We are Hugh

A side note to my Music and Lyrics review (Doing research into the movie)

Earlier this year, Hugh Grant was in Amsterdam promoting the movie Music and Lyrics at the red carpet. Suddenly, a female Dutch newscaster handcuffed herself to him. Watch the video for the rest.

E News reported on the incident, but I have no clue why she did it.

((Grant was attached to the woman, identified as Cielke Sijben, for about 10 minutes, reports said. During his enslavement, the leading man kept his on-screen cool, and, per the Daily Express, continued down the red carpet, hanger-on and all.))

For about ten minutes, he walked around the red carpet with this crazy lady cuffed to him. He signed autographs and greeted people with her on his arm! Hmm, sounds like another movie in the works.

What happened to Cielke Sijben after she was arrested? I’ve looked everywhere but haven’t discovered anything else about her.

What was she going to do with Grant after she cuffed him? Put him in a hole in her house?

Music and Lyrics

Music and Lyrics

I wanted to really rip this movie to shreds, but I really can’t hate the film that much. Yeah, it is certainly a chick-flick, so it has all the trappings of a chick-flick. Unusual girl meets unlikely popular guy and they learn things about themselves when they’re with each other. They fall madly in love, knocking countless boots in the process. They break up and fall in love again just as the movie ends. Hey, J-Lo has been doing this shit for years and making tons of money. So, what makes this movie any different from the rest of the chick-flicks? Nothing, nothing at all… However, I didn’t hate this movie for recycling the formula. I sort of liked it in a strange way. (Please don’t question my manhood.)

Hugh Grant is a washed up pop star from the 80s, trying to become famous again through songwriting. He performs at malls and hotels to crowds of ladies in their early to mid-forties, which I found funny. (Hey, I dig the MiLFs too.) Drew Barrymore comes into his life as ‘The Plant’ girl, and he discovers that she is good at writing lyrics. He convinces her to help him write the next song for the Britney Spears-like singer played by the cute Haley Bennett. (There’s one scene with Bennett doing a strange sexually charged Buddha dance number worth seeing alone, actually there are two scenes.)

Like I said, the movie isn’t great or powerful, but I enjoyed the moments when Barrymore and Grant work together to make a song. These were the moments when the story worked for me. Barrymore has almost worn-out her cute but wacky, and free-thinking girl in her acting career. Mr. Grant plays the same charming character in every movie he’s in, and this movie isn’t any different. I can’t say anything bad about the guy. It’s not because I think he’s a good actor, but because he’s too damn charming, and I’d feel bad about talking ill of him.

I would have never seen this movie in the theater, but at home it isn’t that crap-filled like many of the carbon-copy J-Lo movies. The only way I’d watch this movie in the theater was if a hot chick asked me to watch it with her, and she’d have to pay for my ticket…

Movie Grade: C-

Hugh Grant’s Charm: B+

_________________________________________

Grant: “Do you have to put the subplot about me picking up a nasty hooker and getting caught into the script?”

Barrymore: “Think of it as method acting.”

___________________________________________

Grant: “It feels like I’ve been doing the ‘famous guy/girl’ meets normal lover plotline for years now.”

Semaj: “Because, you have. American Dreamz, Notting Hill, come to mind.”

_______________________________________

Brad Garrett: “Listen, I’m not the only sitcom actor in this damn movie, Hugh. Isn’t Roseanne Barr in the movie? ”

Grant: “You idiot, that’s Kristen Johnston!”

Brad Garrett: “Don’t tell her I said that.”

_______________________________________

I got nothing. How can I come up with a witty caption for this picture?

Cloverfield spoilers (real or fake?) (part Two)

As I've stated before, there are many theories involving the actual plot of Cloverfield.

Here is a deeper look into some of the Cloverfield trailer clues

Part 1

Part 2

There is more evidence leaning toward the theory that there are smaller monsters involved in the plot. You can check out the other pics here. And here

Also, there are many viral spinoffs from the movie involving the characters. Some characters have video-blogs and others own myspace pages. (There are also company websites too.) Most of the viral story progression is happening in 'real time', meaning the movie's release date will mean many of these blogs and videos won't be updated. (because the freaking city will be destroyed)

Jamie (from the movie) has her video blogs and there seems to be some connections to the smaller monster subplot. Yeah, Jamie is annoying but what else was on that tape recorder?

Make sure to watch the last few seconds of this video. Someone behind the sheet seems to be expanding and screaming, very creepy.

Man, I hope this movie is good. However, figuring out the various clues is certainly fun!

Just what are they trying to keep out?

50 Things I love about The Transformers: The Movie (26-30)

26. Megatron/Galvatron: I loved the scene where a broken down Megatron meets up with the all powerful Unicron. Megatron is even defiant when he’s near death. I liked the way they changed Megatron into Galvatron, and with many of his troops turning into different characters as well. I knew I was going to really like this character.

27. Leonard Nimoy as Galvatron: Yep, Mr. Spock lent his voice to the movie. Being a Trek fan, I was thrilled when I saw his name in the opening credits. I heard Nimoy doesn’t like to talk about his role in the movie. I mean he never really promoted the movie either. I wonder why?

28. The Death of Starscream: Finally after 2 seasons and 20 years in the TF continuity, the newly reconstructed Galvatron puts an end to Starscream. I loved how Starscream’s body turns to dust. This was another shocking moment, because Starscream was one of the central characters to the show. (He would return for two more episodes in season three as a ghost. Then, he would return for another episode in the Beast Wars series.)

29. Spike Witwicky grown up: Yep, Spike is all grown up and married to his girlfriend from the series. That was a nice touch of continuity with him marrying Carly. They had a son, who goes on to get an expanded role on the series. You usually don’t see these characters grow up and change in 80s shows.

30. Unicron eating the Moon Bases: Considering he usually ate planets, I guess ingesting moons is like a snack to him.

Starscream: Who disrupts my coronation?
Galvatron: Coronation, Starscream? This is bad comedy.

Random Bits

Freaks and Geeks crew
Most of these cast members have gone on to do bigger things

Random Bits

~Boh3m3 has some good points about cell phones. I finally caved in and got a cell phone and I still hate them. He also discusses the stupid idea about spinning rims on cars.

~I've been watching season 1 Heroes on DVD recently. I am really enjoying the series. Sure, the series is moving slow, but I like that about the show. Not sure which person is my favorite character yet.

~I also been watching Freaks and Geeks. This show is very well written and I could see this storyline working as a movie. Superbad does share some striking similarities to the show. (they are both produced by the same people).

~Here are a few deleted scenes from RoboCop 2: I can see why first few were deleted, but I like the last two scenes. Side Note: there are a few shots of a woman taking a shower in police locker room. Does this mean men and women can take showers in unisex bathrooms?

I need to re-rent this movie, because I think it got a bad rap back in the day.

~Here's Christopher Walken's Tooth Fairy 'speech'

~I discovered this fat guy doing an Ewok impression. Heck, he even does the walk. If he can do a Jar-Jar impression, I'd be very impressed.

Cloverfield spoilers (real or fake?) (part one)

Rob has a Myspace...

Cloverfield spoilers (real or fake?)

I’ve heard the Cloverfield PR machine rolling and most people want to know what hell is Cloverfield.

Well there are people claiming to have seen previews viewing of the film in question. Some seem really fake, while others seem real. One gives us really detailed information.

Here is a detailed report on the movie. (Could be fake or real)

http://www.1-18-08news.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4478

Key Things from the review,

1. Most of the movie is shown from a handheld camera: I really like this and the five-minute preview was really interesting, proving this also. HUD is the ‘main’ cameraman.

2. Read the portion about the people who drink the Slusho: There could be a connection, though it’s never spelled out in the movie.

3. Watch what gets smashed when the Statue of Liberty head lands on the street: Could this be true? There is a Taxi getting smashed, but is there someone inside it?

4. There have been rumors that there is more than one threat to the city: If you watch the TV spots, what the ‘reviewer’ states seems true. I really find this subplot really interesting and creepier than the actual monster. That is if this subplot is real.

As I said before, this all could be fake. But there are a couple of seconds in the TV spots that sort of support the subplot. And, we do know something happens to at least one of the characters with the Hazmat people.

Here’s an interview with the director

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35095

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

This movie is a mess, but what a wonderfully pretty mess. Following directly after Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the crew of the Black Pearl have to save Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones’ Locker. There are twists and turns in this movie to fill 20 movies. People are making backhanded deals and backstabbing each other throughout the story. You almost need a chart to keep up with these plot points. Who is on who’s side?

And, that’s the problem with the film. It’s overly complex and needlessly confusing. I mean I didn’t want the movie to be mindlessly stupid, but it just feels like they were making it up as they were going along. And, by many reports, they were writing the script while filming the movie. Plotlines and subplots from the second movie are done away with very little payoff. Remember that Elizabeth Swann betrayal? Well, don’t expect much from it. This kind of stuff makes watching the film frustrating.

However, there are many things about the movie I found enjoyable, just like the second movie. There are some amazing battles and CGI work throughout. The effects teams need to be commended for their work here. Hans Zimmer’s score is very good, as I’ve written a review on it in my blog.

Geoffrey Rush is the main reason to watch this movie. I’ve always enjoyed his performance in The Curse of the Black Pearl. He is certainly having fun with his role. Bill Nighy as Davy Jones is other reason to watch this movie. I actually ended up liking this guy more in this movie than the last one. Orlando Bloom is pure shit, while Keira Knightley does an okay job here. She does look sexier in those Chinese outfits than her normal clothing.

The movie is misguided and sometimes too cute for its own good, but still enjoyable than some of the other ‘third’ movies from the summer. There’s just too much going on, which was the same problem with Spiderman 3.

Grade: C

Elizabeth Swann: “Captain, I heard you were on a ship called 21 Jump Street. Is that true?”

Public Enemy: Burn Hollywood Burn

Public Enemy: Burn Hollywood Burn

http://youtube.com/watch?v=k6MlwT1lBk0

Ah, yes, I remember this music video. This was back when Public Enemy was a political rap group, and they seemed to always cause controversy. From the 1990 album Fear of a Black Planet, the main theme of the video and song is the use of ‘blackface’ and the stereotypical roles. The video uses clips from some of the old Hollywood films. Take notice of the buggy eyes.

It should also be noted that Ice Cube and Big Daddy Kane make appearances in the song and video.

Here’s a song talking about breaking the negative stereotypes in Hollywood, but yet now in 2007 two people from the video are basically doing that very thing.

1. Flavor Flav: This guy’s ‘reality’ shows and spin offs are some of the worst shows on TV currently. I have never seen a show that’s made black women look this bad, and some white women. Not even all those booty-shaking videos have done the amount of harm these shows have caused. Please, VH1, stop making these shows.

2. Ice Cube: Okay, he done some respectable roles, but First Sunday, xXx: State of the Union, and All About the Benjamins are pure crap. I sort of like Ice Cube and his music, but why is he doing children movies?

By the way, Friday: The Animated Series? Are they serious?

Aliens Vs Predator – Requiem’s score ( a clip)

Here’s a clip of Brian Tyler’s central themes from Aliens Vs Predator – Requiem’s score

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Lj_ZNbzGs

I like it. Here’s why, he uses James Horner’s creepy Aliens percussion themes and portions of Alan Silvestri Predator themes. Does this mean this will be a good movie? Nope, but at least they got the music right.

50 Things I love about The Transformers: The Movie (21-25)

21. The final battle between Prime and Megatron: This is probably one of the epic battles of the 80s. “Megatron must be stopped no matter the cost.” I loved the part where Prime runs over some of the Decepticons and takes out most of them with his gun, which follows the battle between him and Megatron. The only problem I had with this scene was when Hot Rod gets in the way and ends up being the one responsible for getting Prime killed.

22. Astrotrain is huge inside: Uh, how big is this guy? I ask this because Devastator is formed inside his cabin. Btw, I had this toy.

23. Arcee the female Autobot: It was established in the second season that there were female Transformers on their homeworld. Though never implied, she was probably a member of that colony. Even though I hated her pink color, I thought she was tough and interesting character. She was voiced by Susan Blu and Blu is now a voice director for many big time cartoon shows. She will be reprising her role as Arcee on the new Transformers cartoon.

24. Starscream kicking out Megatron: Best lines in the movie…

Starscream: Oh how it pains me to do this!
[said with smirk on his face]
Megatron: Wait! I still function!
Starscream: Wanna bet?
[Starscream lets Megatrons body drift from the open shuttle door into space]
Megatron: Starrrrrrrcreammmmmmmmm!... argh!...
[Megatrons crumbled body Disappears into space]

25. Victor Caroli as the Narrator: This guy did the opening voice for the miniseries, which was the opening for the first season. So, it was neat they used him again for the movie. I don’t see him doing much else on his IMDB page. However, he has a very flashy website! In his page, it shows that he does a lot of trailers and ad voiceovers. Make sure you check out his portfolio link and listen to his clips. “In a world…” I loved to have him do the voiceover for my voice mail. “It is the year 2008. In a world where James is away from the phone…

a minivan owns a News Station.

A Chicago News Station had a Van crashing into its studio live and on air.

((Chicago police were questioning the driver of a minivan that crashed into a television news studio Sunday, moments after the station went on-air for its 10 p.m. Newscast. ))

Was this a soccer mom getting pissed off at the news by ramming her useless minivan into the studio? What happened to all the rear window Garfield dolls when she crashed into the window? What about all those soccer balls?

It's funny when the ones reporting the news become the news.

Here's the reaction to the aftermath and here's the live reaction to the crash from the newscaster. This guy's reaction still has me laughing. I hope someone makes a techno beat to his yelp/whoa. The Newscaster guy in the video is Ravi Baichwal, and he has a Wiki page, which currently has a picture of him reacting to the crash and information on the incident. Man, Wiki is fast.

If vans were to crash into locals news stations during every live news program, I'd start watching the local news again. By the way, I hate minivans almost as much as SUVs.

Update

Here's an update on that Minivan crash.

Note: read the scrolling sign above the building. I'd call that a 'No Sh*t' text.

What the hell is a hipster?

Picture from here

What the hell is a hipster?

http://www.hipsterhandbook.com/

There’s this creepy skinny pale guy at work and I just realized that he is a hipster. At first, I thought he was an emo. However doing some research, I know he isn’t emo. He wears truck driver hats and old Post Office sweaters (but he works at UPS, figure that out.) He always seems stoned and out of it.

Looking at the Urban Dictionary, I get a better idea what the hell these people are.

From one of the post…

((The modern Bohemians. A mid-twenties person who works at a low paying job, is interested in "Artsy things" Hipsters tend to swarm around the determined "Hipster" part of town, ex. Wicker Park in Chicago. Hipster Ladies should have short hair and wear thrift shop clothes and Male Hipsters should be anemically skinny to let people know that they are poor and cant afford enough food.))

Okay, I sometimes get these people confused with Emos, but they seem to be in happier moods than your emos of the world. In Louisville, we have a lot of Hipsters, and hipster clothing stores (Note: used clothing stores.) Why would someone pay money to wear used clothing, when you can go to Walmart and get cheaper newer clothes?

I often wonder if this is the next evolutionary step for geeks. Are Hipsters the mutants of geeks? (Like the X-Men.) They aren’t evolved emos, because we know that emos don’t evolve because they commit suicide or cut themselves.

Listen, I have some hipsters’ qualities, but I don’t try to make a trend out of it. I think I like too many mainstream things to be let into the hipster crowd. How does one get out of the hipster mode?

If you are a hipster, here are a few tips into getting out of this weird cult.

1. Buy some new clothes: Do you really want to get used clothes that someone has sweated in? I like collecting the Ducktales shirts too, but I keep them in a glass case, but I will not sporting them outside of the local coffee shop.

2. Truck Driver hats should be worn by freaking Truck Drivers: If you don’t drive a semi truck, then don’t wear that ugly ass hat.

3. Drink Starbucks: Okay, I hate that company, but you’re still paying for overpriced coffee from those underground places. Don’t you want to walk around with that Starbucks logo? Okay, just put a sticker of the Thundercats logo over the Starbucks logo, it will match your vintage shirt.

4. There are some good RIAA backed songs out there: Uh, on second thought, there isn’t. You have me there, Hipster. Damn it…

Here are two videos on hipster-ing

This dude wants to be a hipster: I love the awful clothes and eating of baby food (?)

Annoying Hipster Douchebag: This guy is great. However, saying Annoying Hipster Douchebag is pretty redundant. They all mean the same thing really. I love the 'trucker' hat this guy is wearing.

_____________________________________

Uh, cool?

Disturbia

Disturbia

This recent film is a remake of the classic Alfred Hitchcock film Rear Window. It is an update of that older film. Shia LaBeouf stars in this version. There are two basic differences to Rear Window. One, the main character is under house arrest and two, he’s young and can walk. While it can never live up to the classic Rear Window film, it has some good things going for it, if a little flawed.

After losing his father in a car crash, Shia’s characters ends up being a troublemaker. (He punches his Spanish teacher). The law forced him under house arrest. Being stuck at home by himself, he begins to watch everything that goes on around his block. Because of this, he gets involved with a very hot chick that just moved in next door. Well, he discovers that someone may be a serial killer might live right across from his house. So, he spies on him and sees some disturbing things going on over there.

I have to admit that I liked this movie. I enjoyed the fact that Shia is forced to live his life through looking into other people’s lives from his windows. I also like the plotline about him befriending cutie Sarah Roemer. Even though there isn’t much character development for David Morse’s character, his performance is extremely creepy. I like Shia’s character, besides he mom is freaking Carrie-Anne Moss, AKA Trinity.

Well, the movie has some nicely crafted scenes that make up for some of the weaker things in the movie. And, to my surprise, this was a violent PG13 movie. It is not a great film, but still good enough to keep your attention.

Grade: C+

Ripa rips Rosie (RRR)

Is Regis sleeping on the job?

Kelly Ripa rips a new one in Rosie

http://youtube.com/watch?v=13p-95DTgSA&feature=related

Yeah, this is old, but I enjoyed this video. Rosie attempts to put her homophobic spin on that Kelly Ripa and Clay Aiken thing. Listen, I don’t want anyone touching my mouth unless it’s a hot naked lady. Plus, I personally don’t know where Aiken’s been.

While I think Ripa needs to eat some food, I have to agree with her on this one, and I loved that Ripa put Rosie in her place. Man, when did Rosie become such a bitter angry person?

Random Bits

Random Bits

~I ended up with a 3.4 this semester and an overall 3.0 GPA. Now, this doesn’t mean much to many of you, but I lived my whole life being a C student, barely getting by in school.

~Here are the 7 most embarrassing Celebrity Business failures: I found the Kim Basinger one pretty amusing. She purchased a freaking town. WTF?

~While Marina Sirtis has pissed me off over the years for her little negative comments about DS9, this interview with her is very cool. While she is still an attractive woman, her age is starting to catch up to her, which is fine by me. I'd still love to be known as the guy banging Deanna Troi. (BTW, Are trek fans that crazy? Do they really come to her home?)

~Is this MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice in a Breakdance Battle?

~Here’s a strange comparison between Drug Dealers and Geeks. Who knew harden drug dealers had some much in common with geeks? What if you’re a drug dealing geek? Does that make you an Super Geek?

~I just love these clips of the best things to come out of the writer’s strike. The best one is The Colbert Report one with a ‘studio Executive’. Make sure to check out MC’s post.

Hancock

Hancock

The Trailer

Well, it is just a teaser. The trailer and the development behind the movie has me a little confused. As far as I can tell, the movie was supposed to be a drama about a superhero that has to deal with real life issues. However, this trailer has none of that in it.

Here’s a bit of information about the movie.

I heard they had to lighten up the story when Will Smith was attached to the film. However, I do like what I’ve seen in the trailer. I am not sure what to think. I like seeing a hero that doesn't get the whole rescue thing down right.

50 Things I love about The Transformers: The Movie (16-20)

16. The Attack on Autobot City: I really enjoyed the complex battle going on during the first half of the movie. There are a few second season cameos throughout the scene. It was a nice touch to see the damage to city over the night too. There are a few first season characters that end up dying here too. (Note: Second season character Red Alert was storyboarded to die here, but never showed up in the movie.) This is also the scene where they introduce most of the new Autobot characters.

17. The run of Kup and Hot Rod: I love that Kup saves Hot Rod’s life and they both use the Insecticons to jump over the gap to Autobot City, crushing one of the Insecticons’ heads in the process.

18. Starscream shooting his own foot: What a great moment! He gets trapped and decides to damage his own foot to get himself free. I always liked Starscream, and Chris Latta as the man behind the voice.

19. The Dinobots to the rescue: This was a great scene seeing them come flying out of the sky toward Devastator. Their fight was always badass because it was brutal. It reminded me of the first season rivalry between the Constructicons and the Dinobots. I remember the kids my age were cheering when the Dinobots showed up. The Dinobots have always been my favorite characters.

20. Blaster having fun: What a way to introduce a character. He’s chilling in the transmission tower and blowing away Decepticons and seems to be enjoying himself. We also get to see that he has his own mini-tapes that fight Soundwave’s versions. This was another scene that got cheers from the kids too. Plus, you have to love the term ‘burnt out toaster ovens’ that he uses at the end of the scene. Btw, he’s one of the few 2^nd season characters that show up in the movie, which means that his character was planned rather early in the 2^nd season development. I always saw Blaster being the Roadblock of the Transformers.

Grimlock wouldn’t transform into his robot mode much after the movie, even though his character was expanded in the third season.
_______________________________________________________________

I’m guessing Blaster and Soundwave would be IPods and MP3 players today.

Stardust (review)

Stardust

Before you read this review, make sure to check out Blayde's review of the movie as well.

Stardust, the movie, is based on Neil Gaiman's comic book/novella of the same name. What is the best way to describe Stardust? It’s an adult fairytale with a charming and sometimes comical storyline. It tells a tale of a place in England where there’s a portal to another world from our own world. A guy from the English town sneaks into the other world and ends up getting it on with some hot chick. He later receives a baby from her, after he returns to his world. This baby ends up becoming our hero.

The story centers on a fallen star that crashed into the magical land of Stormhold. Everyone wants to get to the star for varying reasons. However there is a catch, the star is actually a rather attractive lady. Even though she is very old, she has a very child-like way of looking at the world, because this is her first time being human.

I found Stardust to be very enjoyable and fun. It reminded me of the Princess’s Bride for the 2000’s. Michelle Pfeiffer as the main witch is a treat, and her performance is very good. Actually, all around the acting is very good. However, the character that steals the show is Robert De Niro’s character. He plays a sky pirate, but not the way you think. I am not going to give it away, but I got a kick out of this character and his crew.

I am a guy, but I loved the romantic interaction between the two young lead characters. I enjoyed Tristan and The Star’s playful banter and their unspoken love. The love story never seemed forced or corny, which is rare these days.

In the end, I really found myself enjoying this movie and surprised how fun it was. So, give it a chance. Yes, there is still a place for fairytales in our time people.

Grade B+

Catwoman is pissed.
____________________________________

Robert De Niro: You talkin to me?
_____________________________________

I loved all the Goat scenes and jokes.

New JL DVD movie

Yet, another project that I knew nothing about: Justice League: The New Frontier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Hb_d5Qnts

It’s coming out on Feb 26, 08, and it appears to be completely unrelated to the Justice League continuity from the TV show or The Batman. Lucy Lawless will be playing Wonder Woman in this film, which I find cool because she’s very Wonder Woman like in real life.

The design of the movie appears very retro. And, it appears the movie will carry a PG-13, like the Superman Doomsday movie.

Well, he's messing someone up. So, that's not a bad sign.
____________________________________________

I'm not sure about this Hal Jordan design.

Jamie-Lynn Spears pregnant ( At 16!)

WTF, Britney Spears’ 16 year old sister is Pregnant.

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20167059,00.html

So, how did Jamie Lynn Spears break the news to her parents?

((She told her parents just before Thanksgiving.))

That’s certainly an interesting holiday gift to give your parents.

((Spears, a high school junior who is 10 years younger than Britney, had until now escaped much of the attention about her personal life that has surrounded her sister.))

A high school Junior, wow…

I still think she’ll end up being a better parent than her older sister, whom doesn’t seem all that concern about losing her children. Hell, give them to Jamie Lynn Spears, because she’ll need the practice.

Give her more?

(Side Note: I can see Britney Spears getting knocked up and saying, “look ya’ll, we be twins”)

More sites

http://www.nme.com/news/tabloid-hell/33295

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/entertainment/2004081593_eye19.html

50 Things I love about The Transformers: The Movie (11-15)

11. Kup: He’s like the Dr. McCoy of the movie. He’s old and grumpy. I also enjoyed the acting by Lionel Stander in this role. I think Hot Rod and Kup made a great pair. It’s too bad they didn’t bother to carry this relationship over to the third and fourth seasons of the show. BTW, you have to love the futuristic pickup truck he transformers into. (Stander passed away in 1994.)

12. Orson Welles playing Unicron: Yep, Welles at this point in his life was washed up and broke, so he took this role without even knowing what the heck the movie was even about. He later told someone that he played a ‘planet that ate other planets’. He passed away soon after completing his work for the film. He was very sick when he recorded his voice work for the movie and the producers had to use enhancements to make his voice sound good. Yeah, he was only cast because they needed some big names to market the movie, but it was still cool.

13. Scatman Crothers’ last role: I always enjoyed the Jazz character and the voice actor behind him. It was neat that Jazz ended up living through the movie, when you consider most of the season 1 characters were killed off. We only get to see Jazz a few times during season 3, but he would no longer speak due to Crothers’ death.

14. “Oh, shit”: Yep, this line was originally in the theatrical cut of the film, but it was later cut from many VHS copies. The writers wanted to make sure the movie got a PG rating instead of G. I remember that line got a lot of laugher from kids in the crowd. However, I’m sure parents weren’t too happy about it. (BTW, it was reinserted back into the DVD releases.)

15. Ultra Magnus: Sure, this guy ended up being a bad leader, but he was voiced by f’ing Robert Stack. Even though this actor is dead, Stack still rules.

For an old fart, his auto-mode was fairly advance looking.

Wesley Snipes Ran

I like Wesley Snipes, but it appears that he may very well end up in jail. However, watch him run away from the papparzzi. I think it's funny that he acts like a little kid. Too bad other stars can't have this type of fun.

While I don't think he should claim it is racism behind this whole thing, but he seems to be getting the brunt of the controversy. Just don't do one of those annoying Run OJ ads.

BTW, has anyone seen those info-commercials with him in it?

Comic Relief/Next Generation crossover

Comic Relief/Next Generation crossover

I love the way Data says T-Shirt and the joke about the Comic Relief shirts being a bad blend. The joke about Whoopi Goldberg/Guinan was really funny. I have never seen this before.

Pluto Lives

Save Pluto!

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/12/when-i-was-your.html

Even when I was a child, I remembered all the debates as to whether to call Pluto a planet or a moon, or something else. Some of my science teachers refused to call it a planet, but it has come under great debate recently. On digg.com, I came across this post about Pluto-huggers and found it amusing. (Paul mentioned this on his former blog). I guess I can throw my support to the Pluto-hugger party. (It's like the Ron Paul thing, Right?)

Some define a planet with their circular orbits and large masses, however Pluto has none of those. Pluto is like that little nerdy kid that no one wanted in the baseball game, but they were forced to pick him up to fill in their ranks.

You can check out more about this mistreated planet/rogue moon below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluto

I feel bad for little Pluto.

50 Things I love about The Transformers: The Movie (5-10)

Ironhide: "Hey, kids, in the next 20 years, I am going to die a horrible death."

6. Bye, Ironhide: Yep, everyone’s favorite robot gets killed in the first ten minutes of the film. Not only does he get killed, he survives the first attack, only to get blown to bits by Megatron’s freaking cannon at close range. That is cold blooded. One of the people on the DVD commentary noted that it was that point many of the parents took their children from the theater. For me, I was shocked because Ironhide played such a big role in the first two seasons.

7. Cliffjumper doing the countdown: When the shuttle launches, Casey Kasem does the countdown. He does the countdown of the top songs on his national radio show. Even though Cliffjumper survives the movie, it would be the last time he would appear in the transformers continuity. Kasem is of Palestinian/Lebanese heritage and there was an episode in development for the third season, which put Arabs in a stereotypical light. He left the show in protest.

8. The design of Laserbeak: Actually, he looks better in the movie. The smoother animation shows more detail in his design. You would think the Autobots would have a system by now of detecting Laserbeak spying on them. I mean it has been 20 years!

9. The attack on the Autobot shuttle: Yep, about four or five of the season 1 characters get wiped out in this scene. The main reason behind this was because these toys were discontinued, and they’re characters were seen as not important anymore.

10. Unicron’s introduction: What better way to introduce a badass character than to have him wipe out an entire planet full of robots. I also like the painting like opening, which then turns into animation.

Random Bits

Random Bits

~On Sunday, I was in a hospital visiting a family member. I had only 2 hours of sleep. I roamed around the place like a zombie. I got strange looks from the Doctors and nurses. I guess they were wondering if I was on something. Anyway, I ended up sleeping in one of the lobbies like a homeless man. This was at 2 PM. BTW, there are certainly a lot of Unisex bathrooms in that place.

~At this point, why would anyone even want to marry Pam Anderson? I never found her that attractive. She's everything that is wrong with the misguided notion of female beauty. Her choice in men seems very flawed to me.

Kid Rock: Trailers and beer seem to keep this dirty hillbilly alive. What did she find special about him?

Tommy Lee: Dirty, but in an emo sort of way.

There were reports that she was thinking about divorcing sex tape man Rich Salomon. Again, why would you marry her? They've only been married since October. Is the divorce off? Did she force him to watch her DVD collection of VIP episodes?

~There is nothing like watching fat guys falling off their bikes.

This guy falls hard when he tries to make a jump: He makes the best sounds when he hits the ground. It sounds like a wounded moose.

In a bike race, someone decides to throw a stick in the wheels of this guy's bike: Great use of slow motion.

This guy nearly eats the bike with his stomach: Why does this guy look like Harry Knowles? Beware, man crack in this video. But if you're into that sort of thing, enjoy the ending.

~Well, this is certainly a way to get through a traffic jam...

Parappa the Rapper (Cheap Cheap song)

Parappa the Rapper (Cheap Cheap song)

Some people took it upon themselves to do live version of that chick song from Parappa game. Here’s the original

Parappa The Rappa - Cooking With Cheap Cheep: Who knew that rapping about cooking could be so cool?

Here are two parodies of this stage

PaRappa The Rapper (In Real Game): I love the live band playing and two people on a stage rapping all the lines.

Chop Chop Master Onion's Rap Showdown Entry: This one is really good and done in a cappella. I really like this one.

videos

Final Fantasy VII

Battle Music on Piano

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xQLahvuvJT8

Comment: This guy is very good. I wish, if they make a remake, consider using real instrument for the score. While the guy’s piano is little out of tune, his playing is extremely good.

World of Warcraft (rap game) music video

http://youtube.com/watch?v=vH2uOy7sJ9w&feature=related

Another video

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xJExt2XSgHc

The second one is pretty funny

50 Things I love about The Transformers: The Movie (part 1) (1-5)

50 Things I love about The Transformers: The Movie (part 1) (1-5)

Since many people enjoyed my 50 things I loved about Return of the Jedi, I figured I’d give the same treatment to a movie I’ve really enjoyed from my childhood. I’ve already reviewed the movie, but this will give me a chance to dig further into what makes this movie important to most children growing up in the 80s.

I am going to go through these with more detail than my Jedi one. So, I will only post 5 at a time. Enjoy…

1. Optimus Prime dying: Yes, this was the point when most boys (some girls) were shocked to discover that their favorite childhood hero died near the beginning of the movie. It took a lot of balls to kill him off and then introduce a whole new group of heroes, then replace him with an Emo Autobot. Yes, I cried when Prime died in the movie. It still shocks me today! (They would later bring Prime back in the show.)

2. It is the year 2005: This nearly shocked me as much as Prime dying. The creators of the film decided to jump ahead nearly 20 years in the future. Instead of an Earth based story, we now had a whole galaxy to tell stories in. The tone of the film was certainly more sci-fi. We also learn that the Autobot, during the 20 years, lost Cybertron, and were losing the war. This was another ballsy move by the people behind the movie. The jump ahead gave them enough space to introduce new characters without introductions. (Hey, they showed during the gap between the second season and the movie.) Too bad, our real 2005 didn’t turn out this way.

3. Director Nelson Shin: Listening to this guy in the commentary, you can tell he loves his work in the movie. He’s very proud of the work his team did. Toei Animation followed Mr. Shin’s leadership and made the movie feel bigger than the show. Shin is also one of the few South Korea directors to have one of his films to open both in North Korea and South Korea.

4. Vince DiCola’s music: With a mixture of rock and techno, the movie’s music completely stood out from the music that was used on the first two seasons of the show. His autobot theme is very good, as well as his music used in the Death of Optimus Prime. However, his best theme was by far the Unicron theme. (The best use of it is during the opening.)

5. The Transformers (Theme) by Lion: I loved this rocked out version of the main theme. (However, there is an unused remixed version using DiCola’s "Autobot/Decepticon Battle" theme, with Lion’s lyrics.)

So, what does Unicron do when he can’t eat a full planet? Does he place the remaining portions of the planet in a giant Ziploc bag?

Clash of the Titans remake

Clash of the Titans: Blade director Stephen Norrington returns to filmmaking?

It appears so. Blade put this guy on the map, but he was attacked for his work in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (LXG). It was at this point that he pretty much turned his back on Hollywood. However, there were reports he wanted to direct Ghost Rider. He’s lucky he didn’t because that was worst than LXG. Actually, I rather liked LXG. It wasn’t a good movie, but still enjoyable. However, the crap that went on behind the scenes would make me reconsider my career choices as well.

I think Clash of the Titans is definitely a movie in need of a remake in my eyes. Please, no robotic owls this time around, Norrington. If he can keep the movie under his control, we might get an entertaining movie.

More info about this announcement.

(Side Note: One of the negative stories I heard about LXG was that Sean Connery was in the editing room making his own edits to the film. Something the producer tried to play down.)

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Well, everyone knew this movie was going to be crap. We just weren’t sure how crap-ful though. Now we know.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1184827-alvin_and_the_chipmunks/

This movie smells of those Garfield movies. If the kids eat this movie up, we’ll see quick sequels just like Scooby-Doo and Garfield. Maybe this movie could have been somewhat interesting if Earl from My Name is Earl interacted with the Chipmunks.

You have to wonder if Jason Lee did any promotion for this film. Can he keep a straight face way doing an interview about this crap?

Right now, the movie is hovering around 27% rotten.

Could this movie actually win the weekend?

Deleted Scenes (3 movies)

The Lost World Deleted Scenes

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IauEY2XoMR8

Here are two scenes combined into one clip. Both these scenes are pretty much useless and boring. However, they were edited into the TV Network version of the film.

A montage of the extended Blues Brothers scenes added to the DVD cut

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HlQCFSYfvtQ

Note: These aren’t all the clips added to the DVD version, because all the songs are extended and there a few other clips too. Around the 2:00 mark, one scene explains why Elwood has all those chemicals on him.

Check out the prison riot the Blues Brothers cause at the end of the clip. That should have ended up in the movie.

Goonies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG84th6emGQ

I actually like some of these scenes. It would appear these scenes were pretty far along in quality before they were cut. Yes, the octopus scene is in here. There is a lot of mystery involving that scene.

There was talk of some ape scenes being mentioned during the DVD commentary. I have never seen any footage of these ‘escaped apes’ clips.