Ms. Amused

Wow… what a mess of a movie.

Trying to watch Southland Tales was like reading Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age for the first time. Confusing as HELL but it started to make sense by the end and upon a re-read or two became one of my favorite books.

However, I don’t know that I have the patience to do the same with this movie. I ended up falling asleep halfway through.

Maybe I’ll give it another go later on… maybe I won’t.

He never gets “too big for his britches”. I love that he’s still a goof ball and very easy to talk to.

Reading this interview with him makes me really want to go see Journey to the Center of the Earth now. Before I was just interested because I like Brendan’s work. The talk about the footballs and treadmill sold me.

This is a great summer… Brendan times 2! and DARK KNIGHT!!!

Just to remind you of the eye candy…

I finished watching Season 3 last night.

I’d gotten interrupted between the episodes where Meredith fell in the water and the following one which was kind of an odd point to have to leave off at. Between that and the spoilers I already knew about the season ending, I wasn’t as enthralled with the remainder of the season as I would have liked.

It also got a little repetitive and it felt like the characters were in holding patterns and not really going anywhere. Just filling air time.

Also I wasn’t fond of the totally obvious “pseudo pilot” where Addison went to LA and we were given a ‘preview’ of what the new show “Private Practices” would be like. As “introductory” episodes go, it sucked. CSI does it better. Tim Daly was the only really interesting character in the LA group though I’ve always liked Addison so I’ll probably give it a watch when it comes to DVD. I’m also wondering if Eric Dane’s character went over with Kate Walsh’s (Addison) to LA. He’s better suited there anyways.

That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it at all. I did but I’m looking forward to season 4 where it all hopefully gets straightened out and at least I have no further spoilers for.

One thing that continues to amaze me about this show is its ability to make me cry. For all the outrageousness of the plotlines, when it comes down to the depth of emotions and the human experience, they hit the mark like Andre the Giant hitting the doohickey off the Hi Striker at your local carnival.

Sandra Oh’s final scene of the season was so perfect that I can’t wait to see what happens in S4.

About 2 months to go before I can watch Season 4.  And I’ve added Private Practice on Netflix too. In a bizarre note, Netflix lists S2 and S3 of PP… um. Only one season exists so far right? GA is going into S5 and PP into S2 in the Fall right?

You get: Celebrity Family Feud.

The Feud was one of those things that was often something watched with my family so I’m already predisposed to it. And then when the promos started showing during American Gladiators and I saw Wolf staring down the other family on the Feud, and then later Earl Hickey (Jason Lee) of My Name Is Earl on it too, I knew I had to watch this.

And it’s been a lot of fun so far. But I was biding my time for when the Gladiators and also the Earl cast were on. Much to my surprise, they’re all on the same episode!

What’s different in CFF is there’s 4 “families” that face off in two matches, the winners face off in a final match and then the overall winner does the last part for 200 pts to win the money ($50k for charity of choice). Also what’s different is that there’s only 3 games per match, first two are single points and the 3rd is triple. And if no one gets to 300, then its sudden death.

Anyways, I really loved the first half of tonight’s show, the Gladiators were hysterical and it couldn’t have been better except if they’d brought Crush instead of Venom (or perhaps my other new favorite gladiator besides Jet, Hurricane). Also very glad they brought Laila and not Hulk who I now hate to see at all given the crap way that he and his family have responded to his son’s maiming of his friend. I used to love Hulk Hogan but I’m done with him now. I even wrote to NBC asking them to boot him for future seasons of AG, go with Lou Ferrigno or someone else cool.

And the Earl game was fun, turned out it was all MNIE cast but in character. The Hickey Family vs Camden County (semi regular characters that are the townspeople). It was a little weird because they stayed in character and goofed the answers in ways that the actors would never have.

I’ve always loved watching the Feud because of my grandmothers (one of the rare things that they had in common) and it’s fun to watch it again with the “celebrities”… now I want to see them do it with the cast of NCIS vs CSI or something cool like that! Since I think they’ve already filmd all of this season, perhaps next season? Doubt it’d happen though if for nothing else, it’s an NBC show, why would they promote other network’s shows by using casts from them?

Not sure what else CFF will be worth watching for but I’ve enjoyed the games up til tonight while waiting for AG and MNIE to show so I’ll keep watching.

I just can’t get enough of watching AG! Almost into the semifinals, which means it’ll be over soon

No George NO!!

I’m in tears now to read that George Carlin is dead.

My introduction to George Carlin was in Outrageous Fortune which was also my introduction and the beginning of my fondness for Bette Midler. It was also the first time I saw Shelley Long in and while I loved her in in it, can’t say so much for the rest of her stuff, it’s hit or miss for me.

But George stole the show…. as he always does any time I see him in something. I love Kevin Smith for casting him in Dogma and then again in his pet project, Jersey Girl. I actually love George best as the grandfather in JG than anything else that I’ve seen him in it. Unlike a lot of Kevin’s fans, I get what Jersey Girl was about and I think it’s wonderful. Will Smith did too which is why his cameo “as himself” is excellent as well.

Man… George…. so many times I wanted to go see him perform live. I lived in Vegas for two years and George played several times while I was there but curse my deafness, I opted out of paying the high ticket prices for a performance I wouldn’t understand without the captions.

But what I can do is get his performance dvds (that are captioned) and watch them instead. In honor of what I would have loved to see in person.

Oh George… it should have been the other one that is a failure at his job… not you. I hope your final weeks were happy ones.

18 June 2008

Radcliffe Toning Up For Nude Scene Stint On Broadway

Actor Daniel Radcliffe is determined to tone-up his body before appearing on Broadway’s Equus in the nude – and he’s not ashamed to admit it. The Harry Potter star, 18, will disrobe in the Broadway adaptation of the Peter Shafer play later this year – just as he did onstage in London when the play opened there in 2007. And Radcliffe made sure to stop by the gift lounge before Sunday’s 62nd Annual Tony Awards, where he shamelessly picked up a Scorcher Butt Machine – a piece of exercise equipment with “a special emphasis on butt shaping”. He says of his new work out regime, “They don’t have things like this in England. We never get gifts.”

Jason Statham so far has made a career out of making action flicks (either as lead or part of an ensemble cast) that are extremely watchable for me. In this day and age of endlessly recycled and “lets make things go boom” action movies, this is a big deal for me.

In the first 10 minutes, I’m thinking to myself that perhaps he’s finally missed the mark because it starts right out into a heavy gun fight scene and it’s hard to give a damn about anyone because you don’t know who’s fighting who and why.

But it’s all set up and then we see the basis for justice as per the tag line and then I was engaged.

I don’t often watch Jet Li movies but I really should because he’s excellent at establishing a real presence for his character with few words.

I did have some problems with the storylines.

Problem 1: My understanding of Japanese culture, Shiro should be carrying an eternal grudge that he has only a daughter for an heir. Instead, he’s very American in being proud of his daughter and her ability to be his heir. Plus Devon Aoki was rather wooden in her performance. I saw her “acting” her character whereas everyone else WAS their character.

Problem 2: Crawford (Statham) gets all bent out of shape over his partner Tom being killed. Yet his reactions in the tea shop when his new partner is killed seem suppressed. Yes I know he does kill the guy who shot him but the same level of angst isn’t there.

Problem 3: The ending is a anticlimactic. The final confrontation scene ends too quickly and the subsequent dénouement feels disconnected from the intensity of the revelations we just had.

The reasons to watch it anyways out number the cons.

Jet Li is awesome.

Jason Statham is a great conflicted cop.

Good balance of action/fight scenes to story telling.

Fresh twists on common stories.

And did I spy the latino actress from My Name is Earl, playing Shiro’s wife? Yep that is Nadine Velazquez!

If you liked Pan’s Labyrinth, you’ll like this one too. If Pan’s was a little too dark for you, this one is less dark.

They share similarities by being in a wartime, a kid whose home is invaded by barracked soldiers, but finds a little magic in their life.

The movie doesn’t reach the level of storytelling magic that 80s master trifecta (Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, Never Ending Story) did but it’s sweet and enjoyable. The 3d work on the water horse is pretty good, only a couple times does it look odd.

Definitely worth watching. Ben Chaplin turns in a nice performance as does the rest of the cast, even the little boy who is the lead character.

And how can you resist that cute face?

Kate & Matthew’s first movie together: How to lose a Guy in 10 days was only saved by their chemistry and how well they played off each other.

This movie didn’t need that to save it this time around but it really showcased it as Kate & Matthew are pitted against each other as a divorcing couple who are both obsessed with finding the wreck of the Aurelia.

I was having so much fun watching the two of them that the finding of the treasure was anticlimactic because that also brought reconciliation between the two leads. The movie’s strength is in the dialogue and interplay between the feuding couple and the others involved.

It’s not a ‘smart movie’ but boy is it a fun popcorn movie that you want when you want to smile. Kate & Matthew are definitely the new Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan. The latter even did a movie in the tropics too, Joe vs the Volcano anyone?

Donald Sutherland was also amusing as billionaire father who was trying to build a relationship with his estranged airheaded socialite of a daughter who was just plain stupid as well.

Surprise casting involved Malcolm-Jamal Warner (Theo from The Cosby Show) as a dread locked islander speaking in a Jamaican style accent. He needs to be utilized more. I remember him from Drop Zone too. We should be seeing a lot more of him.

Like someone pointed out in the (measly) extras, I can’t think of any other movie where the male lead gets beaten up so much and repeatedly but never really fights back.

Some of the comedy bits were a little stale but still got a smile from me. The only thing I had a problem with was the sword between the legs bit. It just seemed like an excuse to aim a camera up at the crotch of the daughter. There was nothing funny about it right down to her “oops hahaha” flirty giggle. This is the kind of thing that makes me hate Judd Apatow movies because that’s all they seem to be about, setting up for the next “oh gimme a break” shot.

While their first movie narrowly misses my new much higher mark of “would I buy this”, Fool’s Gold passes muster for enjoyability and rewatchability.

As suspense/thriller movies go, it’s very formulaic. You see every plot device for what it is, ie Griffin’s phone call to Marsh saying that he thought he knew who it might be but he wanted to look at it a bit more first so see ya at work. I immediately looked and Ryan said “Well that’s it for Griffin, he’s dead”. Because A) anytime a supporting character says that they have an idea but need a little more time to verify it, they are killed or otherwise taken out of the picture before they can divulge it. Also B) combine that with “I’ll see you at work” means that won’t happen either in a Murphy’s Law kind of way.

And that’s really the worst thing I can say about this movie. Despite a lot of predictability, it’s very watchable and enjoyable. The premise is an internet killer that sets up situations where the more people that log into the site, the closer to death the victim becomes.

Ryan found that very scary but couldn’t seem to make the connection that I was pointing out that it’s commentary on the state of our society these days where we encourage paparazzis to stalk the celebrities and anyone of minor importance and the distribution of real life gory photos such as the ones of that girl whose head was smashed like a melon in an car crash. A cop sent photos to dispatch who then sent them to someone else in a “hey look at this gruesome thing” and it quickly became another internet thing and then someone sent the photos to the girl’s cousin’s cell phone.

Knowing how close we are to that gives this movie even more power to grip you.

Diane Lane is decent though I thought her character was a little off. Colin Hanks was excellent. Joseph Cross (who we thought was one of the Ashmore twins) was superb. I have to admit I found myself thinking that Joseph looks more like a young Tom Hanks then Colin does.

The premise for the movie is original but the storytelling isn’t. Watch it if you liked Kiss The Girls, Double Jeopardy, movies of that ilk, want to see Colin Hanks prove it’s not just cause of his Dad that he’s getting casted, like Diane Lane, love creepy torture death scenes a la Se7en.