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Tuesday, January 30, 2007

An Hour A Day...

A new Vista but it may be a costly prospect for PC users - Britain - Times Online

Another article on Windows Vista, but my favorite part of it was this:

1 hr
How long Microsoft says it takes to install Vista

1 day
How long it took the BBC’s website technology reporters to install Vista


That sounds about right...

Monday, January 29, 2007

Huge TV Sale

Huge TV Sale - Amazon.com

Here's a heads up - a pretty big sale on TV DVD Sets at Amazon. You've got your Whedonverse (Buffy, Angel, and Firefly), The Shield, That 70s Show, both seasons of the underrated Dead Like Me, and even the great Brisco County Jr among 136 different sets on sale. Check it out if you've been waiting to get some good TV shows. Most of these sets are 50% off too!

Been getting into Brisco County Jr, which I bought from a previous Amazon sale, and it's as good as I thought. I remember seeing the odd show back during its first run of only one season in '93 and thinking it was pretty funny. Another show ahead of its time with mixed elements. Whereas Firefly brought the Western to Sci-Fi, Brisco brought the Sci-Fi to the Western. I think Brisco was a precursor to Captain Mal. And of course, who doesn't like Bruce Campbell :)

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Top 10 Foods for a Good Night's Sleep

Top 10 Foods for a Good Night's Sleep - Beauty Eats on Yahoo! Food

Interesting article here about what to eat if you can't sleep. To get some sleep, maybe I'll have to mix up some kind of potato-banana split with honey and almonds and oatmeal with milk and tea topped off with a turkey sandwich on whole wheat with flax seeds. Where'd I put the tums?

Friday, January 26, 2007

Here and There...

A funny line kicked off tonights Colbert Report (I thought it was pretty funny anyway)

"Time to grab the bull by the horns. If there are no horns, you're grabbing a cow, so stop it!"

News from Cinemablend.com that Katie Holmes is out of the Batman sequel and yet her character Rachel Dawes will stay. They're going to recast a new actress in the role. I've never liked recasting. It messes up continuity. 9 times out of 10 in a storyline, you're better off writing the character out (moved, died, etc) than bring in a new actor/actress to play the part. It never quite seems to work with somebody new in an old role. If they did not want Katie Holmes back, then I think they should have gone with a storyline going 'round the web from fanboys - have the Joker kill off Rachel Dawes. You get rid of Holmes, the Joker becomes personal for Batman, and you get a really dark Dark Knight. Problem solved, and a good story...

Elsewhere, Cinemablend.com also reports that Pierce Brosnan is going ahead with a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair. No word on any involvement from Rene Russo yet. I really liked The Thomas Crown Affair, especially the top hat fiasco at the museum at the end (even though I did figure it all out well ahead of the reveal). However, I didn't think it was a movie that really needed a sequel. It wrapped up the story and characters quite well. There's room for a sequel I suppose, but if there's no Russo then it'll be like Die Hard 3 without Bonnie Bedalia - good but should've been better.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

8 From 10...

Watched some of the movie 10 Things I Hate About You tonight cause it was on TBS. Don't usually go for the teen aimed romcoms, but this one was good that I can usually laugh at. (Larry Miller as the dad steals all the scenes he's in). The thing is, who knew 8 years after this movie came out, Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be making a name for himself as a really good up and coming actor (see Brick :), Heath Ledger would go from playing a gay cowboy to playing the Joker in the next Batman movie (who saw that coming?), and Julia Stiles would still be popping up in the Bourne spy movies (and no one knows why). Guess you can't predict these things. What's next, David Krumholtz showing up in a Joss Whedon movie? Oh wait...riiiight :)

Vista's A Tool...

Interesting article here about someone trying the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor - a program from the Microsoft website. It's supposed to go through your system and tell you what needs to be upgraded to run the white elephant known as Vista. To say the least, the Advisor program appears to be bug ridden itself. That doesn't bode well. It crashes, and appears to be more sales pitch than actual tool. What a surprise.

Frankly, I'm amazed anybody is going to the trouble to upgrade. XP is still working good enough - more or less, and there's got to be better alternatives than Vista...cough, cough, Linux, cough, cough. I'm gonna have to learn Linux apparently, because with Windows going all DRM crazy with Vista, I don't know if I'll ever upgrade.

And I'm not a Mac user, but those Mac commercials are great. Especially this one about upgrading to Vista - major surgery indeed.

This Ain't Your Living Room...

This is a funny ad for the Disney animated movie Meet the Robinsons [via Filmjunk]. It has the frogs singing all about annoying theatre habits to the tune of Heard It On The Grapevine. Pretty funny, and nails all the reasons I don't go to the theatre except for mentioning the exhorbient prices. Check out the quicktime ad here.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

New Blog Addition...

Found a site that had a little blog add in for displaying lyrics of favorite songs. I thought it was pretty cool as I'm always posting up fave lyrics anyway, but let me hear the feedback if you find it annoying. It's flash based for one, and it is movement on the screen while you're reading something else, so let me know what the consenus is...

Dust Off The VCR...

Just realized they've stacked a lot of TV shows on Monday night across the networks. You've got Prison Break, Heroes, 24, Studio 60, CSI Miami, Corner Gas, Two & A Half Men, WWE RAW, and of course nothing on ABC. Now, out of those shows, I'm really only watching 24 at the moment. I'd like to get into Heroes, but I don't want to jump in now without knowing the storylines. Guess I'll have to wait for Season 1 on DVD. But still, that lineup could give a TV fan some serious TIVO mileage...or download bandwidth.

24 is looking pretty good so far...I didn't watch much of the show the last year or two because of my work schedules, just caught the last show and that was good enough. But this year seems to be taking a more personal tack with Jack...could be interesting.

Still, my favorite show on TV by far is...wait for it...Mythbusters! That's right, a show on the Discovery Channel beats all the big names. Jamie and Adam and the build team continue to pull off some great stuff. It's funny, very entertaining, always educational, and is the only show on TV with this:

'Nuff Said ;-)

Monday, January 22, 2007

Clive Owen to Play Philip Marlowe

Clive Owen to Play Philip Marlowe - ComingSoon.net

This is excellent news. Clive Owen will play Marlowe in a feature film based on one of Raymond Chandler's short stories. Humphrey Bogart, Robert Mitchum, James Garner, among others and now Clive Owen will have played the famous P.I.

No word on which short story it will be based on or when it will start production, but I can't wait for this. Not to mention the ABC announcment back in December of a Marlowe TV Series too. Looks like the noir P.I. is making a big comeback.

Me Mini Movie Reviews: Narc

Narc is a 2002 film written and directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Ray Liotta and Jason Patric. I’ve been wanting to watch it for a while now, and finally got around to it. With Joe Carnahan’s new movie Smokin’ Aces coming out soon, and the fact he has signed on to make White Jazz (a loose sequel to LA Confidential), I wanted to see what his style was. Plus, I’d heard Narc was a pretty good little movie that hadn’t received a lot of recognition.

And it is a good movie. It’s a dark and gritty look at cops vs crime, drugs, family, and the cost of pursuing the truth. Jason Patric plays Detective Nick Tellis, a cop dealing with the aftermath of an undercover narcotics bust that doesn’t go too well. Because of the contacts he has from his undercover work, he is offered a deal to work the case of another slain undercover narcotics officer. He initially refuses, but inevitably pursues it for his own haunted reasons. He is teamed with Ray Liotta, who plays Detective Henry Oak, a somewhat loose cannon working the case. Oak has his own agenda – to find those responsible for the cop’s death, and nothing else. From there, it is a relentless pursuit that shows the effects this case has on these two men and those around them, and how far will they take it. Tellis wants truth, Oak wants justice, which are not always the same thing.

Liotta gives a mesmerizing performance as a man on the edge obsessed with what happened to the slain cop. Patric turns in an equally good performance as a man with his own issues to deal with, yet thrust into a case he can’t let go of. The two play off each other very well – these two are really acting the parts and giving the characters depth, not just playing a role. Writer/director Joe Carnahan obviously has a specific story he’s telling, and does so with a gritty realism, yet manages to balance the street violence with equally realistic poignant character moments. You see the cops dealing with the case, yet you also see them with family and dealing with the issues that come from the dichotomy between the two. It reminds me of the movie Heat in that when the action hits and the shots are fired, you care about the characters because the movie let you see them as something more than just a badge and a gun. When the grayness of the truth is revealed, you can feel for what the characters are feeling in that moment knowing their mindset and how they got there.

The only downside I can think of is a couple scenes done with herky-jerky handheld camera techniques. However, listening to the makers of the film retell how it was done on a less than shoestring budget and what they had to do to get it shot, it makes sense. Normally I hate that kind of camera work, but it actually does work in the opening sequence to make you feel like you’re in Tellis’ shoes.

Overall, it’s worth checking out for fans of cop/crime films with solid character development. It’s a sometimes violent journey to get to the truth at the end, which doesn’t wrap everything up in a neat little bow for you either. I like movies like that, where you’re left thinking of the characters and their choices, and what they’re left to deal with. As Liotta’s character says, “It’s not about rules and regulations, it’s about right and wrong.” However, people see those things different ways. What happens when those views collide?

Verdict: Recommended for fans of gritty, gray morality plays.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Magnum P.I. Movie

Matthew McConaughey As Magnum P.I.

Looks like the Magnum movie is moving forward, with a director and cast. This isn't official yet, far as I can tell, but it's interesting. Apparently they've got director Rawson Marshall Thurber (who?) on board - he of Dodgeball fame - and the cast is supposed to be Matthew McConaughey as Magnum, Steve Zahn as Rick, Tyrese Gibson as chopper pilot TC, and William H Macy as Higgins.

Interesting casting, I suppose, but doesn't this sound a bit like a reunion for a Sahara 2 movie? Still, it might work, as long as they don't go into Starsky & Hutch comedy mode.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

iwant iphone...



I want one of these - if it does everything as well as they say it will. I've been staunchly avoiding the iPod, but this might be the gadget I've long been looking for. A cell phone, text message and email, camera, voice recorder, MP3 player, widescreen video player, photo viewer, QWERTY keyboard (on screen), and a touch screen interface which means no stylus pens. If this thing will do some PDA functions too, it might be worth it.

Of course, it comes down to how good the cell phone is, and does all this stuff actually work together well. I'd be a little worried about the lone touch screen for info. I mean, typing with your thumbs on a QWERTY touch screen keyboard? Might work, but how long with the screen last? And won't it get all smudged? Ah, can't wait for the reviews to start coming through.

Unfotunately, this thing doesn't debut in the US till June, so I can only imagine how long before it gets to Canada. And being its a GSM phone, that'll probably mean Rogers will get it for distro, which I'm not too keen on either. Have to see how it plays out, but it looks promising for an all in one device I've been waiting for...

Lithium...

New song from Evanescence called Lithium. Kinda got stuck in the head, but its a good song. Had to Wikipedia what Lithium was used for, but then it made sense. And then the quote from Amy Lee about writing it...I can relate...



“It's not literal, it's not literal about the drug for me, I've never taken lithium before. It's sort of a metaphor about numbness and happiness and sort of like, it's me looking at happiness in a negative way because I've always been, you know, kind of afraid to be happy. Like with the band and the art and everything else, it's always like I'm never letting myself break through into the happiness it seems like, because it's not cool or something. And describing happiness is lithium, it's like saying 'that's numbness, I won't be able to be an artist anymore if I'm happy', which is hilarious because that's just not true, I'm happy. So it's like this fight within the song of like 'do I do this and get out of here and get happy or do I wallow in it like I always do?' and it's cool because at the end of the song I say 'I'm going to let it go', like I am going to be happy.”
—Amy Lee, MTV Italy

Monday, January 15, 2007

Lost Producers Determining End Date - ComingSoon.net

Lost Producers Determining End Date - ComingSoon.net

Now this is smart. I don't watch Lost, so I'm not any kind of fan of the show. However, I like this line of thinking. The producers and network are working out ahead of time the conclusion point and end date of the series. Then they'll know how to write the convulted saga to the end.

More TV shows should do this. Work out the contracts and negotiate with the studio the length of the series. Then write your story to its logical conclusion, hopefully before the writing goes off the tracks and people get sick of it. Trying to extend a show on a year by year basis hoping you get ratings and an extended contract usually results in a once good show limping along until the plug is pulled too late afer everyone has stopped caring. (see X-Files, Gilmore Girls, Friends, Moonlighting, Will & Grace, ER, etc) Tell a good story, end it, and then go on and tell a different story instead of prolonging the same old thing beyond all reason...

Cheaper By The Millions...

Celebrity Misers: Famous For Keeping it Cheap

A fun article here about celebrity cheapskates. Bad tippers, celebs that don't pay their bills, and don't try to place a personal call on Madonna's phone.

My faves - Tiger Woods, worth 500 million, takes back a $5 tip from a waitress after realizing he already tipped her earlier that night. He did this while playing blackjack worth $10,000 a hand. And don't forget Jennifer Lopez, worth 250 million, getting sued by an airline for taking charter flights and then not paying for them.

Geez, I could make money too if I didn't have to pay for anything.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

250 Million Reasons Not To Watch Soccer...

So, David Beckham gets 250 million US dollars to move to Hollywood. Oh, yeah, and play some soccer too. If that were for a 25 year contract it might make sense (no it still wouldn't), but its for 5. Yes, 5 whole years - do the math. I don't care about soccer, and I sure don't care about Beckham or Posh. What I do care about is that some washed up soccer player and his "I haven't done anything since Spice Girls" tabloid wife that couldn't get sarcasm on The Daily Show are gonna be wallowing in 50 mil a year while the majority of the world struggles to make the mortgage payment and people are still starving to death all around the globe. What the hell?!? I could go on a blog page rant that would kill all known bandwith about just how messed up the world is when this not only happens, but makes front page headlines to boot, but I digress. Suffice it to say, I won't be watching any MLS soccer games just in general protest...not that I would have, but if I'm not going to be watching soccer anyway, I may as well contribute it to a protest...

Friday, January 12, 2007

The Lookout Trailer Online...

Via a post on Filmjunk, and from Yahoo, there is now a trailer up for the movie The Lookout. It’s on my top 10 anticipated movies of ’07 just because it features Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (He of the great movie Brick – yes I’m going to keep saying how good that one is ;) The premise sounded interesting too – A former athlete, injured in a hockey accident that caused brain damage, takes a job at a bank and gets embroiled in a heist plot. And now we have a trailer!

I think it looks pretty good. As Filmjunk points out, it’s got the Memento flashback thing going on, but I think it looks like a good crime caper flick. And we know now that Gordon-Levitt can certainly act (um...see Brick :), so I’ll certainly go watch it…

You can download the trailer in Quicktime here

Thursday, January 11, 2007

The Equalizer Gets Writers

The Equalizer Gets The Writers - ComingSoon.net

The big screen adaptation of the 80's TV show, The Equalizer, now has a director and writers on board. Crime novel writer Michael Connelly and Terrill Lee Lankford are going to pen the script, and Paul McGuigan is the director. That's some good news. McGuigan directed Lucky Number Slevin, which I liked, and Connelly should come up with a good script. The best thing here is that the people behind the flick don't have anything to do with comedy. If they were going to treat this as yet another 80's show remake into a comedy, I would not have been happy. The Equalizer was a great show - the movie should be dark and gritty crime drama.

Now, who's going to play The Equalizer? I still think it should be Clive Owen...

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Snow's a Fallin'

Well, did my latest checkup for the kidney transplant yesterday and got a clean bill of health, so that’s always a good day. Been about two and a half years now, and the kidney is still…um…“kidneying” :-) Basically was told to keep doing what I’m doing, so I guess I’m on the right track. Always a sigh of relief after these things…good to go for this quarter anyway.

Otherwise, not much else to post about. Hadn’t slept well in about three days, so got caught up in a big way today. In bed, on and off, for about 16 hours. Haven’t done that in a while. Good thing I was off work today…

Got caught up on some blog reading, got the Leafs game on now (they’re losing, no surprise) and thinking about throwing in a movie after the game. Hmmm, what should it be tonight…got Narc, Superman Returns, Punisher Extended Cut, Chinatown, High Sierra, or Rear Window. Decisions, decisions…

Even got snow falling outside the window tonight. Guess we are going to get some winter around here, at long last. Might as well enjoy it before we get another overheated, global warmed, summer…

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Overdue...

Man pays library $171, 47-year late fee - Yahoo! News

I thought this was kinda funny...he could have bought the book 10 times over.

HANCOCK, Mich. - Robert Nuranen handed the local librarian a book he'd checked out for a ninth-grade assignment — along with a check for 47 years' worth of late fees.

Nuranen said his mother misplaced the copy of "Prince of Egypt" while cleaning the house. The family came across it every so often, only to set it aside again. He found it last week while looking through a box in the attic.

"I figured I'd better get it in before we waited another 10 years," he said after turning it in Friday with the $171.32 check. "Fifty-seven years would be embarrassing."

The book, with its last due date stamped June 2, 1960, was part of the young Nuranen's fascination with Egypt. He went on to visit that country and 54 others, and all 50 states, he said, but he never did finish the book.

Nuranen now lives in Los Angeles, where he teaches seventh-grade social studies and language arts.

The library had long ago lost any record of the book, librarian Sue Zubiena said.

"I'm going to use it as an example," she said. "It's never too late to return your books."

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Stupid CMT Canada...

So the other day I finally caught the new Keith Urban video for the song Stupid Boy on CMT Canada. Then, wouldn't you know it, CMT goes and cuts about 2 minutes off the end. Where the song goes into a bit of a quiet lull right before a fantastic guitar riff by Keith, CMT in all its wisdom decides thats a great place to cut it off and cram more commercials at us.

And it's actual music, not talking or music video 'acting' of storylines, but actual music that gives a good song a better ending. The whole song seems to build a slow burn to the soaring guitar finish, but good ol' CMT cuts it off.

Well, thanks to YouTube and GAC, we can have the whole edition right here, commercial and TV exec meddling free. I love the internet. Enjoy.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Me Mini Movie Reviews: Rumor Has It

I watched Rumor Has It. It wasn't intentional. I was watching The Transporter 2 on the Movie Network and working on my computer. I was in the middle of something on the computer when the movie ended so I didn't bother changing the channel. It ran into Rumor Has It and I followed the storyline in the background while I worked. Then eventually I tuned in some more, and had to see it through. And that's two hours of my life I'll never get back.

What a pitiful movie. I guess it's supposed to be a chick flick, but is this really what chicks like to watch? I won't bother going into a synopsis or review or anything. You can look it up on IMDB or Amazon. But suffice it to say, there wasn't anybody to root for in the movie. Actually, there was - the Mark Ruffalo character, the Jennifer Aniston's character's fiancee. But then they went and screwed that up too. The only sane characters in the entire movie were Kevin Costner and Mark Ruffalo's characters. All the women in the flick weren't even likeable, let alone marry-able, like the writers would have you believe. The word psycho comes to mind. But the worst part was that they went and completely sold out the ending. [Possible Spoilers Ahead] When Jennifer Anniston's character has an epiphany and goes back to talk to her fiance, I thought they had the framework to really have a good thought provoking moment come out of this tripe at the end. It could have made the whole movie worth it, by showing that actions have consequences and making your lead character learn something valuable. But obviously the film makers didn't have the guts. Sure, they tried to fake you with it, but I was waiting for the sellout and sure enough, there it was at the last second for a happy ending. Bugger!

The only redeeming quality to the movie, and what got me to pay attention while I was working on the computer, was that they used one of my favorite Randy Travis songs in the movie. Kevin Costner starts up the jukebox at one point, and there you hear Randy Travis singing Are We In Trouble Now. It actually perfectly fits the moment, and it's a great song.

Other than that, it was utter dreck. Save your time, and skip this one.

Verdict: Avoid.

Movies I Want To See In '07...

Looking at the list, this year doesn't have as much to look forward to as the last two years. The last two years had movies I was really excited about seeing and followed every detail on the web - Sin City, Serenity, X-Men 3, Brick. This year doesn't really have a standout anticipation movie for me like those, with 300 being the closest. Having said that, there are some movies I want to see. Inspired by a post on The Movie Blog, my top 10 would probably go something like this:

1. 300 (Frank Miller graphic novel, best trailer of the year so far)
2. The Lookout (Joseph Gordon-Levitt. After his performance in Brick, this guy is one to watch)
3. Spider-Man 3 (2nd best trailer so far, and a series that just keeps getting better)
4. Shoot 'Em Up (Clive Owen in an action thriller with Monica Belluci. 'nuff said)
5. Shooter (The book was great - interesting to see what the film is like. Just keep the ending)
6. Die Hard 4 (The trailer was underwhelming, but come on, this is Bruce in Die Hard.)
7. 3:10 To Yuma (Christian Bale & Russell Crowe in a Western directed by James Mangold. Should be gold)
8. Hot Fuzz (the trailer is pretty funny)
9. Grindhouse (Rodriguez & Tarantino with back to back features, Kurt Russell, and one heck of a trailer)
10. Killshot (Trailer looks good, and its got Mickey Rourke, so I'll watch it)

Other than that, this summer looks to be a repeat of 2003 - sequelitis. Except for Transformers, the rest of the summer blockbusters are mostly sequels of other movies - Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3, Pirates 3, Oceans 13 (#3), Fantastic Four 2, Die Hard 4, Rush Hour 3, The Bourne Ultimatum (#3), Resident Evil 3, and The Simpsons Movie which is basically a run-on from the TV show. The only one guaranteed to be any good is Spider-Man 3. The rest are hit or miss - Pirates 2 was dismal, so 3 is a question mark. Ocean's 13 - really? FF4 didn't hit the ball out on the first one, and its the same director for #2. And The Bourne Ultimatum is one I'd be pumped for if the same director wasn't on board. As it is, he ruined The Bourne Supremacy, so there is no reason to believe he'll do anything but waste another good performance from Matt Damon. Of course, there's Shrek 3, which means more Donkey, so that should be good :)

Long live the sequel. It appears originality in Hollywood is alive and well. What I want to know is this: we get Resident Evil 3, but no sequel to Serenity? Why, oh why?

Movie Release Dates - '07

As is my new year tradition, I hit various websites to compile a list of 2007 upcoming movies and release dates. (There'll probably be more that fill in the fall and end of year dates as more get announced.) Anything that catches my attention - trailer, synopsis, particular actor, etc. They won't necessarily be any good, but at least I have a list to keep track of what DVD's I'll want to rent later :)

So, in the interest of saving others the same work, here's the list - my list - which is totally subjective to what I find interesting...

JAN 13/07 - LONELY HEARTS - JOHN TRAVOLTA/SALMA HAYEK 50'S MURDER MYSTERY
JAN 19/07 - FUNNY MONEY - CHEVY CHASE
JAN 26/07 - CATCH AND RELEASE - JENNIFER GARNER/KEVIN SMITH
JAN 26/07 - SMOKIN' ACES - BEN AFFLECK / ALICIA KEYS / RYAN REYNOLDS
JAN 26/07 - SERAPHIM FALLS - PIERCE BROSNAN/LIAM NEESON CIVIL WAR
JAN TBA - THE AMATUERS - JEFF BRIDGES/LAUREN GRAHAM
FEB 2/07 - ROGUE - JET LI/JASON STATHAM
FEB 16/07 - GHOST RIDER - NIC CAGE
FEB 23/07 - THE ASTRONAUT FARMER - BILLY BOB THORNTON
FEB TBA - THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD - BRAD PITT
MAR 2/07 - WILD HOGS - TIM ALLEN/JOHN TRAVOLTA LAME COMEDY
MAR 2/07 - ZODIAC - JAKE GYLLENHAL - UNSOLVED MURDER MYSTERY
MAR 9/07 - 300 - GERARD BUTLER FRANK MILLER GRAPHIC NOVEL
MAR 9/07 - FIDO - CARRIE ANNE MOSS/BILLY CONNOLLY ZOMBIE COMEDY
MAR 9/07 - THE ULTIMATE GIFT - DREW FULLER/JAMES GARNER
MAR 16/07 - SHOOTER - MARK WAHLBERG - STEPHEN HUNTER BOOK
MAR 16/07 - LUCKY YOU - ERIC BANA / DREW BARRYMORE / ROBERT DUVALL
MAR 23/07 - THE LOOKOUT - JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT/CARLA GUGINO CRIME THRILLER
MAR 30/07 - BLADES OF GLORY - WILL FERRELL/JON HEDER
APR 6/07 - GRINDHOUSE - RODRIGUEZ/TARANTINO DOUBLE FEATURE - KURT RUSSELL
APR 6/07 - THE TV SET - DAVID DUCHOVNY COMEDY
APR 13/07 - HOT FUZZ - COMEDY - SIMON PEGG
APR 13/07 - PERFECT STRANGER - BRUCE WILLIS/HALLE BERRY
APR 13/07 - TRADE - KEVIN KLINE CRIME DRAMA
APR 20/07 - CIVIC DUTY - PETER KRAUSE THRILLER
APR 20/07 - EVEN MONEY - DANNY DEVITO/JAY MOHR/CARLA GUGINO
APR 20/07 - THE KINGDOM - JAMIE FOXX/CHRIS COOPER/JENNIFER GARNER MILITARY THRILLER
APR 20/07 - VACANCY - KATE BECKINSALE / LUKE WILSON / FRANK WHALEY
APR 27/07 - BALLS OF FURY - CHRISTOPHER WALKEN COMEDY
APR 27/07 - THE CONDEMNED - STEVE AUSTIN/VINNIE JONES ACTION THRILLER
APR 27/07 - PATHFINDER - KARL URBAN VIKING ACTION
MAY 4/07 - SPIDER-MAN 3
MAY 18/07 - SHREK THE THIRD
MAY 18/07 - 1408 - JOHN CUSACK/SAM JACKSON STEHPEN KING THRILLER
MAY 25/07 - PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLDS END
JUN 1/07 - HOT ROD - ANDY SAMBERG/IAN MCSHANE ACTION COMEDY STUNTMAN
JUN 8/07 - OCEANS 13 - GEORGE CLOONEY/BRAD PITT/AL PACINO
JUN 15/07 - FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER JESSICA ALBA
JUN 22/07 - SLOW BURN - RAY LIOTTA THRILLER
JUN 29/07 - DIE HARD 4
JUN TBA - YOU KILL ME COMEDY THRILLER
JUL 4/07 - TRANSFORMERS MICAHEL BAY ACTION
JUL 4/07 - LICENSE TO WED - ROBIN WILLIAMS/MANDY MOORE
JUL 27/07 - THE SIMPSONS MOVIE
JUL 27/07 - STARDUST - CLAIRE DANES/MICHELLE PFEIFFER/DE NIRO FANTASY ADVENTURE
AUG 3/07 - THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM - MATT DAMON
AUG 10/07 - RUSH HOUR 3 - JACKIE CHAN/CHRIS TUCKER
AUG 17/07 - THE INVASION - NICOLE KIDMAN/DANIEL CRAIG SCI-FI THRILLER
SEP 7/07 - SHOOT 'EM UP - CLIVE OWEN/MONICA BELLUCI ACTION THRILLER
SEP 14/07 - MICHAEL CLAYTON - GEORGE CLOONEY LEGAL DRAMA
SEP 21/07 - RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION - MILLA JOVOVICH/ODED FEHR/ALI LARTER
SEP 28/07 - NEXT - NIC CAGE/JESSICA BIEL/JULIANNE MOORE
SEP 28/07 - MR BEANS HOLIDAY - ROWAN ATKINSON
SEP 28/07 - THE BRAVE ONE - JODIE FOSTER
OCT 12/07 - 3:10 TO YUMA - RUSSELL CROWE/CHRISTIAN BALE WESTERN
OCT 12/07 - THE MARTIAN CHILD - JOHN CUSAK COMEDY
OCT 19/07 - 30 DAYS OF NIGHT - JOSH HARTNETT THRILLER
OCT 26/07 - MR WOODCOCK - BILLY BOB THORNTON/SUSAN SARANDON/SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT
NOV 2/07 - AMERICAN GANGSTER - DENZEL WASHINGTON/RUSSELL CROWE/CARLA GUGINO
NOV 9/07 - FRED CLAUS - VINCE VAUGHN/PAUL GIAMATTI
DEC 14/07 - I AM LEGEND - WILL SMITH
2007 TBA - WE OWN THE NIGHT - JOAQUIN PHOENIX
2007 TBA - KILLSHOT - DIANE LANE/THOMAS JANE/MICKEY ROURKE
2007 TBA - PRIEST - GERARD BUTLER VAMPIRE THRILLER
2007 TBA - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN - COEN BROTHERS / TOMMY LEE JONES
2007 TBA - HOMELAND SECURITY - COLIN HANKS/MEG RYAN COMEDY

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Me Mini Movie Reviews: Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

Just caught a movie tonight on cable called Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. It's a film from 1982 starring Steve Martin and Rachel Ward in a film noir spoof. It's in black and white, and makes use of a clever idea to edit in actual footage from 1940's and '50's films.

The plot isn't much to speak of...Martin plays a detective hired by a mysterious beautiful woman to solve a mystery. It propels the story along, but you're not watching for the plot. The movie has some great comedic moments as they parody all the usual film noir cliches. This isn't really a slapstick spoof of well known flicks like the 'Hot Shots' movies. There are some funny sight gags, but for the most part they play it kind of straight working off great deadpan dialogue and innuendo for the laughs.

The best parts of the movie though, are when they seamlessly edit Martin into clips from great films of old. Thanks to clips from the actual movies, all kinds of classic stars show up through the film - Alan Ladd, Victoria Lake, Burt Lancaster, Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas, Ingrid Bergman and more. Of course, you couldn't have a movie like this without the man himself - Humphrey Bogart - showing up as Marlowe to help Steve Martin's Detective. I've got to hand it to whoever did the editing work on this movie. The inserted clips and dialogue are absolutely seamless and work remarkably well. Having the whole movie in black and white helps, I'm sure, but it's still a fantastic editing feat, not to mention this is from 1982.

For film noir fans, it's a must see to try to catch all the moments and references from a bygone era of film. But even if you're not a noir fan, it works great as a straight up comedy. It's certainly some of Martin's better work before he went all 'Cheaper by the Dozen' on us. Check it out if you get a chance - it's a good little hidden gem...

Verdict: Recommended

Happy New Year

It's 2007...how'd that happen?

2006 went by pretty quick, but it was a good year for me...went better than '05 anyway...

I've actually had this blog going for two years now. Who would have thought that was going to happen? We'll see how long it keeps going...

So all the best and here's hoping that 2007 is a good year!

Eaglewing