two characters that I was really invested in. In the U.S. one, I’ve come to love the whole team especially Imperioli’s Ray who had the best lines:
“A Brady short of a Bunch.”
“Hey Efraim Zimbalist Junior Mint!”
“Confused as a baby in a topless bar”

Jason O’Mara had some solid ones as well with all his amusing undercover names/aliases:
“Detective Luke Skywalker.”
“ Hi I’m Tom. Tom Cruise.”
“ The name’s Bono”

He was excellent in this role. The whole cast really gelled because I think the NY team seemed more developed and fleshed out, and made me care about them.

Also, since I was familiar with the basic story of this show, the sci-fi elements didn’t bug me. I wasn’t left feeling impatient or short changed when an episode had very little clues like I felt with Lost or X-files [it always comes back to that show]. I just enjoyed the ride and all the great music. Plus their cheesy ‘70’s tough guy detective filler music was a riot and it always got me smiling.

Ah I could go on and on. So I’m just gonna say check this out when it hits dvd.

The King of Wawa

2009-03-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

These past few months I have a routine before my work schedule starts. The first thing I do is drop by my local Wawa and get a coffee and a granola bar. The second part of my routine will be another post...

At 3:30 a.m. there's hardly anyone at the Wawa except for two unfortunate people who work that shift and the occasional delivery guy dropping off his goods. I usually don't have a problem with anyone. Most of the staff is nice, except for this one guy who I now called the King of Wawa.

He’s around my age, could be older. Out of shape. Pasty looking, and has a pathetic goatee that’s just not helping.

It all started when I was given a Wawa gift card that had a $5 value and used it for the first time. When I went to pay, I swiped my card and didn’t see any result on my screen. So I swiped again.Wrong. Because the next thing I hear is:
“Stop. STOP.”

Obviously the purchase went through the first time.
But now I’m watching the King of Wawa’s reaction. He’s silently cursing at me while correcting his register. Mouthing something very distasteful. I can’t hear it but I can definitely see it.

So I just stared at him with a “are you for real?” expression, wondering how an error of $2.25 totally f##ks up his day. And it’s not like I’m holding up a line, because there’s no one behind me at 3:30 IN THE FREAKIN’MORNING.

His postal reaction was a bit disturbing to me and I thought it wise to peacefully exit the store in case I have to deal with him the next day. So I headed back to my car thinking he was a complete douche and by the time I pulled out of Wawa I figured there’s a reason why he’s at the night owl/early bird shift because he can’t handle more than one person in that place.

review

2009-02-26T11:33:00.001-08:00

Kiefer's looking for a way out of 'Mirrors'.

I ended up watching this because my brother-in-law knows I enjoy scary movies and Kiefer, so he rented this for me. Very nice of him. Kiefer was nice to look at, and that's the best thing I can say about this.
This was a painful movie to watch. Terrible plotting and it dragged because you know what the characters are going to say next. Almost every scene felt like I already saw it a dozen times in other movies. Take for example, a scene of Sutherland driving along the highway, where at this stage of the film he's already spooked and paranoid. Suddenly he sees something scary in his rear view mirror. In a flash the vision is gone BUT the audience can't even catch a breath from that moment because OH NO! another "shocker" moment immediately follows when Kiefer swerves and almost gets hit by a MACK TRUCK in the opposite lane which just happens to appear and is headed straight for him.

AAARGH.

That really made me want to beat the person who decided to put that 'shocker' into the film. I mean really. How many mil did that person get for that little creative nugget?

I laughed a few times at parts where it wasn't intended for laughs. Usually I laughed whenever Kiefer said 'Shit!' or 'Goddamit!', because I kept adding my own lines of-- "Goddammit... I can't believe I signed to do this movie!"

The only other time I laughed was when he did a 'Jack Bauer' and pulled a gun on a nun. Yep, I said nun.
The story was all around lame.They tried to go for some intense creepiness during the parts where they focused on the history of the cursed mirrors and the person responsible for it by going all Sam Raimi/Evil Dead.

Nope. Sorry. It wasn't working on me, in fact I was saying " I'll swallow your soul!!" instead of getting the chills.
Oh, and why is it that whenever a city character visits someone from the backwoods, the backwoods character always looks like he's an inbred and his clothes haven't been washed since 1938?

Again with the AAAARGGGHHH.

comedy classic bit

2009-02-09T06:51:00.000-08:00

That's a fact Jack!

review

2009-01-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

Henry Poole is Here

..and buying some booze.

I have to admit, the reason I rented this flick was because I thought Luke Wilson looked cute on the cover. Ah Luke. My favorite role of his is his X-file role where he played two versions of a small county sheriff. Scully's dream man version, and Mulder's buck toothed country hick version: "Y'all the govermen' people?" Classic. He needs to get more goofy roles like that. He's usually cast as the nice guy/straight man.

Anyway...is this movie recommended, excluding the eye candy factor? Yes, it's worth checking out. However, it isn't a clever indie film but it was pleasant enough. And there's a good dose of Frank Capra feel-good cornball.
But the strong cast,headed by Wilson, do a great job of handling that corn.

Wilson plays the title character, a man who's got a limited time on earth due to an unexplained illness. He buys a house in his hometown that's somewhere in the San Fernando Valley to wait out his days and drown himself in booze.
[I knew it was the Valley without being told, yay me]
His plans for solitude are disrupted when his deeply religious neighbor spots a stain on the outside of his wall that resembles an image of Christ. Soon Henry is bombarded by neighborhood worshippers in his backyard.

I think Wilson did a fine job in this role. His low key sullen and sarcastic style works. I kept thinking that other actors would lap this role up and overact Henry's angst. Everyone around him is spouting about hope and miracles and Wilson's quietly simmering with anger and pain.

The biggest flaw is the cliche story. You can see what's coming and there's a certain plot point that was from another movie and I can't remember what it was. Again, very Capra-ish. It's gonna bug me now.
Also Radha Mitchell is in this. She was Kiefer Sutherland's wife in the awesome cult fave of mine, "Dead Heat."
Another little flaw, was the use of music soundtracks. There was a lot and it felt like 1/3 of the movie is a music video.

But my favorite parts were of miserable Henry dealing with the perky and sweet shopgirl when he went to buy his liquor. [pic above]. That actress was great.
So again, I say it's worth renting to see some fine dramatic work from actor who's been stuck in light comedies for so long.

review

2009-01-21T13:15:00.000-08:00

[Gilliam's design work of the Woodsman, from his Dreams website]

Got around to seeing the Brothers Grimm from beginning to end. I'll always think Gilliam is cool no matter what and he's a big influence to me. But he has a habit of repeating himself. Frenzied comic energy is not always the best way. He likes the crazies. Let's see, there's Robin Williams in the Fisher King, Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys, a bunch of people in Baron Munchausen. The pattern's starting to bug me. Maybe I'm getting old and having a hard time following overlapping dialogue from buffoonish characters. Terry, you need to review Time Bandits again. Some of those bandits were rock dumb and didn't say anything and everyone of them was perfect.

I still enjoyed parts of this movie. Heath Ledger was great, the man had oodles of talent. Matt Damon [MATT DAMON!] was decent too, and there are scenes that are downright creepy and look awesome but Gilliam kept going off on comedic bits that didn't really work and seem to bury the heart of the story. But when it did focus on the main stuff, it was pretty neat.

Deathtongue!

2009-01-13T07:16:00.000-08:00

Rock on Boingers!

From the vault: "Hired!" from MST3K

2009-01-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

I need to rent these again, I miss this show.

Remember: Why doesn't Johnny care? [God that phrase has been stuck in my head for years]

another review

2008-12-31T05:33:00.000-08:00

We took the kids to the theaters to see this one. I couldn't convince them to see Frost/Nixon, "It'll be fun! Doesn't Nixon have a funny voice? You'll love it".

Anyway, I would suggest wait for the rental on Bedtime Stories, and rent it only if you remember that it's available. It really is harmless and pretty much brainless. That sounded harsh, I haven't watched a lot of kids movies this year.

The other kids movie I saw this holiday was Night at the Museum, which I watched again, and I have to say I like it much better than Bedtime Stories. It doesn't have that "talking down to kids" way of movie making.Robin Williams is actually quite wonderful in his role. Plus Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney as complete bad asses: very fun. Then there are unexpected silly moments that just made me smile. I love that the museum monkey is not cute in anyway, but a real son of a bitch.

But with Bedtime Stories, it felt like Sandler and his Happy Madison production team gave me a Happy Meal movie to watch. Everything hit a mark, and made sure it had all the right ingredients for kids entertainment.Except it wasn't really great.
They got a cute adorable kid with a baby talk lisp. Check.
They got a cute funny animal, that will be relied upon for gags about every ten minutes so the kids aren't bored. Check, it's the big eyed guinea pig pet, Bugsy. And he burps and farts in a cute special fx way. [At least the museum monkey was knowingly screwing people over. Tree climbing bastard.]
Sandler is doing his usual lovable Joe Average type of role.
Almost all the adults are exaggerated and given their own gags, to make filler scenes funny. Like Russell Brand, who sucks by the way, is supposed to be the idiot sidekick that has a sleep disorder.What the hell? And poor Guy Pearce and Lucy Lawless;cast as the villains. They made Pearce into a foppish ninny. Dude! You're Ed Exley! You shot twenty dirty cops and took out James Cromwell! Now you're acting like Dr. Smith from Lost in Space. Arrgh. Oh, yeah, Jonathan Pryce as Sandler's dad? Sam Lowry is the father to Canteen Boy. Ack. Pryce must have signed some contract with Disney to appear in a number of their movies. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies and now this.
Then there's Courtney Cox, who really didn't have to be in this flick because she has about 15 minutes of screen time in this entire movie. But I guess since her character's an uptight health crazed prude, they wanted someone who's famous for playing a role like that. Sheesh.

Ok, I thought they did a nice job in explaining the kids' stories coming true, except for one scene which had my brother and I going "that was weird". And, the only big laugh from me was when Buzz Lightyear showed up on screen in a cameo appearance and some little kid in the front row screamed his head off in excitement, "BUZZLIGHTYEAR!".
Honestly, the parts that I really enjoyed were the opening and ending credits because they were a beautiful cgi animated storybook page design.

P.S.--while I was at the movies, I noticed some movie posters of coming attractions.
1.The latest Terminator movie, the poster looks cool and hey, it's an artwork design. Yay.
2.Dan "The DiVinci Code" Brown's scary looking "Angels and Demons": the book stank, the poster lies.
3.Will Ferrell in Land of the Lost: I am the target audience, and I'm very tempted. I wanna see Sleestaks!

P.P.S.---Happy New Year everyone!

review

2008-12-27T12:08:00.001-08:00

I hardly watch movies these days.The only reason I watched this movie was because it was under the Christmas tree and the kids wanted to watch it. This was disappointing but not surprising. The blame goes to the script because I thought everyone in this movie was really into it but the jokes were forced and flat sometimes. It's a shame. I thought Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway were cute together, and Carrell just nails deadpan delivery but I wish the script matched the actors' chemistry. The same goes for the supporting players like The Rock and Alan Arkin, who had the best line in the movie. For some reason they had to insert a comedic subplot about some nerd agents feuding with the jock agents at the Control center. I don't know, it didn't work for me. I wanted to see more Carrell, more scenes with him and The Rock [who is darn good in this], or flashbacks of the obese Maxwell Smart and how he got to where he was at Control. Oh, and Terence Stamp! Not enough General Zod interaction. He was underused.

quantum of wallace

2008-12-02T09:47:00.000-08:00

I haven't seen the ol' 007 film, but I wish Nick Park would do a film like this trailer

a motivational speech

2008-11-05T07:32:00.001-08:00

Da Parade

2008-11-01T11:22:00.000-07:00

What an amazing day. I was really apprehensive about getting there and dealing with the crowds. I don't like crowds to begin with. The news radio that morning report that Septa trains were backed up and over flooded with people trying to get into the city.Yikes.So I really didn't think I was going to make it in. But we stuck to side streets and Kelly drive and did alright.

Still, I was worry wart. We found a good spot on Broad and Lombard, right at the edge.Perfect viewing. But I still expected something to go wrong for me. There were young kids hanging in the trees next to us, and I pictured one of them to falling just as the Phillies arrived and ambulances would be blocking my view. Then there was the loud drunk dude who wouldn't shut the hell up as we waited for the parade to start. I was waiting for him to start a fight with someone and get arrested.

But things were actually turning out pretty good and some talented fans entertained the crowd while we waited. Like this guy below:

All my uneasy feelings vanished when I saw my favorite Philly, Pat Burrell lead off the parade :

I went nuts. Totally insane, swept up with pride and love for the team and the city.
My beloved Philly Phanatic and announcer Harry Kalas, at the end:

Below: Manager Charlie Manuel, wearing a snazzy suit [ the crowd chanting Char-lie! Char-lie!] The trophy, and Jason Werth is in there somewhere.

More Phillies, Joe Blanton is in this one, he's second dude from the right. I was giving him two thumbs up, but I don't think he saw me. :)

Here's MVP pitcher Cole Hamels. I called him "Hollywood" Hamels because he looked great. He cleans up nicely :)

The "Flyin' Hawaiian" Shane Victorino. Nice t-shirt Shane.

Below, J.C. Romero and other Phillies.

Phinally!

2008-10-29T20:10:00.001-07:00

I'm going to the parade :)

movies on cable!

2008-10-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

Just some thoughts on some movies that I happened to catch...

V for Vendetta:

I could not get into this. It's been repeated several times on FX and I've tried watching it because it has a really great British cast that rivals the Harry Potter cast films but I guess I am too juvenile to accept the idea of the hero beating bad guys with that mask. I started giggling the minute he interacted with Natalie Portman. I also had a hard time with Natalie's performance. She's really pushing that accent. I kept wondering what background did she have? At times she sounded like she was straight our of a Jane Austen flick then later switches it to Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins. "'Ello Mawwree Poppinz!"

I wondered why didn't the producers just hire an English actress and save their money on dialect trainers?

Cabin Fever:

I have to say I really enjoyed this one. It came close to Sam Raimi's Evil Dead [I&II] in the category of stupid horror comedy. It made me want to hurl, with scenes of victims coughing and spurting up diseased blood on each other. ICK.
And I loved all the creepy mountain town folk. Recommended for a Halloween movie night.

Blast from the Past

2008-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

I knew that one day Peter Puck would come back. When I was a wee Keegs, I used to watch the Flyers game with my family just so I could catch the Peter Puck cartoons.

It's about time...

2008-10-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

I was waiting for someone to do this joke, and I can't resist posting it.

trippin' through the 80's : part three

2008-10-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

Patton's thoughts from watching a marathon of VH-1 80's metal music videos

P.S. I love "Sqibbily Babbily Boo!"

How To Fail With Dignity

2008-09-29T13:30:00.000-07:00

My nephew sent me these amusing clips of "Bad" test answers. Honestly after reading through them, I've been there. I know I've put down some really stupid responses on my quizzes.

Notice how some of the answers, are in very small print. I know the person is hoping that maybe the teacher has bad eyesight and will accidentally misread it for the correct answer. I've thought about that too.

I know I should be offended, but this is my favorite:

Keeg's horrible book review

2008-09-19T23:34:00.000-07:00

I had picked up this book over the Christmas holidays to read during my airline flights. I also continued to struggle with it through out the rest of the year. Trying to read some pages late at night when I can’t sleep.

Well, I’m at chapter twelve and I can’t tell you a damn thing about the plot.
It should be an easy story. A very simple story for my feeble mind to enjoy.
But it’s not.

I was suckered in [again] to a crappy story. A monster mystery that promises to deliver the goods but then tries to be “edgy and intellectual” and I’m sorry, you can’t really go that deep when you’re dealing with creatures that run around and rip off limbs. Just my opinion.

This is how I fell for it:
On the cover are Egyptian hieroglyphics. I love a mummy story! Ancient curse, mummy reawakens, people die. Great ! Bring it on.

It’s set at the New York Museum of Natural History. Wonderful. Even better.

Now, there is a mummy… I think. Something woke up and killed a guy and another dude is very f***’d up but that was chapter six and several chapters later I’m dealing with a bunch of characters with these confusing strained relationships that I don’t care about. Also a brilliant former FBI man that’s rotting away in jail, framed of course, because his equally brilliant brother is an evil criminal mastermind.

At this point, I’m thinking “what the f*** is going on? What’s with the Hannibal Lector crap? Where’s the mummy?? Where’s the ancient text that needs to be decoded? Or the jeweled scarab that's hidden in some secret compartment of an artifact and holds power over the mummy?

As it turns out, this is a cloak and dagger story peppered with the supernatural trilogy for some key players. Unfortunately I just picked up the latest. I guess it’s like starting off the Star Wars saga with Revenge of the Jedi, and thinking the movie's about the Rancor.

I should have known better. This book is by the team that wrote “The Relic” which was turned into a turd of a movie that I secretly enjoyed BECAUSE: a monster was running around and ripping off limbs and stuff.

I remember dragging my friends to see it in the theaters. I still recall Guy and Lori D cringing during the movie. But I had to see it. Like Van Helsing. I recognize that I have a problem. And knowing is half the battle

8 crazy nights

2008-09-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

I caught part of this today.I know my good friend Guy worked on this movie, way back, years ago. I think it's mentioned in chapters 15-20, "The Hell-A Years" from his upcoming autobiography "King Guy".

Anyway , I just like to say : Wow, you weren't exaggerating. It's really bad. Not just bad but amazingly bad. I think the worst decision was to make Adam Sandler do a voice for this character:

Holy cow, he's annoying. I can't even understand what he's talking about because Sandler's doing a very high pitched whiny voice.
It's the kind of voice one uses to tease their sibling with and then get punched in the face because it's so annoying. You can't use a voice like that for an animated feature.

I feel sorry for the folks who had to do the animation for this, and listen to Sandler's voice track over and over...ugh.

music interlude again: I love the 80's OR: kicking & screaming ,'cause I ain't leaving.

2008-09-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

This was a big favorite of mine, as most of you know. I had the poster on my wall, a cool one with just Kiefer and his young minions. I had the book, even had a Teen-Beat rag mag about the movie. Now I have my cherished David doll.[thank you Eugene!]

This is my favorite track and better than the original Doors song in my opinion.
Sorry Guy, that oily bohunk with saxophone doesn't work for me but he is fascinating to watch on screen. Rachel Ray could probably make a mean dish with all that oil dripping off his body. You know how she cooks with "EVVO!", which I think is short for 'evil oil' and that dude's got loads of it.

I also think this would make a great flick for a midnight show, very much like the Moulin Rouge and Rocky Horror shows. I would definitely go. People could dress up like one of the Frog brothers, or one of the Lost Boys or anyone of the beachbum punks that get eaten in the movie... even the saxophone oily bohunk. People could have chinese food boxes during the "your eating maggots Michael" scenes. Could work.

And now, the ultimate cheeze from the movie, the video and theme of Lost Boys:

Good Lord look at the wardrobe. Looks like they went straight from a Duran Duran shoot to this one. I think a Pat Benetar extra got lost on that set as well.

and what's with the choir boy kid too?

Fringe

2008-09-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

I gotta say that was one enjoyable pilot last night even though I can't remember what the plot was exactly. It was fun, but that doesn't mean it was great. I don't know if I will be investing in this show, because it is from the folks that did Lost which I gave up on after its second season. But I will tune in to just enjoy the silly moments like Boromir's Dad, Joshua Jackson, and Jean the cow marveling at SpongeBob Squarepants.

The cgi lettering made me giggle a lot.I wanted to see some of the FBI people searching through the letters in their patrol, maybe checking behind the giant the E for the suspect.

True Blood

2008-09-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

The new series from HBO and Alan Ball. I've never seen his work before, nor read the books the series is based on. But I'll check out anything that deals with classic monsters like vampires.

I've managed to watch the first episode and it's got me interested to tune in next week if I can. But I can't say that I'm completely won over like I was when I first saw Dexter.

First impressions:
Liked the cast. Although I felt that all the characters except for maybe one or two, seem to be portrayed as "idiots" depending on the degree of idiocy. Some are just flat out trailer trash stupid, and others are just sad but likable chumps who are going to get screwed by something nasty later on. I hope I made sense on that. But it's just the first episode and there was a lot of other stuff going on, so I hope my opinion changes on that.

Re: the "other stuff". Here's one of those things : at first I had a hard time with the concept that some people would pay lots of money for vampire blood for its energy boost and sexual performance enhancing abilities but then I remembered the hard core vegan food I once had to eat and wondering at the time why people could eat such awful tasting slop, then it clicked for me. Both images make me ill, but it is a reasonable idea.

What freaked me out:
The brief scene of kinky vamp sex. Holy crap, that was weird. Scared the bejeebus out of me.

I liked the fact that it was able to scare me, and hope that this series is able to pull of the scary elements every week. But I don't think I need to see that scene anymore.

music interlude: back to the 80's

2008-09-02T10:30:00.000-07:00

I remember really liking this song, thinking it was so sad and kind of being obsessed with the story... for about as long the song was on the top 40 playlist of my local radio station, which might have been for a month.

And you can see that my inner litmus test for cheezy things wasn't even forming at this time in my 80's youth.

Summer safety tip

2008-08-14T07:32:00.000-07:00

Hey gang. Not much going on. Just saying a quick hello to all [ about 5 of you] and wish everyone well.
Can't believe it's August already. I wanted to send this important tip about what not to do when you are swimming in the ocean. Now that I'm on the East Coast,in Jersey specifically, I've been noticing some terrible conduct while spending time at the beaches. People need to get the facts yo.

The number one rule when you are in the waters: Don't be an asshole.
If you are a jerk to others, you are most definitely going to be eaten by sharks. That's right. If you are a bully, or are annoying, or generally have a bad outlook on life the sharks will get you. They can smell your rotten attitude from miles away and will gobble you up. If you are an international spy Eurotrash accented villian , then you got no business being in the water. You might as well say goodbye to your secret lair and hidden diamonds because ol' "Bruce" will eat your ass.

See this video here, this is what I'm talking about. These idiots couldn't behave and they got eaten by a Megalodon which is a prehistoric shark, bigger than a Great White. These folks must have done something awful to resurrect an extinct creature like the mighty Megalodon.

So be careful. Be nice and don't swim right after you eat.

"Gone Dark"

2008-04-30T11:52:00.000-07:00

Like Jack Friggin Bauer, but I'm back for a quick hello to say I'm doing ok-

--oh I watched a crappy movie called Torque starring Ice Cube and a bunch of other lame people. About bad ass motorcyclist gangs, except they weren't bad ass at all. They all looked like they were "gang" extras from some Micheal Jackson music video. Seriously, you can't be frightening if everyone is wearing flamboyantly colored tight leather suits.

Anyway... I'll catch ya later. But here's a little something that's been making me laugh all day

geek week

2008-01-07T18:21:00.000-08:00

One of the things I was able to do over the holidays was get caught up on Buffy season 8 comics. I had to buy about 6 issues [ six months ago where I left off ].
The problem of reading them all at once is that now I feel like an addict that just got my supply cut off.

Now I'm watching my dvds and videotapes of the past seasons and it's kind of nice.Any grumblings I had about the shows have faded, and I'm just enjoying the actors. That production team really did a wonderful job with finding great talent.

Here's a clip from one of my favorite Angel episodes:

Update 1-9-08
I have now completed my Buffy X-box game. It took me what, oh about 4 years? Pathetic, I know.

new year post

2008-01-02T12:10:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year folks.

I missed out on the New Year's fun because I was in a car shuttle with a bunch of strangers, coming back from the LAX. Didn't matter anyway, my brain was completely fried from the full day traveling.

But the holidays were a nice mellow time. Like a big herbal tea.

Some of the "exciting" moments during the holidays:

Wild turkeys in the backyard. They wander around and show up from time to time, camping out next to the tool shed. I call the leader Moses. Moses shall lead his flock through the Pennsylvanian wilderness. And God was pleased.

Below: Rock gods.

My nephews playing Guitar Hero III. I believe it's the game that Deidre mentioned in her blog a couple weeks back.
I was able to get in on the game myself. A fun time waster. There were times where I really thought I could pull off the Black Sabbath and Aerosmith tunes. But then I was on Easy level...

But in the grownup games of Atlantic City [below] I did much better. I won $50 bucks in ten minutes from those slot machines. Not bad.

This view is from the new addition at the Ceaser's Palace called The Pier. Which is a block of shops and restaurants that runs out over the beaches and ocean. Pretty nice view [ on a sunny day, on that day it rained]
But I was impressed by how nice and "upscale' they made the casino. I shall return there, and hopefully get another $50 from them.

Seasons Greetings

2007-12-21T11:12:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

bad taste humor

2007-12-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

Ghostbusters vs Jesus

Yeah I know. This is the holiday season, and it's in bad taste. I'm going to hell, etc.
But man, I laughed so hard when I saw this that I hurt one of my lungs.

source: 13gb.com

some holiday cheer

2007-12-11T20:03:00.000-08:00

I always liked this bit.

Really wanted to find Mrs. Claus trippy sexual awakening song but it wasn't on youtube

I need this game

2007-12-01T16:09:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Eugene for alerting me to this. Can't wait for it to come out. Looks great, my perfect geek out game

I want to fight the Stay Puft marshmallow man!

my trip

2007-11-25T14:27:00.000-08:00

San Diego was lovely this time of year and a lot of people think this too, it was crowded.

This is the house I will be buying [after I win the lottery]. It's right across from the beach in Coronado.

Did I tell you it was crowded? When we got to the hotel on Thanksgiving day we found out that they were having "The 2007 WASP Thanksgiving Cotillion". Never seen so many beautiful blond people with sparkly clothing in one room. I felt like one of those loser kids from a John Hughes film, just watching the rich kids named Blaine stroll by.
So dinner was room service.

[photo below] my favorite thing to do during the holidays

Unexpected celeb sighting: Gary Sinise.

That's right. Lt. Dan was at my hotel. He looked real gooood. The guy was flocked by a crowd of people, but he was being a good sport with everyone it seemed. I didn't stand around to gawk, but I did catch a tiny old lady with a walker standing next to him and just gushing her love for him. Made me laugh.

Dance off

2007-11-20T10:03:00.000-08:00

I love this show. Best comedy on tv right now. Just stupid and vulgar comedy, can't get any better than that.

Season Finale of It's Always Sunny in Phila was wonderfully titled " The Gang Dances Their Asses Off"

Once again Charlie's illiteracy screws the gang, as he accidentally puts the bar up as one of the prizes for a dance marathon. He thought it said "pride". So they really have to dance their asses off and during that time, they are all out to stab each other in the back and win the bar for themselves.

The loser of the dance off has to wear a keg around his neck

Loved the songs that they used.

remake a comin'

2007-11-13T21:24:00.000-08:00

This movie was on the other night.It's one of my favorites.Now I just read from imdb.com that a remake is on the way. Not surprised at all, but it'll be hard to top Chris Sarandon. He was great. Just the right amount of charm, even a bit of sympathy and scary as heck without the need for make up.

Speaking of scary make up, I love the way the scare factor builds in this movie. Little bits of the monsters are shown . Not all of it, until the right scenes. For instance the last act when Charlie and Peter Vincent track down the vampire and get the upperhand until it turns into one ugly ass bald bat creature that comes back to chew Charlie's head off. I loved that. That freaked me out when I was a kid. Good stuff.

And who could forget the scene when Charlie's girlfriend suddenly needs a good dental plan?

Peter Vincent, Evil Ed..colorful characters with a lot of depth.This movie rocks.

Oh you're so cool Brewster!

beowulf

2007-11-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

This guy looks like Sean Bean and Russell Crowe's CGI lovechild. Really, I hope Sean Bean gets some credit or a paycheck.

Not crazy about the look of this. Honestly I am very picky , maybe snobbish is the word, when it comes to this story. I read it when I was a kid and it really made an impression.I certainly didn't expect to be so thrilled with a story that had been written in the eighth century. I wasn't prepared to be frightened, since I was a kid that sat through the Exorcist and Halloween and loved the Omen movies.
What I envisioned in my mind was much better, much scarier, than any big screen adaption.
It's just one of those childhood experiences that I'm sure a lot of people have had. Like Lord of the Rings fans.

For my homesick Philly Phriends

2007-11-05T19:38:00.000-08:00

and tonight's entertainment--

Boo part 2

2007-10-31T21:21:00.000-07:00

Heard Rob Zombie promoting this on the radio this morning.

Happy Halloween

Boo!

2007-10-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

This freaked me out when I was a kid. Can't remember the rest of the trilogy stories, just this one. It was excellent.But I'm giggling over this now, love the little doll's voice. Reminds me of the Tasmanian Devil.

For Guy

2007-10-20T12:11:00.000-07:00

The DaVinci Code

2007-10-17T22:09:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to watching this.Since I expected the worst, I actually ended up thinking it was OK. A lot had to do with Tom Hanks. At first, I thought he was wrong for the part since my picture of Robert Langdon was something like Harrison Ford's College Professor Indy in Raiders.
But I thought Hanks did a good job, ya know, with what he had which is a very predictable script. From a predictable book too.
I think Howard put in so many flashbacks to keep me from dozing off. Howard, you don't need Peter Jackson/Ridley Scott flashbacks. Look at the Omen. Biblical stuff can be intense without flashbacks. Have some rottweilers and crazed nannies chasing Hanks and there you go. The DaVinci Omen ;)

But back to the movie, there were a lot of good players in this. Jean Reno and Ian McKellan. I just wish the plot was more exciting.

The image above is from the video game. I like to think that Ed Peres is somewhere contemplating a lawsuit for stealing his idea of a "Kung Fu Saviour".

Roman Soldier: Jesus Christ!
J.C.: Damn Straight.

*Kung fu kick!*

..

2007-10-13T13:42:00.001-07:00

It's Always Sunny in Philly

2007-10-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Some clips of one of the funniest episodes last night. The gang decides to form a rock band--but can't agree on their look. Mac wants a Sex Pistols look. Danny DeVito wants to be like Beatles. Charlie is singing weird Bob Dylan songs and Dennis got kicked out automatically because he likes the "gay fem boy '8o's glam rock"

Charlie's song "Night Man" :

Charlie got kicked out. Gets high off of spray paint fumes and he and Dennis form their glam rock song. " Day Man"

I have to say, the songs rock. They rank up there with Johnny Devo's classic "Black Neon of Death" and the songs that were in "UArts 2nd Floor Alumni Presents Battlefield Earth: The Musical"

more music

2007-10-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

George Harrison tunes now on iTunes. I also heard a hip hop song with a mix from Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Egads. There are some songs you shouldn't touch.

Clip: Performance from "Concert for George" with Ringo Starr singing Photograph. I'm not much for concert films but this was great. Well, it was after the sitar music segment in the beginning.The rest was a pretty moving tribute concert without any schmaltzy showbiz vibe.
It features Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, the remaining Traveling Wilburys, and even the Pythons. Because it was George Harrison that got Life and Brian and Time Bandits on the big screen.Plus a ton of other music artists coming together and playing wonderfully. Harrison's kid is up there too and he looks so much like his dad it's eerie.

Anyway, it was a pretty moving, and this clip was my favorite because I admit, I got a little verklempt. George and Ringo wrote the song and now the meaning of the song had changed.

Ringo's jacket is cool.

more photo fun

2007-10-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

Still uploading photos from my phone. This is a photoshop photo [obviously] of a nasty looking spider that currently resides above the entrance doorway of my company building. I played around with it in photoshop because a] photoshop is expensive and I should be using the damned thing more often and b] to give you an idea how nasty and big it looks in person.[Spider person? whatever]
Looks like a glowing floating death skull doesn't it? That's what I thought when I first saw it.

Just to add, I did take a pic of the black widow spider that was* in my garage. It was bigger than this bugger. But the pics are not that great since I didn't want to get real close to it

*= It has ceased to be, is no more, gone to meet its maker. An ex-spider. Succumbed to the powerful, almighty Raid.

UPDATE: now with blood tinted, lighting fx version.

more geek spotting

2007-10-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Finally got around to tinkering with my new cell phone, and able to get some images that I took with the phone last month. Check out the Star Wars car.
This photo was taken in a parking lot near the WB and Universal Studios. So at first I thought it was some display prop for the studios. But as I got closer, it seemed that it might be a real car for someone. Heck, I knew a guy who ordered a car that Mad Max the Road Warrior drove. Had it made in Australia and everything. So maybe this is one too.

You can see the blaster near the bottom.
Love the R2D2

a classic

2007-10-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

While I was checking out Devo & Dave Ryan's youtube vaults today, I came across this gem. Thank goodness, Dave, that you had a copy of this.
This video of D&Ders came to my attention sometime between '02-'04. I guy that I worked with showed it around the office, and I remember sending it to my friends, but I never saw it online afterwards even though I'm sure it went around the world on the internet.

So much goodies on screen. Who's my favorite? Is it the ogre? Or the pixie fan groupie at the bottom left hand screen? Or is it the "Lightning bolt!"

Wow.
You know, I had a pretty blah kind of day, but this makes me feel a whole lot better.

is proud!

2007-09-20T19:12:00.000-07:00

Just talked to my nephew today, and he's going to be playing a couple of games for the soon to be Mississippi Riverkings. A Pro Minor Hockey team, then after he graduates [ which is next year] he'll be a regular teammate.
Congrats
--and boy do I feel old. He's graduating college.

crikey!

2007-09-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

and this...

More music.

2007-09-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

I like this song a lot more with muppets and Michael Stipe is smiling [!]

I, the Jury

2007-08-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

Wow. I caught this late last night and I am glad I stayed through it. Because the second part of the movie felt like a Johnny Devo film.
Here's the story breakdown from wikipedia--

"The plot involves P.I. Hammer discovering that a friend, Jack Williams a one-armed detective, has been murdered and he begins investigating in an attempt to find out what happened. It turns out that there is a serial rapist involved as well as a sex therapy clinic headed up by sexy Dr. Charlotte Bennett. The plot also contains, but not in the novel, government conspiracies and mind-control techniques by the CIA and the Mafia."

Got all that? It was crazy. I was trying to follow along with Assante who is awesome by the way, as he's investigating this sex therapy clinic for the rich. The Dr. called it a facility of "free radical thinking" and by that she means lots of orgies.
If these scenes were supposed to be erotic it didn't work. Everyone is over 40, and not in good shape. Yeech.
Of course there's going to be gratuitous female nudity. All the "sexpot" female leads are bra less and most of them show the boobs at some point. In fact a couple die while boobage is exposed.

But the best part is the last act of the film when it felt like Devo took over and and directed it. Mike Hammer storms a booby-trapped [ heh pun intended! ] fortress where the government baddie awaits.
It involves:
Mike Hammer leaping from a trailer van that's been driven on a bridge onto the roof of the killer's getaway truck which is in the lane below Hammer
Alan King getting blown up in his car, by his own men.
Hammer takes out all the henchmen one by one. One of them has a machine gun and still can't manage to kill Hammer.
Hammer kills a sniper henchman hiding in a tree.
Hammer rigs his gun so that later, when the baddie kicks his ass and takes his gun, the baddie shoots himself in the chest.

Below is a scene that I managed to find.

They never really explained that part, but ya know who cares? It's about a bunch of insane criminal agents. That's all you need to know.

Batman begins

2007-08-12T16:34:00.000-07:00

Well I finally saw this.I will say it's better than the Schumacher versions. Is it the best one? Maybe, although I think Burton's first film is a very close second.
The majority of the cast is top notch. They were excellent. Katie Holmes is the only weak one, and I don't think it has to do with the fact that she's Mrs. Tom Cruise. It's a role that any actress can fill in, and she just didn't make it special. Take Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon, now there's an actor who take a small part and make it special. Loved him.

Liked: That the city of Gotham is stylish but not too stylish or in your face, like Burton's or Schumacher's neon colored city Gotham.

Liam Neeson. Ok, there is where I am mixed on this. Liam was very cool but I'm not sure if I liked how this story turned out. I think it has to do with making Bruce and Gotham into a grand and gothic fairy tale, which I never really thought about before. Probably because I am not a huge fan, and there are different takes on Batman.
But it kind of hit me in the scene with Bruce, Qui-Gon, and the Secret Order of Shadows or whatever they called themselves. They talk about how Gotham needs to be destroyed. When did Gotham become a world wide symbol of corruption and the target of vigilante ninjas living in the Himalayas?
I always took Gotham as just a darker version of Chicago, and Metropolis was New York. Big cities with character that just happen to have superheroes living there,not the center of "all that is unjust!"

Not saying it was bad, but it did take me awhile to get used to the idea.

Other things I liked: The Bat-tank.Where can I get one? I can really use it for my drive on the 405 freeway morning rush hour. Also they needed more Scarecrow in this flick too.

Overall, I did have fun, and I am looking forward to Dark Knight.

Werewolves in my cereal!

2007-08-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

That would be my slogan for the commercial if they brought this back. Darn.

edited to add: Fruit Brute? Gay Werewolf? Discuss.

Music interlude

2007-08-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

Fer Sure!

Daze..part 1

2007-07-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

Warning: Fellas, don't read. The following subject deals with a pastime of many women [and some men].
I'm talking soap operas.

This past week I have been wallowing in the glorious hammy episodes of Days of our Lives & General Hospital, the shows that I grew up on and followed until my college years.Now the great internet has stored my favorite memories online.

The 80's were very special time for soap fans, it was in that decade that the "supercouple" was born and it changed the story structure to these shows . On GH it was Luke and Laura, Robin & Scorpio, Frisco & Felicia. Days had Bo & Hope, Patch & Kayla, Shane & Kim.

Each show had ex-government agents falling in love with the town's good girls, then somebody getting kidnapped by a presumed dead rich Euro-something super villain who is really the father of so and so in town. Evil Von Villain tries to kill everybody with his henchmen on his secret island. In the Days story, Hope was in a cage suspended over a vat of acid...A vat of acid. Can't get any better than that.
Actually, you can--because Kayla went deaf. Well, in another storyline, not on the island I mean.

I have to say that while I enjoyed some these supercouples, my real favorites were the villains. Like good ol' Scotty Baldwin below. The man was hated by most of the town, but he didn't give a s***. I always liked the smarmy way he dealt with people. You could tell that Scotty thought the town was full of imbeciles. He was right.

Never understood why Laura gave up Baldwin for this dude.C'mon he has a fro.

Amazon bigfoot?

2007-07-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

Note! Picture above is a dude pretending to be a Northern Californian bigfoot. Not to be confused with this Amazonian bigfoot article.

Excerpts from New York times article--
The folklore here is full of tales of encounters with the creature, and nearly every Indian tribe in the Amazon, including those that have had no contact with one another, have a word for the mapinguary (pronounced ma-ping-wahr-EE). The name is usually translated as “the roaring animal” or “the fetid beast.”

Dr. Oren said he had talked to “a couple of hundred people” who had said they had seen the mapinguary in the most remote parts of the Amazon and a handful who had said they had had direct contact."

But all accounts agree that the creature is tall, seven feet or more when it stands on two legs, that it emits a strong, extremely disagreeable odor, and that it has thick, matted fur, which covers a carapace that makes it all but impervious to bullets and arrows.

“The only way you can kill a mapinguary is by shooting at its head,” said Domingos Parintintin, a tribal leader in Amazonas State. “But that is hard to do because it has the power to make you dizzy and turn day into night. So the best thing to do if you see one is climb a tree and hide.”

end of article.

My favorite is the last part. The best thing to do is climb a tree and hide, even though the beastie has the ability to alter time and reality, and maybe swallow you whole.

Lost Boys!

2007-07-03T21:09:00.000-07:00

I certainly don't need this. It's silly and a kinda ugly. Waste of money that is.

Dammit. I really want one.

---and whatever happened to the "sequel"?

A #@% disgrace!

2007-07-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Watched Slapshot this morning. Haven't seen this in ages. Paul Newman is just a complete jerk but he's so wonderful at it.
Here's a fan tribute I found on the Hanson brothers.

It's a trap!

2007-06-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

Other than the "What the hell's a Aluminum Falcon?" sketch, this was my favorite on Robot Chicken Star Wars special.

Summer guilty pleasure

2007-06-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

While my friend Lori has some top quality shows picked out for summer viewing on her blog, let me fill you in on this guilty pleasure if mine.

Bargain Hunt.

It's on in the early morning on BBC America. I can't stop watching. Two teams get @ 200 pounds each and go off and buy 3 items of some decent antiques, or junk depending on how you look at it.With the help of an antiques expert, of course.
Then they auction the items hoping to make a profit.
What tickles me is 90% of the contestants never win anything. If they do make a profit it's usually 20-40 pounds. Once or twice, a team will win a couple of hundred. But still, it's amusing to me that people would go to a lot of trouble of hunting and haggling with shoppers hoping to make a small profit in the end . I would get a headache.
But what I do like about it is that it's just like Good Eats.Junk tv that's informative. The experts on the show discuss the items that were selected and point out history behind the antiques, noting particular craftsmanship. Or lack of. Then they predict if the contestant picked a bargain. All this naturally sparks my Cliff Clavin love for useless knowledge.
Plus I love the host [pic above] David Dickinson and his style of clothing. He's lost somewhere in the late 70's. And I don't think he cares. Good for him.

Newsflash

2007-06-14T20:00:00.000-07:00

Spotted at my local Ralph's supermarket: Martin Landau. Yes, that Martin Landau of North by North West, Mission Impossible, Space 1999, ED WOOD! " Karloff did not deserve to smell my shit!"

He and I literally faced off on one another like a couple of gunslingers in the frozen food aisle. He was interested in frozen peas.Strange though, he did not have a basket.Just a bag of peas.

My reaction must have been disturbing to him, because I thought the whole thing was a bit surreal. Of all the places, he shows up in this dinky supermarket that's no where near as hip as Trader Joe's or Whole Foods.Or even Gelson's.
Plus I kind of gawked at him, like "You! You don't belong here! You're a movie legend.Get out!"

Fava beans!

2007-06-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

I thought this was pretty interesting, the guy editing this did a pretty good job with it.[ Ok well, you do have to get past the bleach white wall then grim dark wall stuff and just concentrate on the performances]

For me, William P. is Will Graham. He plays total burnout well, and it's weird.. he looks even more scared with Hopkins sitting across from him.

How well do I know my old hometown

2007-06-06T22:05:00.000-07:00

My sister sent me this quiz. How well do I know my old hometown of Roxborough, one of the suburb communities back in Philly. I got 40% right , but I could have done better if I went with my gut instincts

1. What is the name of the weekly newspaper?

my incorrect answer-- The Roxborough Times
correct The Review

[ ok, I hardly read the thing. It was a local paper and the main articles went like this: "Manayunk Book Club has bake sale at St. Lucy's". Not that exciting]

2. Although you never need an excuse to party it up in the "Borough", What is the 1 unofficial party day of the year?

my correct answer- The Bike Race

[ I still have a Bike race t-shirt that reads "Rome.Paris.London.Manayunk."]

3. How many 7-Eleven's are on Ridge Ave from where the custard stands are, to Andorra Shopping Center..
correct answer-- 3
my answer--1

[Well, I only went to one growing up--a close one on the Ridge where I didn't have to cross the busy streets. Maybe they put in more..]

4. When you say you are going "Back the Crick (Really pronounced CREEK)", Where are you going?

a.The Towpath
b.my correct answer-Valley Green/Wissahickon Creek
c Dego Louie's

[heehee, totally forgot there's a place called Dego Louie's. Have no idea what the Towpath is]

5. If you are on "The Black Top", Where are you?

correct answer-- Roxborough High School
my answer-?

[ I never went to that school. In fact I was afraid of the kids who went there]

6. What used to be across the street from Hair Cuttery on Ridge Ave. about 20 years ago (around 1987 and before)?
Dealership
my incorrect answer- Dunkin Donuts
correct-- Woolworths

[I should have said Woolworths, because I do remember it. One of my childhood playmates used to shoplift his Kenner Star Wars action figures there while I just mildy freaked out and watched]

7. How many movie theaters were in the Rox/Manayunk area in the 80's to the early 90's?
my correct 2

[can't forget the lice infested, butter grimy theaters]

8. Where is "Chubby's"?

a.correct --Henry Ave.
b.my incorrect answer -Main St
c.Ridge Ave

[ Never heard of Chubby's.]

9. What is the "Farm School" or as some might refer to it as "The Moo Moo" School..

my correct answer--W.B. Saul High School.

yes, kids learn how to take care of livestock at this school. Neat.

10. What street was the "sinking house" on? The house that had all the water around it..

a.Paoli Ave
b.correct answer-- Parker Ave
c.my incorrect answer-- Umbria St

I've heard of the sinking house, but no one bothered to take little me to see the house.So I got that one wrong.

celebrity jeopardy

2007-06-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

Eleventy Billion Dollars!

Even more cartoons

2007-05-31T21:41:00.000-07:00

It was before my time, probably came out after Jonny Quest. What's missing from this intro is the voice over that introduces the family and adds the tag line at the end "All Mighty! All Strong! All Brave!". Cool.
I find this show fascinating. One of the reasons: the humans call each other by their first names. No "Dad", "Mom" or "Jr." The first couple of times I watched it I had no idea they were a family. The kid is talking to his father like " Zandar, look out behind you". Weeird. I like little Jonny Quest better

Plus, I don't think the family lives in a house because I never see them in it. The show always starts off with an alien invasion.I think they might live in a treehouse.But I only saw it once. Maybe they're nomads and draw up a tent every night.
Also--where are the other humans on the planet? These poor homeless warriors defend their planet every week, and no one is around to thank them. Maybe they are the only humans on the planet? If that's the case, then they're a@##holes. Plenty of room for everybody.

This is the stuff that keeps me awake at night!

I do like the trippy backgrounds. It is a weird looking planet.

I'm back [for the time being]

2007-05-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

Holy cats getting on to the blog is frustrating. Things that I have learned : Google is the product of Satan.

Anyway, just finished watching this series on BBC America and also from some tapes a friend gave me. Wow, another "cop drama with a twist" that I watched this year that I really enjoyed. The first was Dexter, and I think these two shows are the best dramas I've seen this year.

When it first aired on BBC America, I gave it a pass. I think it had to do with that it came out around the same time they introduced Hex--and that is a horrible show.
But it stars John Simms who will be a major player in Season 3 of Doctor Who, and I heard great things about Life on Mars, and that there was an attempt to do an American version of it-- so I gave it a shot.

It's hard to describe it. It would probably turn most people off, maybe coming off as silly.
Detective Sam Tyler gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973.The show follows him as he struggles to work in a very un-PC, corrupt police department. Lacking in modern forensics, computers, and mobiles phones also add to Sam's frustrations.
They bring up the question of 'if he went back in time' or is his 1973 world all part of the coma that he is in back in 2006.
I'm pretty sure it's from the coma because the men he has to work with , even though they are the most offensive cops around, are made from the cheesy stuff on tv and movies that we watched growing up. His supervisor Gene Hunt has the DNA of Starsky & Hutch, Charles Bronson, and a good dose Quentin Tarantino.Maybe Gene is named after Gene Hackman aka Popeye Doyle of the French Connection movies. They even throw in some Starsky & Hutch gags, by having Gene knock over some trash cans when he pulls his car up.

One of my favorite things about Sam's relationship with his fellow detectives is that they never successfully get a "buddy cop" vibe pairing that you would expect in most action cop shows. Sam & the guys constantly bitch and fight the whole time.There's tension in every episode. I loved that.

Gene had the best line to Sam: " I'll listen to the snot in my hanky before I'll start listening to you"

That is a great line.

I also like the Prisoner type feel whenever they focus on the issue of Sam being in a coma. He picks up conversations broadcasted through his tv or radio of his doctors and his loved ones talking about his condition. It's creepy and also deeply affecting because it's torturous for Sam. He doesn't know how to wake up. Is there a secret he must face, a truth made known, or some atonement that has to be done that will finally let him wake up.

Really, there is a lot of good stuff going on here. Part cheesy detective show, and part fantasy all hitting the right notes. Unlike Robin Hood where it can't quite balance its cheese factor. This does.

If they still progress with a US version, please, please drop it on Tarantino's desk. I think he's the only one who could handle the tone of this. I've seen his CSI work, he could do it.

p.s. to add: The soundtrack! David Bowie, the Who, Elton John, The Young Rascals, Paul McCartney. Great music, it really adds a cool touch.

More cartoons

2007-05-23T22:54:00.000-07:00

I've been on a cartoon streak lately now that I have Boomerang. At night they play Johnny Quest, the Herculoids [ that will be next post] and last night it was my beloved Thundarr.

I'll say it right now:

Thundarr is way better than He-man, yo.

Reasons:
1. It's freakin' post-apocalyptic Earth! Mad Max for kids! When I was a kid, I thought that was pretty disturbing, imagining civilization turning out like that. Now I can't wait for global warming to turn our animals into a giant master race. Yeah!

2. Ookla. He's really like Chewbacca, only he sounds pissed off all the time. Plus he's got a cool looking horse creature.

3. Thundarr's sword = lightsaber.

Arise!

2007-05-20T00:25:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite scenes. This really is terrific.

Hot Fuzz!

2007-05-17T22:15:00.001-07:00

Saw Hot Fuzz earlier this week. The big question: Is it better than Shaun of the Dead?
Answer: No.
But wait, it didn't suck. In fact it was very enjoyable, and the third act of the film had the same high energy fun that Tarantino's Deathproof had.

The problem was long middle act. I felt that they should have trimmed some repeating gags. Also the murder mystery plot felt a bit overloaded. But I forgave them when the final act got rolling and all the Hollywood cop movie cliches came together. I had a blast when finally, " The s*** just got real!"

Anyway I'd take this film over "Delta Farce" any day. Saw the trailer for that. Yikes.

Also, Simon Pegg is a really good actor. He's a great comic talent but he can also do soft dramatic scenes that many comedians have trouble with. I really felt bad for him when he was miserable in the little English town surrounded by the dumbs***s.

Dexter

2007-05-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

I finished watching the rest of this series over the weekend. What a remarkable show. Every episode I find myself rooting for Dexter. Hoping that no one becomes suspicious of him, waiting for him to catch the villain, and then I stop and realize that I'm rooting for a serial killer.

This show did such a good job of hooking me in quickly. Dexter is a guy who was orphaned at the age of three, a witness to a grisly crime. He gets adopted by the cop who found him and the smart cop discovered that his little warped Dexter was on his way to growing up to be a killer. So throughout the whole season we flashback quite a bit to see the unique father and son "bonding". Not really bonding, more like lessons. Officer dad is almost like Dr.Frankenstein. He instructs Dexter on how to blend in and act normal. If he has to kill then kill the murderers the cops try to catch.

Now the adult Dexter is working in forensics with the Miami police force, where his sister works as a cop- just like dear ol' dad. The season kicked off with a story arc about the gruesome Ice Pick Killer. The scenes are pretty nasty and to hear Dexter's narration of it as something of a "work of art" over these things is pretty disturbing stuff. At first I was uncomfortable about the show's subject matter. Serial Killer as the lead? But it quickly went away and a lot had to do with Dexter's relationship with his girlfriend Rita and her two kids. It's actually a very believable relationship thanks to Julie Benz [Darla!]. She pulls off emotionally fragile very well. I hope Rita never finds out what Dexter is really is, and I hope Dexter keeps "pretending to be normal' . Living that code that his father instilled in him.

For a show like this, of course the humor is gonna be daaaark. There's a wonderful bit where Dex is slinking around a shipyard stalking his prey. In the middle of his narration, he suddenly wants to plan a family type trip : " I wonder if Rita and kids will like fishing?...FOCUS!"
But my favorite bit is Det. Doakes, the only guy in the entire police force who has the correct cop 'gut instincts' and gets creeped out by Dexter. So every other line from his mouth is "Shut up you f***n weirdo" or "where's my report you f***n creep". He's great.

I hear it will be on dvd by August, and I think I'll be adding another series to my dvd collection.

Spidey 3

2007-05-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

Instead of seeing Hot Fuzz this past weekend, a group of us saw Spidey. By the way I owe $ for the ticket and forgot to bring Devo's birthday present. Happy Birthday Johnny D! From "Cheap Skate" Keegs

Anyway, I heard about the negative buzz this latest one is getting and I can't be on board with those disgruntled fans.I think I'm too much of a sucker for the Raimi & Maguire combination. If the movie was about Peter Parker delivering pizzas, I'd still watch it.
Although, to be honest, there were areas that could have been tweaked a little more. A plot point trimmed, a villain introduced a little earlier. Yada, yada. But I'm not a hardcore fan. I was there to have a good time and I did. Even though it was packed and some stupid kid in the row in front me was reading his %@#$ text messages throughout the whole film. That ignoramus with no attention span probably hated it.

So good fun film for me. James Franco [Harry] was definitely a highlight and had the best line:

Waitress: How's your pie?

Harry : Reaaallly gooood

It was all in the delivery, and classic Raimi.

Great googily moogily

2007-05-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

I just wanna post this because I think this looks great.

http://www.warnervideo.com/supermandoomsdaydvd/

[For some reason my links don't work.But enjoy the site]

Second Sight

2007-05-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

Read that they are making a movie based on Clive Owen's series Second Sight.
From imdb.com:
"Second Sight, a popular BBC detective series about a detective feverishly attempting to solve a murder after learning that he is going blind -- and trying to hide that fact from his superiors -- may be made into a theatrical movie by Universal."

Steven Bochco made a terrible version of a 'blind cop' show on ABC a couple years ago.
Man, that stunk.

Turkish Star Wars

2007-04-23T19:12:00.000-07:00

Well now that you've seen Chinese Pulp Fiction over at Steal This Blog, let me introduce you to the Turkish Star Wars film. I was given the dvd this morning and I watched this during my lunch hour. You can find all 10 parts on the Youtube site. This is part five, about half way through the film and at the 157th fight scene.
As you can see , actual SW footage was used in this alien bar scene. This sci fi film uses both SW and Raiders soundtrack throughout the film--and some Flash Gordon too I think.Never bothered to call Lucas or 20th Century Fox, did they?
There's no subtitles, so from what I can tell from it is that it's about two space pilots that crash land on a planet. I call them Starbuck & Apollo. They help out a village being terrorized by alien creatures and then there's this Ming the Merciless baddie out to stop them later on. A fun time waster.

Found out that there's a Turkish Star Trek and a Turkish E.T. too.

Reality tv

2007-04-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

I rarely watch reality tv. I avoid anything with contestants & judges, especially if contestants are singing and/or dancing.
Really, just bring back Battle of the Network Stars—and I mean real tv stars. Hugh Laurie vs. Jason Lee, that’s what I’m talking about.

Anyway, the only reality shows that I really enjoy are Landscapers’ Challenge & Good Eats.
Landscapers’ Challenge: I’m just fascinated by this show. Something about turning a crappy yard into a mini oasis is very appealing to me. Makes me yearn for a yard—and about 5 grand to hire someone to make it into something beautiful.

Good Eats: This is my favorite on the Food Network. Host Alton Brown is like the Gil Grissom of the cooking world. I actually retain the knowledge from this show which is a first, because cooking never interested me. I’m usually impatient when it comes to cooking and I really don’t have a gift for it.

But this show actually sparks my interest in cooking, and I think it’s because of the history and scientific breakdown of what the food is and what happens to it while it’s cooking.

One of 99 Luft balloons...

2007-04-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

Edited : See Lori D's blog

This is my favorite of the bunch [ so far there are 8 chapters up on Youtube]

The Grindhouse

2007-04-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

Had a great time with this one. It's long [just over three hours] but it was worth it. The first one was Planet Terror. A zombie schlocky send up with a colorful cast.
Michael Beihn, welcome back! You were excellent. He says my favorite line in the movie.

After Planet Terror there were several hilarious fake trailers. My favorite was "Thanksgiving". There was one with Jason Isaacs, the Harry Potter baddie. Like I said--a colorful cast.

Finally Deathproof. Kurt's "Stuntman Mike" ranks right up there with Snake Plisskin & Jack Burton. My only major nitpick with Grindhouse is that Tarantino's script in Deathproof needed trimming. He does those dragged out 10 minute conversations of bullsh*t banter & pop culture references, when 20% of the conversation actually relates to the plot. Anyway, it was still worth sitting through it because his car scenes were amazing. Plus it was really fun seeing Kurt go nuts.

Agent Mulder, Pop Star

2007-03-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

The last few times I hung out with Johnny D, I was subjected to his '80's metal music collection. Like Dio and Judas Priest and some others I forget.
The kind that were forbidden in the Catholic schools when I was growing up.Now seem totally harmless.

Anyway, here's some from my beloved collection. Corey Hart - no relation to the lame Coreys in the '80's. This Corey was sexy. He and Robert Palmer.
David Duchovny kind of looks like Hart. Maybe that's why I tuned in to the X-files right away. Agent Mulder. Former pop star, now UFO geek.

This video still makes no sense to me, after all these years.
Dig those red shoes too.

Warning: a "bore you to tears" post

2007-03-21T22:35:00.000-07:00

Really, not much going on. Except I found this over the weekend on Youtube. It's the Buffy video game "Chaos Bleeds" and this is the level that I got stuck on--that was about two years ago. [ since Season 8 the comic book came out, my Buffy geek-o-meter has gone up some more]
Pretty sad huh. I like how the best approach to the game is "don't stop just run yo' ass outta there"

It's amazing what pops up on Youtube. Jon G. told me that he found the opening theme credits to Starstuff on Youtube. If you don't know what that is, it was a Philly children's show in the '80's about a kid who could talk to a girl from the future on his tv monitor. I barely remember this.

Thoughts on Robin Hood

2007-03-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

This spoof by BBC comedy show Dead Ringers, comes close to my thoughts on Robin Hood.

Before I saw the program , I checked on TWOP to see what the reaction was. Most of the complaints were about the costuming. I decided to keep an open mind, but after watching the second episode [ the only ep. I saw so far] I was laughing at the costumes. The young Merry Men look like they should be at a Pearl Jam concert.

I feel like it's Robin Hood from the creators of The O.C. Where's McG's credit in this?

Still, this was fun as in "fun junk food tv".

some thoughts

2007-03-15T20:56:00.000-07:00

Very hard to come up with stuff for the blog these days. Probably writers' block or something. Anyway the only thing that got me interested in posting this week was the Omen II flick I saw the other night. I love the films, especially the first two. The second one is cheesy fun but the death scenes still get me. My favorite parts are the scenes where they show the ancient murals depicting Damien's image. Then soon after, big meanie Satan is snuffing the victims out. My mind usually starts to wander during these scenes. I mean, anybody who was a potential threat to Damien was killed.Most of them were religious. What about atheists? If there was a non believer, I think they would be the only survivor in the films. "Son of Satan? Whatever. Let me know how the battle with the Lord turns out--heheheh."

nice bit of news

2007-02-21T20:02:00.000-08:00

I heard today that my big brother Ed has been inducted into his old high school's Football Hall Of Fame this year. Didn't know high school's had their own hall of fame. I have no idea what his record was, but I did go to a couple of games when I was a kid. My memories are of just sitting on a bleacher freezing my butt off, maybe asking my parents for some money to get hot chocolate.
Well congrats to #61. I think getting into any kind of Hall of Fame is pretty cool.
Beat that Van Halen!

Monsterpiece Theatre

2007-02-14T20:50:00.000-08:00

The PBS show is having an anniversary special, focusing on fan favorites. I won't be surprised if I Claudius takes the # 1 spot. This is my first post about Claudius, but whenever I found an opportunity to bring it up over the years , I didn't hesitate to talk about it, & I bored my friends to tears. But it's my blog dammit, I'm gonna go geek apesh*t and fling the nerd poo.

I do remember seeing the first broadcast back in the '70's. I was very young and there was no parental supervision apparently. PBS & sports were a regular tv diet of my parents. So I think they must have left it on in a room somewhere. This scene in particular traumatized me:

John Hurt is Emperor Caligula. Pervert,murderer--starting at a young age in this series--and at this stage of his life :completely demented. He thinks he's a god and his sister/lover has just been killed in a very sick and twisted way.

When I was in highschool, they re-ran the series again during pledge drive week, and I watched it and became a Claudius geek. I own the dvd now & I still bring it out every once and awhile to admire the writing and acting. For me, it was my first introduction to grown up stories on tv that were intense, funny, and intelligent. No over the top,very special "Hallmark" fluff brought to you by Parkay butter.

Derek Jacobi rules, John Hurt steals scenes, Patrick Stewart is in a curly wig as the rotten Sejanus, and Brian Blessed will always be Augustus to me and not the Hawkman dude from Flash Gordon [ Flash!Aahh-ah!]
and Sian Phillips, Peter O'Toole's ex-wife, wins the award for best villian on tv as Augustus's wife Livia

from imdb memorable quotes, my favorite scenes:
Antonia: [to Claudius] You blockhead.
Herod: No. He's not a blockhead. It's WE who are the blockheads. If Sejanus had come to us with a proposal like that we would have given him his marching orders. But Claudius knows better. Claudius sways and bends with each little wind that blows.
Agrippina: By which you mean he's weak and cowardly.
Herod: Perhaps. But at least he's still here.

[to Claudius]
Caligula: Go in peace. I was thinking about killing you, but I've changed my mind.

Nomination for remake

2007-02-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

Anyone remember this? I really enjoyed it. Just a fun popcorn movie. A sci-fi thriller, but mostly thriller. It helps that the two lead actors are very talented. There's too many films that are slated for remakes that shouldn't be touched. But if Hollywood must remake movies, then I can see this getting another update. H.G. Wells chasing after Jack the Ripper in the age of ipods, cell phones, text messaging etc.

Of course it wouldn't be good as the original.

on my reading list

2007-02-05T20:55:00.000-08:00

I just started this and I highly recommend it. I'm listening to the audio book. If you are not familiar with the author Vowell, she did the voice of Violet from the Incredibles. Her book is a funny and informative tourist guide to historical landmarks, sites, & museums of Presidential assassinations. You'll pick up little historical tidbits of the macabre kind along the way. Poor Robert Todd Lincoln. The man was "a death magnet", according to Vowell, since he was present or near the vicinity of three Pres. assassinations. His father's, McKinley, and Garfield. Geez that's bad.

f#@% the internet

2007-01-30T21:08:00.000-08:00

Stupid blogger. I just spent an hour trying to get on this stupid f#@#'n thing because the power went out sometime today and it messed up everything on my computer for some strange reason, and I get home and everything's F'd up. god&$#$ I hate computers and I hate cell phones. My niece and nephew argue about the Razr phone cause they can get all this cool stuff on the Razr. Who gives a sh#t?! Make a friggin call! That's all you need. What the hell? I hate all the freaking latest upgrades. I don't have time for this sh#t. And I hate ipods, I don't need 5000 songs. I don't want to remember 5000 songs.
and I hate remembering passwords and reseting passwords cause the stupid freaking Google corporate takeover can't remember anything after two weeks and what the F%$# are Cookies on my computer. Don't call them cookies. I think of Keebler elves when I read the word 'cookies'. Stupid cutesy techno babble crap.

Goddamnit. I wasted my whole evening to this crap and I can't remember what I originally wanted to say

Sinbaaaad!

2007-01-21T14:04:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is Tom Baker aka The 4th Doctor as the villian in this Harryhausen movie. I love Harryhausen's movies, especially the Sinbad movies. I loved the monster battles. I remember always feeling sorry for the losing monster--because you can see its pain. Great work by Harryhausen
I think I'll be getting some of his movies on dvd since AMC & TCM doesn't play classic horror stuff that much anymore. It's a shame that Sci-Fi channel doesn't either. I wish they had a night of classic horror films like this or the original The Thing, or the Hammer films.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was another remake of these movies in the works --just hope Stephen Sommers isn't behind it. Hey Peter Jackson, you busy?

p.s. yes, Lori I am still behind on my review. Work is busy and my brain isn't in creative mode as much. But I am working on it.

p.p.s--News from home just in: My mom caused the fire extinguisher that was in my sister's kitchen to explode.

beeeeeeeeeep

2007-01-14T19:25:00.000-08:00

The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

2007-01-09T21:14:00.000-08:00

Recommeneded by my friend at work. Wow.

original site: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/285267

I feel the fever

2007-01-07T21:02:00.000-08:00

At this point I don't really care how far the Eagles go. We had a great Christmas present when they beat the Cowboys and took down crazy T.O. that day.
My family's house was insane. I don't think anyone really remembered eating the roast dinner while the game was on in the next room.But actually it was a very fun night. A Christmas I won't forget.

and now today..

Eagles beat the Giants 23-20.
What an intense game. FOX didn't help when they showed the Giants congratulating themselves after they tied the score--I swear I thought some reporter was going to rush out and ask if they were going to Disneyland next. What the hell?
And then the sportscasters going on about Tiki Barber's retirement when it's still 5 minutes left of the game!
Way to stick it to me FOX.

So the field goal win at the end was perfect and I think I'll be ok for the rest of the season.

Matt Damon! Impersonating McConaughey...

2007-01-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

Just came across this morning. Gave me a good laugh.

I have to say , McConaughey amuses me. Ever since his role in Reign of Fire. Where he shows up bald and beefy. Chewing his cigar and the scenes. "Hope I didn't interrupt your little soiree".
I feel the need to watch that again.
I forgot most of it, just McConaughey's line and Guy groaning when the movie was over. " Uuugh, that was awful"

Heeheee.

Game on

2007-01-03T20:07:00.000-08:00

So it looks like Indy 4 is officially back on, according to imdb.com. To quote Denis Leary..."this is gonna suck!"

Speaking of things that won't stay dead. Buffy season 8 will be in the form of comics and it will be out in March I think. Actually, I am curious to see this. It's the only Whedon show I followed all the way to the end--I even have the video game and it's taken me four years to reach the final level.
--[The Master just keeps kicking my ass and I have no health potions to stay alive. bastard.]

So I might as well continue on with Buffy & co, but I'm not much of comic book reader. I was disappointed in its last two seasons, and I'm hoping that Whedon will put some much needed attention on the show that that started it all, since he was focusing his time on Firely during Buffy's last years.

Happy New Year

2007-01-01T11:43:00.000-08:00

I had a nice visit back home. Dealt with puppy poop, enjoyed the Eagles winning streak, and went to see The Phantom of the Opera with my nieces at the Forrest Theater. [ by the way, Edward Scissorhands is being made into a musical.]

I didn't get a chance to see any movies , but I did buy some dvds. So no new movies to talk about on this post, but I got something else that will amuse you for the time being.

The other night as I was getting my stuff back into my suitcase, my brother-in-law took me down to the basement and we went through some old junk that's been sitting in their storeroom for years. Some of it was mine so he wanted me to tell him what was ok to throw out. One of the things we found was my sketchbook that goes back to the early 80's. Here's one drawing I will allow my friends to see. The other stuff was just too damn embarrassing. The following picture is embarrassing as well, but it does make some sense to me.
I think I can date it to 1982, when Taco's "Puttin on the Ritz" was a hit and it looks like it was my favorite song at the time. I guess drawing a tall Siamese cat in a tuxedo singing and dancing to the song seemed like a cool idea.The slinky Siamese was the right choice. Glad I didn't go with the fluffy Persian [ at the top right]. I also had trouble drawing the clef.

good grief...

Santa came early

2006-12-21T10:17:00.000-08:00

and he took a dump.We're on the Naughty List.

Grettings from Philly, Pa. Actually the smelly present by the tree is from my brother's new pup "Stitch". He's 50% pug, 50% Jack Russell terrier, 100% Speedy Gonzalez.
Poor Stich must have gotten confused by the Christmas tree and thought it was just as good as the ones outside.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

Wildcards?

2006-12-17T16:54:00.000-08:00

Wow. I wrote them off two weeks ago but here they are.

Goodbye Peter

2006-12-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

Where's Rostov?

2006-12-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

Well I finally got around to watching this fine piece of good, aged Norris cheese. Sorry about keeping this for so long, Devo.
I'll return this to you soon [ along with 'Boat Trip' --another fantastic piece of garbage]

The film is pretty easy to follow...I guess... since I was watching this during work hours. Basically I looked up every five minutes just in time to see Chuck use a grenade or roundhouse kick somebody. But that's all good.
King of movie baddies, Richard Lynch, decides that he and his merry band of evil international scum are going invade U.S.A.--starting with Florida. Unfortunately Rostav [Lynch] has Post Traumatic Norris Syndrome because he tangoed with ex-CIA agent Norris before. So Rostav wants to kill Florida resident Chuck before he can be satisfied with successfully invading U.S.A.
Which to me says bad management right there. Can't get the job done if you've got issues. "Norris issues"
But nobody on his team complains , and soon they blow up a nice wholesome [heavily populated] neighborhood. [pic below]

<--Next is the big shootout in a great [filled with disposable people] Mall, which I loved.

This is where Chuck saves a bunch of annoying school kids on a bus.These kids were all singing "Row Row Row You're Boat". What? It takes place in 1985! Back then I was riding school buses and we were singing Quiet Riot songs. Stupid lame wholesome kids. So anyway, the terrorist stuck the bomb to the side of the bus . Chuck uses an ol' Bugs Bunny "switcheroo " trick. He quickly yanks it off and drops it into their car. KA-BOOM! That's all folks.

Finally, our armed forces start fighting back and this is where the budget went. But we really can't win until Chuck kills Rostov. And he did.He blew him up real good.

I just like to mention that one of my favorite things in the movie is the pet armadillo that Chuck has. He must have picked it up before Fla. Because I don't think armadillos are indigenous to Fla. But that little sucker is cute --and they are from the sloth family not possum. I want one.

photo credits: stomptokyo.com, soundtrackcollector.com, badmovieplanet.com

classic SCTV

2006-12-05T00:13:00.000-08:00

One of my favorites. The idea of Walter Cronkite doing Dialing for Dollars is a great idea. Rick Moranis is the psycho caller. I miss Moranis. He needs to get back into films.

quick sketch : Misfit Toys Uprising

2006-11-30T21:59:00.000-08:00

Just thought I post this doodle sketch. I was thinking about some emails that went around last year among the ol' gang, where the subject of the toys and the elves going against Santa was discussed in great detail. Santa came off as a complete jerk in the Rudolph special.
I think Guy and myself went a little further, suggesting that the elves have some sort of revolution. I can't remember all of it but it made me laugh as I was holiday shopping today. Plus I think it would be a great addition to the Raging Rudolph film that Mad Tv had a few years ago .

So this is Charlie in the Box in mid-speech. Just before he storms King Moonraker--I mean King Moonracer's castle.

maybe they'll be more to come.