Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Happy Birthday, Blogs

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A very Happy 1st Birthday to FourFour!

A very Happy 2nd Birthday to Modern Fabulosity!

Go on, click on their sites. You won't be disappointed.

And if you're wondering what these posts have been about, this time of year must be especially popular to start a blog... the Plaid Pants are not so New any more - this Friday we'll be one year old, too.

But I'll presumably ramble on in my endless way about that on Friday. This post's not for me! Look how I did that. Shameless.

Today's Mood

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Chauncey "Chance the Gardener" Gardiner (Peter Sellers),
Being There

"As long as the roots are not severed, all is well.
And all will be well in the garden... Yes. In the garden,
growth has it seasons.
First comes spring and summer,
but then we have fall and winter.

And then we get spring and summer again."
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Is Veronica A Movie Star?

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Well, technically, Kristen Bell isn't even a television star, per se, since about as many people can see into my bathroom when I'm taking a shower as watch any given episode of Veronica Mars.

Anyway, while I'm not totally blown away by the trailer (watch here) for the remake of Pulse, I'm not a diehard fan of the original either - read my review here - which got lost under the weight of its own gobbledegook. I'm hoping that the film's been made somewhat more coherent to these English-speaking ears, because it really does have a killer premise, and some kick-ass visuals that it looks like, from the preview, have transferred in all their ass-kickingest glory (That flaming plane crash? Awesome then, awesome now).

Buffy Lives!


... sort of.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon is writing a new six-issue Buffy mini-series for Dark Horse Comics. The first volume is due out in October. A Dark Horse spokesperson has confirmed to ICv2 that the new series chronicles events that happened to Buffy and her friends after the conclusion of their televised adventures and will function as a "Season 8" to the highly popular cult hit TV series that ran for seven seasons."

So I've dealt with Joss penning comics before, and... he always takes longer than he says he will. But still, a realization of an eighth season of Buffy penned by the man himself? I. Am. So. There. Sure, we won't have Aly and Sarah and Nick in the flesh, but it's the next best thing.

Could I be any more curious about what Joss forsees the Scoobs having been up to since we last saw them? Well, we know Buff's been in Europe, we saw a fake-SMG head of blonde hair on Angel its last season. Sleeping with a vampire again, Dawn's getting edumacated abroad, and the rest of everyone's training the Slayers in training.

Of course, Angel ended a season after Buffy did, and ended with the final Armageddon (not one of those piddling ones that happened every three episodes or so for years) just beginning. I think they might have to delve into that, just maybe.

Will we see Spike? Or maybe Anya will rise from the dead and kill them all... I'd be up for that!

Oh, Anya... poor Anya.

Here's a list of my favorite Buffy episodes ever.
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One Heath To Rule Them All

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Go over to Film Experience and vote for my boy Heath in the Actors of the Aughts countdown Nate's running down. So far he's winning, but barely... don't let him be beat by those meatheads Sean Penn or Russell Crowe!

If you're going to vote for someone else... don't. I will find you.

Seriously, I wish I had the patience and the insanity to do something so massive in scope as his countdowns. You can find his countdown of the Actresses here (and yes, Kiki's in the top 5...). Ahem.

And Jake's still to come!
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Two More Days

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Happy Birthday, Colin Farrell !

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Stay sober!
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Counting My Chickens...

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... I BEEN ERASED
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Julianne's Lizard Dream

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Michael Cunningham's books are amongst my faves, though his last, Specimen Days, was really only half a good book. It was in three parts, and only the first third I thought stood up to his previous work; the second half was good but not great, and the last third... no.

So I find it odd that Julianne Moore has convinced Cunningham to adapt the book for the screen only using the final third. Where she'll play a... lizard woman.

Perhaps he'll be able to condense what really worked about the earlier parts into the final third, and make it palatable. We'll see.

Til then, I am amused by the mental picture I've got, in which Julianne Moore is playing Diana from V.


A New Date With Superman !

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Woohoo! Superman Returns has been moved ahead two days, to June 28th!

Now, how about they get even friskier and move it to, say... TODAY? I would walk out of work without a word right this second to see it if possible, especially after the disappointment of X3. I need my hope renewed, and the blue-bird's just the guy to do it.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Today's Mood

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Mildred "Millie" Lammoreaux (Shelley Duvall),
3 Women

"Dreams can't hurt ya."
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What The Long Weekend Hath Wrought

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X3 made $120 million. Robert Evans gives Brett Ratner a tub-o-whores to celebrate.

Baby Brangelina, a she named Shiloh, arrived. Robert Evans sends a tub-o-whores to Namibia; tub-o-whores returned to sender unopened.

Ben Affleck had a headache. Robert Evans unmoved.

Gay Rugby (NSFW). Gay Hoedown. Inevitably naked.

Ken Loach wins Palme d'Or at Cannes. Robert Evans asks his "people" if there's a tub-o-whores in the film, or if maybe one can be inserted in the cut he sees. Brett Ratner, Evans' "people", gets right on it.

(image from Gallery of the Absurd)

3 More Days

threedaysandcounting

Those Super Fellows

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Now that X3 is behind us (my review: YAWN), we've got Supes coming down the turnpike, to be followed, eventually yet not nearly close enough, by Spidey 3.


Thank the heavens that Mr. Raimi loves us enough to see it through the third film. And then he can go and make another Evil Dead movie... RIGHT, SAM?

And in other superhero-movie news, the trailer for Ghost Rider is ass.

(pic from AICN)

Up With Chuck

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I'm (predictably) a big fan of author Chuck Palahniuk; in fact, I just started reading his last book, Haunted, over the weekend (so far, soooo gross).

Anyway, here's a link to an interesting essay by CP in The Guardian, about a specific brand of horror film he calls "cycle" horror - where the horrific events are destined to happen over and over again (think the final shot of The Shining) and the way this breeds comfort in the audience.

"It's almost as if a victim in a cycle movie is more than a fictional casualty, she's more like a sacrifice to keep the rest of us safe. By witnessing his or her death, the rest of us feel more safe. Like watching the strangers who suffer and die on the television news every night. In hurricanes and rebel insurrections. We've seen the cycle run its course, and this time we weren't the one who drew the wrong lot and had to perish."

Interesting, if not wholly original, stuff.

(thanks Sean)
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Tuesday Morning Pick-You-Up

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Friday, May 26, 2006

happy memorial day

Today's Mood

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Catherine Martin (Brooke Smith), The Silence of the Lambs

"I wanna see my mommy!"

(psst... in this scenario, my boss is Buffalo Bill... why am I here??? LET ME GO!!!)
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What A Thing To Wake Up To

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From an AIM conversation with Jared Leto at AOL:

ThirtySecondLeto: I’ll give you an exclusive....
TyeinMusic: ooh. lay it on me
ThirtySecondLeto: I’m gay
TyeinMusic: *!*
TyeinMusic: please tell me you're serious
ThirtySecondLeto: as a goose.

Oh sure, it's cool now that he's playing the part of the "rock star" to joke around about sucking dick... it's a nice fantasy (one I've been having for ten years or so now), but I do think he was just being a smart-ass because he didn't want to talk about the endless parade of starlets he's had sex with.

But then, I don't doubt he's a whore and he probably has touched willies in his spare time.

Sigh. He used to be the tops (looks-wise; I could only remain in denial about his actual acting talent for so long), but Jake's really replaced him. Guess he saw what the rumormongering's done for his Highway costar's career. I must admit, I love the completely uncredited rumors I've seen of Jared & Jake, during the filming of Highway, spending lots of time in their trailers together... now there's a boy's dreams come to fruition.

Well, except for the me not being involved part.

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Thursday, May 25, 2006

bye

A Mosquito, My Libido

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I got bit smack dab in the center of my left palm last night.

I'm about to lose my effing mind. IT ITCHES!!!!
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Today's Mood

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Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), Ferris Bueller's Day Off

"Call me sir! Goddamn it!"
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one day

Let Them Joust In Peace!

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Beyond the Valley of the Dolls is FINALLY
coming out on DVD on June 13th! Yay!


"You will drink the black sperm of my vengeance!!!"

"You're a groovy boy. I'd like to strap you on sometime."

"This is my happening, and it's freaking me out!"
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Big Foot, Four Toes

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The best moment from last night's Lost finale? The above shot of just completely balls-out weirdness. Sure, why wouldn't there be a four-toed foot statue on the island? That right there's the kind of shit I'm watching this show for.

I'm not gonna recap the whole thing. Here are some links to people who have:

TV Squad

NY Times

Entertainment Weekly

My faith is renewed in this show, though. Loved the finale. Couldn't fall asleep from all the questions it created - most vexing, why was Charlie acting so weird when he got back to Claire at the end? Wouldn't he have checked on Eko and Locke? Something's amiss!

Can't wait for next season.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006

WTF? Headline of the Day

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(from Yahoo)

Today's Mood

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Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet),
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

"...Meet me in Montauk..."
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I'll Believe It When It's Built

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Getting a tower built in Manhattan? Seems... difficult. So I don't really expect this to look like this when... if... it's built. But it's nice to imagine it possible.

From Curbed: this is "the first publicly seen rendering of the Frank Gehry-designed tower, backed by Bruce Ratner, that's slated for 200 Beekman Street in downtown Manhattan"


Pretty.
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Not My Movie Binge

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Not counting the two films I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival a couple of weeks ago, I haven't been to the theater to see a film since Slither opened way back at the start of April.

Yes, it's been nearly two months.

This has got to be some sort of a record for me. It's not that I haven't been watching movies - thank the stars for Netflix - there just ain't been anything that's commanded my presence.

I do, Tom Cruise be damned, still want to see M:I::III, because it's supposedly pretty decent and I like JJ Abrams. I feel much better about going to see it now, though, after it's already gotten all the "box office disappointment" press.

This streak will surely end this weekend, as there's nothing that'll keep me from seeing X3. Not Brett Ratner, not that bewigged Oscar-fluke miscast Berry, not even the sidelining of the greatest villain in the X-universe. I will still be sitting there in the theater this weekend, either whooping or cursing.

All of this is to direct you to a damned pit of fools - The Movie Binge - a new site where they promise that they will see every film released between now and September.

Suckers.

They've also got a nifty list of all the films that'll be released in that period right here.

On a sidenote, I'm as excited about The Devil Wears Prada as I am X3 or Superman Returns.

Meryl!!!


Superman's New Superpower

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Defamer adds their typically snarky commentary to the above old Superman comic cover. But what are they missing? The next page of course!


I'm trying to figure out what this creature's comic-book name would be. Fabulousor, from the planet Glittertron sounds about right to me. And he can only be battled with rainbows and feathered boas.

This may just be the gayest post I've ever done.
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Erased

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Those asshats at Pitchfork have gotten to listen to Thom Yorke's upcoming "don't-call-it-a-solo-album" release, The Eraser, and have this to say:

"... we've had the distinct pleasure of hearing the album in its entirety. The Eraser is a sumptuous, Nigel Godrich-produced layer cake of plaintive piano, haunting synth squalls, and chugging guitars built atop skittish programmed beats and devoured by Thom Yorke's anguished ruminations on the pressures and paranoias attendant to fame and expectation. And no, it's not a techno record."

They run through the album track by track as well.

With this and Sufjan Stevens' new album both being released on July 11th, I've got a very happy birthday coming this year!
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Tales Gone South, Part 2

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Jim Emerson gives us a more complete look at the negative reviews from Cannes on Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly's upcoming film Southland Tales, along with links to many of the reviews.

"Now, hardly anybody tries to make a bad movie (unless, like Alan Parker or Oliver Stone, they simply don't know -- or care about -- the difference). I would like Kelly and "Southland Tales" to succeed, against all odds. After all, I'm a big fan of the original version of "Donnie Darko," and have written about it extensively. I mentioned in that piece that I got the sense from the director's commentary on the original disc that Kelly had made a much better film than he seemed to know he'd made -- in fact, quite a different one than he thought he'd made."

I do wonder if the confusion most critics seem to have about the film might be cleared up by the release of the graphic novels (see it explained here) that are coming out in the next month or so - supposedly the film itself is Parts 4-6, while the graphic novels are 1-3... I'm not defending that as an intelligent route to take - submitting your film to critics when half the story is missing, or possibly having the film itself not stand on its own without these outside elements - but it might just be a part of the problem.

TWO DAYS

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Reviews are good, reviews are bad. I'd just like to see for myself, please!


Get your X-themed horoscope over at Film Experience today. I'm the schizophrenic Multiple Man... no comments from the peanut gallery!
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New Supes Trailer

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I dunno if anyone's noticed, but I'm a wee bit excited about the new Superman movie.

The new trailer's out, with a lot of old stuff in it, and some new, including the "I need some Depends, please" shot of Supes getting shot point-blank in the eye.

Here are some grabs:


Happy Birthday, South Carolina!

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I give the boyfriend a lot of shit for being from South Carolina, so this is called "appeasement".

South Carolina is 218 years young today! May they spend the next 218 fighting over the Confederate flag!

Wait, no.

May they keep on hating the gays while their Senator's a big closet case!

Ahem. Sorry. This is tough.

South Carolina, your coast is really pretty.

There we go.

You can download two Carolina-themed songs over at IGIF.
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Lust-y Ang

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Word arrives on Ang Lee's next project:

"Oscar winner Ang Lee is reteaming with his "Brokeback Mountain" producer James Schamus and Focus Features to direct his next project, the espionage thriller "Lust, Caution" says the trades.

The screenplay will be adapted from Eileen Chang's short story by Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" screenwriter Wang Hui-Ling. Set in World War II-era Shanghai.

The Chinese-language film is expected to begin production in the Fall."

Start those Chinese lessons now, Jake!
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Jake Got Game

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I love that by taking these first two pics out of any sort of context, it looks as if Jake is suddenly sexually assaulting his buddy (and yes, I'm resisting the urge to surround half the words in that sentence with quote marks). What? Don't look at me like that. A boy can dream!


Tell me that last pic isn't the cutest damned thing ever. That lucky brat.

(pics from JJ)
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