Ventrilo Harassment Again

Ventrilo Harassment Again

Chicken Attack

I actually found this one rather amusing.  Gotta love Nerd Rage.

Phil Davidson vs. Pissed Nerd

Why use the N-word? 

By the way, I want to meet this Mr. Davidson guy, because he’s been watching too many wrestling events.

Armored

Armored

What happens when armored car guards decide to take the very money they’re sworn to protect?  Well, a slightly below average heist movie that goes nowhere fast. 

Armored is easily one of those middle-of-the-road movies that can be watched, but quickly forgotten.  It does handle certain tension scenes extremely well, especially the scene where a police office confronts the guards.  Overall, the movie is down right middling.

The story isn’t that by the numbers, but that it feels like a second draft of script instead of a polished piece of work.  Compare this to Spike Lee’s Inside Man and you’ll see the difference. 

The other problem is that actors are completely wasted in the film.  With the exception of Ty Hackett (Columbus Short), we really don’t get any insight into why these people have set aside their morals and decided to rob the bank cars.  Laurence Fishburne is completely wasted as the off the rails guy in the group, we never get into why he’s the one with the hair-trigger.  Amaury Nolasco is supposed to be the one that feels guilty about his actions, but we never get a build up of his guilt, and the fate of his seems poorly tacked on.  Jean Reno isn’t really a factor at all. 

It’s sad that a great cast like this is wasted. 

So, what does fill up the movie’s time? 

We get a bunch of scenes with the bad guys banging the hinges off the armored doors.  I wish I could make that up, but it is the truth.  We don’t even get much in the way of the main bad guy trying to convince Columbus Short to leave the locked bank car. 

Director Nimród Antal just doesn’t have the flair here to make the scenes that compelling.  Yet, he should be commended for not making it a shaky-cam mess like Michael Bay either.  Antal simply does a TV director’s job here.  I am not making fun of TV directors, but they are brought in to get the job done and fit their directing styles firmly into the format of the TV shows.  Antal seems to not really have a signature to make him stand out, but he is still a new director and still has room to grow. 

Armored could have ended being so much more, but just comes across as dull and uneventful.  It is not a bad movie, but it feels like a sequel to the remake of Assault on Precinct 13.  If I know a heist movie doesn’t have the budget for action scenes, then I want a deeper character piece.  We don’t get that here. 

Grade: C

Ten years later, the Matrix has Morpheus’s grown daughter Montana Fishburne doing adult movies.  The machines are cruel. 

MC Hammer “No Stopping Us”

MC Hammer “No Stopping Us”

Yes, this “patriotic” song is really bad, even by later MC Hammer standerds.  MC will change his style to anything that is popular at the time, and this misguided song is no different.  I remember a friend of mine told me about this MC Hammer petriotic song, and I didn’t believe him.  I’m all for positive songs, but this song just seems wrong. 

While rap and Hip-hop are mainstream, they embrace the counterculture.  This just seems like a cheap latch onto the mindset of many people at the time. 

~Yes, we get the smybolism, Hammer.  Enough with the church stuff and you in a military uniform. 

~The pimp fur coat and the American headband just doesn’t seem to fit.

~Watching a bunch of stiff Congress people attempting to dance is terrible.  Stick to making terrible laws, Congress.  And, let washed up hip-hop rappers do the dancing. 

~The music sounds like it came out of the early 90s instead of 2001.

Random Things

 Random Things

~On a serious note, it has been a few months since my dog has passed away and I just feel empty and lonely. This is coming from a guy that spends most of his days away from human contact by choice. I spend most of my time far off riding my bike with no one around or writing for school or blogging. I'll somehow get through this bout of depression.

~Star Wars 3D: Uh, I want to see the Star Wars movies in 3D, but I am not sure starting out with your weakest film Episode One is a brilliant move on Lucas' part. This goes back to Lucas trying to shove the prequels down our throats even if we don't want to.

~Britney Spears music on Glee?: Unlike the other acts and music on Glee, does Britney deserve the same treatment as Madonna or even Lady Gaga? Is her music even that memorable? Like her popularity, her music just hasn't aged that well.

~Fox proves it again: They canceled a new show called Lone Star after two episodes. The show did receive a lot of critical props, but given the state of Network TV ratings, nothing is safe anymore. So, this isn't Fox's fault really, just the big four networks combined. They keep staying with the safe formula and thinking outside of it. They deserve it.   

Elisabeth Moss (AKA Peggy Olson from Mad Men) is a Scientologist ?

Elisabeth Moss (AKA Peggy Olson from Mad Men) is a Scientologist ?

I really like the progressive character of Peggy Olson in the great drama Mad Men. Moss has an unconventional look to her that I find attractive, plus her is really interesting to watch.

While going through some research into Scientology for my paper, Google had a recent story up there about Moss divorcing her husband SNL cast member Fred Armisen. Some people close to the couple say the split may have been over Moss's relationship to the Space Church, Scientology.

I always pegged (pun intended) the woman play Peggy to be a little sharper than being a member of group that believes in the Overlord Xenu. When is her next auditing session?

Katy Perry’s Boobgate continues

Katy Perry’s Boobgate continues

Okay, I am starting to like Katy Perry now.  I never hated her as much as Gaga or anything.  She was just a pretty face and nice body to look at.  I neither hated nor liked her music.   But, I am starting to see the light (or cleavage) in her sense of humor.  She really seems to get the joke in this whole Sesame Street thing. 

She showed up on SNL in a very tight and revealing Elmo shirt and the skit loosely made fun of the “banned” Sesame Street skit. 

For now, until it gets taken down, you can watch the very bouncy skit on youtube below.

I haven’t watched SNL in a while, but I have to say I laughed at this bit a few times. 

Nicely done, Katy Perry. 

Must not say something tasteless...

Montel Williams doing infomercials…

Hi there, Montel Williams here for Oxy Clean!

Montel Williams doing infomercials…

Monday early morning, I kept the TV on as I wrote my paper and noticed Montel Williams on TV.  This is what I saw…

Montel, what are you doing?

Remember when Montel Williams had one of the hottest talk shows in syndication?  While I was never a huge fan of his old Montel Williams Show, his show was different than the trash TV that was on during the time period.  It was more of a positive show that tried helping the guests on the show than making fun of them like the other daytime talk shows did. 

His new “show” is called Living Well with Montel.  What is sneaky about this format is that the infomercials are disguised as talk shows.  Plus, you can tell he’s really not that into it. 

Now, he’s a poor man’s Billy Mays.  He basically is using a similar model as Billy Mays too, except he doesn’t shout at the screen. 

So, how did he get from being a talk show host to an infomercial host?   The Fox Company (?)

From his Wiki page ((On January 30, 2008, Variety reported that CBS TV Distribution terminated The Montel Williams Show when key Fox-owned stations chose not to renew it for the 2008-09 season.[5] It has been alleged that this resulted in part from an appearance on the show Fox & Friends in which Williams criticized the media's lack of coverage on the Iraq War, and took the hosts to task for their excessive coverage (along with the media in general) of the death of actor Heath Ledger, contrasted with the sparse coverage of U.S. soldiers dying in Iraq[citation needed]. Some have noted that one of the segment's hosts told viewers that Williams would return for further conversation after a commercial break, but that Williams was no longer on the set when the commercials ended. On May 16, 2008 the last episode of The Montel Williams Show aired ))

Isn't it strange that the show he made his Iraq statement on was Fox and Friends and then all the Fox channels dropped his show? Hmm.

I wonder what a younger Montel would say if he saw his future self peddling useless shit in the late hours of TV? 

HeathMaster ad…

Here's a not too kind review of the product from above.

“epic failures in Science Fiction TV”

Blast-r has a great list of “epic failures in Science Fiction TV”

I wanted to add my remarks to some of the shows on the list.

FlashForward: Starting out the gate, I was really interested in the show.  Despite the fact Brannon Braga was involved, I gave the show a chance.  But, I started to lose interest as the show went on. 

Defying Gravity:  I have never heard anything about this show.  I’m surprised about that too, given the premise.   The trailers look absolutely horrible. How could they maintain a series premise like this over a couple of years?

Dinotopia:  I remember critics ripping this show and miniseries apart.  When it morphed into a TV show, it only lasted about six weeks.  What makes Steven Spielberg think his Terra Nova show change people’s feelings about a dinosaur show?  Terra Nova is already getting a lot of behind the scenes drama stories.  Did I mention the horrible writer Brannon Braga is involved? 

Journey Man:  Now, that sounds like a cross between Early Edition and Quantum Leap.  I’ve heard some good things about this show. 

Bionic Woman:  I never understood why someone thought it was a good idea to remake the old spinoff show, but not at least try to bring back the The Six Million Dollar Man the spinoff is based on.  The remake failed.  NBC is really becoming the FOX network of the new era. 

Knight Rider:  Do I really need to go through this one again?  The show was just plain bad.  And, it seemed NBC refused to let this failing show go.  Then, they very quietly pulled it off the schedule.  This was probably one of the reasons Zucker was fired.

Life on Mars:  I watched a few episodes here and there.  I enjoyed the concept, but really hated the way it ended.  The ending is so far left field that it even confused me.  The story ends literally ends on “Living on Mars”.

Katy Perry Sesame Street controversy

Katy Perry Sesame Street controversy

 

Wow, some parents are calling this video controversial because of Katy Perry’s chest.  Did they even watch the same Sesame Street video I just watched?  Maybe I am wrong, but I saw nothing sexual about the video or Perry’s dress. 

Sesame Street producers caved in and took the Perry video off their show, but let it stream on Youtube.  From Reuters, ((But after a segment of the show appeared online on Monday Sesame Workshop, which produces the show, decided not to air it.

"In light of the feedback we've received on the Katy Perry music video which was released on YouTube only, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers," the show said in a statement, adding it valued the opinions of viewers, particularly parents.))

Did these concerned parents watch her more adult music videos? I remember her California Gurls video has her floating in cotton candy clouds totally naked and she squirts whipped cream from her bra.  The video above is basically G-rated. 

Have we solved all problems in the world that that a modest dress is considered wrong? 

Racist Joke?

Racist Joke? 

From Blog City Pages, ((Lake Crystal Tribune Editor Don Marben wrote a delightful anecdote about a golf course that replaced it's caddies with robots, only to find that their metal surfaces reflected sun in the golfers' eyes.

When golfers suggest painting the robots black, a course employee responds "We did. And four of 'em didn't show up for work, two filed for welfare, one robbed the pro shop, and the other thinks he's the president."))

Well, it was kind of racist, but I really only had a problem with the Obama jab.  In private, we have all tell these off color jokes before.  Most people that know me personally are aware that I make small jokes like this because people stereotype with race.  I do it out of preconceived notions of what white and black people think of each other. 

But, throwing an Obama jab into the criminal and lazy jokes is just little bit too wrong.  Say whatever you want about Obama, but don’t lump him in with criminals or lazy folk.  And, did this off color joke need to be in a newspaper?  

Ines Sainz and her prefect ass…

Ines Sainz and her prefect ass…

Now, I’ve been trying to stay away from this story because I didn’t want to get myself in trouble.  But, the fact that Ines Sainz keeps showing up on TV shows and other news blogs that I had to add my two cents. 

First, yes, Miss Sainz has a prefect body and a pretty good face.  She is very pleasing to the eyes. 

Second, yes, she does have a point that these players need to behave a little better around women professionals.

Third, if you dress in a skin-tight pair of blue jeans like the picture above, you should expect some catcalls from a bunch a locker head sports guys.  That’s just how they’re build. 

I’m all for women dressing in whatever manner they feel possible.  If you have a great body, wear some revealing clothing.  Hell, I am straight guy and I like to look.  But, don’t expect the same treatment when you’re in a professional situation.  Remember, I’m the guy that sided with the woman that wore the short skirt on a Southwest flight and got kicked off. 

When you’re in a locker room with a bunch of sweaty muscle guys, they’re going to say something when you show up in your skin tight jeans and nice booty.  She made a big stink about the whole experience and the media fire storm began.   

Yet, now Sainz seems to be changing her tune on the matter.

From Fanhouse.com ((Sainz has given conflicting statements since the issue came to light. She initially indicated on her Twitter account that she was embarrassed by what had happened,. However, in subsequent appearances on various media platforms, Sainz has said that she was not bothered by either the practice incident or the locker room conduct.))

So, I’m not sure exactly where she stands on “the incident”.  She’s now attacking the Association of Women in Sports Media. 

How do you feel about her? 

 Hmm, No comment...

Come on really?

Roger Rabbit 2 test footage finally revealed? (1998)

Roger Rabbit 2 test footage finally revealed? (1998)

Over at Big Fan Boy, they have video embedded into the story that is supposed to be screen test footage of the abandoned Roger Rabbit 2 project. In that project, they wanted to update Roger Rabbit with CGI models that interacted with real people instead of regular animated models. From what I read, the project was fairly into pre-production before everyone lost interest in it.

From what I can gather, the test footage is legit. Now, I still looking for story boards to Roger Rabbit 2 as well. I really liked what I saw in the video, and I am impressed with how well it looks for something out of the 90s.

I listed this web site before that will give you further insight into the history behind the failed attempt at a Roger Rabbit sequel. (http://www.filmbuffonline.com/Features/RogerRabbitII.2.htm )

Side note: There is supposedly more footage than the few seconds we have here. From Film Buff Online, (( The test scene consisted of two animated weasels bursting into the office of a Hollywood agent to “persuade” him to audition their friend Roger. Roger then bursts into the room and proceeds to cause the kind of havoc only a `toon like he can. The test was designed to see if traditional animation and computer-generated images could be successfully combined with live action footage of the agent and his office. Roger and the weasels were realized through traditional animation while the weasels’ Tommy guns and a table that Roger breaks were rendered through CGI. Unfortunately, the result was not as successful as hoped for, so another test was ordered. This time both characters and props were animated with a computer and produced a much better result. ))

Digital Underground (The Way We Swing and other songs)

Digital Underground (The Way We Swing and other songs)

DU has always been one of my favorite hip-hop groups ever. I think they have the 70s vibe that Outkast had in their later albums.

The Way We Swing.

This is the remix that came out after the first version. This version was released on their EP Album “This is an EP Release”. This version is much faster than the other first version. Plus, there aren’t any of MC Blowfish vocals in the remix either.

Make sure to listen to live version too.

Arguin’ on the Funk

I always laugh at this comedic bit. Basically Shock-G and Humpy-Hump are the same person, and he’s arguing with himself.

Tie the Knot

Tie the knot, tip-tip-tip tie the knot. I love this one too. They had a version of this song for that movie Nothing But Trouble.

Checking someone’s IPod

Checking someone’s IPod

A few weeks back, I was flipping through my brothers IPod. He has an 8 GB Pod like my 8 GB mp3 player. I’ve always said that you can learn a lot about someone by digging through their mp3s. If I really dug a girl, but I discovered that she listened to Kesha or Bieber, I would probably look down on her a bit. (Now, if she has the Ghostbuster theme on her player, I’ll marry her.)

So, anyway, I saw all the normal 90’s hip-hop and RB stuff on his IPod. Suddenly, I came across this amazing song from the 80s

That’s correct; my brother actually has Stan Bush’s “The Touch” on his IPod. He received an extra 40 points for having that song on his IPod. My brother has the “Touch”!

Feuds between Hollywood folks

Feuds between Hollywood folks

Head over to premiere.com their list of 10 feuds from Hollywood. I wanted to mention a few of them and give my three cents.

Megan Fox vs. Michael Bay: I’ve covered this one a lot on my blog, but I still think Fox’s attack on Bay was a PR move to take away the heat the critics were giving her on her performance in TF2. She was getting the brunt of the blame.

Paul Schrader vs. Steven Spielberg: I knew nothing about this one. I remember reading and watching a lot of behind the scenes stuff about Close Encounters, but this kind of few under the radar for me. This was probably covered in the making of on the DVD, but I missed it.

Armond White vs. Noah Baumbach: I remember this one and I got a kick out of Armond getting banned from screenings from Noah’s films. If you don’t know, I really hate Mr. White a lot. If White suggested the demise of Noah in one review, Noah has every right to ban his ass.

Orson Welles vs. Peter Sellers: Yes, this one was legendary. Things got so bad on the old comedy movie Casino Royale set between these two that they refused to film together. Back then, Hollywood feuds were really big.

Dance Flick

Dance Flick

I can say this for Dance Flick, it is better than all those Jason Friedberg
Aaron Seltzer spoof movies. However, that’s not saying much. To my surprise, Dance Flick has a few jokes going for it, but rest of the movie is a little too disjointed for its own good.

Dance Flick makes fun of all those stupid dance/urban movies where the white guy/girl comes into the urban environment and learns hip-hop dancing. It should be noted that the movie doesn’t really stray that far from the movies it’s trying to spoof. There is an exception. There is an awkward Twilight joke that seems completely out of place and makes no sense even in a spoof movie.

Directed by Damien Dante Wayans, first time movie director, the actual directing feels more than a little uneven. There were times when I felt Damien was trying to emulate his brother’s (Keenen Ivory Wayans) directing style, but not as well. Sometimes, it just comes across as bland.

Speaking of bland, Damon Wayans Jr. is a bland as they get. I’m surprised he didn’t just phase into the background scenery at certain points. I know that the Wayans like keeping it in the family, but at least give the kid some acting lessons.

Shoshana Bush, the lead white girl moving into the city, is better than her co-star. Shoshana is very cute and does kind of have a grasp on this acting thing, but her character is under-written. I can see that they were going for another Anna Faris with her, but they just didn’t get it right.

The writing doesn’t stand up any better either, because they’re trying too hard to spoof the entire dance movie craze, and I mean the entire range of movies in that genre. Nothing from that genre is overlooked, but it becomes such a jumbled mess that it was hard for me to tell what the hell was going on. Yes, I got a little confused by a damn Wayans movie. I’m embarrassed.

In the end, I found myself laughing at a few bits, but not much else. That is a shame because I’m still a fan of Scary Movie, and most of the cast from that movie came back for Dance Flick. Dance Flick isn’t Friedberg and Seltzer bad, but the Wayans haven’t reached their Scary Movie potential.

Grade: C-

Uh, let’s keep this between us. Yeesh

_____________________________________________________________

That’s just sickening on different levels.