Will It Get Me To A Theatre?

So, looking at the list, as of right now based on what I've seen trailer wise so far, I'd have to rate my anticipation list like this: RAMBO 4 THE DARK KNIGHT PUNISHER: WAR ZONE (ok, no trailer yet, but it gets a pass because it's the Punisher and what I hear about it keeps me hoping it's going to be good :) WAR, INC CLEANER BE KIND, REWIND GET SMART IRON MAN WANTED HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE And, as of now, the list of "will it get me into a theatre instead of waiting for DVD?" would look like this: RAMBO 4 THE DARK KNIGHT PUNISHER: WAR ZONE WAR, INC Yikes. Out of a list of 56 movies that caught my attention when I made my list, 4 have been deemed immediately theatre worthy. The rest are theatre maybes and on the DVD list, even though there are some quite intriguing movies here. I'm sure that'll change as I see more trailers and whatever mood I'm in on any given week, but wow, that sure points out how much I have come to dislike the theatre experience. I don't mind going to the theatre or even the cost. If they'd post the actual start time, get rid of the commercials, have reserved seating, and manage to get rid of the rift raft of idiots that inhabit the theatre, I would probably go more often. Oh well, guess I'm better off investing in a big screen TV and going to Blockbuster. Thank goodness those theatre to DVD windows keep getting shorter. At the very least, 2008 would appear to have some better flicks than the three-quel-itis that 2007 was. One can only hope.

2008 Movie List

I went through ComingSoon.net website today compiling my list of any movies that look interesting to me for 2008. Kind of a tradition for me to compile a list at the start of the year so I can keep track of stuff that caught my attention. Here it is, if you're interested... JAN 25 RAMBO 4 (STALLONE) JAN 25 BE KIND REWIND (JACK BLACK, MOS DEF) JAN 25 HOW TO ROB A BANK (NICK STAHL) FEB 1 STRANGE WILDERNESS (STEVE ZAHN, JUSTIN LONG) FEB 13 MY BLUEBERRY NIGHTS (NORAH JONES) FEB 14 JUMPER (SAM JACKSON) FEB 14 WATCHING THE DETECTIVES (CILLIAN MURPHY, LUCY LIU) FEB 22 THE COUNTERFEITERS FEB 22 VANTAGE POINT (DENNIS QUAID, SIGOURNEY WEAVER) FEB 29 PENELOPE (RICCI, WITHERSPOON) FEB TBA TAKEN (LIAM NEESON) MAR 7 10,000 BC MAR 7 THE BANK JOB (JASON STATHAM) MAR 14 PRIDE AND GLORY (ED NORTON, COLIN FARRELL) MAR 28 RUN FATBOY RUN (SIMON PEGG) MAR TBA FLAWLESS (MICHAEL CAINE, DEMI MOORE) APR 4 LEATHERHEADS (GEORGE CLOONEY) APR 18 THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM (JET LI, JACKIE CHAN) APR 25 THE LIST (EWAN MCGREGOR, HUGH JACKMAN) THRILLER MAY 2 IRON MAN (ROBERT DOWNEY JR) MAY 22 INDIANA JONES 4 JUN 13 THE INCREDIBLE HULK JUN 20 GET SMART JUN 27 WANTED JUL 11 HB2 JUL 18 THE DARK KNIGHT AUG 1 THE MUMMY 3 AUG 8 EAGLE EYE (MICHELLE MONAGHAN, SHIA LABOUF) AUG 15 THE INTERNATIONAL (CLIVE OWEN, NAOMI WATTS) AUB TBA THE SOPHOMORE (BRUCE WILLIS) SEP 12 PUNISHER: WAR ZONE SEP 26 DEATH RACE (JASON STATHAM) OCT 10 CITY OF EMBER (BILL MURRAY) OCT 10 UNTITLED RIDLEY SCOTT MOVIE (DICAPRIO, CROWE) OCT 17 THE LONELY MAIDEN (FREEMAN, WALKEN, MACY) NOV 7 BOND 22 NOV 14 FOUR CHRISTMASES NOV 30 BADLAND DEC 12 THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (KEANU REAVES) DEC 19 YES MAN (JIM CARREY, ZOOEY DESCHANEL) TBA MIRACLE AT ST ANNA TBA AUSTRALIA (NICOLE KIDMAN, HUGH JACKMAN) TBA BURN AFTER READING (COENS, CLOONEY, PITT) TBA CLEANER (SAM JACKSON, ED HARRIS) TBA CONSPIRACY (VAL KILMER, JENNIFER ESPOSITO) TBA HELL RIDE (LARRY BISHOP, MICHAEL MADSEN) TBA HERO WANTED (CUBA GOODING, RAY LIOTTA) TBA HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS & ALIENATE PEOPLE (SIMON PEGG) TBA KILLING PABLO (JOE CARNAHAN, CHRISTIAN BALE) TBA MR NOBODY (JARED LETO, SARAH POLLEY) TBA NOISE (TIM ROBBINS) TBA ON THE HOOK (FRANK LANGELLA, ELLIOT COULD) TBA REDBELT (CHIWETEL EJIOFOR, TIM ALLEN, DAVID MAMET) TBA SHUTTER ISLAND (DICAPRIO, BEN KINGSLEY) TBA WAR, INC (JOHN CUSACK, HILARY DUFF) TBA WHITEOUT (KATE BECKINSALE)

No Pie For You!

Does McDonald's actually sell food? Of course, "food" is open to debate at the golden arches of cholesterol, but for my purposes, when are they going to have something I want? Almost everytime I drive up and order a meal and add a couple apple pies, they will invariably say "sorry, we don't have any pies." Um, let me guess, you ran out of the 5 you made today by noon, right? With the way I'm striking out on Mickey D's apple pies, I'm hitting below the Mendoza Line. I don't eat there very often at all, but when I do, I want a warm apple pie, dang it! I guess the Cookie Monster has become the Pie Monster...

Santa Claus Came To Town...

Merry Christmas to one and all! Hope you all had a great holiday. Had a good one myself. Good times with family and good food. Gave my new camera a workout...now I'm going to have to workout after all that good food too. Santa was good to me as well, got some cool and useful gifts too including a big stock pot (easier stew and chili making!), a book on how to survive any worst case scenario, DVD's of The Good German and Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, a calendar with pictures old noir movie posters, and a stuffed frog, among other things. So a very good Christmas for me, and the weather was good and the ground was white. So, cheers to all, enjoy your boxing day and be careful if you're braving the crowds and doing some shopping. Me, I'll be working the graveyard shift and scoring some sweet overtime pay. Cheers!

Here 'n There

Apparently the late night talk show guys will be back at work in the new year and back on TV - without their writers. That includes Leno, Conan, John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. This is going to be downright interesting to watch as we see if these guys are actually funny on their own or it's all the writers in the background. Letterman on the other hand may be negotiating a private deal with the writers union as his Worldwide Pants company owns the Ferguson Late Late Show and not CBS. Can't wait to see what the ratings are for these shows - if the ratings are good as these guys improv on their own, the union will lose leverage. Picking as side to cheer for on this one is a little tricky too - normally I'm all for sticking it to corporations, but this strike by the writers has wound up costing people their jobs who aren't even in the union (other people who work on the shutdown shows), and that's not right either. Either way, I'll tune in just to see if these guys can come up with half decent material on their own. Via Newsarama, we get an interview with Garth Ennis' Punisher MAX editor Alex Alonso on Garth's final story arc coming in March. I've gone on about it before, but his Punisher Max run has been some of the best storytelling I've read. It's like a clinic on how to do character development and plot points. (The Slavers story was amazing and I just about dropped the book I was reading when in one line he referenced the Tyger story and I new what was coming next.) Now we get more details on the final arc - after about 5 years on the Punisher Max title, Ennis will be leaving after issue #60. That'll be a sad day indeed, but it sounds like he's going out with a bang and a storyline that loops right back to "Born" and the Punisher's beginnings. Part of me can't wait to read it, while the other part of me is quite reluctant to as that'll mean no more new Ennis' Punisher stories. At least he's still hanging around the MAX imprint with a next story called War is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle. I'll be picking that up for sure. I guess I'll have to get my Ennis fix with The Boys and Dan Dare, but I'll reread my hardcover trades as his Punisher was one of the best. Word is Hugh Jackman is pumping iron as he readies to start shooting the Wolverine movie at the start of the new year. Man, I hope they get this movie right, and don't repeat the let down that was X-Men 3. It's interesting that they're shooting the movie now and it's not coming out until May 2009. Go Transit workers in Toronto have set a strike deadline in the new year as well. That'll be fun for all you Toronto commuters. Word is wages, pension benefits, and a new job evaluation process are the bones of contention at the moment. What's interesting is that there was a tentative deal struck on Dec 6 but rejected by the union. So, they've set a tentative strike deadline as Jan 7 - the good news for commuters is that the drivers will finish their shifts before walking so as not to strand passengers. Isn't that nice of them. And apparently it's just two sleeps away from Christmas. Got here quick this year, I'll say. The good news is that the local Teamsters Of Yuletide (TOY) has come back with a tentative agreement between the Elves and Santa Inc. that will be ratified tonight so that the big show will go off as planned. Candi Kane, spokeswoman for TOY, has stated that the Elves will be at the workbenches steady over the next 48 hours to make sure Christmas goes off without a hitch. Their demands for higher wages and more sweet tooth benefits were reasonably met, although they had to give up company paid rubber soled elf shoes in the bargain. According to Kane, that may still be raised with Health and Safety. As it is though, Santa will be busy delivering presents made by the local TOY union and all should be happy once again this year. Next year could be a different story though, as the contract for the local Flying Aerial Reindeer Teamsters (FART) is set to expire. High fuel prices are said to be a major sticking point, along with higher quality battery and bulb replacements for Rudolph's nose. But that's next year. Until then, Merry Christmas...

Christmas Shopping Done

Had a busy day...good day...started it off with breakfast out with a friend...good time that...I'm not used to eating breakfast anymore, but eggs and bacon and pancakes works out quite well for that meal of the day. Then after that, I went to do my Christmas shopping. Went pretty well - last year I set a record and did all my Christmas shopping in four hours one night...this year was about 6 hours in the afternoon. And all done. One good thing about waiting this long to do it is that it seems like stores are trying to clear product. Found some good sales and discounts. But just wait for next week for that. The stores weren't too bad until about 4 or so in the afternoon, then it started to get nuts. Luckily, I got out of it before it peaked, but I can only imagine stores will keep getting worse until Christmas is over. There were a couple stores I walked into in the mall and turned around and left when I saw the mass of humanity all jostling for the right to spend money. And that's the shame of it. My friend and I have talked about how Christmas is just getting worse every year. People are getting more and more nuts - spending time and money and adding stress to run around and do shopping, parties, and dinners that they don't really want to do and spending time with people they don't even like! We'd be way better off if the stores closed on time without extended hours, Christmas Eve was a STAT holiday, and people just wound down and spent time with people they actually like and forget about the commercialism of it all. Why do all this stuff if you don't like it? People need to get out of this corporate driven rut and get back to sitting around a tree threading popcorn together and relaxing. But I don't see that happening with the level of humanity these days.

Likin' The Mac...

Well, the more I get my Mac setup and use it, the more I like it. I finally did the deed and imported my mail into the Mac Mail app from Thunderbird. Was a little bit of work to get it organized and imported right, but it was worth it. The beauty of the Mac software is the tight integration of it all. iPhoto seamlessly integrates to Mail - where as in Windows I'd have had to save a picture, open another program to resize it and save, then open Thunderbird and new message, and then add an attachment - in Mac I can just open iPhoto, select the photos I want to send, hit the Mail button, pick the size I want, and it automatically resizes the pictures and opens a new mail message with the attachments already in place. It's like two mouse clicks and I'm there. Type my message and away it goes instead of having to go through several programs. It doesn't seem like much, but when you use it, it's awfully slick. One other thing that is really cool is the grab feature. Command - Shift - 4 turns my mouse cursor into a crosshair. I can then click and drag a box over anything on my screen, whatever size I want, and when I let go of the mouse button it instantly saves a picture of what I selected to my desktop. I have used this feature like crazy already in ways I wouldn't have even thought of before and now I don't know how I got along without it in Windows. Makes things so much easier. It's stuff like that I guess that gives Mac the get things done moniker. I can actually keep forward momentum in what I want to do instead of opening programs and fighting with the software to do what I want. Sure, there are a few things that bug a person coming from the Windows world, but I can get used to it. Keep coming with the handy features like this and I'll be happy. Not to mention I haven't had to reboot this Mac in a while...it's kinda nice not having to do the regular reboots to get your usability back...

The Dark Knight Trailer

Woah. The Dark Knight trailer has finally hit the web, and it's fantastic. This should be the hit of the summer, and it certainly looks like Nolan/Bale and company have done another Batman movie right. I was really kinda worried when they announced Heath Ledger as the Joker, but seeing him in the trailer puts those worries to rest. Looks like he got what the Joker's about - the other side of the coin to Batman, dark and insane with his lunacy. We also see a bit of Maggie Gyllenhal as Katie Holmes replacement for the same character. I didn't have the same problems a lot of people had with Holmes in the first movie, though I thought she didn't add a whole lot and seemed too young for the role. I think Maggie will fill the role better though. So, lots of explosions, Joker mayhem, and a Dark Knight. Can't wait to see this. Head on over to CinemaBlend to download the trailer in the size of your choice.

Philly Takes A Flyer...

Wow, NHL contracts are getting a little nuts. Former Kitchener Ranger Mike Richards of the Philly Flyers signed a 12 year 69 million contract extension. It'll kick in next year. Bet he can't wait as he's making only $400,000 this year. Talk about set for life.

Short Story - "One Of These Mornings"

Wondering if I could write a very quick short story of 250 words in 30 minutes (see previous ass/chair post for where that idea came from), I just started to write something. An odd combination of a self induced writing challenge, Patti Labelle singing ‘One of these Mornings’ from the Miami Vice soundtrack in iTunes, and being kinda tired resulted in this. A 450 or so word count in about 40 minutes and a dark short story... One of these mornings. She had told herself that too many times to count. One day, she’d just up and leave. Gone on the wind, and no one would find her. But days turned into weeks, then into months, and into years. Life just marched on, like a perverted game of hide or seek. Ready or not, here it comes. Then the things that trouble the mind get buried in the routine of running the body and someday soon turns into just get through today. She took another deep breath, winced a little, and then took a sip from her coffee cup. Her morning ruminations had burned time away, resulting in a cold swallow of caffeine. She looked down at the mug, then at a glint of metal on the hand holding the cooling morning drink. A double ring mistake that didn’t pay out on the promise was beginning to get just as cold. It was time. Long past, but as long as the clock was ticking it wasn’t too late. She put the mug down and picked up something else off the counter. Something cold and hard and freeing. She walked out of the kitchen and down the hall to the bedroom that was just as cold as everything else. She nudged the bare foot of the sleeping body on the bed. A mumbled oath, and the two legged mammal was awake. Normally, that’d be a bad thing, but not today. It had taken a long time to get to this point, and she would not be dissuaded from the finality of the payoff. He’d earned it, after all, and so had she. “Morning, honey. Ready or not, here it comes.” And with those words, she raised the .38 and fired the shot. It found it’s mark, right between the eyes. His body jerked backward and hit the blood sprayed sheets beneath him. The look of shock on his face was permanent now. She dropped the gun where she stood, not caring about fingerprints or DNA. She wanted them all to know who did this, and besides, they’d never find her anyway. Then she took one final look at his face and memorized it, then walked out of the room. She kept moving, down the hall and to the front door, where she paused to pick up a suitcase. As she straightened up, she caught a look at her face in the hallway mirror. She winced again as she told herself the swelling would go away. The scars would heal, the bruises fade. The visible ones anyway. The other ones would take much, much longer, if at all. But she was finally free, and with enough time, she would find a way. One of these mornings. The End. by Eaglewing

MLB Newsflash

Newsflash: Today George Mitchell released his report which officially states widespread steroid use in Major League Baseball. Elsewhere, it was officially revealed today that the surface of the sun is very, very hot. Duh.

Writing = Ass + Chair

Newsarama has an interview with crime novelist Duane Swierczynski and his upcoming one shot take on the Punisher. Sounds like an intriguing story, one that I'll check out. However, it was this excerpt from the interview that got my attention as he was asked about advice for aspiring writers: DS: I have three pieces of advice. (Aren’t you sorry you asked?) One: read your face off. Saying you want to be a writer, but don’t read much is like saying you want to be alive, but don’t breathe much. Two, follow Joe Lansdale’s equation: Writing = ass + chair. You need time with your butt in that seat every day, without fail. It doesn’t have to be hours and hours. If you can spare 30 minutes and write 250 words a day, you’ll have a 90,000 word manuscript in a year. In some circles, that’s considered prolific. I have a filing cabinet full of half and partial novels—abandoned because I didn’t have the discipline to finish ‘em. So in the summer of 1998, I decided to stop being a pantywaist and actually finish a damn book. I vowed to write 1,000 words a day for three months until I had a complete novel. Didn’t matter if it sucked or not; I just needed to finish. And three months later, right according to schedule, I finished a first draft. And while the book was far from perfect, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. (Eventually it saw the light of day as Secret Dead Men.) But I don’t think I would have ever finished it if I had only worked on it when I felt like it. Finally, my last piece of advice: pay attention to everything around you. Once you train your mind to accept story ideas—be it from the newspaper, a couple walking down the street, or some jackass you saw on the subway—believe me, they’ll keep coming, fast and furious. The brain’s funny that way. He's right, of course. Can't be a writer without writing - good, bad, or ugly, and you need to read just to find all the different ways of using words. And he's right about the ideas too. I'm always getting ideas for a story, just not getting them to go anywhere. Think I'll have to put ass into chair and see what happens...

Welcom To Canada iTunes - You're Late.

Looks like Apple finally woke up and smelled the coffee - iTunes Canada now has TV shows in the video section. Unfortunately, they are $1.99 each and wrapped in DRM so thick you could choke on it. Not only that, the selection is a meager offering of the best CBC and CTV have to offer. Somehow, I don't feel like paying two bucks each for episodes of Corner Gas and the Rick Mercer Report. On the upside, they do have classic NHL games available for the same 2 bucks. That aspect of it does intrigue me, but a selection of shows you could probably get with a good set of bunny ears on your TV doesn't. We'll have to wait and see if anything else (like full movies) makes it's way onto the iTunes store. Again, it's a little too late this time for Apple. Microsoft is beating them to the punch with downloads to the TV via the Xbox 360, and Tivo is available in Canada as well. Not to mention the fact that Microsoft actually went and did something right by offering a free software upgrade for the Xbox that allows DivX/Xvid and the like. That's a pretty big deal. That's the first I've ever seen a corporate entity get with the program and provide a means for people to do what they want with their hardware. I wonder if the Apple TV will follow suit, but I doubt it. Still, kudos to MS for seeing what a boost that could be to sell the Xbox as a media centre that can stream content from a computer and include the much used DivX/Xvid codecs. About time...

Get Yer Trailers

Went to the Apple Trailers page, and finally found some new ones had been posted up. Check 'em out. The one movie that right now would be on the top of my list for 2008 is none other than Rambo 4. The trailer is perfect, and it may just wash away the bad taste of the movie landscape that was the dismal year of '07. It may even do the impossible - get me back into a theatre and pay theatre money to see it. Check out the trailer here in glorious Quicktime HD, it's worth saving the download - if your computer can handle it, watch the 720 version. If not, enjoy the pic I threw together. This is gonna be awesome - action movie done right. Rambo 640 Trailer Rambo 480 Trailer Rambo 720 Trailer Next up, No Country For Old Men. I've talked about this one before, but the trailer is sharp, this looks fantastic and seems to be getting great reviews. Once I see a showing around here, I'm going to see if I can make it out. No Country 720 Trailer And then there's Jumper. People with teleportation abilities are living the high life until Sam Jackson tracks them done or something. Not sure on the actual plot, but the trailer looks like a lot of fun CGI action in crazy ways. Probably a rental, but it looks fun. Jumper 640 Trailer Jumper 720 Trailer

Surfing Away From TV...

As the writer's strike drags on, my interest in TV continues to decline. I'm on the fence as to whether I'll cancel my cable in the new year, as I'm pretty much down to sports, discovery channel, and the food network as reasons to keep it. The internet is where it's at - between torrents to get your TV, and the free content out there, and reading novels and comics, why are we still paying for packaged cable forcing us to pay for channels we don't want? Things need to change - let's hope the lack of new TV shows drives people away and to other forms of entertainment. Of which, a highlight is Revision 3 on the net. Featuring regular video podcasts by various people on various topics, it's free and excellent entertainment. Two of my faves are Diggnation and iFanboy. Diggnation is a funny show as a couple guys drink beers and highlight the biggest stories of Digg.com. iFanboy highlights comics and comics goings on. All the Revision 3 site videocasts are rather professionally done considering they're free. So, if you're flipping around the tube and see nothing of interest yet again, crank up the high speed internet, surf over to revision3.com, and check out some alternate viewing. There's some educational stuff too - who knows, you might even learn something. Can TV say that? And speaking of pulling yourself away from the TV, try reading something as well. Parts of my Amazon order have arrived, including the graphic novels. I've already got into them and am enjoying them quite a bit. As I often do when I get caught up into reading something, I don't keep track of the clock and look up to find myself wondering where the time went. However, it's always more worthwhile than having used the same amount of time channel surfing. Yes indeed - entertainment comes in many different packages than the one your cable company has picked for you. Now if I can just figure out a way to get live sports over the net. I know MLB does it, but what about hockey? I am Canadian after all...

Weekend...

Well, finally catching a breather day, but did some running around anyway. Got a haircut at 11 am on a Sunday morning, which was weird, but only time I could work it in. Besides, today feels like a Saturday anyway. Did some shopping, but bailed as the stores kept getting busier. I did pick up two thirds of my Amazon order, so yay! Christmas early for me. Got lots to read now - can't wait to get into the Ennis graphic novels. Maybe I'll have to post up some reviews. So, gonna chill for the night...got Elf on TV, maybe that'll get me in the Christmas spirit...as long as I don't see a fake Santa "sitting on a throne of lies!" :)

Ice Cream, You Scream

Not much going on...tired and busy, though that might change sooner than I thought. However, I can say Roasted Marshmallow Crunch ice cream rules...

Rain

Rain comin' down Thinkin' back, thinkin' forward Been places, didn't want to go Wanted to be, haven't got there Found some shiny glimpes Never found the gold People and places Saw a lot, not nearly enough Thoughts of someone On the mind, now and then Sky's getting darker Another window meets the ledge Rain comin' down