Movies
Films, trailers, awards, whatever
Now relegated to Blogblivion...Tuesday, June 28, 2005
King Kong
I had absolutely no interest in this movie, Peter Jackson or not.
Until I saw the trailer. Now I am more than a little intrigued, even eager.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Cruisin’ for a bruisin’
Is it just me or is Tom Cruise looking a little unhealthy these days? He’s got that look like he needs to take up eating again.
Hmmmm. Maybe he ought to take some vitamins. 
Rest In Peace John Fiedler
In one of those crazy coincidences, John Fiedler, best known as the voice of Piglet, has also died. What a sad weekend in the Hundred Acre Woods (which I always related to, growing up in one myself).
Rest In Peace Paul Winchell
Paul Winchell, best known as the voice of Tigger, has died. It’s kind of cool that he won a Grammy for “The Most Wonderful Things About Tiggers,” which we sometimes sing to Sadie in part, though not as much as other songs.
How About Nobody?
I was hoping that the revived Batman films starting with Batman Begins would exclude Robin, at least for an extended time.
That said, and still fervently hoped, intriguing choice for Robin...
Saturday, June 25, 2005
A Hero For Our Time
It turns out that I am not the only one who’d be interested in seeing a (well done!) Green Arrow movie. I feel so vindicated now!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Be The Bat
Via Joe Katzman, Forbes has a nifty piece on Bruce Wayne’s finances and what it would cost you to get into a similar gig, as much as possible without access to, you know, high tech prototype military hardware.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Interesting List
There are some in here I didn’t even realize originated in films, and took to be long-coined phrases so useful that everyone uses them. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” for example.
Monday, June 20, 2005
Google Force Reduction Antidote
It appears my pictures, nude, naked and without clothes search hits for Erica Durance, Kristin or Kristen Kreuk, Allison or Alison Mack, Janel Moloney, Mary McCormack, Melissa Fitzgerald, Lisa Edelstein, Elisabeth or Elizabeth Moss, Jorja Fox, Emily Procter or Proctor, Jennifer Finnigan, Jennifer Morrison, and whoever else have diminished markedly. Did I mention Danica McKellar? I may have.
Anyway, this is likely because we’re in the off season for TV, eh? I guess I could increase the volume by mentioning others, like Carrie Underwood, naked, nude, or without clothes, even if there are no pictures. If I were being fair to the other sex, I could also mention Bo Bice, but hey. I guess the trick is to increase the range. Add more to the collection, like Katie Holmes, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Lindsay Lohan, Amber Tamblyn, Becky Wahlstrom, Megeina Tovah, Constance Zimmer, Sprague Grayden, Paula Abdul, Hilary or Hillary Duff, Sara Paxton, Emma Taylor-Isherwood, Jessica Alba, Renee Zellweger, Meg Ryan, Nicole Kidman, Caroline Dhavernas, Katie Finneran, Jewel Staite, Tracie Thoms, Kathryn Morris, or more that I am too sleepy to think of now.
Or I could stop baiting Google.
Naw. That’s no fun.
Batman: Year One
Er… I mean Batman Begins. This is the short, spoiler free report that I saw it and preliminary impression. As I told Deb, “in short, I concur.” Meaning with all the people who raved, gave it 3.5 stars or more, A+, etc.
It really is up there with the Spidey films. It’s what Burton merely strived for and couldn’t reach when he made a couple of Batman films most of us liked quite well.
I can’t wait for the next one.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Revenge of the Sith
I finally went to see it, with Bob and Sherri. It was her second viewing, and our first.
My comment after it ended: “That was better than even the best reviews I saw led me to expect.”
Bob disagreed. Sherri came closer to my opinion. This led to a discussion of “good” versus “good Star Wars,” and of “good 20 years ago” versus “good now.”
Do you think the state of the art in dialogue writing, as opposed to special effects, has improved since the time of the original Star Wars film?
Anyway, it did what it needed to do in he context it had to work with, in the style of dialogue associated with the franchise. I was braced for the dialogue between Anikin and Padme to be so absurd that I was pleasantly surprised. The film could have been better, but that would have required a total redo of episodes 1 and 2. Given the foundation, I am astounded it turned out so well.
The real test is how I react to a second or third viewing, theater or home.
I have to go do stuff, but thought I would comment in brief while it was reasonably fresh.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
The Paths of The Oompa-Loompas
And so, much to his chagrin, Aragorn mistakenly took not the Paths of the Dead, but the paths of the Oompa-Loompas…
Oompa Loompa, Loompa Dee Doo,
We’ll clean out Minas Tirith for you,
Oompa Loompa, Loompa Dee Dee
We’ll kill those Orcs and kill them with glee!
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Maybe there is such a thing as too much Star Wars.
Why the hell doesn’t he make the sequels instead, if he can’t quit messing with it?
Sigh.
In keeping with the spirit of the prior post, let me say this:
Of course, we knew that already, especially after his recent sniping at Brooke Shields (who, by the way, fired right back. You go, girl! ).
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Yep, Exactly
This has happened each time I have gone to a Star Wars movie, except when I saw the original:
Do you want to know how much of a geek I am? I can’t believe I am going to admit this here. When the opening scroll started and the music began I actually teared up. I swear to you, there were tears in my eyes and I almost, nearly started crying. And I’m not the only one. There was a palpable sense of relief in the theater when the scroll came up. Like everyone sighed at once.
So I know exactly what Michele means in this bit from her review.
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Being Vewwy Vewwy Quiet
Sorry for the lack of posts. I have a lot to do and have had no ideas to speak of. No doubt if I see The Movie this weekend I will opine on it then, but even that I have nothing to say on at this point.
Except for one little thing I noticed the other day. I saw someone mention people waiting in line for the first showing of the original Star Wars.
Huh? Is this revisionism or was I just completely out of it? Who in the world knew about that movie enough ahead of time to be rabid? Remember, nobody was even sure it would do well.
I think my experience was not that unusual. I became aware that the movie existed, on some level, after it was released, but had no special reason or compulsion to see it. My best friend saw it, raved up and down, and all but dragged me to it after it had already been in the theaters several weeks. The word of mouth build plus the unusual repeat viewings kept it in the theaters long enough so stragglers had no problem seeing it.
This past week is the first time I ever heard anything about lines to see it when it was first released.
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
May The Quiz Be With You
I always seem to come out as Han Solo on things like this, appropriately enough.
Via Caltechgirl, Yoda who is.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Nightmares
I had a dream in which I discovered my pager had accumulated 26 pages without my ever hearing it go off or being aware of it. Yikes!
Then when I started going through them, on my numeric pager, some of them were ads! Others were stalkerish. But the majority were, indeed, pages from clients needing help.
Very strange. Actually, I had a lengthy dream sequence that was not entirely a nightmare, but felt like I was immersed in something vaguely resembling 10 Things I Hate About You or Fast Times At Ridgemont High in a college setting. My buddy in the dream, nobody I know in real life, operated the telegraph/telegram room at the facility, which was pretty important and I apparently used a lot. How anachronistic. I think the pager scene was actually part of that overall dream sequence. As was my realization that I only had $3 left on me, and that I would have to buy gas as I drove some long distance home, leading me to try to borrow money from friends and to try to get back into my room to stay there a bit longer than planned.
Speaking of gas, before I could remember to blog about the price dropping back down again, it rocketed in a couple days from $2.09 up to a new record of $2.17. The above was probably inspired in part by observing the price of gas, needing to fill the truck Real Soon Now, and having, until I hit the bank today with a much needed deposit, $2 in my pocket.
Saturday, April 23, 2005
Libertarian
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Naw… She’s Safe From That
Friday, March 04, 2005
Ah, But Are They Fictional Holographic Shows, Or “Historical Documents”?
Michael King reports on a strong rumor about the final episode of Enterprise, in which Bobby Ewing steps out of the shower and… oh wait, wrong show.
Allegedly Enterprise will end with Troi and Riker having been watching it in the holodeck. This leads to an “it never happened that way” option, which some people have been speculating about all along, with the absurd temporal angles that were thrown into Enterprise early and often.
However, it also could be used as a way to say “it was real but some of it didn’t happen that way,” including the rumored death of Trip in the final episode. So perhaps it’s not as much of a pissing on the fans as could be, even if it’s an attempt at it. Berman and Braga are the writers for that episode, after having kept hands off the rest of the season, which is why it’s been so stellar.
Since they are attempting to ditch Berman from any future Trek involvement if it ever gets revived, as it will, eventually, he has every reason to have a fit and make that harder. Since he is rumored to be trying to write an 11th movie, he also has reason to ditch Enterprise and render it fiction, or partial fiction, within the Trek universe. If Paramount has the sense to stick to their guns, such a movie that soon, by him, will not happen.
But… Troi and Riker? Jeez.
Friday, February 18, 2005
Received In E-Mail
Fantastic Four teaser trailer.
Woohoo!
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Hail to Steven Taylor, He’s a Blogger Who Needs Hailing
Oh darn, I thought the lyrics went something like:
Hail to the chief, he’s the chief and he needs hailing...
Thanks to the always enlightening Steven Taylor, now we know there are real lyrics and not simply a hailure of imagination.
Believe it or not, when we spontaneously try to think of something to sing to Sadie to entertain or distract her, that tune pops out with surprising frequency. Very sad.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
I’m desperately trying to find something to say, but I can only stand in awe:
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Keira Knightly Is Making Sense
Keira Knightly is on the same page as Acidman, and one sensible girl. Having trade skills would serve better on an island, and definitely better for always finding employment.
It just makes sense to know some things that aren’t going to fail you if you need a backup skill or need to survive unglamorously. I doubt her acting career will fall so flat as that, but it shows she’s as sensible as they come, in that profession.
I can’t say that bricklaying would be my first choice, but hey.
Tuesday, January 04, 2005
The Love Letter(s)
Speaking of Ellen, the other night we watched The Love Letter on video. I had seen it twice before, and selected it as fitting the type of film Deb felt like watching that night.
It’s a quirky, different movie, but cute and entertaining. When Deb saw Capshaw on the credits at the beginning, she said “hey, didn’t she marry a communist sympathizer?” Heh. Tom Selleck has a good role, and Ellen shines too. I like the idea of the love letter as almost a character itself, exerting strange influences on the people it meets.
I wasn’t certain she would, but Deb liked it. Definitely recommended as something different. Kind of like romantic comedy, but not exactly the standard happily ever after, straightforward formula.
This is not to be confused with the other movie I have on video, also named The Love Letter, made by Hallmark. That one is a great example of the out of the ordinary choices Jennifer Jason Leigh makes when picking film roles. Existenz is another example.
The Hallmark movie also stars the backwardly named Campbell Scott. An antique desk magically allows a love across time to grow, but how can such a thing ever work out?
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Rest In Peace Jerry Orbach
Sad news via Jen. Jerry Orbach has left us. Acidman’s prostate cancer list will need an update of the worst kind.
I never warmed to him in Dirty Dancing, but perhaps that was the nature of the character. At the same time, it took many episodes of Law and Order before I saw him as smartass Lennie, rather than the father in Dirty Dancing. I thought he did a fantastic job as Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast, which is arguably my favorite Disney animated film.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
While I Was At It…
Perhaps in the previous post I ought have mentioned that Sin City has Jessica Alba, Alexis Bledel, Rosario Dawson, Brittany Murphy, and perhaps others in it, but not Erica Durance, Allison Mack, Kristin or Kristen Kreuk, Jorja Fox, or Emily Procter or Proctor in it, naked, nude, or otherwise.
For my friend Paul, it also has Frodo. Um, I mean Elijah Wood, favorite of pervie hobbit fanciers everywhere. Not to mention Bruce Willis, who rocks and is always a crowd favorite.
Guess that’s enough baiting of Google for one post.
Sin City
I had never heard of this movie. Watching the trailer has me intrigued though. Just look at the cast and the fact that it’s Frank Miller.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
Checking It Twice
Ha! Here’s an amusing, comment-provoking artifact. I was searching on my computer at the office to see if I had a handy mailing list for holiday Christmas cards for clients and vendors. I came across my Christmas list for the year 2000.
My family demands one of these most years, else they have no clue what to get me. However, nobody mentioned it this year because I am no longer single and childless. The emphasis is always on the kids in the families that have them. I do now, so Sadie will get the presents.
Some years even I had no idea what to list, but apparently in 2000 I went all out to come up with a variety of items. That people could afford. Sometimes as a joke I would put something expensive nobody could possibly buy for me. But hey, they asked what I wanted…
So let your mind go back four years, long before Deb, less than two years after I left my full time job to be self-employed, a year after I became the only one of several partners working full time for the business, a year after I got my previous apartment, in Quincy, after sharing a house with my stepsister for several years, two years after my peak “watching movies in theaters as they were released” year, and less than a year after I got my first ever VCR. Here, verbatim, is the list, in approximately the same format as in Word, with everything I have since gotten or that Deb has, as best I can remember, in italics:
Jay’s Famous Annual Christmas List
For the year 2000
For the Apartment· Grater, one of those big metal ones that does something different on each of the 4 sides is what I am picturing
· Can never have too many paring knives
· Or anyway, something specifically designed for slicing cheese might be cool
· A couple more spatulas wouldn’t hurt, for non-stick pans specifically
· Tightly sealable containers made for storing cereal
· And other such storage containers for things like pancake mix, flour, etc.
· Only kind of pans I could possibly use would be a couple small to medium sized saucepans
· A container appropriate for maple syrup
· Wouldn’t mind some kind of blender/food processor thingie, the easier designed for cleanup the better
· I wouldn’t mind a couple wooden spoons
· Decent wooden cutting board (scientifically proven more sanitary than plastic)
· Spoon holder thingie for top of stove
· I am most in need of large plates and cereal bowls when it comes to dishes, but not direly so
· Set of measuring cups
· Some new mid-sized towels, by which I mean ones that many would call “bath size” but to me are just comfortably oversized hand sized. About the size some of you have seen me put under dishes on the counter.
· I wouldn’t object to a dish strainer thingie in a color that goes with the kitchen (unfortunately that means shades of beige, white, yellow, peach, orange rather than colors I personally prefer like blue, purple or maybe green… though green would kind of fit and blue wouldn’t clash)More General
· Any Beatles CD, though especially interested in White Album
· Videos of
Star Wars 4: A New Hope
Star Wars 5: The Empire Strikes Back
ET
The two Toy Story films
Beauty and the Beast!
The Wizard of Oz
Dogma
Princess Mononoke
The Die Hard films
The Truman Show
Fantasia
Fantasia 2000
High Fidelity
The Sure Thing
Life of Brian
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The Lion King
Aladdin
Sleeping Beauty
Lady and the Tramp
Jungle Book
Bambi
The Little Mermaid
Cinderella
Pocahontas
Clueless
The Breakfast Club
Top Gun
When Harry Met Sally
The Love Letter (big screen version with Tom Selleck, Ellen Degeneres, etc., not the Hallmark one with Jennifer Jason Leigh)
The Green Mile
Titan A.E.
The Batman films
The Superman films
Simply Irresistible
Every James Bond film
Armageddon
Deep Impact
· Gift certificates for any major book store or cinema chain in the general area, Filenes, South Shore Plaza in general, any place videos are sold at a reasonable price, Best Buy, Comp USA, Bed and Bath or similar stores, etc.
· Snow broom (Dad knows what I mean)
· Shirts of the long sleeved button down Oxford variety, size 18, 34/35 sleeves, basically any color but white and any pattern that doesn’t accentuate my need to lose 50 pounds. I tend to prefer ones that have a certain… weight and texture to them, which I know doesn’t convey what I mean, but most shirts labeled Oxford seem to have it to some degree. I have had good luck with Stafford brand Oxfords, and just bought the same thing in Van Heusen which seem to be thinner material and are a higher percentage cotton, but have traditionally been a brand I’ve had luck with. I’ve had mixed results with L.L. Bean shirts.
· Pants of the “Dockers” genre, which can be Dockers, The Original Khaki Company, Hagar and others. Not the waistbands that have stretchy sections in them. Waist 40, Leg 30.
· Socks, as long as they aren’t short ones, and have a reasonable degree of thickness to the material. I prefer colors other than white, but do like multiple socks of the same color/pattern making them fairly generic to match up.
There you have it, a blast from the past. Some things not in italics need comment.
I did get more knives, but not the good paring knives I wanted, and I have lost my favorite one since then.
My grandmother has a hand me down blender waiting for us at her house, which we didn’t take last time because the car was too full or something. But that’s not what I really wanted for a “food processor.”
Now we’d like some pans that aren’t non-stick, of various sizes. And need a medium saucepan or two, non-stick or otherwise, since I boiled my good non-stick one dry and ruined the coating with excess heat. I’m very fussy about treating them just so, and overheating with nothing in them is one of the best ways to harm them. Now things stick instead of not. I like non-stick cookware but would like some of the other kind too. Deb prefers the other kind.
I forgot how much I like the word thingie. I haven’t used it nearly enough lately.
Deb has a number of Beatles CDs, including the White Album and the red and blue compilations. I subsequently bought One after it came out.
I may have some of the movies wrong, since Deb has an extensive collection of mostly non-overlapping movies, and I can’t even remember everything I bought. The most amusing thing is between us we have three copies of The Cutting Edge.
I think it’s funny I had to start making my family a list as an adult. I never did that when I was a kid. Not as far as I can remember anyway.
Update, as I review the post:
I have the first and best Die Hard film, but didn’t mark that because I stated it there as plural. It’s about the time of year to watch it again, being one of the best Christmas movies.
I think Deb may have at least the first Toy Story, but again, plural and wasn’t certain.
I eventually got the first two Batman films. I think it’s two, not three.
This reminds me I need to watch While You Were Sleeping, another great Christmas movie, with Deb, who has never seen it.